Winters in Utah can get pretty cold. To counteract the cold, we bundle up. We wear heavy coats, scarves, hats and snow boots. At home, we wrap ourselves in warm, toasty blankets, drink hot chocolate and sit by the fire. Then we fall asleep in long flannel PJs while wearing toasty warm socks — just so we can avoid the inevitable cold front that so ruins our dreams when we wake up the next morning.

Dreams are the not the only things ruined. Underneath all those layers of flannel PJs and warm socks are our bodies, those incredible mechanisms that give us life. Unbeknownst to our toasty-warm bodies and us, we may be disrupting vital body mechanisms that can affect us every day.

Wearing lots of clothes and having many blankets on top of you to sleep with can cause negative effects to your body. You will age faster, gain weight, sleep less and wake up more stressed out than when you went to bed. And, most importantly, it can negatively affect your sex life.

Don’t you want to look younger, lose weight, sleep better, be stress-free and have an active sex life? You can accomplish it all by a simple task: sleeping naked. The following steps paraphrase the “Six Reasons to Sleep Naked” found on Yahoo.

Reason 1: You will air out your, uh, junk. Creating a warm environment down there can cause some unfortunate things to grow, or even overgrow. By sleeping naked, you give your privates some time to breathe a little bit of fresh air.

Reason 2: You will sleep better. The ideal temperature for sleeping is somewhere between 65 and 75 degrees. Anything warmer than this can disrupt your sleep cycle and cause you to have more restless sleep. It is natural for your body to cool down as it sleeps, and a disruption in the ideal temperature will cause you to have a bad sleepy time.

Reason 3: You will look hotter. While you sleep, your body releases melatonin and growth hormone, which are the body’s main anti-aging hormones. But for this release to occur, your body needs to be cool. Too warm, and you bring on those wrinkles and sagging skin.

Reason 4: You will lose some belly fat. When you sleep more soundly, the stress hormone cortisol is decreased. It will help keep your energy and hunger levels in the right balance. If your sleep is disrupted because you are too hot, your cortisol will be high and you will wake up feeling hungry. This causes you to eat and have less energy, which will affect your waistline and contribute to the muffin top.

Reason 5: You will feel more confident. When you sleep naked, your body is able to sense more. The coolness of the air and the way the sheets feel on your body help you to feel sexy and sleep better. When you wake up feeling rested, you feel more confident and ready to take on the day and the challenges that lie ahead. You tend to carry yourself better, giving you an air of confidence.

Reason 6: You’ll have better S-E-X! Sleeping naked, especially with your partner, is a great way to have your skin touch and your bodies to release oxytocin, which is cited as the “cuddle hormone.” This combination will improve your sex life and hopefully rekindle that fire.

Take charge of your life with this healthy tip. It’s easy and won’t cost you a cent.