REST AND SLEEP -
ESSENTIAL FOR HEALTH
by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
©
November 2016, L.D. Wilson
Consultants, Inc.
All
information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment,
prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.
Table Of Contents
How Much To Sleep
When To Go To Bed
Children And Teens
College Students
Sleep Position
Body Orientation
Mattresses
Magnetic Mattress
Pads
IV. WHY SOME SEEM TO GET ALONG ON LITTLE SLEEP
They
are burning out
They
are using stimulants
They
are energy vampires
V. POOR EXCUSES FOR NOT SLEEPING
Rest
Muscle
Relaxation
Dreaming
Learning
And More
VII. HANDLING SLEEP DIFFICULTIES
Handling
Difficulties During A Nutritional Balancing Program
Handling
Difficulties When One Is Not On A Nutritional Balancing Program
Natural
Sleep Remedies
ÒJunkÓ
Sleep Threatens TeenagerÕs Health
If
Afternoon Naps Interfere With Sleep At Night
Random
Sleep Schedules
Night
Work Shifts
Living
In Apartments And Some Condominiums
Snoring
Hot
Flashes That Keep One Awake
Sleeping
With An Ozonator/Ionizer Air Purifier
Yin
And Yang Related To Sleep
Hair
Patterns And Insomnia
Personal
Experience
Recent
Sleep Research
Sleep
Apnea
Millions of people throughout the world do not get enough rest and
sleep. This is a major health
problem.
A
complete nutritional balancing program can help solve sleep difficulties, even
when nothing else has been effective.
This is because it can remove toxic metals such as copper, and it can
correct other imbalances in the body that interfere with normal sleep.
Some do
not sleep enough due to insomnia or inability to sleep. Many, however, just like to stay up
late and yet they must get up early for work.
Some
people are tired all the time, and sleep does not refresh them. They may reduce their sleep time
because it doesnÕt seem to matter.
Others
do not sleep much because they like walking around in a sleepy state all
day. This article discusses many
aspects of rest and sleep.
How much sleep is best. Most people
need 8 to 10 hours of sleep daily for optimum health. However, it is best to break this up into two 4
hour periods. These are sleep cycles.
An easy way to do this is to get up once during the
night and walk around for 10 minutes.
Then go back to sleep. I
realize many people do not like this idea, but it is best. If you get up anyway in the middle of
the night, do not resent it, as it is best.
The
reason is that when one sleeps for more than about 4 hours at a time, the brain
goes into a deeper sleep cycle.
This is good for healing, but is a very yin condition in macrobiotic terms that slows development. This may
sound unusual, but is important.
For details about development, read Introduction
To Development on this site.
When
you awaken at night, rub your feet and twist your spine in bed. Then get up, go to the bathroom, have a
little water, perhaps, and then go back to bed after 10 minutes.
I do
not recommend staying in bed much longer than 10 hours at a time. This can have a detrimental effect on
some people. It is often best to
get up, even if you need more sleep. Take a nap or two later in the day, as
needed.
When to go to bed. I recommend that
everyone go to bed between eight and
nine PM every night. The hours before
midnight are far more valuable for rejuvenation than those after midnight. Some say they are two or three times
more useful for healing the body and mind.
The hours after midnight are less conducive because the energy of
the earth has shifted and the new day is starting. This brings a crescendo of solar energy that interferes with
sleep, to a degree.
Try
not to make exceptions to these rules for holidays, weekend
parties, movies, television shows, or anything else. Ideally,
start and end the parties early, leave the other ones at an early hour, record
the television programs, and go to the early movies or rent them on DVD. These are just good lifestyle habits.
Children and teens need a little more
sleep. Children and especially
adolescents need 11 or even more rest and sleep! Ideally, there should be no exceptions for sleepovers,
camping trips, late movies, or other distractions.
I realize this may be difficult, so do your best as a
parent to guide children with this.
If a child is up late one night, be sure he or she can sleep in and that
the next night the child goes to bed very early.
College-age students are the most
sleep-deprived. This is due to
late night studies and classes, parties, outings, and other distractions at
this age. Young people also have
more natural hormonal activity, so they seem to Òget away with itÓ. However, it causes illness, in all
cases.
