Mindset Upgrade: Sleep

Why do we need to sleep? What purpose could it possibly serve?

Recharge our Bodies

There are two different types of sleep patterns – Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep. The purpose of SWS is for the body to heal itself, recharge its energy levels and keep the immune system functioning normally. REM sleep works to keep us emotionally and mentally well.

When we don’t receive enough sleep this can lead to a number of challenges. Sleep deprivation has been linked to a greater risk of:

• Weight gain, heart disease, and type-2 diabetes
• Depression and anxiety
• Greater risk of accidents
• Poor cognition and memory

It goes without saying that an excessive and/or a constant lack of quality sleep is going to negatively impact our ability to have the strongest mindset possible and to fully engage with all of life.

Normal Sleep

Under ordinary sleeping conditions this is how we sleep:

• Our body starts with 90 minutes of slow-wave sleep to repair the body
• This sleep recharges the energy that was used during the day, eliminates toxins, carries out any repairs and resets the immune system
• After about 90 minutes we enter into the first REM cycle which lasts less than 10 minutes
• As we continue sleeping we receive progressively less SWS and more REM sleep, culminating in about 30-40 minutes of REM sleep right before we wake up – which is why you can usually remember the dream you had right before waking

Emotional Arousal

The human brain is made up of three parts:

• The Reptilian brain – located just above the spinal cord, is responsible for our instincts, impulses and body functions like breathing and digestion. (Instinctive Brain)
• The Limbic system – Located in the middle of the brain and it regulates our memory and emotions (Emotional Brain)
• The Neocortex – Located in the front part of the skull and it is responsible for critical thinking and decision making (Thinking Brain)

Many events take place throughout the day and we interpret each of these events differently. We have basic urges to eat, drink and run away from danger. However, because of our thinking brain we know better than to always act on those urges.

• We someone physically attractive but know better than to immediately have sex with them
• We desperately want a slice of our colleague’s birthday cake but decide against it because we want to stick to our diet
• Someone does something irritating but instead of yelling at them we walk away

If we acted on every impulse we ever had that would undoubtedly cause problems for us. At the same time if we repeatedly suppressed our basic instincts (pun unintended) then eventually over time those instincts would erode away and cease to function normally. Is it necessary, when the time is right, to eat, get angry or reproduce? In order to keep those instinctive patterns functioning normally the brain carries out an interesting function at night.

The Purpose of Dreams

Dreams allow for the emotional arousal of the day to be discharged. Not every emotional arousal, only the ones that we could not act on. Dreams serve as a metaphorical representation to allow us to discharge that emotion and keep our instincts alive.

If someone feels constantly bullied by their boss they may have recurring dreams of being cornered by a large dog or held captive in a prison. The dog and prison acting as a metaphor for being stuck or feeling powerless. If however, you assert yourself or calmly confront your boss, that emotional arousal has an opportunity to be discharged (regardless of the final outcome) and there is no subsequent reason for that arousal to be discharged in your sleep. If you have had recurring dreams or particularly weird/intense/disturbing dreams, look beyond the surface and ask yourself:

• Did something happen during the day that you felt strongly about but couldn’t act on?
• Is there something you have been worrying about? Thinking about it with strong emotion, but not being able to immediately do something about it?
• What pattern does the dream metaphorically match in your real life?

Look beyond the surface explanation and find the underlying pattern. Someone having dreams about dating their mother may actually just be lacking intimacy and love, with the “dream mother” acting as the conduit for the love. Dreams about flying or being a superhero may represent unused latent strengths or the need for more freedom. Again, you would have to look back over your life, no more than the past few days and ask yourself the questions listed above. It also explains why we can’t take generic explanations or use dream dictionaries as every person’s situation will be different. I for example, am not afraid of snakes, so if I have a dream with a snake in it, it can not automatically represent fear or death, as I do not associate those ideas with snakes. It may represent the overcoming of fear or something else.

Emotional Challenges

If sleep serves the role of keeping our emotions functioning normally then it would follow that there would be a link between disturbed sleep and emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. The work of Ivan Tyrrell and Joe Griffin at the Human Givens Institute (HGI) has done extensive research spanning more than a decade on this issue, and their results confirm that there is a positive correlation. Depressed people never have regular sleeping patterns and their dreams are rarely ever pleasant.

Depressed Sleep

• When people are continuously and highly emotionally aroused they enter into REM much earlier, their dreams are more vivid/intense and they last longer
• Instead of entering into REM after 90 minutes, they enter into it 20-50 minutes after falling asleep, with the first REM cycle lasting up to 50 minutes, instead of 10 minutes
• Since the brain is active during the REM cycle, this uses up the body’s energy reserves
• The body does not get a chance to recharge it’s energy levels properly because of the lack of sufficient slow wave sleep
• The depressed person will usually wake up lacking energy and motivation, and this coupled with negative thinking patterns and rumination builds up more emotional arousal that needs to be discharged

This cycle leaves the body with a perpetual energy deficit and emotional arousal surplus. Poor sleep does not lead to depression, although it does create some symptoms similar to depression such as low energy, poor concentration, no motivation and less willpower. Anxiety, excessive worrying about the future, ruminating on things that you can’t change all cause emotional arousal that needs to be discharged, and too much of it can cause problems. Research by the Human Givens Institute shows that intensely high stress levels coupled with poor sleep patterns are linked to psychosis, OCD and PTSD.

Summary

Life is challenging enough as it already is, there is no need to make it unnecessarily harder by not maximizing on our sleep. There is always the appeal of losing out on sleep for one reason or another, and to some extent that is unavoidable, but we should always aim to get as much quality sleep as possible. Sleep is important not only for our physical health, but or mental and emotional functioning as well. Some suggestions that can help improve your sleep are to:

• Learn how to relax. Mindfulness, meditation, hypnosis and breathing exercises can all help to lower emotional arousal (in the short and long term). They also help to make you fall asleep more easily and help you to get a deeper, more refreshing sleep
• Take action on those things you are worried about, even if it’s just making a simple plan or taking a walk. Any action, even if it’s not directly related to your challenge, helps
• Physical exercise will lower your stress levels and improve your sleeping patterns, and cognition. Physical movement, even if it isn’t exercise helps to generate more serotonin and dopamine which boosts your mood and emotional wellness. So even simple activities such as taking a walk, doing the dishes, and watering the garden can positively contribute to good sleep and emotional wellness.
• Reframe problems into challenges. Remember that the language that you use to describe your experience ends up becoming your experience.
• Find better ways of meeting your emotional needs

How much sleep we should get is going to vary from person, but the biggest indicator is how we feel upon waking up. Barring any extreme psychological, physical or medically/chemically induced lack of sleep (or too much), if you get 5-6 hours of sleep and you wake up feeling alert, emotionally stable and physically refreshed then you are getting enough sleep.