Today, I attended an Academic workshop called catching your Z's and stress. I learned about the importance of sleep and how it coordinates all body functions. There are a bunch of reasons why we sleep. It helps with our memory and learning, social behaviors, growth development, immune system and mood enhancements.
We form our memories when we are sleeping. I learned that if you drink coffee while studying for a test the night before, chances are if you drink coffee again during the test you will do better. This was scientifically proven through a case study with college students. When we sleep there are certain stages that allow our memories to be processed. There are 4 stages of sleep. These include, Stage 1 where you begin to get drowsy, Stage 2 which is a light sleep, Stage 3 & 4 is when you are in a deep sleep, and REM Sleep is our deep sleep where we form our dreams. They say that you should sleep right before you study and also right after you are done studying this way your brain processes the information. Most teenagers and college students should have 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
We also learned about Insomnia and how there are different levels. One popular level of Insomnia is the one where people having trouble falling asleep. They say if this happens you should get out of bed and read a book, or even take a walk. Stress is another main concern for college students. There are different symptoms in different categories such as Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral. Test anxiety is another big factor and they say that some people are born with it.
After attending this workshop, I now have a better understanding about the importance of sleep and how we can overcome stress and anxiety. This workshop was very useful and self explanatory. I feel like most college students, especially if they are overwhelmed, should attend this workshop because it is a great way to have a better understanding about the importance of sleep and how to overcome stress.
I also went to the workshop called caching your z's and stress. I found it to be very helpful. As Jennifer stated, i learned about how sleep affects several aspects of our lives. That includes our nervous system, our immune system, mood, and memory.
ReplyDeleteThe workshop talked about the five stages of sleep. The instructor stated how if one has difficulty sleeping, you shouldn't stay laying down in bed. You need to get up and move around a bit. He also said that we should train ourselves to get into a schedule. Beds are for sleeping. We shouldn't eat or do homework on our bed. That way we train ourselves into knowing that the bed is only for sleep.
He also said that we should wake up at the same time every morning to train ourselves. Even if we have time to sleep in or only got one hour of sleep, always wake up at the same time.
I also learned about techniques that i can use when i am stressed out before a test. Some of these strategies are to breathe deeply, to hold the bottom of the chair to help nerves, and to think positively. I am definitely going to use some of these techniques.
Overall, the workshop was very helpful. The instructors explained everything very well. I know how bad it is to not sleep or to cram and pull an all-nighter. I am definitely going to use the techniques i learned about.