2006 Tip #14:
Sleep

Are we getting enough?

When was the last time you asked yourself that question?

Most of us live in the world where the mantra is:

‘“Go, go, go!  Fast and faster!  We can do it!  We can do even more!”

Or, “Who needs sleep when we have email to download and so much more to google?  The night is young…”

And who am I to ask such a silly question about slowing down and getting some sleep now and then?

News flash:

"Too little sleep impacts health, can lead to disease, study shows" –headline in Contra Costa Times October 10, 2005.

"With a good night's rest increasingly losing out to the Internet,
e-mail, late-night cable and other distractions of modern life, a growing body of science evidence suggests that to little or erratic sleep may be taking n unprecedented toll on Americans’ health.”

Najib Ayas of the University of British Columbia  says the bad sleep trends are "affecting health."   And "...heighten the risk for a variety of major illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
...sleep disruption affects crucial hormones and proteins that play roles in the diseases."

Another study of 10,000  Americans between 32 and 49 concluded that those "who sleep less than seven hours a night are significantly more likely to be obese."

"Most people apparently need between seven and nine hours, with studies indicating that an increase risk for disease starts to kick in when people get less than six or seven."

Why sleep? It’s still something of a mystery. But a "lack of sleep disrupts every physiological function in the body," says University of Chicago's Eve Van Cauter.

So enough already!  Forget the admonition to move, move, move!  Time out!  Give it a break!  Put yourself on pause!

Take some time to rebuild and repair.  Take a deep breath.

Relax!  Sleep!