Sleeping Positions. The best position for sleeping is on your back without a
pillow. If you prefer a pillow, it
should be soft enough so that your spine remains fairly straight. Also, the pillow should not cut off
your air supply in any way.
Also, the pillow case needs to be cleaned often, as otherwise you
will be breathing lots of dust, bacteria from your scalp, and other debris all
night.
If possible, sleep with your legs and arms straight and slightly
out to the sides. This prevents
you from crossing your own energy field with your arms or legs.
Sleep with your head toward the pole. Ideally, if you live
in the Northern hemisphere, sleep with your head to the North, more or less,
and legs facing to the South, if possible. If you live in the Southern hemisphere, sleep with your head
facing South.
The reason is there is a flow of subtle energy or ether from the
poles to the equator of the earth.
When you align with it, you move energy downward from the head to the
feet, which is extremely health-producing. For much more on this subject, please read Down Energy And Healing on this site.
Mattresses.
Avoid sleeping on very soft mattresses that distort your posture. A firmer mattress is often better.
Memory foam
mattresses are very good. If you
want something lightweight, use two or three memory foam mattress toppers on
top of each other.
Some conventional beds and some air beds are also good. I do not recommend water beds, although
some people like them. I don't
think it is ideal to be sleeping on water. Some mattresses are smelly when new and contain toxic fire
retardants, so check on this.
Magnetic mattress pads. I do not recommend
magnetic mattress pads. Most help
for a while. However, prolonged
use usually is not helpful and may be harmful. A lot of 'magnetic deficiency syndrome' is caused by iron
and other ferrous metal toxicity in the body. These metals will come out of the body with a nutritional
balancing program.
1. Most people are exhausted.
2.
Healing requires extra sleep. During
the day, one primarily uses the sympathetic
autonomic nervous system. It
is associated with spending energy and tearing down the body.
This is balanced by the parasympathetic
autonomic nervous system, which is associated with rest, nurturing and
regeneration of body tissues. This
is equally important. The
parasympathetic activates primarily when one is asleep.
3. Detoxification requires plenty of rest. Elimination of toxins, an issue for
everyone, occurs primarily at night while the body rests. The removal process requires energy and
one's energy is finite. If you use
most or all of your energy running around all day, and do not sleep enough, you
will not detoxify the body well.
4. Mental and emotional processing occurs
during sleep. Often, during the day, thought
processes are not completed due to interruptions or other distractions. The mind completes these processes
during sleep.
You may notice that problems that seemed difficult are less
daunting or even solved after a good night's rest. This can be due to increased energy, but is also due to
actual problem-solving that goes on during sleep.
5. Learning. One actually learns new information at night while
resting. The entity soul flies
around and may study at night.
6. Development requires a lot of extra rest and
sleep. Development refers to a specific process
whereby the human body is upgraded, healed and rejuvenated. For more on this important topic, pleas
read Sleep And Development and Introduction To Development on this
website.
Ideally, find a job or career that allows you to take a short nap
every day. This is very helpful
for development and healing, as well.
State work laws in America require a 15-minute break in the
morning and again in the afternoon.
Although this is hardly enough time, it is a start and anyone in any job
should, if possible, take advantage of this rule.
7. Dreaming.
Dreaming is another important activity that only occurs during the sleep
state. Dreaming is complex and can
have various purposes, such as processing past or present events. Even unpleasant dreams, nightmares,
premonitions and other phenomena may be important. Retracing during
nutritional balancing programs may involve dreams.
In summary, there is no substitute for sleep. Also, sleep is anything but a
waste of time. It is an essential
part of each personÕs daily life that can also be a rich time of not only
rejuvenation, but of insights and other healing processes.
IV. WHY SOME SEEM
TO GET ALONG ON LITTLE SLEEP
You may envy those who seem to have lots of energy, yet get by on
little sleep. Please let go of
this envy, and donÕt try to copy these people. Reasons why some seem to get along on not much sleep are:
1. Burning themselves out. Many of them don't
know it, or they know it and don't care, or they care but do not know what to
do about it. Some are ÒdrivenÓ by
emotions or biochemical imbalances, which is not healthy.
