Why sleep is so important and how to get more of it!

Everyone knows that getting enough sleep is fundamental to good health. In fact, sleep is one of the four pillars of heath (along with nutrition, exercise and relaxation). These four pillars are widely recognized even by mainstream giants like Medicare, who now funds health coaching for these four pillars as part of their preventative healthcare coverage. Although sleep is widely known to be crucial to good health, not everyone is aware of the very serious consequences of not getting enough sleep. Did you know that your body can only survive between five and 11 days without sleep? You can survive two to three months with no food, this is so much longer than you can go without sleep! Sounds crazy right? But most of us are much less likely to put off eating than we are to skimp on sleep. And culturally, this is accepted - even endorsed. We are rewarded for going to work early, leaving late, bringing work home and getting it all done. Am I right? And you parents out there, who among you isn’t trying to cram everything in everyday and what gets sacrificed? Sleep. Or how about you students working so hard to keep your grades up and how do you do it? Stay up late and study, get up early and write that paper. What’s more, sometimes even when we afford ourselves the time for adequate sleep, we toss and turn or wake up in the night only to face the next day foggy, dragging - physically and emotionally exhausted. In fact, according to recent research, sleep deprivation has been demonstrated to negatively effect almost EVERY area of mental and physical heath!

Here’s the rundown on the price we may pay for not getting adequate sleep*

• Reduced immune function, creating greater susceptibility to viruses and infections.

• Reduced function of NK cells which fight off tumors.

• Increased susceptibility to conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

• Increased risk of inflammation which is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

• Greater risk of weight gain/greater difficulty with weight maintenance.

• Reduced capacity to gain and/or maintain muscle mass.

• Reduced capacity for learning and memory.

• Increased susceptibility to depression and anxiety.

• Increased risk for accidents due to impaired focus and reduced reaction speed.

*For adults, adequate sleep is considered between 7-9 hours, teens need 9-10 hours a day, children need a minimum of 10 hrs., preschoolers need 11-12 hours and infants should get between 16-18 hours of sleep a day.

So what is considered sleep deprivation and what can you do about it?

Sleep deprivation refers to getting less sleep than is needed relative to one’s age group. For example, the minimum amount of sleep needed per day for an adult is seven hours, therefore, adult sleep deprivation refers to any amount less than seven hours per day. The tricky thing about sleep is that sleep deprivation is cumulative. For example, if you are someone who gets on average 6 hours of sleep a night (when as an adult you need 7 hours) then in one week you will be down seven hours (one hour per day x seven days). It should be noted that this calculation reflects the minimum hours of deprivation being accrued per week, because many adults need more than seven hours of sleep per day for optimal performance.

What is a sleep debt?

Cumulative hours of sleep deprivation creates what is referred to as a sleep debt. Your sleep debt and can really add up over time. Sleeping in on the weekends does help with certain functions, but not with everything. For example, catching up on sleep on weekends does not appear to help to reduce sleep deprivation related weight gain (if during the week the sleep deprivation continues) but catching up where you can (a few hours here and there) will help your immune system.

The really good news about catching up on your sleep

Ok, so ready for some good news? When it comes to sleep, once you start paying off your sleep debt you can reverse much, if not all of the detriment caused by sleep deprivation. If you have a heavy debt, it may take several weeks (or more) to catch up. Here’s what the experts recommend for those who are heavily in sleep debt; get several extra hours of sleep on the weekends (aim for five) plus try to add two hours of extra sleep per night during the week. Once you begin to catch up on your sleep, you will feel the benefits quickly. If your sleep debt is small, you can catch up in as little as a night or two. The most benefit will come from being consistent with your sleep, avoiding sleep deprivation when possible and catching up quickly when you do go into debt.

Some tips for better sleep

What happens during the day and the way you relate to it has a big impact on your quality of sleep. Your wide awake consciousness and your sleep consciousness are simply different levels of awareness within the continuum of your mind. So if you try to stay grounded, reach out for support when you need it, keep your thoughts accurate and solution focused when possible, try to remain mindful of the many blessings in your life, be kind and gentle with your own process and emotions and carve out moments to rest during the day, chances are your sleep quality will be better.

Try adopting some of the ideas below to create better sleep habits:

• Respect your body’s need for sleep by recognizing how critical it is to your health and make it a priority.

