{"id":592,"date":"2015-05-02T14:30:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-02T11:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hbne.co.il?p=592"},"modified":"2019-11-05T13:57:46","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T11:57:46","slug":"sleep-is-for-wimps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbne.co.il\/?p=592","title":{"rendered":"Sleep Is For Wimps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pegasussm\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

How typical, Ms "Taken For Granted" is out, totally oblivious to the \u200ewake of her aftermath\u2026<\/h3>\n

Mayday! Mayday!\u200e<\/h2>\n

We are often blissfully unaware of the abundant wealth which the \u200esimple things in our lives embody. Pause to practice gratitude daily. \u200eOne never knows what tomorrow will take\u2026\u200e<\/p>\n

Today at the age of 54 my body is signaling change: sleep has become \u200ea precious commodity. I find myself dealing with insomnia in its many \u200eforms.<\/p>\n

Feelings of longing and abandonment are a lousy stand in for \u200edreams\u2026\u200e<\/h3>\n

The Pixie Dust has gone AWOL it has!<\/strong> No more lingering in bed to flirt \u200ewith dawn\u2019s radiant sun rays, no more giant yawns to devour with \u200egusto the slumbery residue of night and gone (forever? I surly hope \u200enot\u2026) are the supercharged energy reserves to tackle the new day \u200ewith fervor. PD come home!\u200e<\/p>\n

A night owl? No, that was never my scene. Early to rise and always in \u200ebed way before my friends and family, that was me. Sleep came easily \u200eand I would ride the tail of my dreams nonstop till morning.\u200e<\/p>\n

When my alarm clock would pierce my blissful slumber at 4:30 am for \u200ethe early morning milking, it was pure torture and I found it very \u200edifficult to get out of bed. Motherhood? That too painfully jolted my \u200ecozy blanket of sleep. Consideration? Not one of my three children let \u200eme sleep through the night for a very long time\u2026<\/p>\n

\u200eJetlag that too was devastating. Each transatlantic trip to visit family \u200egrounded me for weeks. I was taxed coping with the transition to a \u200edistant time zone and felt forever like a doormat, unable to rise from \u200emy knocked out stupor. \u200e<\/p>\n

Are you familiar with those who have an innate ability to sleep: smug \u200efolks who can effortlessly fall asleep and wake up at the snap of your \u200efingers? I live in the shadow of such a fortuitous soul.\u200e<\/p>\n

Need to sleep? Merely lay down your head. It is as simple as that!\u200e<\/h3>\n

Traveling abroad? Simply set your watch to the new time zone and \u200eyou are done. The secret is to fall asleep on the ground, long before \u200etakeoff. Wake up for the meal cart. Coffee and dessert is a must. \u200eAfterwards close your eyes again. Your internal and external clocks are \u200ein sync. At the hotel lights out according to the new time zone. In the \u200emorning you awake renewed, refreshed and ready for a full day\u2019s \u200ework. Transatlantic, transposed and tripped. No jetlag for you! \u200eIncredible is it not?!\u200e<\/p>\n

I take the potion and he falls asleep!
\nIt can be so terribly frustrating to \u200elive at his side\u2026\u200e<\/h3>\n

We live in a connected world, live 24\/7. Our attention and focus are \u200eonline following the money: the internet and the economy have their \u200ehold on us. Our time is a precious commodity.<\/p>\n

A badge of honor is \u200eawarded to those able to sleep two hours less at night.\u200e<\/h3>\n

When the caveman lay his head down to sleep he was liable to \u200eawaken within the clutches of a wild beast\u2019s jaws. Despite the risk, he \u200ewent to sleep … Surely if sleep served no higher purpose it would \u200ehave been evolutionarily weeded out.\u200e<\/p>\n

O sleep! O gentle sleep!\u200e<\/h2>\n

While in the Elizabethan era Shakespeare and his likes sang praises of \u200esleep, famous figures from the earliest of modern times went off in the \u200ecomplete opposite direction. Thomas Edison took pride in his ability to \u200esleep only four hours a night. Margaret Thatcher too was infamously \u200eknown for her motto: \u201cSleep is for wimps!\u201d \u200e<\/p>\n

Of late sleep can be seen in the headlines in the media, ground \u200ebreaking research is a hot subject. It is not clear if we are heralding a \u200ewakeup call or simply leveraging technological innovations.\u200e<\/p>\n

It would be interesting to plot a bar graph portraying our sleep habits \u200efrom the invention of the light bulb until present day. Plot the years \u200efrom 1880 onwards on the X axis. Plot the average hours of sleep per \u200enight on the Y axis. In the background place the technological \u200einnovations by year: light bulbs, radio, telephone, television, \u200ecomputer, cell phone, internet, tablet, smartest phone, etc. Without a \u200edoubt the artificial light and the time spent using these technologies \u200eharm our sleep: both its quantity and quality.\u200e<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is common knowledge that upwards of one third of our life is \u200einvested in sleep. With such a high investment there must be a \u200elucrative ROI or return on investment. What are the opportunities and \u200ethe risks that we can anticipate?<\/p>\n

\u200e Science is constantly inventing and reinventing itself. What is true \u200etoday may not hold water tomorrow
\n\u200e
\nToday three hypotheses as to the main functions of sleep:\u200e<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2666 Restoration
\n\u2666 Energy conservation
\n\u2666 Brain processing and memory consolidation<\/p>\n

Healthy sleep can promote our health in many ways:<\/strong> <\/span>
\n\u200e
\n\u2666 Improves concentration
\n\u2666 Increases attention
\n\u2666 Sharpens decision making skills
\n\u2666 Increases creativity
\n\u2666 May protect against Diabetes Type 2\u200e
\n\u2666 Improves mental health
\n\u2666 Reduces risk of Alzheimer, Parkinson, osteoporosis and cancer
\n\u2666 Reduces mood swings
\n\u2666 Reduces incidence of substance abuse and over eating
\n\u2666 Strengthens the immune system
\n\u2666 Restores, rejuvenates and removes toxic biological debris in the \u200ebrain<\/p>\n

Lack of sleep can turn any advantage into a disadvantage. Sleep is \u200eonly effective when you get enough of it.\u200e<\/p>\n

New studies<\/a> show irreversible damage stemming from an \u200eaccumulated lack of sleep. Sleep debt may damage and kill neurons \u200eand brain cells. Accumulated debris such as amyloid protein in the \u200ebrain leads to a greater risk and susceptibility to chronic disease \u200esuch as the likes of Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s.\u200e<\/p>\n

So yes, perhaps sleep is a waste of your precious time, but for your \u200ebody it is time to repair, restore and rejuvenate.\u200e<\/h2>\n

Before you go offline and dim the lights may I share with you two \u200evideos: one amusing<\/a> and uplifting<\/a>?\u200e<\/p>\n

\u200e\u201cSleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in \u200eat death; and the higher the rate of interest and the more regularly it \u200eis paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed.\u201d\u200e<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

~Arthur Schopenhauer<\/em><\/p>\n

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