What Is Stress and How It Affects Your Sleep_ Sleep Science Facts To Fall Asleep To

Your heart races. Your palms sweat. Your mind spins. You are not in danger. Your body is reacting as if you are. Stress is not the event. Stress is the body's response to the event. And that response evolved to help you outrun predators, not to help you answer emails.When you perceive a threat, your sympathetic nervous system activates. Cortisol and adrenaline flood your bloodstream. Your heart rate increases. Your blood pressure rises. Your digestion slows. Your immune system suppresses. These responses are designed to be temporary. In modern life, they are chronic. The same stress response that helped your ancestors survive a lion attack now activates when you see a notification from your boss.Chronic stress disrupts sleep in predictable ways. It keeps your sympathetic nervous system activated at night. It prevents the downshift to parasympathetic rest mode. It elevates cortisol when cortisol should be falling. The result is difficulty falling asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, and non-restorative sleep. This episode is designed to be played as you fall asleep. The science is gentle. The narration is calm.Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because understanding stress is the first step to sleeping through it.