2. Using stimulants. Their energy is false. One of these days it will catch up with
them and they will ÒcrashÓ or become ill.
Stimulants include exercise,
sugar, caffeine, energy drinks, kombucha tea or pills
such as amphetamines. They can
also include too much worry, fears, or anger.
3. Energy vampires. Some
people get by with less sleep because they know how to steal energy from others. This is called energy vampirism, and it
is very real. For more about this
subject, please read Energy Vampirism on this site.
V. POOR EXCUSES
FOR NOT SLEEPING
I
hear many excuses why people do not sleep enough. None of the following are valid, so I hope you do not use
them:
1. ÒI don't have time.Ó If this is really the case, then it is
time to restructure your life.
Schedule naps, nap with your children after lunch or even after all
meals, get help so that you are freed up, take on fewer projects or otherwise
restructure.
This
may mean your house is not quite as clean, or perhaps you will not volunteer at
church. However, making such
changes can save your life.
2. ÒSleep is unproductive.Ó Resting more makes some people feel guilty, lazy or
unproductive. Let these feelings
go!
These problems are the worst if you identify yourself with what
you do, instead of with who you are. Although perhaps it is not obvious, you affect others much
more by who you are than by what you do.
For example, if you are good to others, but not good to yourself
by resting enough, you will radiate a non-respectful vibration, although this
can be very subtle.
Many people remain busy and active because they are afraid or
uncomfortable resting and relaxing.
One may busy oneself with the problems of others, because in a resting
state, one is faced with oneÕs own life, and oneÕs own concerns. A key to learning to rest more is
to be at peace and fully accepting and loving of yourself. Otherwise, resting more may bring up
vague feelings of anxiety or even panicky feelings.
In order to slow down, know that these feelings may come up and do
not let them get in the way of your rest periods.
3. ÒSleep is a waste of time.Ó I hope I have explained in the section
above why this is incorrect.
Plenty of sleep is an absolute necessity.
4. ÒI could sleep for days and sleeping
more doesn't make me feel better, so why bother.Ó Most likely your body chemistry is out of balance. Correction may be simple, but usually
it is not. It often requires a
nutritional balancing program for a year or perhaps several years.
Ninety percent of people have exhausted adrenal glands, and many
have sluggish thyroid gland activity.
These can make one very tired.
The answer is not to take replacement thyroid hormones, but to rebuild
the glands with a nutritional balancing program. Not sleeping enough only makes the problem worse.
5. ÒI donÕt want to miss my favorite
television programs, movies, and parties.Ó It is possible to leave parties early, schedule parties and
movies earlier, and record late television programs.
6. ÒI can't go to sleep earlier. If I do, I'll be up at 3 AMÓ. This is a common excuse. The section below regarding sleep
difficulties may be helpful.
7. ÒI have loads of energy.Ó Most
often, people who say this are out of touch or somehow stimulating themselves
to keep going. In this case, it is
nervous energy, and it wonÕt last for too long. It is better to slow down now
rather than experience a crash, which may be more difficult to overcome.
8. ÒI just love staying up.Ó Some people are night owls. They enjoy the peaceful feeling at
night when activities slow down and others go to bed. Sometimes creative work is easier to do at night.
However,
going to bed late or depriving yourself of sleep are not the answer. Go to bed very early and get up early
when the world is still peaceful and quiet, in order to experience the peace
you need. If that does not work,
you may need to live in a quieter environment so you can experience peace during the day.
Sleeping
actually involves at least four aspects of human physiology. These are:
1. Rest. This
is extremely important to do for a number of hours each day. Otherwise, the body wears out
sooner.
2. Muscle relaxation. Although this is
similar to rest, it is listed separately because it is somewhat different. The muscles require rest, as well. Even putting your feet up on the couch
or in bed is excellent to relax most of the musculature of the body.
3. Dreaming. This unusual human activity requires
that the conscious mind be put aside for a time.
4. Processing and learning. This is somewhat
complex. Most souls travel out of
the physical body during sleep.
They learn, teach, heal, assist others and may have other experiences
during the sleep state.
