On the one hand, where sleeping too little is bad for the body, sleeping too much can also have an adverse affect on the overall well being of an individual. Sleeping too long can make one tired and lethargic and if you do not feel refreshed after sleeping for eight hours or more you do not need more sleep.

Too much sleep tends to weaken the sleep system. If the body is not awake for enough time to absorb the sunlight, get enough exercise or is not active enough to get tired this may result in various disorders resulting from excessive sleep. A recent study revealed that those individuals who sleep for 6 to 7 hours every night have a higher mortality rate than those who sleep longer.

The body temperature takes a long time to climb to normal making a person extremely drowsy for several hours after waking up. If your body temperature does not peak throughout the day, you might end up feeling lethargic and drowsy all day long. The reason for this is that excess melatonin that is released while the eyes are shut for a long time does not disperse quickly leaving you feeling fatigued and dull. Too much sleep can weaken the immune system resulting in lowered resistance to cold and flu.

Getting enough sleep but not too much of it:

It is better to lay emphasis on better quality sleep rather than on more sleep. You need to optimize your sleep pattern in such a way that you sleep a lot less and feel more energized. Cultivating healthy sleeping habits results in longer life and keeps your feeling more refreshed. Often we don’t sleep enough even after having slept for eight hours or more. This is because we have not entered the deep sleep phase, the most important requirement of our body.

One of the best ways of energizing the body is to exercise on a daily basis after waking up as it raises the body temperature and rejuvenates the entire body. Exercising also increases blood circulation and keeps you in good shape.