JumpStart National Salsa (the edible kind) Month

Main Idea:  Sleep is Underrated

May is also Better Sleep Month

Dov Davidoff may be a comedian, but sleep is very real, and our need for good, restorative sleep is way overlooked.  It’s often the first thing we skimp on when we get busy.

My wife and I recently gave into the Smart Watch craze and now have Pixel watches with FitBit that tracks your sleep and gives you a Sleep Score every morning.

The skeptic in me wonders how much it can really tell about your sleep based on your heartbeat, but if nothing else, I’m very aware of my sleep now.

Part of a good night’s rest is good sleep hygiene. Part of what enables you to sleep well is your behavior and choices leading up to bedtime.  Matthew Walker has written a great book on sleep and outlines some important actions to consider for a decent sleep:

• Find a routine - attempting to catch-up on sleep during the weekend throws off your natural rhythms and can actually result in mental and physical fatigue.
• Reduce caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.
• Get some sun - at least 30 minutes during the say helps set your body’s rhythms.
• Ditch the devices and cardio right before bed.
• Avoid lying in bed for too long - if you can’t fall asleep within 25 - 30 minutes, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy.

This week, try this: Keep a sleep log. Record when you go to bed, when you wake up, and a general sense of how well you slept (how rested do you feel, what does your body feel like, etc.).  Maybe a simple 1-10 rating.  Even something simple like this ensures that sleep becomes more of a priority and you will start to see correlations between daytime behaviors and success with sleep.
​
Quote:  "Lack of sleep is only bad if you have to drive, or think, or talk, or move."  ~Dov Davidoff

Educator Resources:  Amazon’s Best Sellers in Children’s Sleep Issues - Not sure why it’s ‘Sleep ISSUES’, but these look like good ones, even for the kid in all of us adults.  Top 13 Books on Sleep - If you’re more into big-kid books, here’s a list of books on sleep (who knows?  Reading one may just put you to sleep!).

Dad Joke: Where to rainbows go when they've been bad?  To prism, but it's a light sentence.

May?!  What?  Looks like we're heading into the home stretch, y'all.  Stay healthy!

​Matt Weld, Area 5 SEL Coach