World Sleep Day - The Power of Sleep
Friday 13th March 2020 is World Sleep Day. This annual event was started by a group of dedicated healthcare professionals who specialise in the area of sleep medicine and research. The goal of the first World Sleep Day was to bring together sleep healthcare providers to discuss and distribute sleep information around the world. It’s a day to bring attention to the importance sleep has on personal health and well-being, and it’s need to be a priority. You can find out more about World Sleep Day and The World Sleep Society non-for profit charity on their website.
A Sleep Pandemic
My new meditation students frequently have sleep issues. Whether it’s trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking still feeling exhausted or anxious. In a 24/7 ‘always switched on’ society it’s no surprise The World Sleep Society research shows that at least 2 billion people suffer with insomnia. Also most millennials are suffering from 2-3 years of sleep deprivation.
With so many affected by this global lack of sleep crisis, why is it not being taken more seriously?
Professor Matthew Walker, director of the Centre for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, said
“No aspect of our biology is left unscathed by sleep deprivation. It sinks down into every possible nook and cranny. And yet no one is doing anything about it. Things have to change: in the workplace and our communities, our homes and families. But when did you ever see an NHS poster urging sleep on people? When did a doctor prescribe, not sleeping pills, but sleep itself? It needs to be prioritised, even incentivised. Sleep loss costs the UK economy over £30bn a year in lost revenue, or 2% of GDP. I could double the NHS budget if only they would institute policies to mandate or powerfully encourage sleep.”
Without good sleep, it’s very difficult to thrive or make changes to your lifestyle. You simply don’t have the energy or the attention span. The accumulative effect of late nights, disrupted sleep, and early mornings eventually takes its toll on the body and mind, leading to lack of focus, loss of perspective and perception, and ultimately longer-term health issues due to a compromised immune system.
So why is sleep so important?
Sleep is the force multiplier of good health. Sleep actually repairs your body. Consistent unbroken sleep of around eight hours has been shown by recent research to be essential for our mental and physical wellbeing.
The first part of your sleep cycle is crucial, as this is when the body repairs itself which usually happens between 10pm and 2am. The second part of sleep, which we’re more aware of through dreams, is when all the information we have received during the day is processed and integrated through NREM and REM sleep.
Both the cellular repair and stress-processing parts of your sleep cycle are essential to maintaining good physical and mental health. If these are compromised by poor sleep patterns and lack of a routine, our mental and physical health deteriorates.
Sleep is linked to appetite and a reduction of it can result in overeating. There are two hormones that help regulate hunger, ghrelin and leptin. Both of these hormones are affected by sleep. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin decreases it. When the body is sleep-deprived, the level of ghrelin spikes, while the level of leptin falls, leading to an increase in hunger. Increased ghrelin can lead to overconsumption, especially in “quick fix” junk food, which is often full of sugar, and that can lead to weight gain.
Studies have suggested that lack of sleep reduces self-control, leading to uncharacteristic and impulsive behavior – character traits which will not go unnoticed in the office or at home.
For anyone who has suffered poor sleep, all of the above is not new information.
So what can we do to get a better night's sleep?
Creating a good sleep environment and routine is a great start to preparing to rest the body and mind. You can read more about creating a good bedtime routine here.
However life is hectic and a good bedtime routine is often not enough. The accumulation of daily stresses – workload, commuting, relationships, family life – means the likelihood of getting a good night’s sleep becomes commonly elusive. You may be surprised to hear that’s where a regular meditation practice can help.
I love this quote from sleep expert Matthew Walker’s Ted Talk:
“You wouldn’t sit at the dinner table waiting to get hungry, so why lay in bed waiting to get tired. Meditate to calm your nervous system and your mind. Don’t default to sleeping pills, which are blunt instruments that do not produce naturalistic sleep.”
Meditation can not only make it easier to get out of bed in the morning, but help you manage your stress throughout the week, and get through the working week feeling energised and on top of things.
By meditating just twice a day for twenty minutes, research shows your body rests very deeply, up to 2 to 5 times deeper than the deepest part of sleep. Long term body fatigue melts away and the mind de-excites and deeply rests, releasing long-held stress. Meditation can help us feel well-rested and energised, which in turn makes us feel less stressed and anxious, gives us better focus and productivity, sharpens and de-clutters the mind, and makes us feel calmer and more relaxed. Happy relaxed people make much better decisions than people who are exhausted and burnt out.
The first meditation of the day gives the body and mind an opportunity to top up what has not been obtained during sleeping hours, which includes deep rest and the release of stress, and prepares you for the day ahead.
The second meditation of the day, taken before dinner, processes the stress taken on during the day and this ensures that when you head for bed you will be less likely to be woken and troubled by recurring thoughts in the middle of the night.
Meditation is not an alternative to sleep, but rather a wonderful tool to feel deeply rested and ensure that when we get into bed we are in the best possible frame of mind to get a full night of nourishing ‘shut-eye’.
Thinking that meditation could help you sleep better and manage stress? Come along to one of our free introductory talks in London and find out more.