Getting enough sleep is vital to your health. No matter how young or old you are there is no excuse to skimp on sleep.

In this generation it is very difficult to get enough sleep. Due to growing populations there are more cars on the road. In the last few years our driving time has increased with about 1 hour, daily. This results in getting up earlier to miss the traffic and getting home later. Then you have to prepare dinner, make sure the kids do their homework, get them to bed and then have some time with your spouse. By this time it is well past 10 o’clock. Yes, sleeping is last on most of our lists, but we should start making a conscious effort to improve our sleep.

Here are a few interesting facts about sleep:

• On average you will spend a third of you life sleeping, that is about 25 years
• In your first 2 years of being a parent you will miss out on a total of 6 months worth of sleep
• In 1998 an experiment shown that when a bright light is shone on the back of your knees the brain will reset your sleep-wake clock
• Sleeping less than 7 hours a day can reduce your life expectancy, as will sleeping more than 8 hours a day.
• The world record for not sleeping was set in 1964 by 17 year old, Randy Gardner. He did not sleep for 11 days and 12 minutes.
• Some deaf people will do sign language when sleeping
• A lack of sleep may cause weight gain of about 1 kg per week.
• It is untrue that you need less sleep when you are old. Although older people wake more frequently during the night they should catch up  during the day with naps.
• Snails can sleep for 3 years
• 12% of people dream in black and white. Before colour television it was 70%.
• While sleeping a dolphin only shuts down half of his brain.
• It is impossible to sneeze in your sleep
• You can only dream of faces you’ve already seen.
• Sleeping while on the job in Japan is acceptable, as this is a sign that you are working hard.
• Sea otters hold hands while sleeping. This prevents them from drifting apart.
• People who can’t seem to get out of bed in the morning may suffer from Dysania.
• People experience better sleep during a new moon and worse sleep during a full moon.
• About half of all pilots have admitted to falling asleep while flying passenger planes
• Cats sleep about 70% of their lives
• Believing you slept well improves performance even if you haven’t had a good nights rest.

Improving sleep can be difficult but the best way is to improve your daily routine. Cancel out doing the dishes in the evening and get a dishwasher. After using things put them back where they were, as this can reduce time spent on cleaning up. Ozone Therapy may also improve your sleep as it reduces stress and anxiety. Ozone therapy also improves blood circulation, brain function, heart function and your overall health.

Will you be getting in more sleep?