VII. HANDLING
SLEEP DIFFICULTIES
Sleep
problems can be related to diet, lifestyle, the sleeping environment,
biochemical imbalances, oneÕs temperament, and other factors. I will divide this section into:
1. Handling sleep difficulties during a nutritional balancing
program.
2. Handling sleep difficulties if you are not following a
nutritional balancing program.
3. Natural Sleep Remedies
1. SLEEP PROBLEMS DURING A NUTRITIONAL
BALANCING PROGRAM
During
nutritional balancing programs, at times some people complain of sleep
difficulties. Reasons this occurs
are:
1. A
copper elimination can stimulate the brain and cause sleep difficulties.
2. Development
can cause sleep difficulties, at times.
Development progresses a little faster if you get up at least once
during the night and walk around for a few minutes. Perhaps you have a glass of water or use the bathroom. This is not a problem, so please ignore
it.
3. Your
nutritional balancing program needs changing because body chemistry has
shifted. This can occur at any
time.
4.
Retracing a trauma or incident may cause strange or fearful dreams.
5. You
may just be processing a lot of information during the night. Try to go to bed early so you will have time to obtain
enough sleep. Also, take naps
during the day if you are tired.
Suggestions for sleep difficulties
during a nutritional balancing program:
1. Do the pushing down exercise in bed, as this puts
some people to sleep. Also, be sure to twist the spine, and push the toes down
until they pop. This will relax
the body and can help sleep.
2. Rubbing the feet in bed is also excellent. There is a Òsleep pointÓ on the bottom
of the big toe, near the middle of the soft toe pad.
3. I find that taking a quick shower if I cannot sleep
usually causes me to fall asleep.
I am not sure why it works, but it does.
4. You may do a coffee enema at night, even in the
middle of the night if you have a headache or other toxic symptoms. I have often been able to fall back
asleep afterwards. Perhaps use a
little less coffee at night.
5. You may also get in the sauna in the middle of the
night to help fall asleep.
6. Do not panic.
Nap the next day if you can to make up for missing sleep at night.
7. Have your consultant ask me to check your program to
make sure it is still correct.
8. Be sure you are following the program correctly.
9. A copper eliminations will pass. However, ask for help, please, and sometimes
we can identify a cause and suggest help.
10. The suggestions below may also be helpful.
2. HANDLING SLEEP DIFFICULTIES IF YOU ARE NOT ON A NUTRITIONAL
BALANCING PROGRAM
1. Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet. Install black
velour fabric or other light-blocking material behind curtains, or use other
methods so your sleeping area is very dark, and preferably very quiet as well.
2.
Eat dinner early. Eating late may leave undigested food
in the stomach that interferes with sleep, especially if the food quantity is
excessive or you have gas or other symptoms of indigestion.
3. Before bed, try to dissipate harmful or stray
energies that we all pick up during the day. Possible ways to do this are:
- Take
a quick shower just before bedtime. Do not take a bath every night, as many people do. This can cause you to absorb too many
toxins in the bath water, and it is quite yin, as well, in macrobiotic terminology. A quick shower is best for this
purpose.
- Get in a near
infrared lamp sauna for at least 10-15 minutes. Other saunas are not as good, but might work, too.
-
Go out in the sun for several minutes after using the computer or
television. Do this also if you
feel uncomfortable after being with a person whom you know is ill or has a ÔdifficultÕ
personality.
-
Shine a reddish heat lamp on your abdomen for 10 minutes or more before going
to bed.
4. Avoid sweets, juices, chocolate and alcohol,
especially at night. Sugar upsets body chemistry and may cause one to toss and
turn, or to get up hungry in the middle of the night.
5. Avoid stimulants, particularly in the
evening. Stimulants just whip your body. They always result in more tiredness eventually. These include coffee, tea, caffeinated
soft drinks, kombucha tea, chocolate and sugar in any
form. More subtle stimulants
include anger, hatred, resentment, worry and fearfulness. Remember this next time you listen to
the news or watch a violent movie.
6. Reduce mental activity in the evening. If you have trouble
sleeping, it is wise to forgo intense intellectual effort at night. Relax, do light reading or other
activities that do not overstimulate the mind.
