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Sleep and Stress Management: a quick glimpse at completing the four pillars of health
By Eric Morris | June 24, 2008
Ha! What a title! I am sure it is as eye catching as it is corny! Before I start in on my next topic of conversation, I wanted acknowledge all of you who had a chance to glance over my last article. The response from it was overwhelming and I sincerely appreciate all of your positive encouragement. I am also excited to see the incredible sense of pride that Cynergy members hold in their heart. I am grateful and humbled to be accepted into your community!
With that said, let’s get into the meat and potatoes of this week’s subject matter, stress and sleep! I know a great many of you might be a bit befuddled as to why a 22 year old kid is trying to give advice about sleeping habits and stress management techniques, however I challenge you to keep an open mind and read on. Yes, my occupation and current working environment do cater to a low level stress lifestyle, and adequate sleep during the week is easy to come by, however I have been there, as I am sure many of you have been there and maybe are still where sleep is a luxury and stress is around every corner. Offering an abundance of advice on the subject matter at hand would fall beyond the scope of this authors expertise so with that in mind, this article has been constructed as a tool to evaluate your personal habits, priorities and general well being and create your own means of change if need be.
The first variable this article will outline is sleep. Ah yes, bountiful when you were in the throws of adolescence, however, elusive might be a more appropriate adjective to use when considering your relationship with said variable in the present time frame! We all know the proper recommendations that were set in stone hundred years ago about the 8 hours a night stuff, so why aren’t you getting that much? Is it because you just don’t have time? Or maybe you believe you can function just fine on a half a dozen hours a night? Whatever the reason, I encourage you to regard sleep as important as it really is.
Even though you are not cognitively thinking during your slumbering hours, the body and mind are employing a tremendous amount of critical processes that labor through the night in an effort to bring things back to neutral. Your metabolism, mood, emotional, and physical state are all directly affected by the quality and quantity of shut eye you give your body. Those processes that were just outlined seem an awful lot like the ones you seek to improve in the gym aren’t they? Coincidence you inquire? I think not! You all work very hard every day, in the gym, at work, and with your families. Why not devote the same amount of importance to yourself in the form of rest?
Hopefully you have deduced before this article was ever created that exercise and nutrition are significant factors of a healthy lifestyle. However I am here to tell you that they are not all encompassing! We need sleep, as was reported above and also stress management to complete the four pillars of health. Stress is something that cannot be avoided. It is in our everyday lives and is not always from a negative source. We simply build up tension and stress from the sheer amount of things on our plates everyday. The goal here is to manage stress and make it work for our benefit instead of letting it gnaw away at your sanity.
Everyone has a different mechanism for handling stress. You could probably think of several tactics you utilize to help cope with the onslaught of the work week. While this is a robust, stress squashing thought, the mechanism itself isn’t as important as how often you are using it! Think about it. How long has it been since you took time for yourself and completely renovated the old stress bank? Maybe you owe it to yourself to do that a little more often! The mind is a very powerful and resilient tool, nevertheless actively maintaining its integrity is paramount to enable this instrument to function optimally.
So there you have it. Hopefully this article has shed some light on those aspects of your life that might have been simmering on the back burner for a bit too long. I leave this topic in your hands and advocate you do what is necessary to make some changes!
Until next time, Stay Strong!
Eric
Topics: Articles, Cynergy Central |
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Very nice!!