Blog# 90 Sleeping Well
One of the most important
things we can do for our health and longevity is to sleep well. This means to sleep soundly and for the
amount of time that our body and mind need.
Different people require varying amounts of sleep, depending on their
age, health, activity level, toxicity level, stress level and more. However, most people need about 8 hours of
sleep a night in order to maintain optimum health, energy and mental
focus.
During sleep, your body is
not burdened and stressed with things like new meals to digest, conflicts to
face, strenuous exercise, challenging intellectual problems, emotional highs
and lows, and other waking activities.
Of course, sometimes dreams can be stressful, but usually not to the
extent that waking challenges and activities are. Because of the opportunity to rest from many
activities, the body has the chance to repair damage to tissues and organs and
also to help detoxify from foods, mental and emotional stress, injury from
exercise, and challenges from environmental toxins. This is why, if you follow the guidelines for
good sleep below, if you are in relatively good health, and if you wake up at
the end of, rather than in the middle of a sleep cycle, you usually will feel
refreshed and rested upon awakening. One
way you can usually avoid waking up before the end of a sleep cycle is to go to
bed early and let yourself wake up on your own.
I realize that this is a luxury, but you can work to allow yourself to
do this at least some of the time.
Self-hypnotic suggestions at bedtime regarding allowing yourself to wake
up at the end of a sleep cycle can be helpful.
There are many ways in
which sleep quality, onset and duration can be disrupted. Some of these ways are noisy neighbors or
roommates, lights shining through the window blinds, television or computer
screens left on after bedtime, electrical or other energy fields from
appliances that are not fully turned off, smart phones tuned on and placed near
the bed, proximity to power lines or “EL” tracks, and computer modems operating
anywhere in your home. Some other things
that can interfere with sleep include looking at LED lights or computer or
other similar screens too close to bedtime, eating a heavy meal late in the
evening, living a sedentary lifestyle, reading, watching or listening to
disturbing information soon before bed, and consuming alcohol, nicotine,
caffeine or other drugs or chemicals too soon before trying to fall asleep.
Going to sleep and waking
up at about the same time during every 24 hour cycle can help support a good
night’s sleep. Your body gets used to
patterns and will expect and accommodate your desired schedule. If you must look at computers or other blue
screens soon before bedtime, then use glasses that filter out some or even all
of the blue light. Blue light interferes
with the pineal gland’s synthesis and secretion of melatonin, a hormone that
helps encourage sleep. The pineal gland
begins secreting melatonin a couple of hours prior to bedtime and the onset of
darkness. Melatonin supplements tend to
not be as helpful as the natural hormone secreted in conjunction with healthy
and well-timed sleep patterns. Just as
it is best to avoid bright lights soon before bedtime, it is desirable to
encounter bright lights, especially sunlight, in the morning, especially soon
after awakening. This helps set the
body’s natural clock to be awake and energetic during the day and relaxed and
sleepy at night.
If you are required to
work all night and to sleep during the day or if you have an irregular waking
and sleep schedule, then it is important to keep the room totally dark and
quiet while you sleep. Ear plugs and
sleep masks may be necessary, as may placing black sheets over curtains,
turning all phones off, and unplugging any modems in your home. Always helpful are self-hypnosis for
relaxation, listening to calming music, inspirational reading, counting your
many blessings, or positive prayer just before bedtime. You may have to pay attention to how you
respond to various foods or take some food allergy tests and avoid some of the
foods you may eat, such as fast foods, processed meats, deep fried foods, foods
containing gluten, dairy, and deserts sweetened with refined sugar or other
refined sweeteners, such as corn syrup or rice syrup.
There are many other
topics related to sleeping well, but at least this scratches the surface. My offer with this blog is to encourage any
questions you may have about sleeping well.
I will answer them to the best of my ability.
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