For
example, you may need to turn off the computer at 6 PM, and only read or watch
programs that are relaxing or engage in social activities after this time. Also, decide you will not initiate or
take phone calls after 6 PM, since this can easily stimulate a person and keep
one awake.
7. Avoid vigorous exercise in the evening. Better to exercise
in the morning or during the day.
In the evening , limit exercise to perhaps a gentle walk, an excellent
way to end the day.
8. Do some spiritual reading before bed each
night, rather than watch the nightly news or a movie. This can make quite a
difference for some people. It is
relaxing, uplifting, and can help one to have a sense of peace and tranquility.
9. When you go to bed, be sure you are warm
enough, but not hot. This includes your feet. Wear socks if needed, or heat your feet with a heater.
10.
Drink more earlier in the day. Drink water in the morning and less
after 6 PM so you are not having to get up many times to urinate at night. Getting up at night once or twice is
good, however, and not a problem.
Do
not ignore drinking water, however, as this can cause leg cramps, muscle
tightness and other things that interfere with sleep.
11. Some ventilation and movement of air is
often helpful for sleeping. This might mean running a ceiling fan or opening a window a small
amount.
12. Let go of physical tension in the body. Methods that can be
used include ten minutes of slow, deep breathing, or gentle stretching in the
evening. The spinal twist exercise
is very good when going to sleep to relax the body.
13. Foot reflexology is superb to relax before
bed.
This is excellent to calm the nerves and help restore the natural energy
flow in the acupuncture meridians of the body.
Rub both entire feet, for at least five to ten minutes each. Be sure to include rubbing all the
toes, the top of the foot, the heel and a little ways up the legs.
Rub more in any area that is tender or painful. ÒPoppingÓ the toes by pushing them
down, and twisting the toes gently are also very good.
A reflexology sleep point. A
reflex point that may help sleep is on the big toe of both feet. It is on the bottom, in the soft area
around the middle of the toe.
14. Use a chi machine just before bed. This is a box that
sits on the floor and you place your ankles in cradles on top of the box. When activated, the machine gently
moves your legs back and forth, relaxing the spine and the entire body. These are not too expensive, as a
simple one usually works just fine and cost about $120.00 new.
15. Do your best to let go of fears and worry at
bedtime. This may be why spiritual reading is so helpful for some
people. A simple affirmation might
even be enough, particularly if repeated for a while so it becomes part of your
lifestyle.
The prayer could be something like "Thank you for this
day. It is complete. I now release all worries and concerns
to the Holy Spirit, (or the High Self, or God, or Jesus), and I rest
peacefully."
16. Ear plugs. These are helpful for some people who are in noisy
environments, when traveling, or when sleeping with a partner. The foam rubber ones are fine, but not
as good as the silicone type. They
cost more, but block more sound.
17. When traveling, many people sleep better by bringing their own pillow and even
their own sheets or sleep pack if you are not sure how clean the sheets will
be. Also bring earplug and
blinders to cover your eyes if the room is not dark enough.
18.
Separate beds for partners can be a
helpful idea, though it sounds horribly unromantic to some. It is better energetically for many
people. It also helps assure that
a partnerÕs visits to the bathroom, or just random tossing and turning, will
not wake you up.
19. Avoid becoming overtired. When one is
overtired, the adrenal glands are overstimulated. If this happens, one may need to
ÒunwindÓ before going to bed.
This is one of the most important reasons to go to bed early. If you stay up late, the sympathetic
nervous system and the adrenal glands Òkick inÓ and can keep you awake.
20. If possible, turn off electronic devices
near where you sleep. Also, sleep
at least 10 feet away from wifi routers, cell phones,
TV sets, computers and all other sources of EMF
(electromagnetic fields).
Battery powered devices are not as much of a problem as those that
plug in to the wall.
Turning off some electrical equipment is not always enough. Some radios, amplifiers, televisions,
boom boxes, and other electronic devices have transformers that stay on even if
the device is off. These can
disturb sensitive individuals and are not healthful for anyone during sleep.
House wiring. In some cases, sleep will improve radically if you make sure
the electric power is off in your bedroom. This is because even the wiring in the wall gives off EMF and RF frequencies. It is more work to install a special
switch or circuit breaker, but I know people for whom it has made a lot of
difference in their rest.
