The Importance of Sleep

A lovely and warm good morning to my wonderful OS.me family. I can literally see us growing week by work as I struggle to catch up with the growing lists of posts I have not read or commented on. It’s a wonderful feeling to see the kind of impact we have on each others life.

Today’s post is synopsis on an article I wrote for the Black Lotus application. Most of us take pride in the fact that we don’t sleep enough because we are too busy. We are studying, watching Netflix, working, randomly browsing the web or doing some activity that disrupts our sleep.

When I was thinking about the next article I should write for Black Lotus, I remembered that I get fantastic sleep almost all nights that I meditate before I sleep. That launched almost a month long research on sleep and meditation and two-part article for BL.

Please read this article. It’s one of the most important ones I have written.

Nugget 1

When George Vernon Hudson, a British born astronomer, proposed the concept of daylight savings time in 1895, he did not realize he was setting up a global experiment with 1.6 billion participants. This experiment would provide one of the most decisive data points on the value of sleep for human beings. Daylight Savings time refers to the practice of advancing clocks during warmer months so that darkness falls later each day according to the clock. The clocks are then reset to standard time during Autumn. 

Dr. Matthew Walker summarizes this experiment’s result in his book Why We Sleep by stating that in the spring, when we lose one hour of sleep, we see a 24% increase in heart attacks. In the fall, when we gain an hour, we see a 21% decrease in heart attacks. 

Nugget 2

If you have not slept enough for one single night, you see a 70% drop in natural immune cell activity. Imagine what happens if you have months of insufficient sleep. You wreak havoc on your immune system. The link between cancer and lack of sleep means that the WHO classifies any night-shift work as carcinogenic to humans. 

If you feel curious about the impact of sleep on the human body:

1. Read the rest of the blog at here.
2. Watch a video here.

While I have never met many of you, your stories and journeys provide food for the soul and nectar for the chattering mind. Thank you for writing and embracing your vulnerability.

May Sri Hari shower your life with blessings and bliss.

Love and Hugs

Akshay