The seven myths about sleep.

Sleep is the watering place of the soul to which it hastens at night to drink at the sources of life.
In sleep we receive confirmation … that we must go on living.
Abram Tertz (Russian writer and dissident)

It is no secret that sleep plays such as important part in our lives. However there are many (including me) that choose to neglect sleep. Whether they want to get more work done, believe that sleep is a waste of time or just stay up for the heck of it, sleep is pretty low priority. The article I included at the top of this post explains some of the seven myths about sleep.

The gist of the article is really this: we need 8 hours of sleep, no more and no less. Sleep too much or too little, we will develop the same problems. While there have been some very successful figures that functioned on less than 8 hours of sleep per day, it is not ideal. Additionally, in the article I got an interesting perspective on catching up on sleep. Although I find it hard to sleep in on the weekends, due to my circadian rhythm, some people can and like to sleep in over the weekend. I remembered hearing from a source that we can “store” sleep, so sleeping in on the weekends either provides us with a sleeping buffer over the weekdays or we can recharge our lack of sleep. And while this may be true, this will utimately upset our circadian rhythm and normal sleeping pattern which I never really thought about.

The other myths covered were about medication and chronic sleeping problems, which I don’t think I have. If you suffer from chronic insomnia, see a physician. If sleeping problems come sparingly take medication or sleeping pills. And tylenol PM is not a better alternative than a prescription drug.

While there are many mysterties to sleep, one thing is for sure; we all need to sleep. This necessity is the basis of my belief that during sleep our body revitalises and replenishes our bodily supplies, much like a gardener watering the plant that is our soul.

So I just finished watching part two of Dead Tired, a documentary on sleep that first aired on SBS last week Wednesday, which was a serendipitous find as I was just channel flicking. Part two of the series dealt with insomnia and how it is also associated with depression, anxiety, hormone levels and medication. I was particularly interested in this documentary as I have recently developed a very poor sleep habit and sometimes suffer from insomnia. One of the explanations for insomnia is that people suffering from insomnia have a deficiency in the hormone (melatonin), which helps switch off parts of the brain so that you can get to sleep. One condition that affects the level of melatonin is anxiety, which leads to higher levels of cortisol affecting the production of melatonin. Actually cortisol is referred to as the “stress hormone” as its levels increase in response to stress and anxiety. Coming back to the topic of melatonin switching off the brain, now I understand what people mean when they say that they can’t switch off their brains when they suffer from insomnia. Several solutions were offered and discussed, such as consultation with a specialist, taking medication and yoga. It seemed that the most effective way to curing anxiety caused insomnia was yoga, where regular exercise helped regulate a normal breathing pattern and slower pulse thus lowering anxiety.

Another segment of the documentary dealt with our biological clock and the circadian cycle. Our bodies are actually synchronised with the circadian cycle (24hr), which helps explain the concept of jet lag since we need time to adjust to the new time zone. Our biological clocks determine when we become tired and hence it is very important to maintain a biological clock that is in sync with the 24 hour clock. Interestingly, it was shown how 11 and 13 year old children have altered biological clocks due to the hormones present in the body at those respective ages. An eleven year old would sleep at 9pm and wake up around 7am. However there is a 2 hour delay in a thirteen year old, and consequently they sleep at 11pm and wake up around 9am, which would make waking up for school very difficult. A bright light therapy was described in the documentary where a shining light was used to help reset a person’s biological clock, since our bodies actually use light as a stimulus to synchronise our biological clocks.

I am glad that I was able to catch the documentary showing as it will definitely make me think about my own sleeping patterns and how sleep isn’t as disposable as I make it to be. Time to sleep on it

I have been keeping up my three pillars of health so far; been eating healthier, and much more in general, been sleeping a tad earlier and doing a tad more exercise. And the best thing of it all is that I’m feeling much better. I’m more coherent, I feel more energised and in general I feel much better. So definitely reaping the benefits already.

Today was also lab meeting day where I had to present, and although I didn’t really feel like presenting I felt the talk went well, especially for how much preparation I had. Tonight was also “State of Origin” night so I went over to a friend’s place to watch the game. I don’t have a great understanding of the game, but it was still good to be more social. For the records, Queensland won tonight due to pretty sloppy play by NSW. I also passed by Borders and purchased Learning Perl The Fifth Edition, which I plan to read from start to finish.

I plan to start from the beginning and move forward to the more advanced Perl programming books. I have decided to be known as a Perl programmer due to the usefulness of the language. Again this is another dedication that I need to keep and although I won’t push myself too hard so that I burn out, but I will definitely try to keep up with my regular Perl reading. My current knowledge of Perl is just too scattered, and I hope I can start building the foundation towards a strong understanding of the language.

So I’ve been in a slump lately, which can be attributed to several factors; lack of sleep, lack of nutrition and lack of exercise. Coincidently, I was watching a documentary last week about sleep on SBS called “Awake is the new sleep”; it documented how lack of sleep can severely affect a person’s lifestyle. It was very intriguing, even though I knew the importance of sleep. An important message that was conveyed in the documentary and also why I brought up the documentary, was that to have a healthy lifestyle we need the three pillars of health which are composed of good nutrition, exercise and sleep. As such I suffered the consequences of having no pillars to support my health.

Today is the first day of the month, a good time to start a new regime. I went grocery shopping tonight and purchased almost 120 dollars worth of groceries. I bought lots of fruits, vegetables and breakfast! I’ve been buying food from the university for almost two weeks now, and besides wasting a lot of money, it has been unhealthy. I have also finished doing some light skipping and weights, and necessary cleaning of the bathroom! And my mind is definitely much more clear and active now. A week ago I would have difficulty writing my blog and just thinking concisely. I should really remember the importance of good health.

I know I can easily lose focus and lose track of things, but for once I would like to keep focused. It has been physically and mentally rewarding, and it is only day one.