We all agree we can’t live without sleep; many studies have been done on the detrimental effects of going without it. Each of us has a unique relationship with sleep but is that a healthy relationship or one fraught with difficulties?
It is essential to understand the purpose of sleep and its vast importance in our health and wellness. I am frequently asked, “Why do we sleep?” The more profound and revealing question is, “What sleep is not?”
Sleep is not for rest because rest is what we do when not working.
Sleep is not for rest because sleep is work!
We will be more successful in our relationship with sleep if we think of sleep as a time to perform the work of growing and repairing our bodies, minds, and emotions.
Sleep is for growth and repair – let’s prove it for ourselves.
Let’s take advantage of what we all observe and know to be accurate and learn from it. We have all observed or heard of newborn babies sleeping 16 hours a day. Is it because they are exhausted and must rest from their busy day? No. More likely, they grow when they are asleep, and they grow the fastest in that first year. It is not because of a busy day, being tired, or needing a break from a strenuous day’s activities. It’s the same for adults.
Also, while discussing baby growth, pregnant women do not get tired because they need rest. They feel sleepy and exhausted because they and the baby need to grow. Feeling tired is how the body communicates to the pregnant woman that she needs sleep for herself and the baby. It is similar to her increased food cravings, which communicate that she needs more calories than usual for the baby to grow and her body to maintain itself.
You’ve noticed that when your child has had an extra busy day, either physically, such as a trip to the beach or the amusement park, or mentally, as when you take them to a new mentally stimulating environment, they conk out early that day. And you let them. Instinctively, you recognize that a child needs sleep. Also, they don’t wake up earlier the following morning. They sleep extra. Parents, haven’t you noticed that a strenuous physical or brutal emotional day seems to wear you out, and by day’s end, you are even more tired and feel more sleepy earlier than usual?
Whether it is more physical work, mental processing, learning, or emotional turmoil, it takes time during sleep for the mind and body to grow and repair as it needs.
What growth spurts reveal.
Has one of the children you know ever sustained a growth spurt during the summer months, seemingly the result of their hormones surging them into adulthood? Cute, right? It is a relatively common phenomenon. Well, the unfortunate implication is that during the previous winter and spring months of the school year, their growth was stunted by insufficient sleep. With the increased amount of sleeping in during summer’s less strict morning schedule, the child’s growth spurt was actually them catching up to where they would have been. Then, we must ask ourselves, can we be sure that the child ‘caught up’ entirely, 100 %, to where they would have been, or was some height left on the table? And what of their mental and emotional growth? Was their mental and emotional growth similarly stunted? Did we allow them to sleep less during the school year for whatever reasons, putting them at risk of being shorter, less mature, and less capable? Who wants to take that chance?
Older children still have growth needs.
As the children get much older and do not need to grow as fast, they need relatively less sleep than young children. However, remember that the child’s body and mind are still growing. Children’s mental development continues into their 20s. If their mental growth is not to be stunted, we need to encourage them to sleep all they can.
Growth and repair needs do not stop as adults.
Similarly, as adults, we need the required allotment of sleep to repair our minds and bodies. However, we also need ‘extra’ sleep for growth, as when training the muscles to make the body stronger or training the mind to grow mentally and emotionally. And, have you noticed, as I have, that when a person is sick, they sleep more? The increased need for sleep is likely related to the increased need for repair. And if you have observed a loved one in their final weeks as they approach the sacred hour of their passing, they sleep more, implying there are many more repairs to be done to maintain the systems that support life against aging and disease.
Elderly sleep can become a youthful elixir.
I have observed something exceptional about older adults’ relationship with sleep; perhaps you have, too. If you find an older adult, I mean very elderly, like in their 90s, that carries themselves with a pronounced and impressive vitality; for example, they live in their own home; they are active and mentally sharp, then ask that person about their sleep. I predict you are going to hear a love story. Please be sure to look around for yourselves. People who love to sleep and sleep all they need and want don’t get sick as much. They don’t get the same medical issues as ‘old folks.’ The love of sleeping is one of the secrets to people living in the world’s seven Blue Zones. They work hard and love sleep, so they sleep at the right time for them — the sleep of laborers is sweet.
You cannot sleep too much.
You may overeat or choose to drink too much, but no one can sleep too much.
If a child is sleeping more than usual, it can be traced to sleeping less in the past, called sleep debt. Or, they may be doing the extra work of growth, making the repairs to fight illness and sickness or have a physical or mental illness that prevents them from sleeping deeply. Apnea, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression are examples of such illnesses. The same set of circumstances is valid for adults. But once the sleep debt is paid and all the growth and repair needs have been met, you cannot sleep anymore, no matter how hard you try.
Sleeping is as essential as breathing.
You can abstain from food and water and inflict inevitable illnesses and impairment to life. But you cannot willfully abstain from sleeping or breathing for long enough to end your life. However, if you habitually sleep less than what is sufficient, the breakdown of so many systems is inevitable.
So, promote sleep for everyone in your family for the growth and repair of your body, the emotional and mental growth of your knowledge and wisdom, and the support of your life against aging and illness. Choosing to sleep less will eventually have adverse effects on your health.
