Another day wasted because you are so very tired.
Seems so strange to not sleep and be so incredibly tired.
And yet even with no sleep probably a nap is not possible.
This is likely the result of stress or some imbalance in the body.
But there is more at play here.
Your body has a sleep drive, your biological need for sleep.
You can think of it as similar to your need for food or water.
The longer you are awake, the stronger your drive is for sleep.
When your body is balanced, you wake up with energy and remain so until evening as the body becomes sleepier and sleepier.
This is due to a chemical in our brain called adenosine which helps regulate our sleep.
It is very low in the morning and accumulates during the day.
Meaning the longer you are awake the more adenosine builds up in your brain the stronger your need for sleep will be.
The sleepier you feel, the odds are really good that you will fall asleep easier and stay asleep.
Caffeine blocks adenosine which is why you feel alert after a cup of coffee. This is how it affects your ability to sleep if you drink coffee too late in the day or evening. It is disrupting your sleep drive.
Now is there anything you can do to help increase your adenosine levels?
Yes there is.
And it is exercise.
Perhaps not what you were hoping to hear.
The more you work your muscles, the more adenosine is going to be produced.
That is how the body works.
But I suspect your reality is you are too tired for exercise or you are too busy or too stressed.
I get it. I am not inclined to want to exercise but I faced my reality and now routinely have a variety of exercises I do. From strength training with a trainer (otherwise I would find excuses), a couple of weekly yoga class, going or a walk or riding my bicycle. So weeks are better than others but I do make regular exercise a priority.
Somewhere in your day you must make some time for some kind of movement.
Run up the stairs, ok walk up the stairs. Several times.
Go for a walk and walk quickly.
Join a walking group.
Do some jumping or standing jumping jacks while waiting for the kettle to boil.
Take a 10 minute break in your day, play some music and dance it out.
There are tons of easy 10 minute exercises to be found on YouTube if you need to look for inspiration.
Being tired is not the same as being sleepy.
You want your body to be sleepy when you go to bed.
Sleep doesn’t come if you are tired or exhausted.
There is a difference.
I was listening to a radio show recently and there was an interesting talk on longevity and an expert said that the one thing that science shows that increases our life span is cardio exercise.
Studies show that sleep improves with exercise.
Our ability to sleep is an indicator of our health and our inability to sleep is an indicator of trouble brewing for health.
Exercise or moving your body is not the only thing you can do but it is an important element in your ability to get back to sleep.
If you are searching for a way to get back to sleep and so frustrated in not getting results you might need to expand that search and move your body. Start.
