Lack of sleep ‘linked to early death’ from the BBC.

Insomnia

Not too little sleep, yet not too much, the experts advise

Excerpt…

Getting less than six hours sleep a night can lead to an early grave, UK and Italian researchers have warned. They said people regularly having such little sleep were 12% more likely to die over a 25-year period than those who got an “ideal” six to eight hours. They also found an association between sleeping for more than nine hours and early death, although that much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health.

Sleep journal reports the findings, based on 1.5m people in 16 studies.

Professor Francesco Cappuccio, leader of the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the UK’s University of Warwick, said: “Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take and this pattern is more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work.”

“But having less than five hours a night suggests something is probably not right. “Five hours is insufficient for most people and being drowsy in the day increases your risk of having an accident if driving or operating dangerous machinery.”

Other opinions…

How much sleep do our bodies need? from NineMSN
…The sleep lab girls rise at 7am to see how they go again on the driving simulator and the reaction time test. This will determine how much sleep (or lack of it) affects you. Melissa:Her average reaction time after a sleepness night — 60 percent slower than the day before. Emma:After only four hours sleep, Emma is reacting 15 percent slower. Phoebe: Is four percent slower after a six-hour sleep. Lauren:Shows no change after sleeping for eight hours.

Yes, it is true — we do need around eight hours of sleep a night to perform optimally. If you can only manage six, your ability to function normally will only be slightly impaired, so long as this is a one-off occasion. Once you go below six hours on a regular basis, that’s when problems start occurring.

How Much Sleep Do I Need? By Brandon Peters, M.D., About.com Guide, Updated February 05, 2010.

Sleep Debt

What happens if we don’t meet our sleep needs? By not getting enough sleep, we accumulate a sleep debt that we usually have to “pay off.” This might involve extra sleep by napping, going to bed early, or sleeping in to catch up. If we sleep less than our body needs to feel refreshed and don’t catch up we might experience:

• Daytime sleepiness
• Fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating
• Poor thinking
• Increased risk of accidents

Sleep Cycle Application for iPhone

Sleep Cycle Analyzes Your Sleep Patterns for a Better Wake-Up

Sleep Cycle uses your iPhone’s accelerometer to monitor your movements during the night and determine when you’re most likely in and out of a dream state. Before you go to bed, set the app’s alarm clock, then place your iPhone on the corner of your bed (putting it under the fitted sheet will keep it from sliding around). Sleep Cycle isn’t meant to be a scientific tool for people with medical sleep issues, but rather an unobtrusive way to get a little insight into your sleep patterns.

The Sleep Cycle alarm clock is a bio-alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase.

Waking up in the lightest sleep phase feels like waking without an alarm clock – it is a natural way to wake up where you feel rested and relaxed.

Sleep Cycle iPhone Application is available from Lexware® Labs or Apple
Open iTunes to buy and download apps.

National Sleep Foundation

How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF)

Excerpt from National Sleep Foundation continued…

What You Can Do

To begin a new path towards healthier sleep and a healthier lifestyle, begin by assessing your own individual needs and habits. See how you respond to different amounts of sleep. Pay careful attention to your mood, energy and health after a poor night’s sleep versus a good one. Ask yourself, “How often do I get a good night’s sleep?” If the answer is “not often”, then you may need to consider changing your sleep habits or consulting a physician or sleep specialist. When Ellen’s family members began this process, they realized that often they weren’t getting what they would call a “good night’s sleep.” This led each of them to reevaluate how much sleep they needed and whether their sleep habits were healthy ones.

To pave the way for better sleep, experts recommend that you and your family members follow these sleep tips:

• Establish consistent sleep and wake schedules, even on weekends
• Create a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or listening to soothing music – begin an hour or more before the time you expect to fall asleep
• Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool
• Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows
• Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex (keep “sleep stealers” out of the bedroom – avoid watching TV, using a computer or reading in bed)
• Finish eating at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime
• Exercise regularly during the day or at least a few hours before bedtime
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol products close to bedtime and give up smoking

If you or a family member are experiencing symptoms such as sleepiness during the day or when you expect to be awake and alert, snoring, leg cramps or tingling, gasping or difficulty breathing during sleep, prolonged insomnia or another symptom that is preventing you from sleeping well, you should consult your primary care physician or sleep specialist to determine the underlying cause. You may also try keeping a sleep diary to track your sleep habits over a one- or two-week period and bring the results to your physician.

Most importantly, make sleep a priority. You must schedule sleep like any other daily activity, so put it on your “to-do list” and cross it off every night. But don’t make it the thing you do only after everything else is done – stop doing other things so you get the sleep you need.

