For so many years I believed I could survive on very few hours of sleep. Needing sleep was a weakness, and fatigue and tiredness were states of mind. It was like a competition, silent or otherwise, to see how much I could get done on the least amount of sleep possible. Well now I am much older and wiser and let me tell you, sleep is NOT over-rated, and in fact it is critical to well-being. If you don’t get enough sleep, and enough is 7 solid hours of deep sleep each night, you can rapidly become a mess. Making mistakes, making poor decisions, forgetful, stressed out, overweight, edgy, hyper sensitive, and the list goes on, all the way to some serious bad stuff like heart attacks and diabetes. All because you didn’t get enough sleep.
Here in Alaska, we are blessed with wild amounts of extra daylight starting several weeks ago. I don’t know about you but that extra light makes me think: projects! outdoors! long lists of to-dos! parties! camping! food and activity filled events! and this list goes on as well. Top that off with sunlight blaring in the house till almost the wee hours of the morning, how can anyone get any sleep let alone 7 hours of deep sleep?
I can’t tell you how to get enough sleep. I have yet to figure that out (don’t get a puppy though – wait! I can’t believe I said don’t get a puppy but if you do you will know why I said that.) What I can tell you is that your brain needs to be washed. Nightly. We aren’t talking a good scalp scrub either. Every night, when you are fast asleep (getting that required 7 hours) your brain releases chemicals that flush toxins that have built up during your waking hours. This brain washing (flushing) is critical to your ability to function well when awake. When you function well, you perform better, make better decisions and in fact will not be driven to overeating or lousy food choices.
The experts say that eating healthy, being active, limiting caffeine, and keeping your room cool with help you sleep. They also say you need to keep your room dark. Yeah – that’s a tough one here in Alaska. Blackout blinds can help. Eye masks work if you can keep them on without them being annoying. I’ve even seen people foil cover their windows to block the light. Maybe melatonin will help. And when all else fails, cuddle up with that puppy that you just had to get and chances are exhaustion will overtake all the stuff that keeps your brain awake – until about 2 a.m. and then again 4 a.m. Then take heart, because even dogs need their brains washed.
