Getting ready for sleep!
Sleep eludes many of us, and the lack of a good nights sleep can harm our well-being. Losing sleep one night can ruin our day. Yet, over time, the negative impact is exponential having a detrimental impact on both our physical and mental well-being - ruining weeks, months and even years.
Sure, we might get used to it and even normalize it, but it is not okay in the long run. That is why we're going to explore this most important activity that humans must undertake each day to rest and restore. We will touch on why sleep is important, some sleep basics, and then run through things you can do to get a sound nights sleep.
Importance of sleep
According to sleep expert and neuroscientist Matthew Walker, human beings need anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep each night for optimal health. This isn’t an arbitrary number but based on scientific data. Walker, who also founded the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley and author of Why We Sleep has dedicated his life to understanding just that. In the simplest of terms, he tells us that every physiological and psychological aspect of our being benefits from a sound sleep, and says that our daily life is a kind of damage that must be repaired each night when we sleep. Our brain health depends on it. In fact, sleep deprivation can result in psychosis.
It turns out that sleep-deprived people also feel lonelier and are less inclined to engage with others, avoiding close contact in much the same way as people with social anxiety.
Sleep basics
Typically we think of sleep as one continuous snooze. When we sleep, various parts of our brains are inactive and, others can be surprisingly active; The same goes for other physiological systems during various stages of sleep. It depends on the stage of sleep we are into which system is active. We cycle through four stages of sleep a few times each night; Sleep stages correspond with brainwave states. There are various brain changes and states through the sleep process, including time off for the prefrontal cortex. It is essentially turned off when we sleep.
Another notable change is during REM sleep when your brain temporarily paralyzes your body so that you do not injure yourself, yet your visual cortex is extremely active. Our miraculous bodies have built-in protections that allow the brain and body changes to happen as we cycle through the stages of sleep and rest our bodies for an extended time.
The prefrontal cortex responsible for executive function is charged with planning complex cognitive behaviour and is involved in personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behaviour.
Sleep states
Recent research indicates that throughout the night, we experience micro-states where our brain waves have abrupt changes in between our normal series of sleep stages and when our brain waves change between theta and delta states. They have been compared to Earthquakes. We wake in-between cycles of sleep but only for moments. This is a normal part of sleep, and we do not remember these moments. Yet, when we experience brief episodes of waking that go beyond these micro-states, they can cause disruptions that can lead to sleep fragmentation and other related sleep disorders.
The third stage of sleep is known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep or deep sleep. It is when the brain enters the Delta state. The Delta state is a brain state that humans enter into that allows for deep dreamless sleep, non-REM sleep, trance, and is considered the unconscious state. Deep sleep happens in the early hours of sleep and is critically important for our mental and physical health. It is when neural oscillations (brain waves) become highly synchronized and, heart rates and blood pressure drop. During this stage, the human growth hormone is produced and works to repair and restore the body.
Earlier I mentioned that the prefrontal cortex turns off during sleep and it turns out for a decidedly good reason.
Findings of a current study by UC Berkeley researchers, published on November 4th in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, have found that deep sleep (Delta state or Stage 3 NREM) is the type of sleep most likely to reset an anxious brain and calm it too. The data present one of the strongest neural links between sleep and anxiety to date. The link between anxiety levels with insufficient sleep argues and makes a case for sleep as a non-pharmaceutical remedy to heal and reset our brain. This is exciting news since anxiety levels have increased for many people through the years.
Finally, it is important to note that neuroplasticity happens in the 2nd half of sleep, meaning the last two stages of a sleep cycle. This is the space where we need to integrate and cycle through our emotional states, healing and restoration takes place then.
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