21. In a few cases, reduce your salt intake, but
only if you are eating a lot of salt.
Even good quality sea salt can be somewhat
stimulating for some people. Avoid all table salt, which is a junk
food. Especially if eaten late at
night, it can possibly be a stimulant that interferes with sleep.
22. Definitely avoid sugar and alcohol in the
evening. These keep some people
awake.
23. Hydrotherapy. An older method to
help one fall asleep is to stand in the back of a shower and allow cold water
to run just on the legs and feet. The water must be quite cold. Wear a night shirt, if needed, to keep warm. This procedure draws the blood down
from the head to the feet very effectively.
To make it even more powerful, do not dry your legs. Get into bed with them wet, as it will
keep working once you are in bed.
24. Empty the bladder and bowels. This may be obvious,
but having a full bladder or even a full colon can interfere with sleep.
25. Listen to a boring lecture or other boring
CD or tape. This can be surprisingly good, and much better than
listening to music or watching a movie before bed. However, if it works better, you can listen to quiet music instead.
26. Experiment with clothing. Some sleep
better with less clothing, while others may do better with pajamas.
3. NATURAL SLEEP REMEDIES
Calcium
and magnesium. One can take a little more of these an hour before
bed. Several clients have also
reported that taking more calcium and magnesium during the day, not just
before bed, helps them sleep better.
One reason this may work is it keeps the nervous system
calmer all day and avoids one becoming as overtired or overstimulated. The amount to take is usually about
250-500 mg extra of calcium and about 150-300 mg extra of magnesium three times
a day with meals.
During the night, if you cannot sleep, you can take a little more
calcium and magnesium. For the
fastest action, chew your supplements or you could use a liquid
calcium/magnesium supplement.
Beware that excessive magnesium is laxative for some people.
Strong chamomile tea. This is very
relaxing. Use 2 teabags and
ideally use organically grown chamomile tea.
Valerian root tea. This is also
relaxing, although I have not found it as good as chamomile tea. Both are quite safe, however.
Milk near bedtime. An old sleep remedy
is a small cup of warm milk. Milk is
high in tryptophan and calcium.
This works well for some people, and is quite safe.
L-tryptophan
or 5-htp help some people sleep, and
are safe.
Melatonin is
a hormone produced by the pineal gland.
It helps sleep in some people, and it seems to be harmless when used
correctly.
Others. Other sedative products include choline, inositol, L-threonine, and sedative herbs such as hops, passionflower and others.
Sleep remedies to Avoid. I suggest staying
away from Chinese patent herbal remedies such as An Shui
Wan and Worry Free, Sleep Easy (Shui de An). Chinese herbs can contain toxic metals,
even the best brands, in my experience.
I also do not recommend homeopathic remedies because they are very
yin in macrobiotic terminology.
Drugs for sleep are toxic and rarely needed if the
suggestions above are followed.
They should be used only as a last resort.
In a few rare cases, sleep is so important that a
sleeping pill can be helpful until your body chemistry is corrected so your
body will relax enough to rest. Do not take sleeping pills any longer than
absolutely needed. The following was excerpted from an article at www.Mercola.com:
ÒA startling study in 2012
revealed that people who take sleeping pills
are not only at higher risk for certain cancers (35 percent higher), but they
are also nearly four times as likely to
die as people who don't take them.
The list of health risks from
sleeping pills is growing all the time, including the following:
¥
Higher risk of death, including from accidents
¥
Increased risk of cancer
¥
Increased insulin resistance, food cravings, weight
gain and diabetes
¥
Complete amnesia, even from events that occurred
during the day
¥
Depression, confusion, disorientation, and hallucinations
¥
Impaired driving to a degree that increases the
risk of an accident, especially among women.
RELAXING VERSUS DRUGGING YOURSELF TO GO TO SLEEP
A lot of people believe they must drug themselves to go to
sleep. They may use sleeping pills
for this, but other ways to drug yourself to sleep are:
1. Eating late at night.
2. Using sedative herbs.
3. Staying up late until you are exhausted.
4. Exercising until you are exhausted in order to sleep.
These methods are not ideal.
