Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Sleeping properly?

[nicklebleu]

Hmmmh, interesting thread! Thanks for raising the issue.

I have never had problems sleeping even during broad daylight with uncovered windows. But then I don't have totally uninterrupted sleep. It's not like I go to sleep in the evening and wake up in the morning, but my sleep is divided into a series of "mini-sleeps". I briefly wake up, turn around and continue to sleep; it doesn't feel uncomfortable, probably because that's the way I have been sleeping all my life. I don't always feel totally rested in the morning, and mostly have trouble getting up. I often have to literally drag myself out of bed ... so maybe more darkness IS the answer. Unfortunately that means that I would have to close the windows and run the air-conditioner all night, otherwise it gets too stuffy. And I hate sleeping with the air-conditioner on. So I feel a bit like caught between a rock and a hard place.

Dr. Mercola has raised this issues in one of his recent news letters as well:
_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/28/sleeping-with-the-lights-on-could-cause-weight-gain.aspx
In this article he cites research that connects interrupted sleep with weight gain:

"... [P]revious work has shown hormones that aid in metabolism are affected in humans exposed to light at night ... Night light could have reduced those hormones in mice, and coupled with a disruption in the mice's internal clocks, could have been responsible for their weight gain."

There is also a link to interrupted sleep pattern and cancer:

Your weight is not the only factor at risk if you frequently leave lights on at night.

A part of your brain called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) -- a group of cells in your hypothalamus -- controls your biological clock. And the cells that make up your SCN respond to light and dark signals.

Light actually travels through your eye's optic nerve to your SCN, where it signals your body's clock that it's time to wake up. Light also signals your SCN to initiate other processes associated with being awake, such as raising your body temperature and producing hormones like cortisol.

Meanwhile, when your eyes signal to your SCN that it's dark outside, your body will begin to produce melatonin. The level of melatonin produced is related to the amount of exposure you have had to bright sunshine the previous day; the less bright light exposure the lower your melatonin levels.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps you sleep and radically decreases your risk of cancer. There are many studies on this powerful association. The more your sleep is disrupted by light pollution, the lower your melatonin levels and the greater your risk of developing cancer becomes.

Melatonin is secreted primarily in your brain and at night it triggers a host of biochemical activities, including a nocturnal reduction in your body's estrogen levels. It's thought that chronically decreasing your melatonin production at night -- as occurs when you're exposed to nighttime light -- increases your risk of developing cancer.

In fact, one of the first studies linking cancer to light showed that blind women have a 36 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to sighted women. Why? Because they are unreceptive to light. This means that their bodies maintain high melatonin levels at night regardless of how much light is in the room.

If you have to use a light at night, you should only use a red light or nightlight as that is the wavelength that will have virtually no influence on your pituitary gland to produce melatonin. When you are exposed to any other color at night your melatonin levels will drop like a rock and if this occurs regularly it will increase your risk of cancer.

And for those who have to use a computer after nightfall,I found this little (free) program, that is adapting the screen "temperature" after the sun goes down. It gradually shifts the screen color away from blue towards red, as the blue color simulates "daylight" whereas red does this to a lesser extent. It's called Flux and can be found here:
_http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/
It's a bit weird at the start, as the color looks quite unnatural, but after a little while you adapt. And it seems to me to be more relaxing on the eyes. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

They also have a page with a collection of some articles about sleep research:
_http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/research.html

Will definitely get the book onto my wish-list/ book pile (which is ever growing taller!)

WEIRD!!!
Just tried to post this and the Cass website was totally unresponsive!
Switched a "anonymiser" service on - et voila, back in business!?!

 

[Turgon]

Whoa! Thanks for the quotes Psyche. I really dig all of the science tidbits. That does seem like an important book.

I like the way she writes and half the book is just references. There are some things that sound off, but non the less, it is worth reading.

I found interesting the parts about how we messed up in our evolution. So farming wasn't really as good as I thought it was. It allowed for a much greater consumption of carbs and access to food in an unnatural way. And also the invention of the light bulb, which has molded our lifestyle to what we see today. I was thinking that some of these things might have been planned by 4D STS. Like just another thing to tax our bodies, but still keep us alive.

The part about, "You can't get fat by eating fat" is something I think a lot of people don't know. It seems that people are afraid of fat, that they'll get fat if they eat it.

Yeah, it was really our disgrace. This low-fat and grain-based diet, plus the vegetarian hypothesis. So wrong!

It's as if everything that society does and thinks is the exact opposite of what is good and healthy for us. Our entire way of living really is engineered towards gradual weakening of our minds, bodies and emotions. Sleeping seems to be essential for regulating our entire systems and I think from reading this will aid incredibly with our detoxing if we get the proper patterns set in.

What was really mind-blowing was the views on exercise. I thought exercise was healthy and good for us. But it seems intensive exercise will only increase cortisol levels and stress us out, and should be done once in a while.

