Healthytarian Minutes with holistic teacher Evita Ochel (www.evitaochel.com). This episode shares how stress impacts your sleep and the effects of poor sleep on your physical, mental and emotional health. Learn effective stress solutions to relieve your stress and anxiety with the MAP Yoga Path online video program: www.mapyogapath.com/ Video transcript: You may be aware that getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night is important for your health and wellbeing. By paying attention to the things that cause you stress and taking action, you can help ensure you are getting a good night's sleep. Long-term or chronic stress can make it hard to fall asleep and may bring on insomnia. It can also make it hard to stay asleep and may cause you to wake up too early. A lot of this has to do with high levels of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol levels can become imbalanced by long-term or extreme stress. Missing out on a good night’s sleep triggers a number of problems, which can cause you more stress. The first and most obvious effect of poor sleep is waking up feeling tired and groggy. This often creates a cycle of caffeine dependence, which creates further imbalance in our energy levels, sleep and health. It negatively impacts your memory and ability to focus, concentrate and be productive. It depresses your mood, creates emotional instability and makes you more prone to anxiety and depression. Ultimately, it increases your risk of infections and chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. To break this destructive cycle, be sure to engage in effective stress management, by identifying your stressors and minimizing their presence in your life and impact on you. You can accomplish this by practicing stress reducing exercises and developing healthy habits, like getting regular physical activity and eating nutritious foods.

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