Cycling can help you sleep better
Zen Bicycle
Surprising news: a bicycle can be a great tool for meditation! When the days become difficult and excessively hectic, you feel the need for an escape valve, a way to stop overthinking, relax and reduce stress. Cycling, thanks to the repetitiveness of movement, leads you into a state of semi-trance that allows you to ease your mind of too many thoughts, while still staying connected with the surrounding environment. Cycling allows us to focus on ourselves, on the rhythm of the pedal stroke. Temperature, light, sounds, noises: everything is perceived through our body, just like during meditation. One of the key activities that take place during classical meditation, in fact, is a person’s focus on his/her breath. During a normal workday, it is very difficult for this to happen. On the other hand, the physical exertion of cycling helps a person focus on his/her breath and especially on the amount of oxygen you need.Cycling and sleep
The benefits of cycling don't end there. Decreasing the state of anxiety is linked to the good functioning of the cardiovascular system. Cycling is an aerobic activity that helps reduce blood pressure, improves cardiovascular and respiratory capacity, and also has a positive effect on mood. All benefits lead to rejuvenating sleep. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Georgia, the progressive decrease in physical activity and the consequent loss of the ideal body shape reduces the ability to sleep peacefully at night. The reasons behind the relationship between the two phenomena have not been fully understood yet, but according to some hypotheses, it could have something to do with the lack of dialogue between the body and mind. According to Rodney Dishman, a professor at the University of Georgia, exercise helps to calm anxiety. That's why cycling if performed regularly, can provide benefits that impact sleep quality. And for those who can't manage to carve out enough extra time to exercise, one idea might be to ride a bike to get to work. After all, 75 minutes a week is enough to prevent the kind of shape deterioration that makes it difficult to get a good night's rest. But a bicycle alone is not enough! That's what mattresses are for! To each his own!
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