It is better to relax to go to sleep. Some of the suggestions below can help you to do this.
ÒJUNK SLEEPÓ THREATENING TEENAGERÕS HEALTH
Electronic
gadgets have overtaken many teenagersÕ bedrooms, damaging their health due to
lack of sleep, according to a British survey.
The
Sleep Council warns that Òjunk sleepÓ could rival the unhealthy junk food craze
as a major lifestyle issue for parents of teenage children.
Their
poll of 1,000 teenagers between the ages of 12 to 16 revealed that 30 percent
got only four to seven hours of sleep. And almost 25 percent said
they fell asleep while watching TV, listening to music, or using some other
electronic gadget.
About
40 percent said they felt tired each day, and some 20 percent of the boys
admitted their quality of sleep was affected by leaving their TV or computer
on. However, only 11 percent said they were bothered by the lack of quantity,
or quality, of sleep.
Dr.
Chris Idzikowski with the Edinburgh Sleep Centre
stated, ÒWhat we are seeing is the emergence of Junk Sleep – that is sleep that is of neither the length nor
quality that it should be in order to feed the brain with the rest it needs to
perform properly at school.Ó
The Sleep Council Press
Release
The Sleep Council Teenage
Sleep: Facts, Figures & Tips
Scientific American August 28,
2007
IF AFTERNOON NAPS INTERFERE WITH NIGHTTIME SLEEPING
This happens, at times.
It can be due to low vitality.
One is somewhat delicate and the nap upsets the normal rhythm. Often, as health improves, this problem
disappears by itself.
In some cases, a person may, by taking an afternoon nap, upset
their body chemical patterns enough to begin eliminating a stored stimulant
such as caffeine, cadmium from cigarette or marijuana smoke or something
else. Releasing this chemical into
the blood could also interfere with sleep later in the evening.
RANDOM SLEEP SCHEDULES
Some people do
remarkably well with a random sleep schedule. It is often necessary in occupations such as flight
attendants and commercial airline pilots, for example. However, as a general rule, the more
similar the sleep schedule each day, the better.
NIGHT WORK SHIFTS
This is often hard
on the body. If one is not feeling
well on this schedule, do whatever you can to change it to a regular day shift,
even a late day shift.
LIVING IN APARTMENTS AND SOME CONDOMINIUMS
Living in a detached house is usually preferable to living in an apartment or
attached dwellings because there is less electromagnetic fields and often less
noise in detached dwelling. This
can affect oneÕs sleep.
If you must live in an apartment, try to live in an end
unit, with as few people above or below you as possible such as a garden
apartment. If possible, get to
know your neighbors and ask them to turn off the TV and other electronic
gadgets early in the evening, so you can go to bed early in a peaceful
electronic environment.
SNORING
This can and does interfere with oneÕs sleep, not just your
partnerÕs sleep. Snoring occurs
usually when the tongue blocks the airway a little.
Many methods can help overcome snoring. Losing weight helps stop
some snoring. Nasal strips often
work well by opening up the nostrils a bit. Plastic strips and mouth guards are also sold that go inside
the nose and mouth.
Special physical exercises are also available that may help
snoring. These are available through the intenet.
HOT FLASHES THAT KEEP ONE AWAKE
Some women at or near the menopause experience hot flashes at night
that keep them awake. For safe,
simple ways to deal with this problem that often work well, without the need
for drugs or natural hormones, read the article entitled Menopause.
SLEEPING WITH AN OZONATOR/IONIZER AIR
PURIFIER
This is highly recommended.
It adds a little oxygen to the air, which everyone needs today. The machines are offered by Atlas and
other manufacturers via the internet.
For more on how to acquire one of these machines inexpensively, click here.
Place the machine in the bedroom, preferably high off the floor on
a book shelf. Set the ozone
production to about half or less.
Full power is too much and will irritate the lungs. Close the bedroom door most of the way,
ideally, to keep the ozone in the room.
Do not be afraid of ozone – it is not harmful when used
correctly. Adding a little more
even in a polluted city with a higher natural ozone level is good for most
people.
