03/21/2022
I don’t walk for mental health - I walk for sleep!
If you’ve followed my journey last year, I’ve had major sleep issues this past year.
For some people, it starts through a traumatic event or stressful work period that disrupted their sleep patterns. For me, it most certainly is due to my fluctuating hormones as I go through menopause.
Over 50% of women going through menopause have sleep issues!
Just like low bone mass or osteoporosis, it happens to a MAJORITY of women, not a minority.
And, of course when I was younger, I gave it no thought since it wasn’t happening to me.
But, since it has, the silver lining is that my problem, became a puzzle. This puzzle I needed, wanted, to figure out and without the aids of drugs, which I did turn to (ambien) during this journey.
I wanted to share one of the first lines of strategies that any behavioral sleep doctor and neuroscientist would suggest -go get outdoor sunlight exposure.
Start with daily walks in the morning and night. Nothing crazy, shoot for a minimum of 10 minutes each walk and keep that regular.
Besides working to set your circadian rhythm which is the body clock that everything runs on from hunger, to energy to sleep, it does make life feel better being outside.
I assign walks for my Master Your Body mentees once they’ve nailed down their strength workout consistency - it’s that important that I make it a necessary health activity!
How do you prioritize walks?
P.S. The Master Your Body mentorship program applications close this Friday 6pm. Apply so that we can chat about whether this is a good fit for you! (Link in my bio)
