How Do Sleep Trackers Work And What Do They Measure?
A good quality sleep tracker monitors a variety of sleep information that can be invaluable for improving your overall health and wellness. In the past, options for assessing your sleep were somewhat limited. Short of taking video of yourself sleeping and recording it into a sleep diary the only way to accurately assess your sleep would have been to submit to an elaborate sleep study.
Today many personal sleep tracking devices are available and are great tools for improving and fine tuning your slumber patterns. They can also help you to determine if further more elaborate testing is warranted for identifying bigger sleep issues such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome or chronic insomnia.
A typical sleep tracker is a device worn around the wrist or in the form of a bio-sensing monitor placed under your mattress that tracks information while you’re sleeping. Most sleep trackers incorporate an app where you can access the information collected via smartphone, tablet or laptop. This information will include insights into duration of sleep and important sleep cycles such as deep sleep, rem, light sleep or awake.
A common discovery through use of a sleep tracker is learning you are not getting enough sleep or the right type of sleep. Crucial sleep cycles such as rem and deep sleep correlate to mental and emotional recovery and well-being. It is an invaluable tool for alerting other possible sleep deficiencies as well.
Sleep Tracker Disclaimer: A sleep tracker can give you the necessary knowledge about your sleep patterns to determine if you need more help from natural sleep aids, sleep supplements or sleep remedies. A sleep tracker does not take the place of more elaborate sleep testing for analyzing serious sleep disorders. Always consult a physician to determine if a full-scale sleep study is necessary for you. A sleep study analysis involves sleeping in a testing facility for a night or two and will be of considerably more financial cost than a tracker.
Why Sleeping Well Is So Important
Sleep is often overlooked yet is one of the most essential aspects of mental and emotional well-being. Unfortunately, a lack of good quality sleep has been declared a national epidemic by healthcare officials. Nearly 75% of all people say they suffer from anxiety, stress and depression caused by a lack of sleep. Some other common emotional and mental wellness issues caused by poor sleep include anger, grief and worry.
People who suffer from a lack of sleep are also more likely to have chronic health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. When you don’t get enough sleep your thinking and memory become cloudy and your ability to learn new information drops significantly. Sleep-deprived brains have been linked to making more mistakes in general and increased workplace accidents.
If you feel you actually get enough hours of sleep per night yet you still experience various sleep issues then you may be suffering from interrupted sleep, lack of deep sleep or a sleep disorder. A sleep tracker is a great place to begin to uncover the clues as to if you are getting enough of the super recharging deep sleep cycles that ward off these chronic sleep issues.
Sleep Wellness Benefits
As you can see, sleep isn’t something to be written off or discounted as being unimportant. Its importance goes way beyond just something you do mindlessly every night. Good, restful, peaceful sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle that benefits many aspects of your mind, body and spirit.
Putting a focus on sleeping for wellness with the aid of a sleep tracker can cultivate the following benefits:
- A healthier immune system
- Weight management
- Lowered disease risk
- Relieves stress and anxiety
- Have a better mood upon waking up and throughout the day
- More mental clarity
- Better performance at work and/or school
- Have a friendlier disposition
- Better memory recall
- Fight inflammation
- Have more creativity
- Have fewer accidents and make fewer mistakes
- Relieve depression symptoms
- Lower blood pressure
- Better emotional well-being
What Are The Best Sleep Trackers – Non-Wearable
Sleep tracking devices have made it possible to get some invaluable insights on why you still feel tired after a night of sleep. Using one will help you to embark on the journey of exploring your sleep habits. It’s one of the easiest yet most impactful things you can do for your health and wellness.
Fitness tracking wearables such as the Apple Watch or the Fitbit can track basic sleep information for you, however, we recommend the following non-wearable devices that focus solely on sleep tracking and are installed under your mattress to give the best results and overall benefits:
Withings/Nokia Sleep Tracking Pad
- Installed Under The Mattress
- Sleep Cycle Analysis
- Sleep Score
- Heart Rate Tracking
- Snore Detection
- Smart Home Compatible
Beautyrest Sleep Monitor
- Powered By AI
- Installed Under Mattress
- Sleep Cycle Data
- Sleep Coaching
- Can Monitor (2) Sleepers
- Smart Home Compatible
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