A Simply Healthy by Caroline FauselSample

SLEEP + MOVEMENT

In our “girl boss” hustle culture, sleep has been pushed to the side and forgotten, like the crumbs under the captain seats in your minivan. Mantras like “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” make it seem like it’s the tough who can push through on limited sleep and make up for it with caffeine all day every day, no matter your current life stage.

What does sleep have to do with God? This week, we’ll be talking about many different foundational aspects of health, with this verse as our basis: In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Jesus says “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

God didn’t create our bodies to thrive with little to no sleep. He makes it clear that our bodies need rest—and that he delights in giving us that rest: “In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe” (Psalm 4:8, NLT).

Lack of sleep negatively affects just about every body process, so getting sufficient sleep (at least seven hours per night for adults, but hopefully much more!) is crucially important for our optimal functioning. If God himself needs rest, I will venture to say that we do too (Genesis 2:2-3).

The first step to getting more sleep is to prioritize it! You may need to make some tweaks in order to get the deepest sleep possible. That could look like halting all caffeine after lunch, stopping looking at screens two hours before bed, putting your phone in another room and turning it off while you sleep, darkening your bedroom with blackout curtains and using a sleep mask, turning down the temperature in your bedroom, minimizing the noise you can and using earplugs, and reducing alcohol usage. You can help your body fall asleep earlier by watching the sunrise and sunset!

And remember, when you are well rested, your waking time is significantly more effective!

Another major factor in great sleep is movement. When you move hard you sleep hard! Both sleep and movement have massive positive benefits on almost everything in the body, and their importance can’t be overstated!

Moving your body should absolutely never be out of shame or punishment. Instead, we can work to find a form of movement that you love doing! This will help you do it for the long haul. The benefits of daily movement are too many to list, but a few of my favorite benefits are that it benefits your sleep, boosts your mood, stimulates blood flow to the brain, reduces the risk of disease, strengthens bone and muscle, stimulates your lymphatic system, decreases your stress hormones, lowers inflammation, and contributes to longevity.

Sleep and movement are two of the most foundational health practices that can radically improve your life when you prioritize them! When we are showing up in this world in our optimal states, we can love God, ourselves, and others to the best of our ability. Take a moment to pray and ask God if he has anything to say to you about your sleep or your movement.