“There is a difference between not knowing and not knowing yet” - Anonymous 

There are enormous number of thoughts in our head, some formed by existing beliefs around us and some by experience. But we often fail to stop by and ask ourselves, if this is actually the truth? And this truth seeking is extremely important because you behave based on what you believe it is. In the same way, a wrong information about sleep would only worsen your sleep through sleep demoting behaviors. It is only right to give you the truth about sleep and break those myths. There are many myths but we would discuss a few essential ones. Shall we get into then? 

Myth 1: If you can sleep ‘anytime and anywhere’, it’s a sign of healthy sleep system.

You understand by now, our body has a system for everything. A system to sleep and a system to wake-up. The energy is dissipated based on the needs of the day and it is only healthy that we do appropraite activities as per the time of the day. So, if you feel sleepy when you are supposed to feel high energy and spending your time working, it is a problem. It is not healthy to sleep whenever you want, either you are sleep deprived or there is an underlying health concern. 

Myth 2: You don’t need to sleep 8 hours, 5 hours or less is enough!

Why do people avoid eating before exercising? Because your body needs time to digest those food and breakdown for your activities. In addition, a heavy meal can compete with your muscles for oxygen and blood for digestion. So, you don’t get anything out of the exercise regime. It’s the same for sleep. There are certain duties that has to be fulfilled by your sleep for you to function at your best and that requires ‘time’. Forcing yourself to sleep 5 hours or less isn’t enough for you to be healthy and efficient. 

Myth 3: If you can’t sleep, just stay in bed and try to sleep. 

If this was an advice, it would be one of the worst advices that could exist. Imagine you are asked to do something but you are just not motivated enough and feeling extremely tired and bored. Isn’t it wise to move around and do something else before you get into the task again? Is sitting there, waiting for motivation to hit you going to change anything for you? No! In the same way, you can’t expect sleep to occur if you are just lying there and think about sleep. It’s always recommended to get out of bed, do some relaxing activities and only when you feel sleepy, to go to bed. 

Myth 4: Snoring is common and harmless. 

Snoring can be harmless but not always. There is a condition called ‘Sleep Apnea’ which is potentially serious sleep disorder that could lead to breathlessness while sleeping by waking the person at night. If you find yourself snoring excessively and also, feeling extremely tired despite sleeping enough, advisable to see a professional. Therefore, snoring shouldn’t be common and it can’t be always harmless. It requires medical attention. 

Myth 5: Alcohol before sleep will help sleep better. 

It is only understandable that, sleeping can feel like a war sometime for people and we all seek for quick fixes. But consuming alcohol might feel like an easy remedy but it actually has negative consequences and leads to fragmented sleep. This means, your sleep quality would be affected and you would only wake up feeling extremely tired. This is really harmful for your health and for your sleep. 

I hope, we could cover the major myths around sleep and share it with your loved ones for creating a better sleep community. 

Please Book a Session with sleep coach to know more about your sleep.

Reference: Robbins R, Grandner MA, Buxton OM, Hale L, Buysse DJ, Knutson KL, Patel SR, Troxel WM, Youngstedt SD, Czeisler CA, Jean-Louis G. Sleep myths: an expert-led study to identify false beliefs about sleep that impinge upon population sleep health practices. Sleep Health. 2019 Aug;5(4):409-417. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2019.02.002. Epub 2019 Apr 17. PMID: 31003950; PMCID: PMC6689426.

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