Sleep is a critical part of your health and well-being, and it’s when your body recovers from the day’s activities and prepares itself for the next day. If you’re not getting enough sleep or having trouble sleeping, it can negatively affect your energy level, mood, and physical health. Sleep is also essential because it helps you consolidate memories and learn new things. If you don’t get enough sleep, this will impact how quickly and effectively you can learn new skills and absorb information from others.
The good news is that there are many things that you can do to improve sleep quality, such as limiting caffeine intake after noon, exercising regularly, having a routine bedtime schedule, and using blue-light blocking glasses in the evenings (so that your brain doesn’t think it’s daytime), avoiding alcohol before bedtime, eating healthy food throughout the day so that you don’t feel hungry at night (which can promote tossing and turning), practicing mindfulness exercises every day (like meditation or yoga), etc.). And now there’s a float therapy method that might be worth considering too!
How Does Floating Help You Sleep Better?
Floating is all about getting in the zone. You’re suspended in water when you float, and your body is free to move without resistance. The result? The benefits of floating include stress relief, relaxation, improved sleep, and enhanced mental clarity. But how exactly does floating do this?
Here’s the science behind how floating helps you sleep better:
Floating relaxes your body and mind
Floating relieves muscle tension — especially in your neck and back — which can help improve your sleep quality. By reducing muscle tension, floating also reduces cortisol levels (the hormone that signals stress), which can also help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Floating improves blood circulation.
Floating increases blood flow throughout the body and boosts endorphins, i.e., natural painkillers for pain relief. This increased blood flow helps deliver nutrients to cells — including our brains! So when we float, we get more oxygen delivered to our brains, which means we’re likely to feel more energized after a session than before it started!
Floating lowers cortisol
The benefits of floating are many, but one of the most important is that it helps lower cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone released when you’re under stress or feeling anxious, and it can become an issue if you have high levels of the hormone in your body over a long period. Cortisol can cause weight gain, anxiety, depression, and other health issues if it remains at high levels for too long.
Floating reduces stress
Another significant benefit of floating is that it helps to reduce your overall stress level. Stress can be caused by many things, including work and family. When you float in the tank, your body releases endorphins that help relax your mind and body so that you don’t have to worry about anything else but getting some rest. This feeling of relaxation will continue for several hours after leaving the pod, making it easier for you to fall asleep later at night.
Floating boosts slow, sleep-like brain waves.
Floating is relaxing, and when you’re relaxed, your brain produces slow, sleep-like waves known as delta waves. These waves are associated with deep relaxation and a feeling of well-being. Theta waves are also produced in the brain’s frontal lobes during meditation and when people are in a state of hypnosis or daydreaming. Theta waves are associated with heightened creativity and intuition. Theta wave production occurs during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and helps us process information from our waking lives into long-term memory.
The Effects of Lack of Proper Sleep
Sleep is a necessity in life. Sleep affects your mood, memory, learning, and overall health. If you don’t get enough sleep, it can negatively impact your daily life. Here is a list of the effects lack of proper sleep has on you:
Difficulty with concentration
Sleep deprivation can have a severe effect on your ability to concentrate. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, you may find it difficult to focus on tasks and experience “brain fog,” feeling confused or forgetful. This is a big problem in the workplace, where absenteeism due to sleep disorders costs employers billions of dollars every year.
Low energy levels
Sleep deprivation can leave you feeling exhausted throughout the day, and you may also find it hard to stay focused on daily tasks because you feel sluggish and tired. Sleep helps the body eliminate waste products that build up during the day by supporting normal cardiovascular function and boosting energy production in cells throughout the body. Without adequate sleep, these vital functions are impaired, which causes fatigue and lack of motivation.
Depression
A lack of sleep can also lead to depression and other mood disorders. Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely than those who do get enough sleep to suffer from depression or anxiety disorders. This is especially true for teenagers and young adults still developing their bodies and brains; these individuals should always aim for at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
Increased risk of heart disease
Sleep deprivation increases the risk of heart disease because it affects the hormone levels in our body, which affects blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Not getting enough sleep will affect your diet choices, which can also lead to heart disease because high cholesterol is associated with poor diet choices!
Irritability & Forgetfulness
Lack of sleep can make you more irritable, leading to conflict with loved ones. If you are tired and cranky, getting along with others around you might be challenging, especially when they are also tired and cranky! Feeling irritable can lead to anger and even physical altercations. The key is to get enough sleep to feel rested and refreshed when you wake up in the morning.
Conclusion
Floating has been shown to help people naturally deal with stress, anxiety, past traumas, and other emotional disturbances. It has also been shown to have a positive effect on chronic pain. Someone dealing with these issues may have trouble sleeping or suffer from insomnia. In these instances, floating may be the perfect solution to help them get their needed sleep.