THURSDAY: SLEEP AND ENERGY

“Lack of sleep disrupts every physiologic function in the body. We have nothing in our biology that allows us to adapt to this behavior.”

Eve Van Cauter , Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago.

•permission given Department of Medicine – University of Chicago

”people who are sleep-deprived have elevated levels of substances in the blood that indicate a heightened state of inflammation in the body, which has also recently emerged as a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.”

Dr Sanjay R. Patel of Harvard Medical School

Quoted in an article by Rob Stein, Washington Post, October 9,2005.

Exercise is critical for us to have health, energy and vitality, and so is sleep.

While we sleep, we heal and recharge our batteries, yet gazillions of people are not sleeping well, partly because we are not exercising enough to make us physically tired!

Instead, we exercise our minds all the time and rarely still them, and so we are constantly feeling stressed. That means we go to sleep exhausted and then find ourselves wide awake at 3 a.m.!

How are your sleep patterns? Generally, to be well, we need about seven hours of sleep a night, which is hard if you have babies, I know! Do you wake up refreshed and alert? If not, here are a few tips to try:

Try to exercise sometime during the day so you have some real physical fatigue—not just mental exhaustion. If you are going to exercise at night, do it before dinner so that you are not energized just before you go to sleep. Do not take your laptop or any work to bed! That will probably make you stay up much later than you planned and stimulate your mind just before sleeping.

Do not watch television in bed. Watching anything other than a meditation channel with soft music and beautiful scenes is unlikely to help you sleep! Instead of zoning out in front of the television, try going to bed and reading an inspirational book until you fall asleep. You might be surprised at how much of a difference this makes.

Or listen to beautiful, relaxing music just before you sleep or as you are falling asleep. Try a meditation tape or a tape of music designed to make you sleep—there are many available. Try to make the room as dark as possible and as quiet as possible.

If you don’t want to read, climb into bed and quietly reflect on the day and focus on things for which you are grateful. Allow in only thoughts of gratitude.

Always have a notepad and pen by your bed. Often when we wake up and can’t go back to sleep, it’s because we think of some brilliant idea and we stay awake (even unconsciously), because we are concerned we will forget our idea. Or we wake and think of some problem that disturbs us, but if we write it down, we can tell ourselves we will worry about it tomorrow at a better time. And that often lets us go back to sleep.

Sometimes before we go to bed, making a list of all the things we have to do the next day helps our mind shut off and lets peaceful sleep drift in. Actually, doing this just before you leave work is better timing!

Sometimes, if you write down a problem before you go to sleep, and ask God to provide you with a solution, you will be amazed at how the answer is just there when you wake up. Or it may come to you in the shower! It’s wonderful how often this works, as long as you let the problem go once you have written it down, and trust the answer will come.

If you wake up and can’t go back to sleep, try focusing on your breathing. Just imagine the breath flowing in and out of your lungs gently and rhythmically. Maybe imagine a color with it, as well. Or create the feeling that you are floating on a huge, very still lake—you are safe, protected and fully supported as you completely relax into the feeling of lying on this lake.

If possible, try to set up a rhythm and a set of rituals for going to bed. Aim to go to bed at the same time each night—the earlier the better. Some people say that every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight! Perhaps you can have a warm bath or shower as part of the ritual before you go to bed. Talk only about positive things—not about all your worries and problems. Maybe you and your partner can give each other a massage once a week.

You may wish to pray (on your knees or not) for a few minutes each night just before you sleep. Allow God to hold you and comfort you. Praying for those you love, then counting your blessings, dwelling on gratitude to God is one of the best ways I know to go to sleep!

Sometimes what we eat before we sleep can make a difference. For example, bananas have magnesium and seratonin; chamomile tea has a mild sedative effect; warm milk, almonds, and slices of whole wheat toast actually contain tryptophan, which relaxes us; and a tiny bit of raw honey works too.

Listening to what we say to ourselves as we go to sleep and staying away from the television and computer for at least an hour before bed may be the only things we need to do to transform our sleep and allow us to wake up feeling refreshed and alert.

And speaking of waking up—try to find an alarm that does not cause you to sit bolt upright in bed with terror! Something that welcomes you gently into the day is a much better way to start than the sudden jarring that many alarms provide.

Today—prepare to sleep well and make this your new rhythm.

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