"Ugh, damn! I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow."
The clock has just taunted you with a 3 am read out and, again, you find yourself shaking the gates of the land of sleep. "Let me in, I need to enter the land of sleep!"
Now your mind begins to spin and your body fills with restless agitation.
“This sucks.”
You toss, you turn and adjust the pillow for the 20th time then take another look at the clock which now reads 3: 52 am. The cycle continues.
This scenario is way too familiar to many of us. Sleep is a state that is essential to our health and our very survival so if it is a physiologic non-negotiable why is it often so elusive and compromised? And if our sleep is less than optimal, are there ways was in which we can supplement our poor sleep with deep resting states? Yes, there are.
To distill some of the current sleep science, as well as the science of naps and deep rest, I invited renown sleep researcher, Sara Mednick, PhD to be a guest on my podcast. Sara has researched naps and sleep cycles as well as the intricate and dynamic functioning of our autonomic nervous system. Her understanding of what sleep and deep (non sleeping restorative states) are ( and how both effects our overall functioning) is detailed and evidence-based; and yet, she generously shares her knowledge in a way that is understandable, actionable and impactful.
Sara's two books are not only full of great information but they offer clearly laid out tools and concrete methods to help us all enhance our overall health with sleep, naps and rest practices and, best of all, she does not prescribe a cookie cutter recipe for better sleep, she offers tools for listening to, and working with, your own innate rhythms. All backed up science. To get the most from Dr. Mednick's work, read her books because she manages to take her lab out into the wide world so that all of us can begin to better understand, and listen to, our bodies natural rhythmic cycles and then modify our behaviors to increase our overall health.
To listen to here on my podcast click here:
https://www.donnalsherman.com/podcast
Sweet sleep and deep restorative rest to you,
Donna
Two books by Sara Mednick, PhD , Neuroscientist and Sleep Researcher at University of California, Irvine.
The Power of the Downstate: Recharge Your Life Using Your Body’s Own Restorative Systems (2022)
Take a Nap! Change Your Life (2016)
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