Tessa Winn’s Reviews > Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully > Status Update

Recommended sleep hygiene practices:
1 GO TO SLEEP AND WAKE UP AT THE SAME TIME, EVEN ON WEEKENDS.
2 MOVE THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.
3 BE CAREFUL WITH CAFFEINE.
4 NO TECHNOLOGY IN THE ROOM; LIMIT IT BEFORE BEDTIME.
5 DRINK VERY LITTLE ALCOHOL (OR NONE AT ALL).
6 COOL DOWN.
7 WIND DOWN
8 MAKE YOUR BEDROOM A DARK, QUIET PLACE
9 OVERESTIMATE THE TIME YOU NEED TO SPEND IN BED.
10 MIMIC YOUR BEDTIME ROUTINE WHEN YOU TRAVEL.

we employ every possible strategy to ensure that we can get as much high-quantity, high-quality sleep as possible. Those strategies are what's known as "sleep hygiene" -a set of evidence-based behaviors that help ease the body and brain into a full and refreshing night's slumber.

If you're going through a deeply stressful period, which we all do, sleep can be impacted. There's illness and death and divorce and work pressures and family stress. You name it. And it is what it is. Sometimes you just have to weather the storm, then get back to good sleep habits when you can.

So consider all the variables: movement, light, sound, technology, routine. Really do try everything, especially the winding-down factor. A short mobility practice before bed can really help downregulate the body and prepare it for sleep.

Between 10 and 30 percent of adults struggle with chronic insomnia, and the number goes up to 48 percent in older adults. This amounts to a health crisis.

When people come to us with pain, the first thing we ask them is how much they're sleeping. Sleep is the first line of defense against pain.

As you slumber, the body also turns over the cells in your movement-related tis-sues, repairing muscle and stimulating its growth. With less sleep, less robust musculature. Sleep deprivation can also make you less sensitive to insulin, which can in turn make your tissues more likely to become inflamed and therefore less tolerant to exertion.

Well-rested athletes also have lower rates of injuries.

Your brain is arguably the most important part of your body—without it, nothing else happens. So the fact that the brain depends on sleep to do its job is the most pressing reason to make it a priority.

Because our kids were well rested, they were also less prone to emotional highs and lows.