Did you know that in the ancient Hebrew worldview the day begins in the evening? If you have ever read the creation stories in the book of Genesis, you will notice the refrain, “… and the evening and the morning were the first day” then “… and the evening and the morning were the second day.” etc …
They began their day with rest and sleep in the evening … then went out to work in the morning.
In the Western world, we tend to go to work in the morning then come home and crash in the evening, eventually going to sleep to ‘recover’ from the day.
It’s quite a paradigm shift to think about filling yourself up FIRST … then living out of a place of fulness, rather than finishing the day on EMPTY and trying to recover.
You can watch a video of this episode on the Soul Food YouTube Channel.
Sleep – we all need it. Experts tell us that the average person needs about around 7-8 hours each day. Sure, we can get away with only a few hours sleep from time to time … but sleep is a bit like a bank account. We make deposits and we make withdrawals. If our withdrawals are more than our deposits, things start to bounce.
A healthy sleep rhythm is essential for maintaining health and fitness. Sleep is your brain and body’s prime time for renewal and replenishment.
Here are a few tips for getting a good night’s sleep:
- Make sure the room you sleep in is as dark as possible.
- Invest in a comfortable mattress and a quality pillow.
- Get on hour or so of sleep before midnight, if you can.
- Avoid eating or drinking after 8.00 pm. That way your stomach isn’t digesting all night.
- Avoid too much stimulating mental activity late at night.
- Take a ‘power nap’ during the day if you need a top up.
Sleep – it’s an important part of self-care. In fact, a good night’s sleep can make the difference between a good day and a miserable one.
Let’s recap our main points:
- Sleep is vital for our well-being.
- We all need 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
- Sleep is like a bank account – we need to ensure we are making more deposits than withdrawals.
- Do everything possible to ensure a good night’s sleep.
That’s all for today. Here’s to a good night’s sleep. This has been Episode 10 of Soul Food with Mark Conner. See you next week!
P.S. There are many excellent resources and books about sleep. One book that I recommend is Eat, Move, Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes by Tom Rath. See also my previous BLOG post on The Beauty of Sleep.