Why do we actually sleep? What is the point? We could get getting so much more done if our lazy bodies didn’t just collapse on us all the time.
Bad news though guys. Its kind of a big deal… Physically, emotionally and mentally. Which makes its lack of priority fairly disturbing once you know. If you’d rather not know, look away now.
Still here? Good, because this can change your life just by itself. I know I’m guilty of ignoring it, but I’m absolutely reaping the benefits of it now.
Firstly, it helps you learn. Before and after the actual learning takes place. A good nights sleep actually primes your brain and its very handy neuroreceptors to take on new information more effectively. If you are poorly slept, this stuff called adenosine doesn’t get flushed out of your head and blocks your neurochemicals making their job tougher… You just don’t function as well. Ever had one of those days where you slept like crap last night and then at work people are apparently trying to speak English at you but literally nothing is going in? Could you imagine trying to learn how the new accounting system operates at work with bloody Alan and his death breath in your ear telling you why the 4th decimal place matters when your brain is like that? Yep, dumpster fire, right there. Be a shame if it was genuinely important stuff huh.
The same is true of sleep after the learning. And this is where the brain and the sleep it needs gets really cool. You know how when you dream, more often than not its really hard to remember them, assuming you can remember dreaming at all? That’s because when you’re asleep, the memory regulating areas of your brain are outputting information rather than inputting it like it does during the day. So, your memory struggles to input your dream, because all the information is going out rather than in, so the memory of your dream usually gets washed away in the output of your memory areas when you sleep. And here is the cool bit. When you are outputting stuff, its because that is when your brain is busy tying and fitting all the new bits of information together with old bits of learned stuff, making knowledge and wisdom on a subject more complete. And, possibly even more important than that, easier to dredge up from the old memory banks. Think this sleep stuff is worth it yet? Pulling those all-nighters before an exam didn’t help as much as we wish it did. Rude, right… As an aside level of cool, this tying together stuff happens when you’re learning a new skill too. Practice makes perfect IS true, but practice with sleep makes better perfect.
Speaking of dreams, it looks like we may have some idea of why they happen now. The short answer is, like, 4 really amazing things that make life easier. But this one is my favourite.
When you get enough REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep, which is exactly as it sounds, and weird to see) you dream. Like the ability to learn, REM sleep and the dreaming associated with it, sleep helps put together and comes to terms with emotionally charged moments in your life. When you hear the old saying “sleep on it, you’ll feel better in the morning”, it speaks a fair bit of truth. Your super smart brain does all this examination of your emotional day, while sleeping, and puts it together after pulling it apart to help you come to grips with your own emotions. Ever been pissed off with someone, only for it to not matter after some decent sleep? Yep, good old brain sorted that out while you were out so you can wake up feeling better. Obviously, it’s more complicated than that, but that’s a pretty solid favour you just did yourself. Some of our best work is when we aren’t awake to muck it up.
The next coolest thing dreaming can do is give you answers and ideas to things you might not even know you’re asking questions about. Thomas Edison? He even planned a way to wake himself up from his dreaming state so he could write down all the amazing ideas he had when he was dreaming. He was a revolutionary on a few different levels, dream and sleep research was a talent that he never got credit for. I heard a story that Keith Richards used to keep a guitar and a tape recorder next to his bed so he could play a riff to himself after waking up in the middle of the night with a great idea for a song. Apparently, this was how the song “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones was thought of.
I have theory. That Sir Isaac Newton was asleep and dreaming about his own theories when the apple hit him on the head, waking him from a creative dream that inspired his theory of gravity. Makes sense to me, but he’s not really around and available to ask about it to prove my theory.
In case you hadn’t guessed, this stuff is even deeper and complicated than I’m letting on. Especially the dreaming bit. One day I’ll bore you with ideas on how PTSD is made worse by its impact on sleep. Like I say, complicated. I haven’t even STARTED on the physical and physiological impacts of sleep… Immune system and gut function, hormone production, tissue repair, insulin sensitivity, cellular regeneration, brain health, circadian rhythm and its impact on all of that stuff I just mentioned… the list goes on.
And this is before we talk about how to get more sleep, how to get better sleep, and how to fall asleep. Suffice to say, hopefully you have at least the beginnings of a better idea on why its really, REALLY, good for you and that you probably need to start prioritising it if you don’t already. We need to start with its priority. If you don’t, maybe start asking yourself that tough question of why you don’t… It’ll be one of the best things you ever do for yourself. Promise.
Be kind, be smart, be your best you. No bar fights.
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
William Shakespeare
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