Craig T. Owens

Sleep is so important for maintaining good physical and emotional health. In the book The Secrets Our Body Clocks Reveal, the authors share some interesting information on sleep. 

“The clearest ninety-minute rhythm is the ‘sleepability’ cycle. About every ninety minutes, you enter a short period during which you are vulnerable to fatigue and sleepiness. …

“These rhythmic periods of sleepability are shorter during the morning hours than in the afternoon. That’s why it’s usually more difficult to take a nap in the morning than later in the day. Some of the time, you can fight off this fatigue—particularly if what you are doing is interesting or different. However, most of the time you would do best to give in to the rhythm and take a short break from your work—especially around the lunch hour, when you are already battling the early afternoon let down.” 

“Scientists have found that when we are bored, under stress, or short of sleep, our ninety-minute cycles tend to shorten to roughly sixty minutes. That may explain why we eat and smoke more under stressful or boring circumstances.” 

What deep sleep does for you:

• Restores body and brain
• Stimulates growth
• Maintains mental health

What dream sleep does for you:

• Consolidates and sorts memory
• Enables learning
• Ensures our physical safety

Things that can disrupt your sleep rhythms:

• Dieting (loss of weight can cause more frequent awakenings during the night)
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Low-sodium diet (elderly people only)
• Cigarettes
• Sleeping pills
• Exercising vigorously if you’re not accustomed to it
• A sleeping partner who snores or thrashers about in the night
• Pets moving about in your bedroom
• Sporadic, unpredictable noises
• A room that is too warm (more than 75° F) or too cool (less than 60° F)
• Hunger
• Stress

Things that can enhance your sleep rhythms:

• Regular aerobic exercising (at least twenty continuous minutes) particularly in the late afternoon
• Sex right before bedtime
• Following a bedtime ritual
• Relaxation exercises right before bed
• A bedtime snack high in carbohydrates
• A dark and quiet bedroom
• A “white noise” 

“Many scientists now believe that we were meant to sleep twice a day, once during the afternoon and again at night. … In one study, college students who regularly napped showed improved scores on skill and memory tests taken just after a nap.” 

“Scientists have also discovered that short naps (twenty minutes or less) are just as revitalizing as long ones—and less disruptive to regular sleep rhythms. In addition, regular nappers wake up more refreshed than those who take only an occasional nap. When naps are part of the regular daily rhythm, they are less disruptive.” 

You can check out my full book review of The Secrets Our Body Clocks Reveal by clicking here. Some other quotes and statistics I shared from this book can be found here. 

Another great book is Sleep: It Does A Family Good. That book review is here.