The Importance Of Getting Enough Sunshine

I cannot over emphasize how important this is! As explained earlier, the amount of natural sunlight that enters your eyes has a drastic effect on your temperature body rhythm.

·  When we're exposed to high intensity light, our body temperature increases, and melatonin levels rapidly decrease.

·    Exposure to natural sunlight also delays the temperature drop. This allows you to stay awake and alert for longer periods of time.

·  Lack of sunlight results in higher melatonin levels, this leads to lower body temperature levels, feeling very sleepy, and tired through out the day.

Lack of sunlight will create a flat-line effect in your body temperature, because it will not get a chance to rise high enough, your body temperature won't fall low enough during the night either. 

If your body temperature is flat-lined, this could cause major sleeping problems, and it will be very difficult for you to sleep deeply for long periods of time. A lot of people who complain about “poor sleep” usually don't get enough sunlight.

Consider how for the most part of our evolution we were always outside during the day, it seemed that nature intended us to be this way, then suddenly over the past 100 years we drastically changed our exposure to natural sunlight. 

Most of us hardly get any sun today at all! We drive to work in a car, we wear sunglasses, we work in offices, what kind of effect do you think this has on our sleep clock?

How much Sunshine is Enough?

This is probably the most important factor discussed in this whole book and the concept of sleep therapy. The amount of sunlight that enters your eyes has a great impact on your sleep rhythm.

v  Exposure to high intensity light increases our body temperature. Rise in our body temperature decreases out melatonin levels.

v  When exposed to natural sunlight, our body delays the temperature drop, thus allowing us to be awake and aware for longer times.

v  Lack of enough natural sunlight results in more melatonin level leading to lower temperature levels, sleepiness and tiredness.

Not going out in the sun creates a flat line effect on our body temperature rhythms. Our body temperature will not rise high enough during the day and as a result will not fall enough during the night. 

This will result in sleep problems and you will be deprived of deep sleep most of the time. Most of us who complain of lack of sleep simply do not get enough sunlight.

Going back in time, man has always been an outdoor animal, out in the sunlight all through the day and sheltered at night only because of the cold. 

This continued for so many million years and suddenly we are looking at changing sleeping habits and avoiding sunlight by cars, sunglasses, sheltered offices in the past 100 years.

 Is it so easy to change a million year legacy in 100 years. Your sleep clock will not change so fast.

How Exercise Affects Your Body Temperature Rhythm

If you want to instantly increase the quality of your sleep, then start an exercise program if you don't exercise already. Exercise helps you sleep better in a number of ways.

·             Exercise will raise your body temperature rhythm, and make your body temperature “peak” at a higher level. This will increase your energy levels throughout the day, you'll feel more awake, alive, and motivated.

·             As your body temperature levels will max out at a higher level, your body temperature will also drop more easily and deeper. This will allow you to sleep deeply, without interruptions.

·             Regular exercise will prevent your body temperature rhythm from “flat-lining”, which will allow you to sleep deeply even if you've had a stressful day, or couldn't exercise on one particular day.

·             Exercise delays the body temperature “drop” in the evening, allowing you to stay awake and alert longer without feeling tired and drowsy.

·             Exercise is also a great relief of tension and stress, which as you'll later find out, is a major cause of sleeping disorders.

If you don't exercise yet, GET A MOVE ON IT! and start now. The best time to exercise is in the morning, as this will promote a quick temperature rise. 

However, avoid exercise 3 hours prior to going to sleep, as your body temperature will probably still be on the rise, and you may find falling asleep / sleeping deeply more difficult.

If you don't exercise, I'm not suggesting you get up off your butt right now, get a membership at your local gym and begin a full scale work out program. You can do that only if you really want to. 

However, recent study shows that just moderate exercise during the day has many health benefits. If you can't motivate yourself to start exercising regularly, you could find a less intensive physical activity that you still enjoy, like walking briskly, biking, rollerblading, these will still have a substantial effect at raising your body temperature.

My point about this would be: What's the Point of Trying to Rejuvenate your Body, and Increasing the Quality of Your Sleep, if You're Not Going to USE YOUR BODY?

Going On Vacation

Worked hard for a year? Now you need a vacation to relief all that stress and to try and come back with memories worth sharing with friends.

Getting your family along, if you have one, implies the fact that you must consult them when decind upon a location. Surprises are always welcomed,but if you have children and you decide to spent your vacation in a city that has nothing fun to offer them, them the surprise turns into a nightmare. 

Going away from friends, even if for a week, seems to children something that requires an effort, so try and make then want that vacation by offering them exciting new things to do, things that and combine education and pleasure.

Once you have chosen your location, keep in mind that the weather there might be different from the one in your own country. 

In the mountains it always tends to be a little cold even in the summer and you should bring along clothes that go with that kind of weather. if, on the contrary you are going to tropical and hot locations, do not forget an umbrella. 

In these places, although it is summer for almost the entire year, it usually rains a lot and you don’t want a heavy rain to get you sick.

There are wonderful places to visit all around the world. If budget allows it, you can make a trip around the world to visit the seven world’s wonders, it is always worth it. 

The Pyramids for instance are mysterious buildings, dated since the ancient Egyptians, enclosing a technology and architecture that can be hardly matched even today. 

Go and walk through these world wonders to try and elucidate the mystery, to see for yourself the simplicity of the people and the splendor of the country.

Vacation can be spent at home also. We can just relax and catch up on lost sleep if we feel too exhausted to travel. Meeting friends, barbecues, sitting by the pool and playing with children will make us forget the hard year that passed.