Humans need sleep like food. Much as with recipes, there are many elements that make for good, joyous sleep. Just as a checklist won’t make you a great chef, this checklist may not give make you a great sleeper. But every little bit helps. 1. My sleep place is as cool, comfy, dark, safe as […]
Happy Enemies of Sleep
Cellphones, televisions, pads, monitors, are not generally considered unwitting enemies of sleep, yet often are. We have great fun with electronic lights, but we are not built for light at night. At night we are designed to sleep. A recent study from Kenneth Wright’s group at the University of Colorado highlights for preschoolers what has long been […]
Rest for Success
It’s time to give intelligent rest a chance. People who are supremely creative creatively use rest. Look at Darwin, Einstein, G.H. Hardy. Some of the greatest geniuses “worked” only four hours a day. They rested in-between bouts of creative transformation, generally operating in 90-120 minute bursts. Implicitly they recognized science now demonstrates – that the […]
Changes, Little Bit by Little Bit
“I can’t change,” people tell me. “I want to. I can’t.” Yet the research landscape is changing. And now it’s arguing that small shifts, little changes bit by bit, are more than effective. When interspersed among times of rest, when cells and tissues remake and regenerate themselves, they can make more effective contributions to your […]
How to Treat Insomnia Part II (Including When You’re Older)
Insomnia afflicts the majority of Americans over 65. It makes many people miserable, but can be aided or even erased by relatively simple techniques. Insomnia’s causes are many and complex, including changes in body clocks, types of illnesses, effects of medications, and the process of aging itself (see part I.) Fortunately, most treatments of insomnia, […]