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Monday, February 08, 2010Is Your Busyness Keeping You Up at Night?
I know, there aren't enough hours in the day, and you have too much to
do. If you find yourself shortening your night sleep to try and get more
done only to wake up in the middle of the night, this one is for you.
When you pack your daily schedule with one thing after another, your body
remains on high alert throughout the day. It produces stress hormones
which prompt your heart to beat quicker. As your blood circulates faster,
your body burns more energy, and you grow increasingly more tired.
Elevated levels of stress can also cause you to be more impatient,
irritable and insensitive to others, thus causing you to be even more depleted
by the end of the day. It can also erode connections between nerve cells
in your brain, thus not only causing grief today, but also in the future.
So
how can you fit a strategy that will break the cycle of depletion into your
busy day? Simple. Breathe deeply, trying to exhale for twice as
long as you inhale. Slow your breathing down by inhaling for 1 count,
exhaling for 2. Then inhale for 2, exhale for 4. Keep progressing
until you are inhaling for 5 and exhaling for 10, and do so 3 or 4 times.
Repeat the full exercise 2 or 3 times each day, more if you
can.
Taking a few long belly breaths will activate your parasympathetic system,
which is responsible for slowing down bodily processes (such as heart
rate). It will also pause your production of cortisol for a few minutes.
As you decrease your stress hormone levels, you'll be able to preserve more
energy throughout the day and sleep better at night.
Take it easy!