Wellbeing & Meditation
ON average, we sleep 20 percent less than we did 100 years ago. Some like to boast of burning the candle at both ends. Successful people often brag about how little they sleep – up late and up early. But over time this results in burn-out at best and can have even more disastrous consequences. Even the best and wisest of people make bad judgement calls when deprived of sleep.
The average person needs 7 to 9 hours sleep– or approximately one third of our lives. There are those like Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher and a few yogis that I encountered on my travels in India and the Himalayas that only need 3 to 4 hours a night but few of us are in this category and insufficient sleep adversely affects us physically, mentally emotionally, creatively and sexually.
During sleep, our immune system performs vital functions repairing and regenerating tissues, building bone and muscle and boosting our immune system all essential to physical and mental health. Lack of sleep also makes us mentally foggy as sleep also plays a key role in our memory and learning. Things take longer to do. We argue more easily. We make mistakes that can be time-consuming and costly to fix. Reducing sleep time to give more time to do stuff is at best counterproductive and can easily result in more problems.
When we do not sleep, activity increases in the brain centre responsible for fear and emotional interpretation of events – the amygdala. This we know because we get cranky, narky, grouchy and more agitated when lacking in sleep. Or if not us, we see it happening in others. Relationship wise, it can make us simply too tired to enjoy one another. Lack of sleep brings on more stress. It robs us of joy and happiness. It can often mean at best existing rather than living.
It is no accident that sleep deprivation is a form of torture as you feel tired, irritable, and have difficulty focusing. When sleep deprived for longer, abilities to read and speak are impaired. Body temperature lowers, and appetite is increased.