The Lion Sleeps Tonight…and So Should You

“AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”

My response to this cleverly mordant query, posed by University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientist, Matthew Walker, Ph.D., - with a measured degree of sardonic intent - in his profoundly absorbing book, “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams”, is a very robust, “Hell, yes!” In fact, I suspect anyone reading this blog would have a very similar reaction. (Especially if you are bouncing around this particular site with purposeful intent.)

Though presented tongue-in-cheek, Dr. Walker’s statement should resonate like the thunderous sonic boom of a low-altitude flying F-16 fighter streaking across the horizon in a blur exceeding the speed of sound in any reader's eyes or any listener of his searingly absorbing prose. His verbiage - validated, by the professor's own count, by over a staggeringly hearty offering of 17,000 scientific studies - is ironclad.

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life and longevity yet its criticality to one’s overall physical and mental well-being is recognized by few. Heretofore I was in this uniformed troop. During most of my military career and after transitioning into the private work sector following Army retirement, I functioned with very little difficulty – or so I foolishly thought - on four to five hours of shut-eye a night.

Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life - eating, drinking, and reproducing - the purpose of sleep remained elusive. Furthermore, the science behind the negative impacts of insufficient sleep is conclusive and quite frightening.

Now, armed with enlightenment courtesy of Dr. Walker’s seminal masterwork, I have arrived at the rather stark conclusion that I was not performing at a peak level during these decades of voluntary sleep deprivation. Far from it. More chillingly, my willingness to rob myself of required sleep unwittingly invited a host of deleterious impacts on my brain-mind-body system, increased the likelihood of my susceptibility to deadly diseases, and most frightening of all to yours truly, may have set the conditions for my premature demise. (In all honesty, Cher’s 1989 hit song, If I Could Turn Back Time, just flashed in my mind!)

Among so many other things, within the brain-mind-body system, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming, a critical component of sleep mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity. Perhaps acknowledging these benefits, writing of sleep in Hamlet, the greatest writer in the English language, Shakespeare, labeled it the “Chief nourisher in life's feast.”

In his marvelous and intellectually intoxicating treatise, Dr. Walker convincingly proclaims "Sleep is the greatest legal performance-enhancing drug that most people are probably neglecting." I could not agree more. So much so, I am ditching my six-decade-plus habit of scorning the necessity of deep slumber –

eight hours a day at a minimum for humans – and am zealously embracing the need for adequate sleep. My new mantra: “Before it’s too late, make it eight.” All of us at Trellis Life Management ardently encourage you to cradle this same mindset.

Side note: In 1961, the pop music band, The Tokens, hit #1 on the Billboard charts with the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight; their take on an old African melody. Tail-end baby boomers may remember that in 1972, Robert John released his cover of this catchy tune and it reached #3 on the same music chart. More recently, Timon and Pumbaa crooned this hummable ditty in Disney’s The Lion King. I like all three versions thus I thought it fitting to weave the title into my blog designation. After all, if the “King of the Jungle” makes the time to get adequate sleep so should we mere mortals. - George

Side-side note: Even if you elect not to read the book, I encourage you to invest 12 minutes of your life listening to this interview. It will likely change your life as it changed mine. 

Bonus:

Twelve Tips for Healthy Sleep

1. Stick to a sleep schedule
2. Exercise is great, but not too late in the day. Try to exercise at least thirty minutes on most days but not later than two to three hours before your bedtime.
3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine.
4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed.
5. Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
6. If possible, avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep.
7. Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
8. Relax before bed. Don’t overschedule your day so that no time is left for unwinding. A relaxing activity, such as reading or listening to music, should be part of your bedtime ritual.
9. Take a hot bath before bed.
10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom.
11. Have the right sunlight exposure. Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least thirty minutes each day. If possible, wake up with the sun or use very bright lights in the morning.
12. Don’t lie in bed awake.

- George