One More Reason to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Okay, so this post is probably more for me than you, as I regularly have a hard time getting anywhere near eight hours of sleep. At my best, I value sleep and at least try to get a decent night’s rest. At my worst I resent the need for sleep and wish I could do without.
Except this isn’t just my problem, I know. We live in a world that is constantly and chronically under-slept and operates on the verge of exhaustion. That can’t be good – for us as individuals or as a society. Where did we get the idea that a full life is a life with no rest, no Sabbath, not time to stop and refresh?
I’m not sure, but I think that somewhere down the line we started confusing being busy with being productive, feeling like being connected is the same as being in relationship, and buying into the idea that more – including more activities – is inherently better.
Whatever the causes of this penchant may be, I found this 11-minute TED Talk by neuroscientist Jeff Iliff informative, interesting, and helpful in prompting me to try, once again, to be a little bit better about getting a good night’s rest. I hope you will also.
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Post image: “The Sleeping Gypsy,” Henri Rosseau, 1897.
Thank you for posting this. Amazing. And helpful. Another powerful incentive to make sleep a priority for good health, for balance, for clear thinking, for Sabbath, for peace.