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Sleep is one of the pillars of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Along with nutrition, exercise and a positive mindset, sleep is a very important part of embracing a conscious lifestyle as well as living life to its fullest at the same time. We might lose sight of its amazing importance and wellness benefits by engaging in disturbing actions that sometimes we are not even aware of. Some other times, we might just take it for granted or just forget about how truly important and significant sleep can be for our own health and well being. By falling into the traps of living our modern lives and many times busy lives, so many of us lose sight of what is really important in life: our own personal health and well being. Therefore this month I will be sharing each Wednesday a post on all about healthy sleep and the amazing benefits that it brings into the magic of our day to day lives. Things that I will be discussing in the upcoming weeks include: sleep patters, helpful supplements, relaxation tools and so much more.

Sleep has been around since the beginning of time so even if there are still parts of this subject that we can not fully understand for now, or that the scientists have not been able to figure out yet, there is still significant evidence out there to prove how beneficial sleep turns our to be for the human body, both as a restoration mechanism, as well as as a time for the body to detox and create a healthy environment for all the fundamental processes that support our health to take place in a healthy, balanced way. While there are many variations when it comes to the themes of how much should we sleep and when is it best to sleep, the point is as always, that quality of sleep is perhaps the most important factor. Uninterrupted, deep, relaxing and soothing sleep is great for us all. Still, this does not mean that we should use this idea of soothing sleep as an excuse to not care about quantity too.

It is indeed important to find out, also by ourselves, and by the help of medical advisors or health experts, how much we as unique individuals need to sleep in order to be able to be our best and do our best on a daily basis. Sometimes, we might be going through some changes and transitions in our day to day lives, or we might be traveling or exploring new territories. Things like these can have an impact on our mood and even on our sleep patterns. Supplements and herbal remedies can be pretty useful in such times. For example, Passionflower and Valerian are both great for helping the body reestablish its natural sleep patters, and so does Melatonin. Those can be found at most healthy food stores and are pretty affordable too, which is a great thing. Another helpful thing can be using essential oils as therapy for soothing and relaxation, for example lavender and lemon balm are both amazing for those purposes, and they also smell simply divine.

As always, I do believe that even with sleep there is a personal journey of exploration and personal discovery that we have to embark on. By knowing more, we can improve our day to day lives and do better as well as feel better. While doing this, we have also to remind ourselves from time to time that there is no one size fits all, so that is why it is so important to focus on our unique needs and individual characteristics and be aware that there is also no magic solution, so while sleep is a very important part of a healthy balanced lifestyle, it is not all, that is why all pillars of a healthy lifestyle are just as important as sleep, and therefore, by taking care of each one of them, to the best of our ability, we are creating space for learning and growth as well as a constantly improving state of personal well being and overall health.

Stay tuned for the upcoming posts, each week of September, on Wednesdays, to discover more helpful information and tools on healthy sleep and relaxation in general. Feel free to share this with your lovely friends and family members and in the meantime always keep in mind that making healthy and fulfilling choices on a day to day basis is a habit just like any other habit and it requires repetition in order to became second nature, but as soon as our bodies and our minds get used to the new habit, then everything unfolds naturally, in a healthy, balanced way. I truly believe that when we take care of our bodies and nourish ourselves with the most nutritious and fulfilling plant based foods available to us at all times, enjoy relaxation practices and also have a soothing and healthy sleep routine then we are really able to reach our full potential and live life to its fullest.