SLEEP AND YIN AND YANG
Sleep is actually a yin activity, but it has a yang effect of
rejuvenating the body. The prone
position is more yin. This
is the reason I do not recommend staying in bed for more than 10 hours at a
time.
HAIR MINERAL PATTERNS OF INSOMNIA
Hair mineral testing can sometimes, but certainly not always, help
one understand the reasons for insomnia.
Here are mineral patterns that may be associated with insomnia:
Copper Imbalance. Copper causes the
mind to race and enhances emotions, both of which interfere with sleep.
When copper is out of balance, the hair copper level may be normal
or even low. However, hidden copper imbalances are usually
present. Assuming the hair test is
performed correctly, which means the hair is not washed at the lab, indicators
for copper imbalance include:
á
Copper greater than about
2.5 mg% or less than 1 mg%.
á
Zinc less than about 14 mg%
á
Calcium greater than about
70 mg%
á
Potassium less than about 4
mg%
á
Mercury greater than about
0.03 mg%
á
Na/K ratio less than about
2 or greater than 10
Biounavailable calcium and/or
magnesium. A hair calcium level
greater than 175 mg%, or perhaps even less, often indicates some degree of biounavailable calcium and perhaps magnesium. This is closely associated with insomnia,
in some instances, because it is functionally the same as a calcium and/or
magnesium deficiency.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I
used to have a lot of difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, starting
around age 30. Copper toxicity was
definitely a culprit. I also
had a lot of adhesions and muscle tension that made relaxing difficult. For more on this topic, please read Adhesions.
I tried most of the methods in this article. Sometimes one would work better than
another. At bedtime, doing the
spinal twist, pushing the toes down, and doing some foot reflexology definitely
helped relax me. A little exercise
during the day also seems to help.
Chamomile tea was often helpful.
I decided I would not waste the time at night. So I listened to instructional tapes or
CDs if I could not sleep, and I would do the pushing down exercise for an hour
or two in the middle of the night.
Eventually, I would fall asleep, though I was often tired in the
morning.
I learned to take naps, not to plan too much during a day, and to
go to bed early so that hopefully I could get enough sleep sometime during the
night. Only rarely would I get up
and work or watch television at night if I could not sleep.
The
insomnia problem definitely got better about 10 years ago when my central
channel or conception vessel opened.
This required at least 15 years on a nutritional balancing program. Now I sleep well. I still do the spinal twist, rub
the feet and pop the toes every evening when I lie down to sleep. To read about opening the central
channel, please read The Conception Vessel
on this website.
RECENT SLEEP RESEARCH
The
Jawbone Activity Tracker Study (2014) found
that sleep times in the 21 largest cities in the USA were remarkably similar,
ranging from a low of 6.82 hours in Houston, Texas to a high of 6.93 hours in
Orlando, Florida. On average,
thatÕs just over 6.8 hours of sleep a night.2
Another
study, the 2013 International Bedroom Poll by the National Sleep Foundation,
which found, on average, Americans get only 6.5 hours of sleep on weeknights
(but report needing 7.25 hours in order to function optimally).3
The
average bedtime for New Yorkers is 11:15 p.m. – and thatÕs earlier on
average than people in some other parts of the nation!
SLEEP APNEA
Some
people do not rest well, though they may sleep. One cause is sleep apnea. With this condition, one stops breathing periodically during
sleep. The usual cause is the
tongue slips back into the throat, blocking the air flow.
Detection of sleep apnea. Sometimes a partner will just notice
that you stop breathing, at times.
However, the other way the problem is identified is to go to a sleep
clinic. These are available in
many locations. One goes to sleep
at the clinic and cameras observe oneÕs breathing and movement during the
night.
Correction. The common medical treatment is to wear
a face mask connected to a machine that pumps air into the mouth and nose. It is called a continuous positive air pressure machine or CPAP
machine.
Instead of this machine, which is somewhat costly and
inconvenient, some doctors just recommend a splint in the mouth that keeps the
tongue positioned correctly. Also,
a complete nutritional balancing program, especially losing weight, if needed,
may correct the entire condition.
References
1.
Dement, W.C. and Vaughan, C., The Promise of Sleep, Dell Publishing, NY, 1999.
2.
Wiley, T.S., Lights
Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival. 2001.
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