“Take out the papers and the trash, or you won’t get no spending cash.” Those lyrics sung by The Coasters in 1959 can be applied to many parts of our lives every day. I’m going to apply it to our bodies and brains. The more garbage in our systems, the less effective they function. Why do you think people put themselves through detoxes, even though they are not easy and may not be enjoyable. We all know we should “eat clean”, right? But we are human and life happens. We need to enjoy life, but we also need balance.
How do we find balance? Yes, doing a detox is a great answer for a seasonal deep clean. What can you do on most days of the year to make that seasonal clean-up easier? Sleep. If you’re one of those people that believe you can sleep when you’re dead you may find yourself at that resting point sooner than if you got some quality sleep now. And for those of you who are night owls, you may also find yourself on a rocky road.
The most important time to be in bed with the lights out is from 10pm to 2am. According to Ayurveda, that is when our bodies and brains take out the trash. Our immune systems need time to clean out toxins and inflammation that are clogging up our systems. If you don’t give your body and brain this valuable time, you will feel the resulting affects with brain-fog, mood swings, weight gain, allergies, and decreased energy and productivity in the short-term. In the long-term, you could see autoimmune disorders, cancers, heart disease, and dementia. Matt Richtel wrote a book titled An Elegant Defense which gives a wonderful insight into our immune systems.
The thing is that you can do something to greatly improve the immune system of your body and brain starting today! All you need to do is slowly, 15 minutes per week, move your bedtime to 10pm or earlier. If night time is when you catch up on work, you would be more productive if you went to bed earlier, woke up earlier, and did your work in the morning. Your dinner schedule may also influence this earlier bedtime. For more help on putting these pieces together, my course, Healthy Connections, does just that. Join our amazing group and get your life out of the garbage.
