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by Zoe Doyle
March 04, 2024
5 min read

May is Mental Health Awareness Month . The focus of this article from Mulberry Park silks is one of the essential elements of mental health: adequate sleep. It discusses why sleep is so important; offers suggestions for better sleep; and shows how silk bedding can help with your sleep routine.

Inside this Article:

A Critical Connection: Sleep and Mental Health
How to Get a Better Night’s Sleep and Support Your Well-Being
Sleep Better on Mulberry Park Silks Sheets
Where to Start with Silk?

A Critical Connection: Sleep and Mental Health

Woman Sleeping on a Raft in the Middle of the Water

Here at Mulberry Park Silks, we don’t claim to be experts in mental health. But—like you—we feel the pressures of living in a fast-paced world where sleep is often sacrificed for productivity and efficiency. And that is NOT a good thing. As makers of luxury silk bedding, we spend a lot of time thinking about sleep; how to foster better sleep; and how important good sleep is to physical and mental health:

Restoration and repair: Sleep serves as a vital period for our brains to restore and repair themselves. Throughout the day, our minds are exposed to an array of stimuli and information. During sleep, the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and rejuvenates cognitive functions.

Emotional Regulation: Inadequate sleep can significantly impact our emotional well-being. Sleep deprivation disrupts the delicate balance of neurotransmitters involved in mood regulation, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. As a result, when we are sleep deprived, may experience heightened irritability, mood swings, increased stress levels, and difficulty managing emotions. Quality sleep helps maintain emotional equilibrium, improving our ability to cope with daily challenges and reducing the risk of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety.

Cognitive Function and Clarity: If you’ve ever tried to do a complex task while sleep deprived, you know that it is inordinately more difficult than if you were well rested. A good night's sleep is directly linked to cognition, including attention, concentration, problem-solving, and creativity. Sufficient sleep ensures optimal cognitive function, enabling us to think clearly, make sound decisions, and perform at our best.

Stress Reduction: Chronic sleep deprivation triggers a vicious cycle of stress. When we lack sleep, our bodies produce higher levels of stress hormones like cortisol, leading to heightened anxiety and tension. Sleep acts as a natural stress regulator, helping restore hormonal balance and reducing the impact of stress on our mental health.

Physical Health: The connection between sleep and mental health is closely intertwined with our physical well-being. Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and compromised immune function. These physical health issues can indirectly impact mental health, contributing to conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Sadly, nearly a third of all Americans say they are getting less than the recommended amount of sleep, which makes sleep deprivation a serious public health concern.

How to Get a Better Night’s Sleep and Support Your Well-Being

Woman Who Cannot Sleep

Of course, stressing out over lack of sleep benefits no one. A common example: Most of us have had the experience of having to get up unusually early to catch a plane. We go to bed much earlier than our normal bedtime, desperate to get a good night’s rest. Rather than drifting off, we toss and turn and find ourselves staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning until we doze off only to wake up what feels like a moment later, bleary eyed and exhausted.

But there are things we can do on a regular basis to the quality—and quantity—of our sleep. When discussing this, we keep in mind the Japanese principle of Kaizen, which is a method for tackling insomnia by making small, continuous improvements consistently over time. Many of these are quite manageable and easy to implement:

Going to bed and rising at the same time every day

Keeping a sleep diary/tracking with a digital device

Sleeping in a cool room

Blocking light

Using a noise machine

Sleeping in clean, comfortable bedding

Sleep Better on Mulberry Park Silks Sheets

Shop Mulberry Park Silks

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If you’ve spent any time with us here at Mulberry Park Silks, you know we talk a good bit about the silk’s beauty benefits for hair and skin (preventing hair breakage, calming frizzy hair, moisturizing dry skin, minimizing fine lines and wrinkles, and more). Today, we’re going to focus on wellness, and why our silk bedding is the ideal clean, comfortable environment that fosters sleep and supports your well-being.

Silk is natural: Like your hair and skin, silk fiber is natural and protein-based. Pure mulberry silk is woven from the protective, hygienic silk fibers of the bombyx mori cocoon.

Silk feels wonderful: Nothing on earth compares to the soft, comfortable feel of silk. Our silk pillowcases, sheets, and accessories are made from the highest-grade silk in the market (6A) and woven into a lustrous, charmeuse weave for maximum

Breathable and naturally temperature regulating: Silk is a breathable fabric with a unique cellular structure that regulates body temperature to keep you cool in warm weather, warm in cool weather, and sleeping soundly in all conditions. Silk is also moisture wicking to pull sweat away from your body and keep you comfortable (unlike your cotton pillowcase and sheets, which absorb moisture and stay wet).

Hypoallergenic: Silk is made to repel all manner of allergens, which is why it is a wonderful fabric for anyone struggling with seasonal allergies or indoor environmental allergies. Silk is also naturally resistant to mold spores and dust mites, which can absolutely disturb and diminish sleep quality for anyone with sensitivities. Our silk is also Standard 100 certified by OEKO-TEX® as safe from more than 400 chemicals; learn more about that certification here.

Non-irritating to skin. Silk is non-irritating to even the most sensitive skin. Dermatologists recommend sleeping on silk to patients with skin conditions, including acne, eczema, psoriasis, and more.

We’re not saying that sleeping on silk is a cure all. However, we firmly believe that sleeping on our pure, natural silk can help you sleep better and reap all the benefits that come with being well rested: emotional regulation, cognitive function, stress reduction, and overall well-being. Nate Masterson, a Sleep Expert for Maple Holisticsagrees, "Surrounding oneself with luxurious bedding materials can create a soothing and calming sleep environment." He goes on to say that, "The tactile pleasure and aesthetic appeal of silk bedding may help reduce stress and anxiety, leading to a more peaceful state of mind before sleep. As a result, individuals may perceive their sleep quality as improved due to the calming effects of their luxurious bedding."

Where to Start with Silk?

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If you are new to silk and not sure where to start, we recommend beginning your journey with a pure silk pillowcase and–because we know you’ll fall in love with our silk–moving up to a silk sheet set soon after. Our pillowcases and sheets come in three weights: a lighter 19 momme; our signature 22 momme; and a weightier 30 momme. While the density and cost of the momme weights vary, all of our silk pillowcases and bedding will help you sleep more comfortably and soundly. You may also want to consider our pure silk accessories, including a silk eye mask to block light during precious beauty sleep. Check out our silk sleep mask and our soothing lavender-filled eye pillow. You can also narrow your choices with our Silk Buyer’s Guide here. Of course, our team is always here to help answer questions and offer personalized recommendations.

Mulberry Park: Accessible and Affordable Luxury Silk

We founded Mulberry Park with one simple mission: to design the highest quality silk items in the market and offer them at an affordable price. And we've done just that, with a full range of silk products made from 100% pure mulberry long strand silk fabric. The silk fabric used for our silk sheets and silk pillowcases has also been OEKO-TEX® Certified (Standard 100) to be free of chemicals.

Visit us online or call us at (800) 860-1924 to learn more about our silk sheets, silk pillowcases, duvet covers and shams, and real silk accessories including sleep masks, travel pillows, and silk hair scrunchies.