{"id":381,"date":"2019-05-29T06:48:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T11:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/?p=381"},"modified":"2021-07-19T15:05:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T20:05:00","slug":"why-we-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/2019\/05\/29\/why-we-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dr. Matthew Walker\u2019s book, <em>Why We Sleep, Unlocking the Power of Sleep\nand Dreams<\/em> (Simon &amp; Schuster, 2017), reveals that, besides being\nessential to health and life, sleep brings a magical level of creativity. Walker\nchronicles \u201csome of the most revolutionary leaps forward in human progress\u201d first\nrode into existence on dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For\nexample, during the night of February 17, 1869, Russian chemist Dmitri\nMendeleev dreamed the periodic table of elements. According to Walker, \u201cThe\ndream took hold of the swirling ingredients in his mind and, in a moment of\ncreative brilliance, snapped them together in a divine grid&#8230;\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Walker\nalso describes Otto Loewi\u2019s dream of two frogs\u2019 hearts that ultimately revealed\nhow nerve cells communicate using neurotransmitters. That discovery won the\nNobel Prize. We also learn that \u201cYesterday\u201d and \u201cLet it Be\u201d came to Paul\nMcCartney in his sleep. Keith Richards has a similar story behind \u201cSatisfaction.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-medium-font-size has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\">Why We <em>Don\u2019t<\/em> Sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally, the driving question\nbehind <em>Why We Sleep<\/em> is \u201cWhy do we <em>not<\/em> sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At\nthe most extreme, today many countries (including the US) officially authorize\nsleep deprivation as a form of torture against enemies. But, what about the\nways \u201ccivilized\u201d behavior keeps us from sleeping? How is modern life imposing\npoor health and even death through restricted sleep? Walker names the biggest\nculprits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Constant light (including LED)<\/li><li>Temperature (our bodies need cool air for sleeping best)<\/li><li>Caffeine<\/li><li>Alcohol (\u201cone of the most powerful suppressors of REM sleep\u201d)<\/li><li>Work schedules (factory whistles and alarm clocks spike blood pressure)<\/li><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, US workplaces try to fight smoking, substance abuse, injurious practices, disease, etc. \u201cBut insufficient sleep\u2014another harmful, potentially deadly factor\u2014is commonly tolerated and even woefully encouraged.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Beyond\nthose big 5, Walker links our inability to sleep with heart disease, dementia,\ndiabetes, and cancer. Yet, he writes, \u201cMore than 65 percent of the US adult\npopulation fail to obtain the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each\nnight&#8230;\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Making\nit all worse, too often, when we can\u2019t sleep, we reach for the wrong fix,\nsleeping pills. They decrease the quality of sleep and increase the risk of poor\nhealth and early death.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-medium-font-size has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\">Return to Sanity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, how <em>do<\/em> we go to sleep? Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, depending on\nyour perspective, returning to what we\u2019ve always known builds the best paths to\nsleep. We should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Go to\nbed and wake up at the same time each day.<\/li><li>Avoid\nalcohol, nicotine, and caffeine (especially in the afternoon and evening).<\/li><li>Eat\nmoderately.<\/li><li>Make\nsure your medicines do not delay or disrupt sleep. <\/li><li>Don\u2019t\nnap after 3:00 p.m.<\/li><li>Relax\nbefore going to bed.<\/li><li>Make\nyour bedroom cool, dark, and free of sound or light-emitting gadgets. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Why We Sleep<\/em> weaves beautiful logic and rhythms into finding our way back to healthy sleep. And, of course, that goes far beyond those 7 points. In fact, as I read, I often thought of Psalm 127:3, \u201cIt is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.\u201d (NASB) &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Unbelievably, western societies decided\nto work too long and too hard to obtain what is a gift from God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sleep\nis one of the primary gauges on the dashboard of life. <em>Why We Sleep <\/em>presents a compelling case for keeping our eye on that\npanel, especially the dial that often clangs and flashes \u201cSLEEP \u2013 SLEEP \u2013 SLEEP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-luminous-vivid-amber-color\">NOTE: If you order this book\nfrom Amazon, be very careful. An almost-identically titled book, with similar\ncover design, and almost twice the price will pop up first if you search for <em>Why We Sleep<\/em>. It\u2019s a scam. Make sure you\nget this book: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"440\" height=\"674\" src=\"http:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WhyWeSleep-440x674.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WhyWeSleep-440x674.png 440w, https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WhyWeSleep-200x306.png 200w, https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WhyWeSleep.png 593w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Matthew Walker\u2019s book, Why We Sleep, Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (Simon &amp; Schuster, 2017), reveals that, besides being essential to health and life, sleep brings a magical level of creativity. Walker chronicles \u201csome of the most revolutionary leaps forward in human progress\u201d first rode into existence on dreams. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For example, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coolriverpub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}