• If you don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis try to adjust your routine by getting to sleep earlier by 15 minute increments until you reach your optimal bedtime.

• Try your best to be consistent with your sleep schedule, with a regular bedtime and wake time.

• It is very helpful to have a gentle end to your day. See if you can carve out even 15 minutes of relaxation exercises before bed as this can make big difference in your ability to fall asleep easily and stay asleep. Some examples of relaxation exercises are deep breathing, gentle yoga, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation or guided meditation, taking a warm shower or bath, reflecting on good moments you had during the day, reflecting on your own good qualities and those of others, making a mental list of all the things that you love (big and small) for example from your family members, pets or friends, all the way down to colors that you love.

• Avoid electronics right before bed or wear blue light filtering glasses if you need to be looking at screens.

• Reading is more conducive to sleep than movies - so grab a good book instead of binge-watching Netflix.

• A quiet, cool and dark environment supports high quality sleep - so does a comfortable mattress, pillow and bedding. Make any modifications to your sleep space that you can to support your sleep.

• Regular exercise supports good sleep, however, avoid exercising too close to bedtime as that can interfere with falling asleep easily.

• Many people are caffeine sensitive, so avoid having caffeine late in the day. Many experts agree that avoiding caffeine after 2pm or 8 hours before bed can have a positive impact on sleep.

• Eat meals at least two hours before going to bed. Same with alcoholic beverages.

• Daytime stress can create sleepless nights. If you have a lot of stress, get support and adopt stress management techniques.

• Think about how you rate on the other three pillars of health, namely nutrition, exercise and relaxation, and recognize that the four pillars all work together.  If you are eating well, hydrating, resting and getting regular exercise, this will support your sleep. 

• When it comes to nutrition, even if you are eating well, consider speaking with your healthcare provider about the health benefits of taking vitamin supplements at least: probiotics, multi-vitamins, omegas, magnesium & vitamin D. Many functional medicine doctors believe that we don’t get enough of the nutrients listed above from food due to depletion of our soils.

• High quality, non-habit forming sleep supplements are also supported by many sleep experts and can be very helpful for those experiencing difficulty falling asleep or other forms of intermittent or mild insomnia. If you have intractable or severe insomnia, airway obstruction issues, snoring, sleep apnea, or if you are in severe sleep debt, speak to your healthcare provider about best treatments.

meditation and other practices to manage stress

Here are some ways to start a stress management and resilience building program. 

• Begin a daily mindfulness or meditation practice.  Beginning a new habit can be challenging.  Remind yourself that it is in the space of discomfort that change and growth happen.  START SMALL.  Make it doable for yourself, if you overwhelm yourself and then don’t follow through you are bound to feel disappointed in yourself or even ashamed.  So think about just 2-3 minutes a day to begin. 

• How to do it: Whether meditation or mindfulness, the first step is to simply bring yourself into the room - let your attention wander into the space and notice.  Notice any sounds, temperature, quality of light or color, the feeling of the space and the feeling of your body in the space.  Take your time. Slowly notice. Settle.  Allow your mind to be exactly as your mind is.  If it's busy, it's agitated, if it's tired.  Allow it all. Just notice.  Accept things as they are and continue to open your awareness to your surroundings and to your mind.  

• Next:  find a comfortable position - even lying down or walking are ok, but traditionally meditation is done in a sitting position either in a chair, or the floor if you are on the floor think about finding a cushion for meditation that elevates your back body slightly  to give support to your back and allows your knees to fall below the hips so your body can feel at ease.  Lengthen your side body while relaxing your shoulders, bringing your shoulder blades down and back.  Head and neck are aligned, relax.  

• Notice the natural rhythm of breath as your belly rises and falls with the breath.  Nothing to do or change or fix.  Just aware of breath and body moving with breath. The thoughts will come, this is the nature of mind.  Just notice them and go back to your breathing.  If resting your attention on breath is not comfortable, notice sounds.  Try not to identify or label sounds, rather see if they can arrive and deconstruct - moving through auditory perception without the mind labeling.  This takes time. No judgment.  Just be with whatever is and notice.  

• There are abundant guided meditations available online, many are free, these can be wonderful to try as well.

