The Importance of Rest in the Paleo Lifestyle

I have focused all my post to date on the food and dietary aspects of the Paleo lifestyle. That the Paleo life is actually a trilogy or trinity since I consider myself a disciple and it is Holy Week for many of us.

The two other aspects that make up the Paleo lifestyle  are sleep or rest cycle and movement. I avoid the use of exercise because the cavemen did not own a gym membership or did he knowingly engage in an exercise regimen. We should follow his lead.

Today I will address the importance of rest and sleep. We humans spend a great deal of time on sensory overload. Technology has completely taken over our lives. When was the last time you did not have some sort of technology in your hands or not frantically looking for it when it wasn't. I purposely do not have my phone on me at night, meaning the ringer is turned off. I have been using it for an alarm though. I don't have a land line either. I case of an emergency they will send the police.

If you have trouble going to sleep at night I have the following suggestions:

     1.   Turn off all technology at least one hour before you want to be asleep.

     2.   Avoid caffeine after 4 pm.

     3.   Don't engage to physical activity that tends to over stimulate. A walk after dinner.

     4.  Have dinner at least 3 hours before you intend to retire for the evening.

Notice anything about the above four suggestions? You should. All require your brain and other body parts to be engaged in their natural processes to complete the tasks you have asked them to do. In other words, you want your brain to be preparing to rest itself not send messages to the stomach to digest dinner, or the skeletal muscles to tear and repair or other metabolic processes. The stimulation of the caffeine is a no brainer as is the use of technology.

I have recently taken the approach to get my 8 recommended hours of sleep by engaging the following routine:

     1.   All technology is turned off by 9 pm on days I have a 5 am wake up call.

     2.   I actually am in bed by 8 pm and reading a book. Any kind of book will due. After reading for   several minutes, I can turn off the lights and fall asleep quite easily.

     3.  Herbal tea is a nice way to end the day and induce slumber as well.

Try these and see if they don't help you sleep better and longer. Every adult needs at least 7-8 of quality sleep for good health.

I invite your comments and suggestions as well.

K.