Sleepytime

The days are getting shorter; the night are getting cooler. Exhale into Fall. And consider paying some attention to that all-important activity we engage in every day, for more hours than we engage in any other single activity.

NO, folks, I do NOT mean sitting. Remember: Sitting is the new smoking. I have already ranted several times about this, and I know you all paid rapt attention and (like me) have significantly modified your rotten sedentary habits! What I mean here is SLEEPING. So many of us have trouble with this simple, restorative, proven health and wellness strategy. Fall, with its longer nights, is a great time to get back to good, health-enhancing sleep patterns.

So what IS good, healthy sleep?

To function best, you need to get eight hours.
Not really, There is no magic number, say the experts. The non-experts in my house agree. My husband luxuriates in 9 hours. I feel like the walking dead on those rare occasions I get 9 hours. Seven feels wonderful. I actually prefer 6 ½.

Really? But MORE sleep is healthier, isn’t it?
Nope. Some studies have found that people who slept more than 8 hours a night died younger than people who got between 6-8 hours. But does sleeping longer cause poor health or is it a symptom of it? This is not yet known. It could be that longer sleepers suffer from problems such as sleep apnea, depression or uncontrolled diabetes that make them spend more time in bed.

On the other hand, some people function perfectly on 4 hours of sleep, right?
Probably not. Legendary short sleepers (Bill Clinton, Madonna, Margaret Thatcher) don’t necessarily do better on less sleep. They’re just not aware of how sleepy they are! So say sleep researchers. In fact, too little sleep impairs performance, judgment and the ability to pay attention; weakens the immune system; is linked to a higher risk of heart problems; and contributes to weight gain. (The latter was a notable [surprise] finding from the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study.)

I wake up during the night…that’s bad, isn’t it?
No. It just might be your natural sleep cycle. Many animals sleep this way, and there are indications that our ancestors did, too. When 15 people in a National Institute of Mental Health study lived without artificial lights for a few weeks, they wound up sleeping three to five hours, waking up for one or two, then sleeping again for four or more hours — and they said they had never felt so rested. I regularly wake up once or twice a night – even when I don’t (stupidly) drink a 16 oz mug of tea at 10 pm.

Ha! I can make up for “lost” sleep during the weekend.
Ha! No you can’t! Bingeing on sleep on the weekend to compensate for skimpy weekday sleep— what Harvard sleep expert Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., calls “sleep bulimia” — upsets your circadian rhythms and makes it even harder to get refreshing sleep. The body loves and thrives on consistency. It’s best to rise around the same time every day, including weekends.

The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need.
No, ma’am. Although sleep patterns may change as we age – due not to age itself, by the way, but to health issues linked to unsuccessful aging — the amount of sleep we need generally does not. Older adults benefit from getting as much sleep as they normally got when they were in their 30s.

So get out the flannel sheets, throw open the windows, breath deep, sleep well, dream big.