I know that women often joke about needing their “beauty sleep” but I actually think it’s more than just a saying. There’s truth there. Something biologically wonderful happens when we sleep. It’s like a mini makeover each night that we take for granted. But you can really see the difference when you don’t get it. When I am sleep deprived my body starts falling apart. My skin gets flaky or oily without the much needed time to regenerate. I break out and I swear my stomach gets fatter and my appetite is all out of wack. My eyes are either puffy or sullen. Everything is red and sensitive and uneven. Lack of sleep breaks down my immune system and weird things happen like styes and cold sores and swollen lymph nodes or whatever else feels attacked by a weakened lack of white blood cells. When you are tired and sleep deprived it not only shows in your physique but in the energy that you radiate, or lack there of. Your brain is also dysfunctional and emotions can run amiss so it hurts your “inner beauty” too! Sleep deprivation seems to always be on the list of potential causes to any illness, always listed next to its good friend stress. I don’t really know how it works, but just like you and I can’t take care of our homes, clean and cook and make necessary repairs around the house until we are home from work. Our bodies are too busy working too, walking us through the day thinking and moving and talking. Then when we are finally still and fall into our sleep our bodies can take care of the cleaning and repairing ‘around the house.’ So there is something real behind “beauty sleep,” for both men and women alike. Children too need their sleep to grow. As we break down and use up our fuel each day, we must rebuild and recharge each night. It balances us out. Certainly a little beauty sleep never hurt anyone.
