Sleep Like a Yogi

Hey yogi,

How was your sleep last night? Pause and consider how you felt when you woke up. Rested? Exhausted? Refreshed? Creaky? Sleep is a huge cornerstone of our health so being honest with yourself about yours is a good start! When you’re aware, you can start to make changes to improve it. If your sleep is awesome then yay for you. 🎉 Send this to someone you know struggles with sleep and you may even change their life!

During a decade working in Silicon Valley tech, we used to aim to ditch sleep so we could work more. We tried everything you can imagine to cut down sleep time back then, even several polyphasic sleep schedules!

As parents, business owners and avid travelers, we’ve experienced a few periods in our lives where sleep seems like an elusive goal which evades us as we navigate work schedules, nighttime wake ups and time zone changes.

But, gone are the days when surviving on a few hours was a badge of honor and something to brag about (you’ve heard the ‘I'll sleep when I'm dead’ ‘sleep is for the weak’ etc) 🙄. People are finally waking up to the fact that sleep really matters.

Why is sleep so important? (The science bit…)

Quality sleep is essential for physical, mental, and emotional health. The benefits of good sleep go beyond just feeling rested — it enhances our focus, creativity, and emotional stability. By prioritizing sleep, we elevate our overall well-being and experience better sleep, which can alleviate insomnia and stress. Adults generally need around 6-9 hours per night and for children and teenagers it’s much more than this! The amount of sleep you need depends on many things like your health history, activity level and age. Generally the older you get, the less sleep you can get away with, but that does not mean you should ignore listening to your individual needs.

Sleep and rest are vital for the body’s restoration, regeneration, and repair processes. During deeper stages of sleep, our bodies engage in essential regenerative activities like tissue repair, muscle building, and protein synthesis. Sleep also bolsters the immune system, making it a crucial time for healing and overall health maintenance.

Sleep plays an equally critical role in memory consolidation and cognitive function. During REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and deep NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the brain organizes and stores information from the day, turning short-term memories into long-term ones, which supports learning, decision-making, and creativity.

While sleep seems passive, it's when key processes happen—like hormone regulation, growth hormone release for cellular repair, and melatonin production to maintain our sleep-wake cycles. Sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea, events like having a newborn or going through a drastic life-change, as well as alcohol intake can interfere with these stages, leading to fatigue, cognitive impairment, and a weakened immune system.

We all know the feeling of everything seeming more overwhelming when we haven’t slept well. When we’re emotionally drained and everything feels amplified, it’s a sign we need more quality sleep. This helps us recharge and approach challenges with a clearer mind, rather than making rushed decisions while feeling depleted.

What can you do?

There are many things you can do and we have our 10 top tips in this article as a starting point so keep reading!