Sleeping stresses me out. Im rubbish at it. And thats made all the more frustrating because Im acutely aware of how important and beneficial it is to my overall health and fitness.
Good sleep can double fat loss. It supports muscle gain. Hitting the hallowed eight hours all but guarantees you a longer life. Yet, at least once a week, most likely on a Sunday when the fear kicks in, I lie in bed, tossing and turning, unable to switch off for hours. Only very rarely does my head hit the below and Im asleep within 15 minutes.
Gladly, my nightmares came to an end purely by chance when my wife brought home a Simba Orbit weighted blanket. It turned out she couldnt use it because she has asthma, so I decided to give it a whirl. And it worked, completely and utterly.
Simba Orbit Weighted Blanket
149.00
I had no idea how or why, but I didnt care. All I cared about was the fact that I was falling asleep more quickly and staying asleep. The endless tossing and turning ended. And crucially, the more quickly I fell asleep, the less opportunity there was for me to get inside my own head and psych myself out of better rest.
It all makes sense, though. The blanket is filled with thousands of glass nano-beads, held in evenly-filled quilted pockets, and works through something called deep pressure therapy (DPT). DPT is essentially a calming process activated through a physical stimulus such as a hug or another application of pressure across the body.
DPT also counters stress by helping your nervous system switch from 'fight or flight' to 'rest and relax'. The weight of the blanket turns off your sympathetic nervous system and activates your parasympathetic one. This helps to regulate your heartbeat, relax your muscles and set your mind at ease, so you can get to sleep, and stay there.
According to research published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine and Disorders, The additional pressure stimulation from the weighted blanket provided a calming effect on the study participants, by decreasing agitation and increasing the quality of their sleep. This was demonstrated through a decrease in movements during sleep with the weighted blanket, which were increased in the pre- and post-test periods, and also the subjective increased in sleep quality.
Spending money on a heavy blanket sounded like swindle to me, too. Ive mulled it over and over in my head. But, all that I come back around to is that it works. Sleep is no longer a struggle. Im less anxious as I go to bed and more rested when I wake. All Im waiting for now is for that doubling of fat loss to kick in.
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Struggling to Sleep? This Bedroom Swap Cured My Sleeplessness in One Night - Men's health UK
