I sit over a leisurely chat with my friends and one of our most discussed topics is ‘a good sleep after a long day’. It is not that we pick this discussion consciously but somehow as we exchange notes on how our day has been, someone will mention how they had not slept well or another friend mentions how she ‘was dead to the world’ by the time she hit the bed – simply put, she lapsed into an exhausted sleep.

I myself have gone through this spectrum of sleep experiences and my symptoms have flavours but broadly:

1. I have a hectic day at work, and I fall into an exhausted sleep drained out mentally OR
2. I have a hectic day at work, and I am so tired that sleep does not come easily OR
3. I decide to be a couch potato over a weekend and by the time I hit the bed, I feel more tired OR
4. My body clock does not trigger drowsiness as it waits for the ‘appointed hour’ – it is just used to sleeping only after 9 pm– I become a slave of this habit OR
5. Over a weekend, I go out shopping for a few hours and sleep soundly but when I wake up, I oddly feel physically tired

Do you notice a pattern here? Do you find something that ties up the experiences well? I am sure you have found the answer by now – Yes, my sedentary lifestyle. A day that is spent sitting or lying down or a walk in a mall (where my mind is more aligned to my shopping list than to my body), does not qualify as an active day.

This is a vicious cycle – lack of exercise leads to lack of sleep which leads to stress. The corollary of this is stress leads to poor sleep which is aggravated by the lack of exercise.

Lack of good sleep leads to many adverse conditions stated broadly here:

– Adverse impact on your brain functions
– Experience headaches, migraine and burning eyes
– Decreased cognitive alertness
– Deficit in attention and working memory
– Adverse impact on your brain functions
– Experience muscle cramps and joint stiffness
– Adverse impact on digestion
– Weakens the immune system
– Suppresses the growth hormones
– Reduced rate of healing

Let me share my experience of the days when I was overworked and tired after a long day and would wake up more tired the next morning as I was not getting good sleep.

This was the time when I was working 12-14 hours a day as I was rapidly climbing the corporate ladder. I would drive to office, sit at my desk or in conference rooms for 8-10 hours on an average, have lunch at my desk, order some tea or coffee again, at my desk and would have my dinner with my partner on my way home so I could spend some quality time with her. I would reach home quite late and fall asleep almost immediately, readying myself for the next day. In my mind, I was quite an active person as I would be active and buzzing with energy the full day and everything was going as per my plans.

After 6 months, however, I started noticing that despite me looking forward to going back home and sleeping to ‘recharge’ myself, I would be tossing and turning more often over the night than I had in my entire life. I tried a few tactics of reading a book before bed and listening to soft music. These did help – or so I thought! I would fall asleep for the initial few hours but then wake up in the middle of the night to force myself to go back to sleep.

The result was that I would wake up tired and groggy in the morning, feeling low in office and soon this started showing on the quality of my work. I was making silly mistakes, missing discussion points, getting impatient with my colleagues, experiencing mood swings and would be tired all day long. One day at work, I ended up missing an important client meeting and found it difficult to explain it to my seniors and subordinates. The tension that followed got the better of me and I fell sick to land in a hospital for a week due to extreme fatigue. This was my wake-up call!!

After getting discharged, I spoke to my doctor and he asked me “How has your sleep been of late? How many hours are you sleeping at night?” I narrated my experience over the past 6 months, which he heard patiently. He said, “You suffer from lack of sleep. You think you are active, when you are not. You think you are energetic, when you are not. A daily schedule without physical activity qualifies as a sedentary life.” Saying this, he handed me a prescription which read,

1. Stretching exercises for 15 minutes early morning
2. Brisk walking for 30 minutes, 45 minutes after dinner

I will be honest – I was sceptical about this – maybe some kind of medication would have helped me sleep better. Since he was my family physician, I decided to try the prescription and not reject it outright.

In a week’s time, I could start to experience the results. I had started to sleep better and I was finding it less difficult to wake up on time in the morning. Yes, at the start, my body would feel a little stiff – but this was natural. My muscles were rebelling to go back to the relaxed, no action lifestyle and I was not allowing them to – as the daily regime of exercising and walking was uncompromised. After all, if my doctor had given me some pills, would I not have taken them diligently, without fail?

The next transformation that happened for me was that I started to feel a sense of loss when I would not start my exercise / walk on time. In about 6 months, I had developed my 15 minutes morning regime to 45 minutes as I had now included Yoga and Core in it and my evening walk was now a full one hour with my partner. I had also started enjoying my walks with her and this would give me some ‘us’ time too.

Life had suddenly started to look so much better – work life was stress free and home was even better.

All I had done were the following and I would urge you to do the same too:

1. Recognized the problem: I listened to my body and mind to realize that I was not taking adequate care
2. Reached out to a professional: In this case, my doctor – who asked me to put an effort to resolve the problem. He did not put me on pills as a quick win.
3. Resolved to follow a regime: I imposed self-discipline and diligently followed the regime that I promised myself.
4. Recreational attitude: I realized that exercise and walking could become mundane after a while – especially once I started feeling a little better. I consciously came up with ideas to stay motivated. I had my partner’s support and the days she could not make it, I would carry an audio book with me and listen to something motivational.
5. Rediscovered myself: I had an immediate goal of attaining a healthy body and mind, but I realized that I was also starting to rediscover myself in these ‘me-times’. I started to get more and more aware and was pursuing new hobbies and interest.

What am I recommending here, so you can enjoy all aspects of life and stay healthy and stress-free?

1. Resolve to recognize, redefine your lifestyle – where exercise of some kind is mandated
2. Look for a motivation – Learn from the experience of anyone around you whose journey feels inspiring to you
3. Make a regime and follow the schedule with passion, enthusiasm and discipline
4. Listen to your body – step up your exercise over a period and stop when you think you have reached the threshold (trust me, the threshold keeps rising as you stay resolved and this is a good feeling!)
5. Enjoy your exercise regime – include your friends, family. The collateral benefits are tremendous.

So, repeat to yourselves: “I reside in this beautiful, healthy body and I will take care of it in the best way possible with purpose, passion and enthusiasm.”

As you tweak your regime to include exercising and sleeping better…Enjoy Life, Stay Healthy and Stress-Free!!