THE ARITHMETIC OF SLEEP HER POINT OF VIEW

My niece recently had her first baby and I had gone to spend the day with them. You know that the joy of new births is incomparable to none other! Babies - beautiful, peaceful, adorable, lovely…This baby boy slept for hours on end, except to eat (baby friendly matters!) and be changed. The excitement we got the few minutes we were able to see the colour of his eyes was entertaining! With the constant nudging, of ‘open your eyes some more, it’s you I came to visit’!

It has been said that adults on the other hand, have their eyes constantly open and fixed on the prize!! The prize being career, purpose, calling, destiny… Our eyes are shut for less than the recommended eight hours/night.

You know, every time I try to help executives figure out how to best achieve optimum well-being in the face of their unbelievably demanding lifestyles. We start from the simple arithmetic of the available 24 hours we all have bona fide access to daily; • 8hours to Work • 8hours to Play • 8hours to Sleep The interjection is always the same, almost like its rehearsed eight hours Sleep in Lagos?! And I go, but one third of twenty four is eight! Someone humorously told me he did not like Mathematics in school, so he has not been able to figure out that a third of his day is meant for sleep and a wise man told him that if he lives for 75 years, he would have slept for twenty five years! He says that is too much and he does not get the luxury of eight hours nightly sleep!

The need for sleep is one of the strongest biological needs we have; but increasingly our busy lives is tending to relegate sleep to the back burner; some are becoming cases of sleep deprivation, which I hear is worse than food deprivation.

Tons of Researches have been carried out over the years eliciting the numerous benefits of Sleep as concerns our physical, mental, and emotional well-being; as well as productivity.

Some of the numerous benefits of getting enough Sleep include: • Sleep is a critical function during which the body regulates its vital systems. • The Brain rejuvenates. • Tissues repair themselves. • Cells synthesize proteins • You improve cognitive thinking. • Focus / Clarity of Thoughts • Immune Health is improved • Increased Productivity Remember to log enough hours of sleep into your 24 hours, as sleep deprivation can be injurious to your long term health. I wish you optimum health. and Well-Being! Arinola www.veivicispa.com arinola@venivicispa.com