Do We Get Enough Sleep?

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Hi, I’m Steve Beaman and welcome to today’s SBG Cast on the Physical Path! Did you know that it is considered cruel and unusual torture to deprive someone of sleep? That’s right, one of the favorite – if you can call it that – tortures used by national security intelligence is to deprive someone of sleep for an extended period. In fact, people who have experienced long periods without sleep will tell you that the basic desire to sleep is stronger than any addiction, or other desire the body has. Stronger than the need to eat, drink, or anything else!

Sleep it turns out is one of the most important things we do each day. It has many benefits and the lack of sleep can be extremely detrimental. According to Harvard Medical School, the lack of sleep can affect:

Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

So, how much should we really get each day? According to the national sleep foundation, there are no firm numbers, but rather ranges. Adults for example, should receive 7 to 9 hours per day, teen-agers between 8 ½ to 9 ¼ . As ages decline, so the amount of sleep increases.

Other things to note, in this country, we seem to have a national addiction to sleeping with the TV on. Virtually all research has shown that noise, even light noise, encountered during sleep reduces the value of that sleep. So if you, or especially your children, are leaving the TV on while you sleep, realize that this is directly affecting the quality of your sleep and continuing this practice could lead to the problems we spoke about earlier.

Like most of you, I likely don’t get enough sleep. There are several reasons. First, I don’t get enough exercise always so I’m not rigorous enough on my physical path to begin with. Secondly though, for most of us it’s fair to say that the other paths of our life are interfering with our sleep. Money troubles or emotional issues with our selves, family or friends are frequently the culprits for our poor sleep. So, try to segment the issues affecting you. Deal effectively with your emotional issues and put your finances in order. Yes, easier said than done but that’s why we’re here. To provide you the empowering tools you need to do just that!

I’m Steve Beaman and thanks for listening, and sleep well!