In fact, exercise just might be the last nail in our collective coffins. The stress response enacted when you run for your life on that treadmill causes your cortisol levels to rise. If you do this once in a while, say, every ten days, the natural episodic cortisol response will keep your heart and brain healthy. But if you exercise like a maniac more that once a week, the high cortisol levels resulting from all of the chronic exercise actually mimics the stress of mating season, when the long hours of light and the competition (especially for males) kept cortisol at yearly highs.

Yet even more sacred held beliefs blown out of the water!

 

[manitoban]

It's as if everything that society does and thinks is the exact opposite of what is good and healthy for us. Our entire way of living really is engineered towards gradual weakening of our minds, bodies and emotions. Sleeping seems to be essential for regulating our entire systems and I think from reading this will aid incredibly with our detoxing if we get the proper patterns set in.

What was really mind-blowing was the views on exercise. I thought exercise was healthy and good for us. But it seems intensive exercise will only increase cortisol levels and stress us out, and should be done once in a while.

That is exactly it Daniel! I remember when first reading the Wave, Laura talked about the layers and layers of lies that our society is built upon. Over the years, it has become so depressingly clear just how very true that is. It is mind boggling to think of how it has been done, for years and years, gradually introducing one unhealthful lie after another until all become seen as fact, and the health and brain of man becomes weaker and weaker, less able to think, and to resist.

 

[mcb]

...It's as if everything that society does and thinks is the exact opposite of what is good and healthy for us. Our entire way of living really is engineered towards gradual weakening of our minds, bodies and emotions. Sleeping seems to be essential for regulating our entire systems and I think from reading this will aid incredibly with our detoxing if we get the proper patterns set in...

I had a wake-up moment last month over this. I was taking a cooking class at the time, and I noticed that I was being presented with two very different versions of reality where food (among other things) is concerned--one from conventional sources and another from our "recommended reading list" here. It is so easy to "go with the flow," and so important not to.

...What was really mind-blowing was the views on exercise. I thought exercise was healthy and good for us. But it seems intensive exercise will only increase cortisol levels and stress us out, and should be done once in a while...

Heavy exercise has always made me feel ill and I am glad for once not to be told that I should exercise more and constantly make myself sick. At the same time, I notice that our two house cats stay strong and healthy without a great deal of exercise.

 

[Juba]

Psyche

In the 1970s, Americans devoted 27 hours a week to "leisure" time. In the 1990s, we're down to 15. And we work at least 48 hours a week, compared to 35 for the average worker in the 1970s.

Another reason for stress related problems & higher consumption of antidepressants. Excelent excerpts, thanks Psyche, "Lights Out" seems interesting book.

 

[Turgon]

Heavy exercise has always made me feel ill and I am glad for once not to be told that I should exercise more and constantly make myself sick. At the same time, I notice that our two house cats stay strong and healthy without a great deal of exercise.

I've noticed the same thing. Because of my shallow views over my body and the expectations of society I had gone on this mass building workout program specifically designed for skinny people, recently. Many times partly through I would feel completely nauseated and dizzy. Maybe brisk walks, or yoga and tai-chi are better suited methods of exercise as they aren't excessively strenuous on the body and promote relaxation.

I found this on the reasons for the nauseated feeling, but what's even more interesting is the comments at the bottom.
_http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-avoid-exerciseinduced-nausea-a88934

Even low intensity exercises cause the same affect for some people. Other websites say to eat high carbs and starchy foods, but that is so bad for us too.

All the websites keep saying the same thing.

1. Low blood sugar
2. Dehydration
3. Over-exertion

But I think this has more to do with depleting magnesium levels in the body, which is causing this. From Psyche's article http://www.sott.net/articles/show/220946-Magnesium-The-Spark-of-Life

Anxiety and panic attacks. Magnesium helps keep adrenal stress hormones under control.
Fatigue. Magnesium-deficient patients commonly experience fatigue because dozens of enzyme systems are underfunctioning. An early symptom of magnesium deficiency is fatigue.

Also coupled with this article that states magnesium supplementation is necessary for people who are working out as they require more magnesium. _http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2806330/can_magnesium_increase_exercise_endurance.html?cat=5

So it seems working out depletes us, quite heavily of a really important mineral for our daily functioning that is already low in our bodies to begin with.

 

[rrraven]

great article...I will show it to my kids next time they are joking about my ''bat cave''bedroom.
I have doubled up a duvet cover and thumbtacked it to the window frame about a year ago when I moved into this bedroom
I have been a good dreamer all my life...I have always liked to have a bat cave bedroom :P but I never made the connection before

my oldest daughter was raised for the first few years with out any grid power,deep in the country with no street lights as well and she used to wake up with the sun and fall asleep at sunset...out like a light
with the next kids we already had a solar panel and so more(but not much) light on after dark and they where not as good sleepers as their big sister


on a different note the HONEY LET JUST PLANT THIS OUT THE DOOR annoys me a bit....are we blaming women now for agriculture??? I have had this idea for a while now on how this stupid unhealthy habit of grain eating came about if you hunt birds you may use seeds and grains as bait also if you have domestic grazing animals you may collect hay and seeds for them...then disaster strikes climate,meteor,volcano whatever....all the animals are dead or have run away....in desperation you start to eat the bird bait you have collected,and in no time your hooked a gluten junkie for the rest of your life...just a theory

 

[Mikey]

Thanks to modern shutters, I've slept the last two nights in absolute darkness, and my dreams were much more vivid! I could even feel when I was "physically touched" in my dreams, and I can remember them more clearly.

