lauren's podcast (1)

The podcast discusses the negative impact of not getting enough sleep on wellness, specifically self-responsibility and love. Lack of sleep can lead to fatigue and decreased performance. Two student-athletes share their experiences, one where lack of sleep affected their practice negatively and one where getting enough sleep improved their performance. It is important to prioritize sleep and recovery for physical and mental well-being. Being self-responsible and learning from mistakes is crucial for overall wellness. Hi, and welcome to my podcast. My name is Lauren Sharp, and I'm a freshman student-athlete here at UNCW. I've been a swimmer for about 13 years, and in being an athlete for so long, I have learned a lot about wellness and how much certain things can impact it. Today, I will be discussing how not getting enough sleep can negatively impact your wellness, specifically the dimension of self-responsibility and love. To my fellow student-athletes, especially on the college level, you know how important the recovery stage is, and how getting sleep is crucial in order to perform well. We have all been in a situation where the amount of rest we get before practice is slim to none, and we end up feeling fatigued and drained the rest of the day. This is definitely a situation that no one wants to be in, so we need to be self-responsible and allow our bodies to recover. When you sleep, your body supports healthy brain function and maintains your physical health. Without resting, your wellness would decrease dramatically. I'm here with Emily Way and Cassidy Lima, who are also freshmen on the UNCW Women's Swim and Dive team, to talk a little bit more on how sleep is one of the most important yet overlooked parts of wellness. So, Emily, can you give me an example of a time where you felt your practice was negatively impacted due to the lack of sleep? Yeah. So, I'll say being a swimmer, especially at the college level, it's really hard to get a lot of recovery, especially being a student as well. Lots of homework and projects to do, and when you're cramming for exams, I think it's definitely hard to focus on both things at once, but one example I can think of is I had a really big project due at midnight one night, and I stayed up until midnight doing my project, and we had morning practice the next day at like 6 or 6.15, and obviously I don't try to do that a lot because the next day my practice isn't very good, obviously, and I just remember my practice the next morning, I was just like falling asleep basically while I was swimming and didn't feel good in the water at all, felt really tired and fatigued, and it just wasn't, was not good for my swimming the next day. Thank you. And Cassidy, can you share a positive experience you had when you got a lot of sleep and how good you felt for practice? Yeah. So, especially this past semester, I've been trying to hold myself accountable, really, and stick to a better sleep schedule. I try not to stay up late, getting my work done during the day, during study hall, but there have been days that I can't stick to that, but one time a couple weeks ago, it was a, let's say a Thursday night, and my friends all wanted to, you know, watch a movie. It was already like 9.30, and I knew that by the time it was over, it'd be like close to 11.30, and I wouldn't be asleep until midnight. We had Friday practice the next morning, and we also had to lift, which is pretty strenuous on your body, and I knew I needed to be well-rested for that practice, so I ended up being like, sorry guys, no, maybe we can do it tomorrow, because we didn't have Friday practice then, and I really just was trying to be responsible, and I went to bed early, and I felt great the next day. My coaches commented about how well I was doing in practice, and my form and technique, and my coach told me that I looked really present and really focused on the set, which I think is in part due to how much sleep I got that night. Thank you. Having self-responsibility and love for your body can truly only help both you and your wellness. Getting good sleep and allowing your body to recover from physical activity can help reduce your stress and increase your happiness. Things I've learned in this course that have also helped me better understand the concept of wellness is that you have the ability to change your lifestyle and your environment. Though we may face obstacles in our lives, they can be opportunities for growth. This can be applied to the concept of sleep and recovery because, of course, there may be times where you go to bed late and do not get the amount of rest you need, but instead of dwelling on this, use it as a way to be more self-responsible and to overall learn from your mistakes. Thank you so much to Emily and Cassidy for joining me today, and I hope you have a great day. Talk to you soon.