• If you don’t get to your practice in the morning, which is ideal - then even a minute or two of mindful walking even while going about your daily routine, counts! How to do this:  Notice the sensation of socks on your feet, feet in your shoes, shoes on the ground, the sounds your steps make, the touch of the air against your skin, the smells or sounds that surround you.  Open your senses and stay in the space of noticing without judging, no labeling, just being in awareness, noticing.  If you are doing dishes, the sensation of the warm water and the fragrance of the soap, sound of the water and clanking of dishes.  If you are climbing the stairs, the sensation of your body in movement, the sounds of your breathing, your footsteps, sensation of the handrail against the skin of your fingers, etc.  These are examples meant to illustrate that you can make these practices your own and you can weave them into the activities of daily life to great benefit.

• Opening to emotions and noticing your self talk are also very important in managing stress and building resilience. I will address these in detail in the next blog posts.  But just allowing without judgment, whatever you feel, however irrational, nothing to do or change or fix, just noticing and allowing your feelings (not communicating them necessarily) just be with them.  You will notice that emotions tend to lift when we open to them and spend time with them, maybe even noticing where they may be located in our bodies and noticing any thoughts that are in attendance as well. 

• You might even begin to realize that when you are uncomfortable you are growing and that rather than focusing on the discomfort you might try to consider the benefits of being pushed out of your comfort zone (even when things seem very negative).  Although not easy, or even natural at first, this changing of perspective can become the first step that allows you to face the challenge, focus on the things you can control, which can lead to feeling less stressed and overwhelmed and even more hopeful. 

• Mind and Body are very tied together.  What you eat, what you think, how you feel and the way you talk to yourself all have a big impact on your stress and resilience levels.  Exercise often, but be gentle with yourself.  Listen to your body and eat nutrient dense foods that agree with you. Drink lots of water.  Be kind to yourself and gentle in your self talk.  Try to stick with your mindfulness and meditation goals and try out audios too; they are a great resource. 

• Remember, when you change your mind, you change your world.  Notice your thoughts, make room for simply being, stay gentle.

create awareness of awareness!

The mindfulness exercises and guided meditations created for RESET REPEAT REWIRE are modern and secular versions of practices adapted from ancient eastern spiritual traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism. Over time, these practices will heighten and deepen your self-awareness. This awareness, combined with inner dialogue work allows your identification with self-limiting thoughts and beliefs to loosen and eventually transform. In an excerpt from an article by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, from Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom (2009), this teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism writes,

Ordinarily minds are like flags in the wind, fluttering this way and that, depending on which way the wind blows.  Even if we don't want to feel angry, jealous, lonely, or depressed, were still carried away by such feelings and by the thoughts and physical sensations that accompany them.  We're not free: we can't see other options, other possibilities.

The goal of attention, or shamatha practice is to become aware of awareness. Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind.  it is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.  When we recognize and become grounded in awareness of awareness, the "wind" of emotion may still blow.  But instead of being carried away by the wind, we turn our attention inward, watching the shifts and changes with the intention of becoming famiiar with that aspect of consciousness that recognizes ' Oh, this is what I'm feeling, this is what I'm thinking.’  As we do so, a bit of space opens up within us. With practice, that space - which is the mind's natural clarity - begins to expand and settle.  We can begin to watch our thoughts and emotions without necessariy being affected by them quite as powerfully or vividly as we're used to. We can still feel our feelings, think our thoughts, but slowly our identity shifts from a person who defines him-or herself as lonely, ashamed,frightened, or hobbled by low self-esteem to a person who can look at loneliness, shame and low self-esteem as movements of the mind.

Recognition that your relationship to your perceived sense of “I” in your mind-body, is just that, a perception, often distorted, often negative. This can be transformed through practices that develop and deepen self-awareness. Creating the mental space and clarity for a healthy detachment from grasping at the perceived “I, me” as defective, or burdened, or even “late as usual,” can be achieved; and through regular and ever deepening experiences of awareness OF awareness a clarity and stillness in the mind is created. This new spacious awareness of mind allows for emotions and thoughts to pass by with less charge, less stress, freeing us to be less fixated and therefore more present. This less distracted more present self, has more clarity and space to feel happier, more accepting, more confident, more connected and more in touch with the heart.