Thanks Psyche for scanning, this book is very interesting!

 

[mcb]

...But I think this has more to do with depleting magnesium levels in the body, which is causing this...

That is what keeps coming up in my reading. I took a magnesium-depleting diuretic for several years, a few years ago, and that took quite some time to recover from. More recently I took a magnesium-depleting anticoagulant for 6 months, and I am still not completely over that one (it had other dangerous side effects as well). I have not noticed any side effects yet from taking more magnesium and I have just raised my daily amount, adding some just before using the FIR blanket. The challenge now is to keep up with all the reading -- The Magnesium Miracle is still setting on my bookshelf, unread, while I finish several other books!

 

[Nawd]

I just wanted to report, after having blocked out all possible light from my room two nights ago, I've had very vivid dreams!!

The dream should probably go in the dreaming section, but it was lovely so I'll share here. I was leaving my house in the dead of winter (like now) and I went to the barn for some reason. I came out and it was springtime. There were an over abundance of flowers replacing the grass, tiny butterflies everywhere. I started to spin in circles and sing. The butterflies came over me and danced with me. So I did that for awhile and woke up.

I didn't know the time, and was due to get up at seven (I've just been trusting that I get up in time - today I woke up on time, yesterday, I was 20 minutes late. lol). I'm glad I have a job that doesn't require me there at a specific time!!

Anyway, I don't know what made such a happy dream, but it was the best dream I've had for years.

 

[dugdeep]

Anyone having any negative effects from sleeping in the pitch black? I've been sleeping in pitch blackness for four days now and I have yet to sleep through the night. I'm having lots of dreams now, as others have reported, but I'm now waking up two or three times over the course of the night, where as I used to sleep straight through. I seem to be waking consistently at 1:30, 4:30 and 6:30, which is odd.

Also, the eczema on the pinkie finger of my left hand has started to come back slightly. I used to have this really bad when I was working in the restaurant industry. I eventually figured out it was triggered by stress and after I quit the industry it seemed to take care of itself. I discovered coffee was also a trigger, which makes sense since coffee causes cortisol release. So now I'm wondering if cortisol is becoming increased through this experiment. Seems like the opposite of what should be happening.

And one other thing, which is a little embarrassing, but it seems as though my body feels it's mating season now. I've been lusting after every woman I see over the last few days (internally, not acted upon of course). This kind of thing usually comes and goes with me, and I'm generally able to keep my cool, so to speak, but it seems particularly intense lately. Normally I wouldn't think this would have anything to do with sleep, but that's the only thing that has changed in my life.

Aside from this, all the results have been good. Despite the frequent waking in the night, I've been waking up refreshed in the morning. Right now I'm thinking I'll just keep at this pitch black sleeping and see how it plays out. It's crossed my mind that these negative effects, particularly the eczema, may be some sort of healing crisis, but I'm not so sure.

BTW, thanks for this topic!

 

[mkrnhr]

Hello dugdeep,
i don't know about the eczema, maybe it is a healing process or a coincidence.
For the other things i think it is just a matter of being used to it. It's only four nights after all.
I noticed that when i sleep in the dark, i become very sensitive to noise, so i'm using earplugs actually in order not to be awakened but my nocturnal neighbours. So maybe it's a part reason for why you wake up often? The other part is that you're not yet used to have that dream intensity so you wake up after each episode? Just a speculation.

 

[rrraven]

I'm now waking up two or three times over the course of the night, where as I used to sleep straight through. I seem to be waking consistently at 1:30, 4:30 and 6:30, which is odd.

dugdeep
maybe your mind is giving you the chance to record the dreams you had on something....do you have a phone or some other device you can operate in the dark?

 

[Ollie]

I'm now waking up two or three times over the course of the night, where as I used to sleep straight through. I seem to be waking consistently at 1:30, 4:30 and 6:30, which is odd.

dugdeep
maybe your mind is giving you the chance to record the dreams you had on something....do you have a phone or some other device you can operate in the dark?

That would seem reasonable. :)

 

[Laura]

I had some trouble staying asleep in the beginning too. I just persisted in staying in the dark and it has gradually normalized. I also had some arthritic flare-ups so that might be similar to the rash flare up you have: autoimmune reaction.

It's really important to get up and eat meat and fat in the morning, and, since it is winter, to minimize carbs.