Do you often find that you and your partner sleep apart? Perhaps his snoring drives you crazy? Maybe you think she hogs the covers and so you’d rather sleep in your bed? Or, maybe you are someone who often falls asleep watching the television, and so you do not like to disturb your other half? No matter what applies, it is essential to try and fix this!
Sleeping next to your partner is not only a beautiful thing to do, but it is right for your health as well. With that being said, in this article, we are going to take a look at the different health benefits you can expect to experience by sleeping next to your partner. You can learn more about couples and marriage and how to maintain a healthy relationship at www.isaiahcounselingandwellness.com.
Benefits from an improved sleep
Source: AdobeStock
There is only one place to begin when discussing the benefits of sleeping next to your partner, and this is the improved sleep quality you will experience. We all want to have a good quality of sleep. However, this is something we do not always get, especially if we sleep alone. Did you know that getting good quality sleep can be achieved with greater ease if you have someone sleeping next to you? That is something that was discovered by the University of Pittsburgh’s Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, Wendy M. Troxel. She found that females in stable relationships fell asleep at a quicker rate and had fewer sleep disturbances throughout the night when compared with women who were single or whose relationship status had altered during the experiment.
Lower anxiety
Source: TIMES
One of the main reasons why you should consider sleeping next to your partner is because this is an excellent way to lower anxiety levels. When it comes to sleep, anxiety is often one of the biggest things to get in the way, stopping you from getting to sleep in the beginning and guaranteeing you have a restless night ahead. However, you really can help your psychological well-being by lying next to someone you love. Signals are sent to your adrenal glands through skin-on-skin contact to stop creating cortisol, which is the chemical that creates stress. Therefore, sleeping next to your partner can make sure that you do not end up getting more and more stressed while you are trying to drift off in an evening.
Improve your immune system
Source: AdobeStock
In addition to getting a better night’s sleep, you are also going to be able to improve your immune system by sleeping next to your partner. That is because sharing a bed with your other half is more likely to result in sex. Sexually active partners are more resistant to the flu and common colds, as they create more antibodies. That is something that the research conducted at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania showed.
Reduce your blood pressure
Source: Shutterstock
Sleeping next to your partner can help you to live a happier and longer life because it can help to reduce your blood pressure. That will, in turn, lower the chances of you experiencing any life-threatening cardiovascular diseases. To illustrate this, the University of North Carolina and a team of their researchers experimented on 59 women regarding intimacy and sleep. That involved the participants documenting their cuddles and hugs, as well as checking their blood pressure and oxytocin frequently. It was concluded that individuals with the lowest blood pressure also had the highest levels of oxytocin-the love chemical.
Enjoy a more restorative sleep
Source: AdobeStock
Apart from these benefits, you will get a more restorative sleep if you are next to your partner. That is critical for brain health. There have been several different studies that have concluded the sleep-wake cycle is positively influenced by sex. That is something that both the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, as well as the National Sleep Foundation have concluded. That is because the stress hormone, cortisol, is lowered, and the love hormone, oxytocin, is boosted if you have sex, which is why it is a lot easier to fall asleep afterward. For women, you can enjoy a deeper sleep because of the boost in your estrogen levels after sex. I will improve the REM, Rapid Eye Movement, stage.
You will fall asleep quicker
Source: Fotolia
You may assume that how long it takes to fall asleep does not matter in the grand scheme of things. That is not the case. In the UK, a study was carried out at Northumbria University that revealed there is a link between your sleep health and the time taken to fall asleep, establishing why this is so important. It is believed that you should fall asleep between ten and 20 minutes from the moment you go to bed. Your sleep efficiency will drop if it takes you longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep. When you are on your own, it can often take longer falling asleep because you get caught up in your thoughts, and your mind starts to wonder. Our brains get increasingly active, and we begin to overthink things. That is why it is beneficial to sleep next to someone you love. You will relax more because you have those much-needed feelings of security, which help you to drift off.
As you can see, there are several different health benefits that you can gain by sleeping next to your other half. A lot of people are shocked to discover that sleeping next to their partner is so beneficial. However, when you take into account everything that has been discussed, it is not hard to see why this is something that comes so highly recommended.