Some people make it a habit of taking a puff or two before going to bed. And this is precisely something that should not be. A smoke or two before going to bed is the worst thing you can do when your brain is just preparing for the much needed rest. The nicotine that you inhaled goes straight to the sleep centers of your brain and then everything goes hay wire. The result is that you have a bad night's rest.

In the morning you wake up feeling any thing but refreshed and the only way to take away that feeling is by having that smoke again. Below I am going to discuss sleep in general and when you alter your life style and habits it would be good if you could include these pointers in your sleep routine as well. You see, everything is connected; your eating patterns, your sleep patterns and every thing. So if you are not doing any of these tings right, you might just bounce back into becoming a smoker.

The National Sleep Foundation reports (2002) that America is on the verge of a poor sleep epidemic, characterized by the following eye-opening statistics:

• 64% of American adults get less than the eight hours of sleep that experts recommend is required to maintain optimal physical, mental, and emotional health.
• One-third of the US population says they get less sleep now than they did five years ago
• One-half of Americans have experienced insomnia (sleeplessness)
• Drowsiness due to a lack of a proper night of sleep interferes with the daily activities of 37 percent of all adults.

Amazed? Well, you should be. Sleep has become a critical issue as far as most adults are concerned.

You know what is funny about sleep? Most people believe that sleep is something that the body will take care of by itself. They feel that their bodies will give them signals when it wants sleep. That maybe true, but the question here is, do these people know how to read or sense these signals that the body is trying to give them.

If such people think that the tendency to nod off to sleep while working or driving is the signal that their bodies are going to give them, then they are mistaken. The body starts by giving subtle signals like dark circles around the eyes, listless eyes, a general lethargy, a lack of interest in everything, unwarranted yawns, poor performance and so on. But of course, most of these 'symptoms? can be washed away with a cup of coffee or a puff of nicotine.

Experts tell us that adults need 8 hours of good sleep to become fully functional. If you cannot manage eight hours, try to make it at least seven. Anything below that is not good for your body, and is going to take its toll at some time or that other.

Similarly think about all those activities that are constantly going on in our bodies. Think of your heart that never stops pumping blood not even for a couple of seconds. Think of those lungs that help you breathe in and breathe out and the various other parts like you digestive system, your organs and you sense organs. Don't these wonderful systems deserve some rest? They certainly do. And I have news for you.

Experts have found out that when the human body is in a state of sleep, all these functions slow down (they can't stop of course) and get carried out at a much relaxed pace. This is the only rest that these parts of our bodies get. So don't you think that it is highly unfair to deprive them of the rest that they really deserve? Often we use the brain or the muscles as a measuring stick. When these parts are tired we decide that we need to rest.

Of course there is another extreme where some people need more than eight hours of sleep. Such people sleep too much. But that is altogether a different issue, which I cannot address here. In such cases all I can say is that such people might have a physiological condition for which they might require medical assistance.

Other people can never sleep properly and I was one of them. I used to go to bed in the night and wake up in the morning feeling no way better for my 'sleep.? Phrases like sleep like a baby or sleep like a log were completely alien for me. But now I have over come this completely and on most days I do sleep like a baby.