Module 3

There was a lot of information covered in this module, but I especially appreciated the one on sleep.  A doctor from Stanford University said, "However healthy we think we are, students and non-students alike, we must realize that we cannot be healthy unless our sleep is healthy!" I completely agree with this statement. While physical health as we often think of it is extremely important, both our mental and physical health are greatly impacted by the amount of sleep we get. This is really hard in college. I think one could say that just about everyone is sleep-deprived at least to some degree while in college. I know I certainly am even now as I write this. I think one thing that could be done to help this is to educate students on the dangers of chronic sleep deprivation. A lot of times I think we see it as something that’s maybe not the best thing for us, yet fail to see the gravity of this continuous pattern.

Another thing I’ve started doing is going for a run in the morning a couple of times each week. I find that this helps me clear my head and prepare before the day while also providing a good form of exercise for me. Because it is done in solitude, this positively impacts my spiritual, mental, and physical health. One thing I’ve been able to apply from the readings here is that it is actually better to stretch after a workout than before because the muscles are warm then and there is less of a risk of injury. So I don’t stretch before, but rather, after. When I did XC in high school, we always stretched before and didn’t  do much afterwards, so it was interesting to read this.

Overall, I learned things about the gravity of sleep deprivation and about when to stretch so as to avoid injury. I especially appreciated these chapters, as I was able to apply them directly.

Works Cited:
Dement, William. "Sleepless at Stanford." Stanford.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. <https://web.stanford.edu/~dement/sleepless.html>.