Do you also not recover properly during sleep? This happens to many people today. What is new is the possibility to measure sleep and recovery quality objectively. You can read about the effects of poor sleep and how to effectively identify and address the causes in my current blog.
More and more people are tired and exhausted, as studies repeatedly show: Almost 50% of people suffer from sleep problems. While some have trouble falling asleep, others wake up too early. Some people do not sleep through the night, but only in short stages, or they are still tired although they have actually slept long enough. Sleep problems are extremely diverse. However, they all have one thing in common: people suffer from them and feel exhausted.
Many people suffering from sleep problems do not have enough strength for the efforts of everyday life. Sleep is qualitatively disturbed - even despite going to bed early. The regeneration phases in which one draws strength are missing and one wakes up powerless and exhausted.
The quality of sleep is measurable
Our quality of sleep can be measured objectively very well: With the heartrate variability (HRV) method, the quality of recovery can be measured quite clearly. Thus, the subjective impression - I slept badly - becomes a clearly verifiable fact. Over the course of one night, HRV can very well reproduce which sleep problems have become pronounced. Over a long period of time and years, this measurement method shows one thing in particular about many test subjects: people who basically have good regeneration abilities are also able to cope well with challenging and stressful phases. Conversely, there are people who do not have this regenerative ability or who lose it at some point due to sleep problems. They are significantly more at risk of developing stress-related illnesses.
It is important to preceive that the first signs of reduced stress tolerance or stress-related illnesses become apparent at an early stage. On the one hand, through sleep problems, exhaustion, and fatigue, but also through initial mood changes such as irritability, agitation, nervousness. In addition, there is often the impression of no longer being able to recover sufficiently, even at weekends or during vacations. It takes longer and longer to come to rest and regenerate. This is also due to the change in our neurobiological balance.
«Go slow, to go fast»
This is where current programs and methods come in, which strengthen resilience with the aim of reactivating the system in regenerative phases. «Go slow, to go fast» - meaning that if you learn to slow down and take time to recover, your performance will subsequently increase again.
However, the regenerative phases are not exclusively the times when you actually sleep. About two to three hours before the actual sleep, the recovery phase already begins. And from this point on, one should only engage in activities that are aimed at regeneration. This is also already part of the so-called «sleep hygiene».
These are activities like:
Listening to music
Relaxing, good conversations or relaxation procedures
Light physical activities, such as going for a walk
Activities that should be avoided:
(High) Intense sports in the evening (this is especially true for normally trained people, who take much longer to recover than trained athletes)
Alcohol (increases the heartrate and recovery is then reduced)
Watching TV in the evening (for the majority of the people, regardless of the TV content, significant stress reactions measurable)
What can be done?
Good methods that promote regeneration are mindful activities and behaviors such as relaxation procedures, breathing techniques and much more. Being conscious and mindful in the evening is also one of them. The thoughts and the parasympathetic nervous system thus come to rest and this has a positive effect on the regenerative capacity.
In order to have a lasting positive effect on recovery in this way, it is useful to practice these methods again and again in small sequences. Regeneration is easier to achieve more quickly and performance increases significantly. This also promotes the neurobiological balance again.
Do you also have problems with sleep? Or do mood swings during the day, such as irritability and nervousness, give you a hard time? Has your performance decreased? Or would you like to learn more about a mindful lifestyle in order to achieve greater health and performance? Then contact me.
Start where you are.
Use what you have.
Do what you can.