Expert guide from TEMPUR® sleep specialist on how sleep can help us look and feel our best this party season, into the New Year and beyond…
Sleep is the crucial time for our bodies to relax, rest and repair, with the quality and quantity of sleep impacting both how we look and feel come morning. Thomas Høegh Reisenhus, TEMPUR® sleep specialist & sleep counsellor, believes that sleep is the ideal secret weapon to ensure a healthy and lasting glow from within, in the year to come.
Thomas says: “Sleep restores our energy levels, regulates hormones and assists with gut health, amongst a whole host of other crucial functions. These processes are what keep our bodies running, helping us to not only thrive and feel our best but to look it too.
“We all know that if we don’t get enough high-quality sleep, we increase the likelihood of dark circles and bags under the eyes, but the physical effects don’t stop there.
“On top of reduced energy and a weakened immune system, when our bodies are working on ‘low-battery’ mode we’re more likely to experience rashes and acne due to increased inflammation, and pale and sallow skin due to inadequate skin cell turnover and regeneration – a key activity that happens during our sleep cycle. Lack of sleep can also be detrimental to any efforts in the gym.
“So, to ensure that you’re able to head into the new year looking and feeling your best, it’s crucial to understand the key components of a good night’s sleep as well as the benefits it affords.”
Read on for Thomas’s complete guide to waking up feeling beautiful…
Sleep ergonomics
The position we sleep in can have a huge effect on how we look when we wake up.
Sleeping on your front can cause a range of issues, from bad posture to fine lines and wrinkles as your face pushes against the pillow.
Side sleeping offers many benefits – sleeping on your side with a pillow between your knees, keeping hips, pelvis and spine in alignment, reduces compression of your airways so can help to alleviate breathing issues and reduce the likelihood of snoring, which is more common when sleeping on your back.
Lying on your back can exacerbate snoring and sleep apnoea. If you sleep on your back, you may benefit from a pillow tucked beneath your knees, in order to support and protect your lower back, hips and knees and keep your spine aligned.
No matter what you find most comfortable, ensuring that your body is aligned is crucial to ensuring that you don’t wake up with awkward knots. A high-quality, ergonomic mattress and pillow should provide the optimal level of support and aid good posture: your head, neck, shoulders, hips and back should be well-supported while sleeping. Just think of your bed as a key tool in your beauty kit!
Fabric feeling
The fabrics we sleep on also have an impact on how we look when waking up. Fabrics that are smooth and won’t cause friction, such as silk, make ideal pillowcases as they won’t pull on the skin, contributing to fine lines, or on hair, causing frizz and breakage.
It is also important to sleep on natural fabrics to avoid overheating and thus dehydration – the enemy of glowing skin – at night. Breathable textiles such as cotton are perfect for bed sheets. To keep cosy in the colder months, swap your duvet for a higher tog winter version, add a cosy blanket as an extra layer (that can easily be removed if you wake up warm) and use all-natural flannel sheets.
Gym gains
If you’re a regular gym goer or hoping to kick off the year with a new sculpting and toning regime, then you should consider sleep an integral part of your routine.
When we exercise, we’re placing strain on our muscles and, as such, experience hypertrophy – small, microscopic tears within the muscle tissue. To heal, the body essentially stitches up the tears, alleviating any feeling of soreness and strengthening muscles over time. However, the success of this healing process is dependent on many components, including sleep.
In fact, most tissue growth and repair – such as protein synthesis, aka the creation of new proteins that then become muscle tissue – takes place during sleep. During non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep the brain is resting, so more blood is available to circulate to the rest of the body, bringing oxygen supplies and nutrients that cells then use to heal.
Naturally occurring growth hormones are also released during non-REM sleep. As our bodies enter this stage of sleep, signals are sent to the pituitary gland, the part of the brain in control of our hormones, to release growth hormones. This then stimulates tissue repair in the ‘torn’ muscles, which is what helps cells to regenerate. Thus, sleep affords our bodies the time required to rest and recuperate, facilitating the repair and strengthening of muscles and helping us to solidify those all-important gym gains.
Nature’s skincare
Healthy bright skin is sure to be on many people’s beauty wish lists this party season. Before attempting expensive and complex regimens and procedures, however, it is worthwhile to take it back to basics and understand how sleep effects your skin, and why a lack of it will damage your chance of a blemish-free visage.
In the same way our muscles are repaired during sleep, so is our skin, which is in fact the largest organ in the human body. New skin cells are generated during sleep, with peak generation occurring in the hour before midnight. It’s therefore crucial that we get not only enough sleep but also ensure our sleep is aligned with our body’s natural circadian rhythms.
Collagen production, the protein that provides elasticity and firmness, is aided by healthy sleep, as is vasopressin, the hormone that regulates water balance . So, for nourished, glowing skin, the first port of call should be a consistent sleep pattern.
Which trends work
There are so many interesting beauty tips circulating on social media about ‘going to sleep ugly’ so you can wake up well rested and glowing. For example, sleeping in overnight hair curlers, skin treatments, facemasks and teeth whitening kits. Whilst the short-term effects are often impressive, you should consider how it will affect your sleep long term too.
Items such as bulky hair curlers can easily cause discomfort at night, causing wakeups and a broken sleep pattern. This will invariably lead to overtiredness which, in the long term, will only be counterproductive to looking and feeling your best.
Instead focus on beauty regiments that can actually aid sleep, such as a skin cream or hydrating mist with a soothing lavender scent that will assist a peaceful night’s rest and help ensure you wake up bright eyed, quite literally.
Glow from within
When it comes to looking our best, the most important thing is to feel good. Having a consistent, healthy sleep routine will allow you to wake up feeling rested and recharged with plenty of energy for the day ahead.
Good quality sleep also balances our mood by boosting strength and functional connectivity in the prefrontal cortex, meaning the more rested we are, the more in control we are of our rational thought process, decision making and emotions.
So, enjoy yourself this party season, but make time for a good night’s sleep too, to ensure you’re able to wake up looking and feeling fabulous day after day.
For more information about TEMPUR, visit www.tempur.co.uk
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TEMPUR® researches, develops, manufactures and distributes mattresses, pillows and other sleep products to improve the sleep experience worldwide.
TEMPUR® Material is the original pressure relieving mattress product made up of viscoelastic – billions of ultra-sensitive open cells that exist between a solid and a liquid state. TEMPUR® products provide the ultimate comfort and support, helping you to get a great night’s sleep night after night.
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