How sleep affects our health |
|
We spend almost a third of our lives sleeping.
Although the role of sleep is not yet entirely clear, sleep is among the most important human needs.
Without enough sleep, we do not have enough energy at work place, or at home.
Important life decisions are difficult to make when we are sleep deprived and nervous.
In some ancient texts - the Vedas for example, it is described that even the gods reside in the transcendental state of deep sleep, creating and destroying thousands of worlds.
In the ancient Greek mythology, the god of sleep Morpheme is the one that sends vision to people, and it was believed that that god can take any form.
Throughout history, there are no people that have not have developed the knowledge, or at least stories related to dreams or sleep. Dreams we used for predicting the future and making sense of the present.
Today, sleeping has become a real luxury. So, today we sleep in the most comfortable beds, the warmest blankets in warm rooms filled with a variety of scents.
It is not difficult to conclude that the man places a lot of importance on his sleep. But why is sleep so important?
What happens when we sleep
When we go to sleep, the body temperature lowers and sleepiness slowly occurs.
Oxygen consumption decreases by about 8%, the muscles and nerves in the body start to relax.
The misconception is that our brain rests during sleep; on the contrary, he is very active.
The body is resting while the brain processes different information and experiences gathered during the day as well as some subconscious contents collected during our lives.
In addition to meditation, sleep is one of the blessings of nature that allows us to be clean of accumulated life stress build up in our minds that prevents our mental and spiritual development.
We can say that fasting cleanses the body of impurities, while healthy sleep and meditation cleanses your mind.
The impact of sleep on health
During the last century, numerous studies have been conducted on the health effects of sleep, and some interesting results were obtained.
For example, in 1999 a study that included 11 young, healthy people were conducted, and the function of endocrine glands and metabolism were observed.
During the study, people have spent 16 consecutive nights in the clinic, and they slept through three periods of a certain number of hours.
During the first period they slept for 8 hours, 3 to 5 hours during the second, and 12 hours during the third period.
It turned out that it was during the second period when their bodies were the least resistant to stress, and the imbalance of hormones was observed.
Also, their bodies were not able to properly absorb carbohydrates as well as to process glucose, which eventually leads to increased amounts of insulin.
Later it was observed that if a person spends more time without sleep, or if it has bad sleeping habits, that can lead to various diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, various hormonal disorders, etc.
It is proved that sleeping:
- improves memory, creativity and coordination
- affects heart health
- is important for weight loss
- strengthens the intellectual and physical abilities
- promotes beauty and longevity
- protects against depression
- boosts immunity
Sleep stages and states of consciousness
There are three basic states of consciousness, such as: wakefulness, dreaming and dreamless sleep.
These three states are mutually exchanged through our daily lives, and are accompanied by the Alpha, Beta, Theta and Delta brainwaves.
Every person, regardless of age, gender or religion experiences everyday of these states of consciousness.
Modern science has divided sleep into 4 stages that are repeated 4-6 times in succession during the night while the dreaming process consists of two phases. These are REM and n-REM stages.
1. The first stage occurs when you lie down to sleep, the body slowly relaxes and Alpha waves occur in the brain.
Alpha and Beta waves correspond to waking consciousness which normally occurs during daily activities, when we are relaxed and are doing something creative. This stage lasts about 10 minutes.
2. During the second stage, the body is completely relaxed and Theta brain waves appear. These waves are associated with dreaming, astral travel and extrasensory experiences.
They are also emitted during deep meditation, and small children can also experience them during waking consciousness. The mind is active but does not depend on external stimuli. This condition lasts for about 15 minutes.
3. After this begins the real deep sleep during which breathing slows down and heart rate become light. Brain waves have long amplitude and low frequency.
These waves are called delta waves. Blood is diverted to the muscles and tissues and organs are being regenerated. Dreamless sleep occurs in this condition.
Dreamless sleep has very invigorating effect on the body. It has been shown that during this state we can directly absorb knowledge.
4. In the fourth stage, more than 50% of the time our brain is dominated by delta brain waves. The third and fourth phases are also called slow-sleep (SWS).
After about 90 minutes of sleep we enter into the first REM phase. At this phase there are rapid eye movements after which this phase was named (Rapid Eye Movement).
Eyes are triggered because of mental images that the brain processes, and breathing and heart rate are also accelerating. If you wake up someone the middle of his/her REM phase, that person will be able to say that it just had a dream, and that person will probably be able to remember those dreams.
REM draws particular interest of scientists and is also called paradoxical sleep, because alpha waves are occurring irregularly, in the same way as during the phase of consciousness.
It is assumed that each of us has about 4 -6 REM phases during sleep.
Fourth state of consciousness
Besides the three main states of consciousness, there is a fourth state of consciousness called transcendental state of consciousness or Turya.
It is similar to the state of sleep without dreams, but during the sleep without dreams a person loses self-awareness, while during the transcendental state a person is experiencing waking sleep, the body is resting, but consciousness is fully awake.
Via meditation and breathing techniques, we can raise awareness of subtle level that eventually becomes present in our everyday activities.
With time and regular practice, this situation is slowly permeating the three basic states of consciousness (wakefulness, dreaming and dreamless sleep), and allows us to operate in everyday life with much more potential.
Meditation is a state that is deeper than a dream; it is a state of restful alertness. During this state we are fully aware and awake.
Most people, unfortunately, spend life in discontent, inadequacy and frustration because they do not know how to find happiness that is within them.
The solution is simple. With the help of spiritual practice we have to reach the finest level of existence - the transcendental state of consciousness. Such experience gives us a sense of fulfillment and happiness, with positive effects on our health.
Liked the article?
Share it with your friends!
