In Pursuit of Sleep...

What does it take to get great sleep?  It takes comfort, a chilled room, a calm mind, no sugar and consistency.  Let's talk about that last factor.

Consistency is the best friend of every Great Sleeper.  You need to be going to bed at the same time, getting up at the same time, eating at the same time.  You have to commit to yourself that sleep is important to your health and that your health is vital to your happiness.

At some point in your life, you left home and started eating ice cream for dinner every night.  Many of us had that first taste of freedom in college.  The joy in that experience lasted for about one week, maybe two if we really liked ice cream and weren't smart enough to notice the effects on how our bodies felt.  But the point is, it's over now.

The rest isn't a lot different.  When you go read and apply "The Great Sleep Checklist,"  you are looking to eliminate the other "ice cream factors" in your life.  If you're going to start sleeping better, it'll take about that level of discipline.  You'll try to get to bed at the same time every night.  You'll endeavor to be home in your own bed, with the room temperature suitably lowered to the 68-70 degree zone.  You'll have avoided exercise and eating for a few hours prior.

You'll also want to stop pecking at your computer screens 90 minutes before you go to bed.  Yes, even the smartphone.  That one gets harder every day, doesn't it?

But you'll notice it all works together.  It all helps you get better sleep.  It's a chain of events that, when combined, will help you move toward a better night's sleep.  Then one night, it'll all fall into place, and voila! Great Sleep Achieved!

Sleepless Night Equals Dying Brain Cells

How're you holding up in the Polar Vortex this week?  Has it made your nights into a sleep vortex?  Painful hours disappearing in your pillow as you struggle to get enough sleep?  I hope not.  Colder temperatures are generally better for sleeping, so maybe this has all meant a better night's sleep for you.

New study to talk about.  Remember those all-night study sessions you did to graduate college?  The coffee, the pizza, the books, the loud music?  Yeah, well, according to a new study, losing a night's sleep kills brain cells.

That's right, researchers at Sweden's Uppsala University looked into the minds of people staying up all night and found chemicals in their blood that indicated brain damage.  Ew!  That's not what you wanted to read, was it?  

To get the findings, the researchers kept 15 healthy young men up all night, then looked for signs of neuron damage, impaired blood brain barrier function, or both.   And yes, they found it, according to the report published in the journal, "Sleep."

Levels of the chemicals NSA and S-100B in the subjects brains rose.  The findings are considered a sign that lack of sleep could mean loss of brain tissue, according to Uppsala Professor Christian Benedict, quoted in the Daily Mail.

Hey... it was just a one-nighter!

When you think about all the times you've gotten home a little too late, had a cup (or three) to many, or procrastinated a project until the last day and then gone 24/7 after it, you start to feel an uncomfortable little tingle... at the base of your brain.

Don't do it.  Get home on time.  Stop the caffeine early.  Tune out the tech.  Head for bed.  And say your prayers you haven't already killed too many brain cells.  There's more here.  Time to get on it!

Happy New Year! How'd You Sleep?

It is January 1st, 2014 and the World is MY Pearl.  Statement of fact.

Why?  Because I got a good night''s sleep, straight through, without waking.  I feel like a million bucks and ready to take on anything.  The best, most important thing for an insomniac like me to do after a good night's sleep is to take note of everything that was done differently in the lead-up to increase the chances of repeating it in the year ahead.

Last night, I was careful to get utterly no sugar in the 5 or 6 hours before bed.  Half the world was celebrating the outgoing old year and incoming first moments of the new year, and I celebrated with some low-carbohydrate broccoli and cheese patties.  Think what you'd like, but I'd eat them four nights a week to insure sleep like that.  Fortunately, I'm pretty sure I won't need to do that, but avoiding sugar always seems to help.

I cut back Melatonin use.  I've been trying to eliminate regular use and dependence on any sleep aid from my regimen, after reading reports that "too much of a good thing" can easily become bad.  In keeping with that goal, I cut back Melatonin by one-third starting a month ago and it's had a negative effect on my sleep.  It seems I'm getting somewhere on that effort.

I slept in my own bed, with my favorite sheets, in a cold room under light but warm covers.  Over the years, I've given my bedding a lot of thought and effort.  I don't like heavy covers.  An eider-down in East Europe would make me scream.  Or sweat.  I also don't like polyester; it pills.  I like a nice, light down comforter, dressed in cotton and linen duvet with plenty of feather pillows on the side.  I currently sleep with five pillows.

I eliminated tech and gadgets.  I did watch TV in my bedroom, but I shut down the computer a full 90 minutes early.  I put the phone on the side and tried to limit exposure to any bluish, insomnia-inducing tech-light.  I mostly succeeded.

2014 ushered its own noisy self in.  Since I worked early this morning, I didn't go out.  But I didn't go to bed "early," either.  A double feature of my favorite British sit-com was on and I treated myself to both episodes.  I got to sleep a full hour later than I should have.

But with in spite of less pillow-time, I had more quality shut-eye than I have had in weeks.  I woke up ready to take on the world.  I made New Years' Resolutions, career and workout goals and greeted everyone I met with a smile.  It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do for attitude.

And if this was any indication of what 2014 will bring, we're in for a wild, amazing, exciting, GREAT ride!

One more thing, if you didn't sleep as well as I did and you don't sleep well on a regular basis, you can change that.  It may be any of a hundred different things.  Check out The Great Sleep Checklist to see if it will help you.  It's never too late to start sleeping well.