COVID is the most trending topic. Earlier, it was a life-threatening health issue, but nobody knew it would become an inseparable part of life one day. We have already discussed COVID and its effect on our lives in many previous articles.
It included the answers to some questions like: From where did it come? What did it teach, and how did it affect our whole lifestyle? So, here we are only going to discuss the relation between COVID and our Sleep.
Sleep is very precious, and the essence of a healthy life. Due to the hectic and sedentary lifestyle, the first and foremost thing which gets ignored is sleep. There is a prevalent thought that “If sleeping hours are reduced for some time, then people take a break and have a full time sleep to cover that all.”
Really? Is it a target of a job? Like, if you have to complete your fixed target anyhow, whether by working 8 hours daily for a month or 16 hours daily in 1 week of the whole month. No people, this is sleep, not a target to fulfill and cover the loss.
[Read: Importance of Restorative Sleep]
Healthy Sleep is Boon, but Excess Sleep is Bane..!!
When COVID suddenly made the authorities shut down the country for one full day and then a week, a month, and it went on. The task that people did, especially in the starting days, is sleeping for a long time. No doubt, they needed it a lot, and it might be fine for a week or two. But, what then? COVID didn’t allow people to go back to work again.
Then the situations changed; working people started working from home. The elderly were at high risk of getting affected by the Virus, and social distancing became a norm.
In between all these, what increased more was sleeping hours. Everyone knew they need to stay at home; all day long, so had asleep for some more hours; whether they were school-going children, working people, housewives, or elderly. All had experienced this same change in their lives.
Once sleep was the most luxurious habit of life; now, it became a significant part of life. There was no stress of waking up early and completing morning duties for working people to reach the office timely. For homemakers, no rush to help the working people go for their job timely.
All we had to do is perform only the basic acts and have the basic necessities of life. All the time, that was being used earlier for late-night parties, and overtime workings now got slower.
Many of us got our dream come true to spend time with our families, thinking that it will end soon. We made sleep and eating all our favorite dishes, the major purpose of those lockdown days, not being very serious about how long it might go. And there started the problem.
COVID started to provide us relief with a healthy sleep away from the hectic schedules but never asked us to make it excessive. And out of our human nature, we always wish to have an excess of everything. When we found that we had enough sleep and relaxed from our schedules, we tried to get back to our normal schedule.
But it was too late, and somewhere we failed to have our normal schedule back. Then as always, what we did? We found a reason for that also. After that, we started to sleep for the same or a little fewer hours, saying that no one knows when we will again be so free after getting back to our hectic and busy work schedules.
[Also Read: 5 Breathing Techniques for Better Sleep]
But, what are its consequences now? Being continued for a few weeks but numerous months, it worsened our sleeping habits and triggered the sleeping issues. Obesity, Swelled Eyes, Double chins, etc. are the biggest externally visible consequences of it.
Moreover, internally it majorly affected our sleeping patterns and the problems related to it. In need of getting healthy sleep, we ended up on excessive sleep, resulting in the rise in lifestyle and other health-related issues. Most common of these issues, of which the rate increased at a rapid rate worldwide, are:
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Burning Sensations
- Weight Gain
- Joint Pain
- Back Pain
So, now it is too much; before these issues start to turn into major and severe complications, control them. Get back to your schedules in a better way than previous life, include some healthy habits including a balanced diet and lifestyle so that you can prevent their severities and treat all those who have already entered your life.
It is time to reschedule our daily tasks and stay away from other diseases. Otherwise, COVID will go one day, but these diseases will ruin your life.
Don’t let the sleep be a curse, maintain it as a boom, and have healthy eyes, skin, hair, above all the maintained and balanced body functions. Those who have started going to their offices changed their sleeping habits a bit now, but there is still a need for healthy sleep to avoid the same condition.
The most basic and necessary steps to be taken for that are mentioned below:
- Fix your sleeping hours.
- Do not be habitual of snoozing your alarms.
- Things are changed a lot; go for a morning walk.
- Start your day with a big glass of water, and stay hydrated with water and healthy drinks.
- Have a peaceful bedtime, no gossips, no stress, no gadgets.
- Have a light dinner, and try to have it atleast 1-2 hours before going to bed.
- Restrict alcohol, tea, and coffee, you have already lived a life without alcohol and other unhealthy drinks, and you are still alive with a better body, so don’t go back to it.
- Don’t lie on your bed for long; go to bed only when you are ready to sleep within the next 5 to 10 min.
- Meditate as much as you can; it is the natural healing for every health issue.
- Be more physically active.
- Don’t stress your eyes; let them relax.
The steps mentioned above might seem difficult in our previous lifestyle. Still, after knowing the importance of health and its real value, why is it called real wealth, we can quickly adapt these all steps and stay healthy for a lifetime. Stay connected for more exciting views and tips.
About The Author:
Dr. Vikram Chauhan – MD (Ayurveda) is the CEO and Founder of Planet Ayurveda and Krishna Herbal Company. He is an expert Ayurveda consultant from Chandigarh and practicing in Mohali, India.