If you’ve read through our website educational materials, you already know how important sleep is because we’ve told you all about it.

We’ve also educated you on the importance of avoiding excessive sitting (“sitting is the new smoking”), which is best replaced with more standing/walking/moving in general.

Today’s links focus on sleep and walking (but not sleepwalking!). Learn and share:

Sleep ‘cleans’ the brain of toxins
Your brain needs more downtime
How much can one extra hour’s worth of sleep change you?
Walking for health and fitness. Yes, walking.
Caution: Kids (not) walking
Survey: Americans know they should walk, but lack time and infrastructure
Sitting is the new smoking — Even for runners

This photo is courtesy the Daily Mail UK, who wrote up an artist who is doing a time-lapse sleep photography project. The article won’t help you improve your sleep but is fascinating nonetheless.

From the New York Times:

“THINK for a moment about your typical workday. Do you wake up tired? Check your e-mail before you get out of bed? Skip breakfast or grab something on the run that’s not particularly nutritious? Rarely get away from your desk for lunch? Run from meeting to meeting with no time in between? Find it nearly impossible to keep up with the volume of e-mail you receive? Leave work later than you’d like, and still feel compelled to check e-mail in the evenings?”

If any of that applies to you (even if you manage to make healthy food choices), then read the whole thing, as there’s some good advice on how to make positive changes for feeling better and doing better.