Fifty To Seventy Blog » sleep http://www.fiftytoseventy.com Information useful for keeping your youth as you are becoming better like great wine as it ages. Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:51:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 The eight hour sleep cycle http://www.fiftytoseventy.com/the-eight-hour-sleep-cycle/ http://www.fiftytoseventy.com/the-eight-hour-sleep-cycle/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 15:29:22 +0000 admin http://www.fiftytoseventy.com/wp/?p=17 All human beings are basically Africans. We evolved over millions of years near the equator where there sun sets for about eight hours each night and there is not a great change in day/night length over the year.

Also near the equator, the nights were quite dark. Nearer to the poles there are not such rapid sunsets and sunrises.

So we evolved to sleep about eight hours a night in near total darkness and that’s our biological need. However, the demands of modern life mean that often we don’t sleep eight hours a night and also we don’t sleep in total darkness.

Some people work at night, some young people entertain till late in the morning and the chances are that they are using mind altering substance. As far as your brain and body are concerned there’s no difference whether the chemicals entering your brain are legal or illegal. Your brain may suffer a lot from staying up late by use of coffee.

Another problem with taking mind altering chemicals late (near your sleeping time) is that they disrupt your natural sleep cycles especially your REM (dream time) sleep.

Also many modern machines have LED lights all over the place. These all produce light which can disturb some people’s sleep.

What to do:

  • Fortunately you can catch up a little with your lost sleep. So if you are sleep deprived and if you live in the USA chances are you are, catch up at weekends.
  • Use meditation or self-hypnosis.
  • Do not drink coffee, tea or other caffeinated drinks, alcohol, other mind altering substances (note sugar is one that most people do not recognize hence the huge increase of ADHD diagnosis with the huge increase of sugar consumption) near bed time.
  • Do not watch TV news late at night. TV news is typically all negative and sensational and ruins your sleep.
  • Remember the quality of sleep is important as well as the quantity. Relax and let go once in bed. You can only think of one thing at a time and if you start worrying, start thinking about happy things, happy events, loved ones, and so on. It’s you mind, you can control it.

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