90 Day Regimen Breakthrough – Week 8
90 Day Regimen Breakthrough – Week 8
Sleep
“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Of the 4 cardinal points (Sleep, Recreation, Hydration, Nutrition), sleep is the foundation. All aspects of regimen are inter-dependent, and an imbalance in one will affect the others. Also, the three therapeutic jurisdictions (regimen, medicine, education) are significant in all aspects of your health. For the purposes of this week’s module on sleep, the focus is primarily on the regimenal aspect, although I’ll touch on the other jurisdictions.
Sleep is so critical to our health at all levels, and if disturbed will affect our immune system, hormone system, metabolism, and so on. Poor sleep over time is one of the major contributors to all forms of chronic illness, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and mental and emotional disturbances.
Your homework for this week:
- How is your sleep?
- What are your sleep habits? Do you have a healthy bedtime routine? Calm, peaceful environment?
- Do you adjust your sleep routine for the winter, increasing your hours of sleep, and reducing your exposure to artificial light in the evening?
- If you do a lot of computer work in the evening, a clever program called f.lux will automatically dim the brightness of you monitor in the evening, to mimic sunset and dusk, and reduce your light exposure, helping you to transition into sleep better.
- How refreshing is your sleep? Do you sleep through the night, starting every morning refreshed and renewed?
- If you have any trouble with your sleep, what have you tried? What has worked to a greater or lesser degree? [NOTE: the use of melatonin may produce results in some cases, but is not recommended for more than a short-term, temporary usage.]
In this video, Comedian Mike Birbiglia uses his alter ego “Sleepy Carl” to explain what it’s like to not be a morning person. He also wrote and starred in the movie Sleepwalk With Me, which is a true story of the dangerous sleep condition he suffered from.
Where does napping fit into regimen?
Tara, you can think of napping along the same idea as all of the polarities which our physiology is made up of – there is a polarity of function between the “major” sleep through the night, and then the “minor” daytime sleep of a nap. Human physiology is always based on these kinds of polarities, as they relate to the two “beings” of our physiology.