We all had the experience of whatever illness we were having getting better after a good night's sleep. In terms of maintaining health and assisting body's healing mechanism, sleep is actually more important than diet or exercise. If you consistently have deep sleep in the most critical hours when body is detoxing and regenerating, you will have a very resilient immune system and have the potential to live a long and healthy life. The most critical hour for sleep is between 11pm and 3am when according to Chinese Medicine, Gall gladder and Liver are doing detoxing and reparing. So to ensure you are in deep sleep by then, 10 to 10:30 pm would be the latest for bed time. And if you rise at 5 am you would have had enough sleep for the day. If you try it, you will find that this yields more energy and a clear brain for the next day compared to sleeping more hours outside of this window. In fact, this year's Nobel Prize was given to scientists who studied the the circadia rhythm. They found that chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner timekeeper is associated with increased risk for various diseases. So grab your pillows early and be an early bird. Your body will thank you!
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