The Rhythms of Sleep

We all know what it feels like when you are forced to wake up when you are not ready

You may not have been aware of this, but your sleep patterns are driven by a biological rhythm that stems back to the earliest days of life on planet earth. These rhythms developed so that we are awake during the day and we go to sleep during night. However, since the advent of the electric light bulb, these rhythms have been drastically altered. Since the light bulb was introduced to human society, we have, through artificial light, conditioned our brains to adjust to what our biological clocks consider to be abnormal sleep and wake patterns. I know I do not consider 12:00 pm to be midnight, to me it is more of a time when I feel the need to start preparing myself for sleep. After listening to several sleep experts talk about how this is detrimental to my sleeping patterns I have decided that I will try to ween myself off the midnight oil. If you are interested in hearing from those experts on circadian rhythms, then you should watch the short video posted below.







If you do not have the time to watch this video I will give you some of its most important points. 

• You must make your bedroom as conducive to sleep as possible (ie. blackout window shades, no television)
• You must prepare yourself for sleep by avoiding watching television or tooling around on an electronic device just before going to sleep (the brightness of these devices has adverse effects on your brain which should be attempting to get ready for sleep)
• The deepest sleep you experiences occurs between 5am and 6am, the time people typically wake up (this is the least preventable interruption of our Circadian Rhythms)
• You will alter your sleeping pattern if you try to catch up on sleep during the weekend, thus creating a worse case of "the Mondays

Being more aware of the biological rhythm your body abides by, it is key if you want to make the most out of your sleep.  You do not end up waking up and acting like this

                

                                                                                             

Respect Sleep!

How I typically treat sleep

How I should treat sleep

                                                                                            


 


As I write this post, I am sipping coffee to combat the effects of a less than stellar previous night of sleep. I did not plan on staying up late, but somehow it happened, again. This is a sentiment that I am sure most people can relate to. My day typically consists of going to work, and returning home having made a pact with myself that I will go to bed at an earlier time. However, I always seem to find a way to stay up into the wee hours of the morning. How can I fix this? Well, if you are having trouble falling asleep at night, or drawing yourself away from the TV or internet so you can get a better night's sleep, then you should respect sleep more than you already do. 

The importance of sleep needs to be respected. People tend not to treat sleep with the level of importance that it deserves. Sleeping is as important, if not more important to your health than both your exercise and diet regiments. Over the past few months I have made it my job to become as well versed as possible on the science behind the importance of sleep. During this time I came across a number of scientists and doctors who are steadfast in their promotion of sleep. The sleep experts often they find that people's disregard for the importance of sleep is pervasive. If you have not heard of Dr.Czeisler of Harvard Medical already, you should. He is renowned within the science community for the work he has done regarding the study of what lack of sleep does to the human body. He is currently the sleep doctor for the Boston Celtics, and has previously been a consultant for NASA, setting the wake and sleep schedules for astronauts going to the International Space Station. Dr.Czeisler preaches the importance of sleep, and his concern for how little people seem to respect the importance of sleep. Here are just a few facts that he has repeatedly mentioned as some of the consequences that exist if you do not get enough sleep.

•  Sleep helps to consolidate memory, especially procedural memory which enables you to learn and retain new things  
• Lack of sleep negatively affects the parts of the brain that control emotional reaction and judgment

In a study Dr.Czeisler did with the National Sleep Foundation, he and his team found that "43% of Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 say they rarely or never get a good night's sleep on weeknights. More than half (60%) say that they experience a sleep problem every night or almost every night (i.e., snoring, waking in the night, waking up too early, or feeling un-refreshed when they get up in the morning.)" Those numbers are staggering, and I know that I fit into both of those categorizations. For those who are are very curious, you can follow the link I provided which will give you all of findings he and his team made. After going over all of the information in the study I am going to make a conscientious effort to respect sleep more, and I hope you do too. 


                                                         Do not be this guy anymore
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