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Gibson Wellness Center

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HOW we rest,
may be just as important as how MUCH

The Six Essentials for Health: WHAT you EAT and DRINK, HOW you BREATHE, EXERCISE and REST and WHAT you THINK.

We call these essentials because the choices you make in these areas help to determine your overall state of health and well being.

Often my clients are concerned when their session indicates a need to pay attention to REST because they don't have enough time to sleep more!

Nicole Denison, editor of On Wisconsin Magazine and a graduate student, recently sent me this information from a paper she was researching about nutrition trends and our modern habits:

" In Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, Jennifer Ackerman outlines the activities of a typical day, offering up compelling nuggets about the conditions under which the body functions optimally. Time and again, it turns out that we humans function best when we don't disturb the natural order, as often happens when political and economic expediency takes precedence over health... "

Science is also learning that the body is much more sensitive to environmental cues than previously thought. We now know that exposure to even a little artificial light while we're sleeping can destroy the production of melatonin, which is useful for its ability to inhibit cancer cells. Thanks to everything from shift work to frenetic schedules that deprive us of adequate sleep, and even to street lights shining in the window at night, our vulnerability to cancer is significantly greater than in the days before the electric lightbulb...If the body is this finely-tuned, it makes more sense to work with it rather than against it. "

Aside from the difficulty of finding those extra hours to fit into your busy schedule for actual sleep, what are your habits for resting like? Do you go to bed with the TV on? Do you drift off reading that action novel? Do you collapse into bed after fitting in every possible chore and hope you'll fall asleep before your thoughts of what's happened during the day catch up with you?

If your body can be so sensitive to light when you go to sleep, what are your thoughts doing to your hormone production?

B.E.S.T. can help you improve your sleep habits by helping your body switch more easily from the "go-go" mode of the sympathetic nervous system to the "rest and repair" mode of the parasympathetic nervous system. If you're having trouble sleeping or wake up feeling tired and worn out, B.E.S.T. can help!



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