Sleep

I think we give sleep a bad rap. I remember in my twenties in particular, how I loved to cozy into my down-filled bed by 10pm, looking forward to 8 or 10 hours of sleep. I never felt odd because I put myself to bed at 10pm while friends might party til 3am. I tried staying up a few times but it never was fun and I found it difficult to stay awake.

My work life and responsibilities were intense at that time, that sleeping was a true pleasure and get away for me, more so than going to a bar or entertaining friends. Maybe my work was so full of people and managing them, that sleep was a quiet, easy way to escape it all and be good to myself.

Sleep seems to be something many people feel is a waste of time, or a weakness to admit they need more than a few hours a day. Western society revers being busy at work, home and play, so that leaves little time for sleep. The culture acts like we can function well on 4 or 6 hours a sleep a day. Do you want to fly with a pilot who has had 4 hours sleep or a restless night?

Sleep has a true healing aspect to it. Sleep is actually the time for the body to do some cellular clean up helping to rejuvenate what has been depleted during our active/awake time. I'm no scientist so I don't have the terminology for it, but haven't you noticed that people who say they are deep sleepers have healthy looking skin? So the less sleep we get the less healing time we get.

And naps get a bad rap too in this culture, as though it is a lazy thing to do or avoidance behavior. I guess napping could be used for some of those things, but a nap can be a healthy way to recharge, or fend off some bug one can feel coming. Or like siestas, naps in the latin cultures, they are the way to deal with midday heat, so peoples' work and meals resume after the rest period. Shame may be what surrounds acknowledging to others that we take a nap, or sleep in, or go to bed early so don't call after 9pm, that kind of thing. What a funny thing to be feel funny about, huh?

I know my 87 year old mother has a glass of sherry at lunch nowadays. Often she falls asleep on the couch. If I come into her apartment she'll spring up from the couch to a sitting position as though I caught her doing something naughty. She is active , and can still get a lot accomplished in a day. Taking a nap mid-way through her day seems a healthy option, yet she's still not acting comfortable with it. Maybe she did see naps and late morning sleeping as lazy or weak in her earlier years, and now it is hard to adjust. I'm not sure.

 And how many sleep medications are advertised these days? (Enough to put us to sleep, or at least numb us. ) Clearly we have trouble sleeping and enjoying our sleep. Our days are inundated with demands on our time and energy almost non-stop if we allowed it. So at night, brains must be racing, which often leads to worry, which rarely leads to easy sleep. Yet sleep is natural to us humans and we used to be so good at it. Luxuriate in it. What isn't natural is to override the sleep the body needs so our body, mind and spirit function optimally. It is a beautiful thing, a long wonderful night of sleep. So be wild and unconventional. Take back the duvet (and get that TV out of your bedroom). 

Enjoy the Zzzzzz's.