Ep. 25 - Enter Sandman: How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep (& Why It’s So Important) - with Julian Hayes II

Julian Hayes II is a health & fitness consultant, a nutrition coach, a sleep science coach, and the author of Body Architect: A Real-World Guide to Ignite Your Fitness, Look Awesome Naked, Quiet the Inner Voices of Self-Doubt, & Design a Lifestyle on Your Own Terms. In this episode, we discuss the science (and importance) of sleep. When Julian or I work with our clients, we both focus on sleep first and foremost. High-quality sleep is vital for both healing and sustaining wellness, so it has to be addressed before anything else. While the body appears, from the outside, to be still and inactive, the body is quite busy when you are asleep. It is restocking hormones, processing toxins, repairing damaged tissues, generating white blood cells, eliminating the effects of stress, and processing heavy emotions, among other things. “There’s no aspect of your life that goes untouched when you skimp on sleep.” –Julian Hayes II If you don’t get enough high-quality sleep, the results can be quite drastic: You age faster, at a cellular level. The immune system is weakened, and you’re more likely to develop a metabolic syndrome. Hunger is affected and the metabolism slows, so you’re more likely to gain weight. Mood is worsened, and our capacity for empathy is diminished. Cognitive performance declines. Leadership skills are negatively affected. This all adds up to a significant and measurable impact on our nation’s productivity. Rand performed a study that found that insufficient sleep in the U.S. workforce costs up to $411 billion, and causes the country to lose the equivalent of about 1.23 million working days. How do you get a good night’s sleep? Julian likes to break it down into a checklist: Reframe your attitude and mindset around sleep. There’s a difference between ‘getting by’ on not enough sleep and thriving with adequate sleep. Visualize how achieving your goals will be affected by lack of sleep. Set sleep goals and milestones. Develop a simple meditation practice. Practice gratitude. Julian writes down three things he’s grateful for every morning, and then does a nightly review of three good things that happened during the day. ...