Like what, we can no longer trust anything: we believe we are on standby, and the body goes into a trance as soon as eyes are closed. Worse, naughty dreams are not the most bizarre of his nocturnal activities… At night, we move, we talk, we fart and we squint! Thank you, body, for the glamorous attitude… Hold on to the pillow, tonight, it’s going to move!
1. It rejuvenates
We had to start there: the more we sleep, the more we shine. The fault is collagen, this miracle protein that prevents us from looking like a crumpled bulldog at 30, and that our body produces during sleep. Investing in silk pajamas and a feather duvet would therefore be the best anti-wrinkle, even the banker should be able to understand that, right?
2. He loses weight
Second Cool Kiss effect, in addition to tightening the skin, sleeping makes you lose weight. Or almost. We won’t promise you two pounds less after a twelve-hour night, but the facts are there: at night, our bodies deflate, detoxify and eliminate harmful elements… which, in turn, promote the production of ghrelin, l appetite hormone. Basically, in case of cravings, it is better to go for a nap!
3. He Grows
Up True, yet no one will ever notice it unless they jump on you in the middle of the night with a tape measure. The thing ? Once asleep, our spine needs to be hydrated. And his way of drinking is to slightly spread the discs of the vertebrae, making us gain a few millimeters… which disappear with the first foot on the ground.
4. He gets excited
We will not explain to you what an erotic dream is, Mr Gray is there for that. On the other hand, we will tell you that the case is more than normal, and sometimes stupidly physical: at night, our bodies produce hormones in spades, enough to cause real sexual arousal and transform us into wild beasts, even half asleep. . Chouchou will be happy.
5. He works
We snore. He works. And all this, to better let the brain work! It is during the night that the day’s information is sorted, memorized and archived, thanks to the lymphatic system which works like crazy to eliminate toxins, record new information… and optimize the proteins capable of kicking Alzheimer’s out of the cortex. A useful thing, in short.
6. He’s cross-eyed
Even with closed eyelids, the eyes move. And to be honest, it’s the roller coaster during the aptly named REM phase, or Rapid Eye Movement. Which makes us fully aware of the usefulness of the eyelids, in relation to the potential heart attack, if Chouchou squints with his eyes open when we return from the night pee.
7. He’s moving…
We’re fine, we feel sleep setting in, we slip without flinching. And suddenly, we go from the feeling of a hot bath to a parachute jump without a parachute, with a violent spasm that bursts a rib at Chouchou. We reassure you, nothing abnormal, the phenomenon is called hypnotic impulse and is due to the slowing down of bodily functions, sometimes interpreted by the brain as a fall. All that remains is to explain it to Chouchou’s coast.
8. …or not
The half-measure, it is not his thing, in the brain. Because when he doesn’t think he’s a sleeping aerobatic ace, he thinks it would be fun to paralyze the body. Result ? Sleep paralysis, when the brain disconnects from the muscles. What we only realize in the event of a nightmare, with this impression of not being able to move when the danger falls… but which saves us in passing from really going to look for the chainsaw while sleeping, when we are dreaming of woodcutters.
9. He expresses himself
Good. We are not going to cut corners, in theory, at night, the body is totally relaxed: the heart is slowed down, the blood pressure lower… and the sphincter uncontrolled. In other words, we fart, and cheerfully. The good news is that the senses fall asleep too, and that except for a sound or particularly fragrant bomb, the phenomenon generally remains unwitnessed.
10. He expresses himself too much
At night, the unconscious frolics without restraints. In other words, he does what he wants, when he wants, and if he wants to make us open our mouths in the middle of sleep to tell Chouchou that his attempt at a kamasutra was rotten, we can’t do anything about it. As for the unconscious introverts, remains the option of bruxism, aka I grind my teeth in jigsaw mode to the point of my jaws hurting. In any case, only good for the life of a couple.
Are you getting enough sleep?
Often the cause of fatigue is lack of sleep. The daily duration of sleep is specific to each individual. While some people can get by with 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, others can’t sleep less than 10 hours. How do you know if you are getting enough sleep? How do you explain your fatigue? What solutions exist? Here are some answers.
sleep cycles
To analyze the quality of his nights, it is necessary to understand their composition. Each night, as adults, we sleep between 5 and 10 hours. Nights consist of 4 to 7 sleep cycles of 90 minutes on average. These sleep periods include the slow wave sleep phase and the fast sleep phase also known as REM sleep. The purpose of the slow-wave sleep phase is to help the body rebuild and regenerate itself. REM sleep is lighter and houses our dreams.
Determine the length of your nights
To know the ideal length of your nights, you must be on leave or on vacation. Indeed, for several days, it is advisable to go to bed at the first signs of sleep. Among them, there are, among other things, yawning, blurred vision and itchy eyes. Waking up should also happen naturally. After 4 to 6 days, the ideal duration of the night emerges. On a daily basis, it is therefore necessary to take this duration into account to determine the time of going to bed and the time of waking up. These times must be respected! On weekends, it is possible to extend the length of your nights. In order not to upset your body, it is recommended to sleep an additional cycle, i.e. 90 minutes maximum, but no more!
Preserve sleep quality
To give yourself every chance of sleeping well, you have to follow a few rules. For example, avoid sports, television or even video games just before sleeping. The dinner should be light and the activities calm. To fall asleep peacefully, you have to prepare for the next day. So before going to bed, we clear the living rooms, we prepare our things and those of the toddlers.
Quality sleep also requires a healthy bedroom. It should be clean and ventilated. The bedding must be of high quality and the sheets in season. The room must always be cool, the maximum recommended temperature is 18°.
Lack of sleep and its consequences
Do not neglect the lack of sleep. This disrupts the body enormously in the short term as well as in the long term. Lack of sleep leads to a drop in concentration, memory problems, fragility of the immune system, increased hunger and therefore sometimes significant weight gain, increased emotionality and the risk of depression. Lack of sleep impacts health, career and even life as a couple because it can lead to a noticeable drop in fertility. As you will have understood, sleeping well is vital!
