Friday, December 26, 2008

[sleep] critical matter of balance


Don't know how much yet another survey can be believed:

A study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Christopher King and colleagues from the University of Chicago has found a relationship between sleep quantity (hours spent asleep) and calcium build up -- or calcification -- in the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. For each additional hour of sleep, the risk of calcification of the coronary arteries decreased by 33 percent -- an outcome equal to reducing blood pressure by 16 point elevations.

... but there's much to be said for getting an adequate amount.

It seems to me that when you get your sleep is equally important. Much has been written about napping in the afternoon but there's a difference between a power nap of twenty minutes and a deep sleep from exhaustion the previous night.

I always feel awful after sleeping in the afternoon. Again, siesta is one thing but to deep sleep is another.

This also brings us into the sphere of guilt over sleep. Laziness is not how you sleep - it's what you do with your waking time. If you set up and insist on adequate sleep and you can keep the wolves from disturbing you, then you'll have the energy to go hell for leather when you're awake.

If the population got enough sleep, enough exercise and a reasonable diet, I really do think much of the trouble would be alleviated. Couple that with a spiritual oneness inside and realistic knowledge and acceptance of yourself, foibles and all, then the results could only be positive.

2 comments:

  1. There is a lot to be said for that last sentence. Not many people can achieve all of that.

    ReplyDelete

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