It’s amazing when you get to a certain age, and you talk about sleep in the same way you spoke about getting inebriated… I got eight hours last night. It was fantastic! Johnny Depp
Often, on running mornings, the first thing we talk about is our state of sleep. “I got to bed too late.” “I woke up at 3 and couldn’t get back to sleep.” “I’m tired!!” Sleep, like so much of youth, was a simple activity, taken for granted. In middle age, I court sleep. And fret over it. While sleepy, I am cranky, tedious and famished. A good night’s sleep is the holy grail of comfort and restoration. I bask in it.
I recently read, Healing Night, by Rubin R. Naiman, Ph.D. Naiman is a clinical psychologist specializing in the field of sleep. He works with natural wellness guru, Dr. Andrew Weil. The book is replete with new age flourishes. But, the vast amount of information about sleep is enlightening……I thought that I would share some of it here.
Yet another debt crisis to fear: sleep debt. Chronic lost and damaged sleep has a deleterious affect on our mood, physical well being, mental acuity, athletic ability and waistline. Falling asleep within 5-10 minutes of hitting the pillow signals a sleep debt. Sleep should be a gradual process (akin to walking into a lake).
Naiman recommends that we avoid looking at the time once we begin to enter the sleep state. If 20-30 sleepless minutes have passed, he advises us to get up, do something else and await sleepiness. My obsessive mind wanders–has it been 10 minutes? 20? 24? Should I get up now? In 5 more minutes? I’d better peak at the clock. What time did I go to bed again?
The term “cognitive popcorn” is bandied about. It refers to those thoughts (often anxiety filled) that enter our consciousness and prevent us from falling asleep or wake us up mid-sleep.
Sleeploading is recommended. That is, make up for sleep debt by spending a week or so going to sleep and waking up when the body chooses…even on vacation, this transcendent opportunity rarely presents itself!
Our bedrooms should be cool, dark and quiet.
We are biologically programmed to nap.
The BFF of runner’s, NSAID’s (Advil, Motrin,Aleve), compromise deep sleep by inhibiting melatonin production.
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