Our Opinion

As stated above, if you are experiencing difficulty sleeping, you could also contact your friendly NLP Practitioner who may also be able help to find a way to sleep better having dealt with the underlying cause, whether know or unknown.

Noticing the larger patterns

So much to be said when we mentally speed up people we are modelling and this gives you a long-distance hint into what you can notice.

Ants metaphor

The study of human behaviour can be usefully likened to the way we study ants. Why do we notice that ants stop and communicate or swap something as they travel with each of the ants they pass? If you can see this movie where people look like ants, and that the work we do with NLP as a metaphor for trying to understand the behaviour of people (ants) and how they interact, relate, rock, sway, move, move faster/slower.

Life Edit

Also as another metaphor, maybe when you are replaying movies of your own day, your own representation of the day – maybe remembering this sequence may help you fast forward through your own day.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

See also A publication by Janine Benyus – The 2002 book, Biomimicry, describes a new science that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to provide innovative and sustainable solutions for industry and research development. Author and international expert, Janine Benyus, is now focusing on working with industry and governments across the globe to implement her ideas.

‘Janine Benyus is without question the world’s most imaginative person in the field of environmental development and restoration. Time spent with Janine is a transmission of hope about what we can learn from and be within nature.’ Paul Hawken, Natural Capital Institute

Biomimicry related links

The Biomimicry Institute promotes learning from natural forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more sustainable and healthier human technologies and designs.
Reading Lists – If you haven’t read it already, Janine Benyus’ book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature is a must read. This book is the book that started us all down the biomimicry path with a new sense of hope and purpose. For all, it’s a great read. For many, it’s life changing. If you’ve read Janine’s book, what should you read next? The Biomimicry Reading List (below) will help guide you through the many fascinating facets of biomimicry, from basic biology to engineering innovation to deep economy. We recommend that you start your reading adventure by selecting books from the areas that capture your attention most, and then challenge yourself to read from areas outside your discipline.

Brain imaging studies show that low offers activate the anterior insula, an area associated with feelings of disgust or anger. So the authors note that the delay allows us to chill out and accept the most logical and best option even if we’re dealing with cheapskate partner.

Notes: From our perspective, could this cooling off time be where the unconscious has a chance to get a message through to you about the choice?

…all sorts of industries are jumping to use any new brain information to support their work. Neuromarketing claims to get objective truth about peoples’ preferences by decoding the “reactions” of our neurons. Companies like No Lie fMRI, Inc., are capitalizing on the potential for tools that can “read the brain” to replace the polygraph in lie detection. The literary world wants to unweave the rainbow by studying the way the brain processes literature and certain narrative techniques. And there’s even an Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture which reveals that oval tables make eye contact easier.

Knowing the purpose for creating change is a bit like going on an expedition with clear direction in mind. There might be many paths that will lead you there and you might even find some exotic experiences on the way. The crucial thing is if you have a purpose in mind, you will get there; often you will find find more options to get to where you want to be.

When you know the purpose, you will know where you are going, and the behaviour you need to foster to create change and you will be able to communicate clearly about the change.

Play the Podcast here:
sa_p_podcast_100329 or from Scientific American’s website

The researchers disrupted the activity in this brain area using what’s called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). And they asked subjects to consider the morality of various acts. Some where the perpetrator had the intent to harm, others where they had no premeditation.

The ultimate goal is to understand how the brain makes moral judgments. Because the real world is often less black and white, where judgment is easy, than shades of gray.

Although we rely on other ques when they are available, have you ever woken from a good sleep because you have told yourself you must get up at a certain time? I know many times when I set an alarm for getting up for a specific event, my body wakes me about 2-10 minutes early.

The Caveman experiment (from BBC article)

The body clock determines our most fundamental behaviours: when we wake up, go to sleep, and eat. But it also determines our physical strength and performance over a day.

However basic the clock’s functions seem to us today, its existence was only proved in 1962, by a French caver.

19th September 1962: Michel Siffre, the scientist who spent nine weeks alone in a cave 400 ft underground in southern France has his eyes covered to protect them from the light. He is being helped by two gendarmes to a helicopter on his way to Nice. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Michel Siffre had been planning to study the movement of a glacier through an underground cave, when he realised the enormous potential of his experiment for the field of biology.

“I had the idea of my life: I decided not to take a watch in the cave. I decided to live without time cues,” he said.

By isolating himself underground, away from daylight, clocks or routines, he hoped to discover whether the body had its own rhythm. And if so, what it was.

The continuation of the newspaper article is in French also.

“I decided to live following my feelings of hunger, my feelings of going to sleep. In the cave it’s always dark, then your body follows its own sense,” said Mr Siffre.

His plan was to call a surface-team of assistants every time he woke, ate, exercised or urinated so every one of his biological functions could be monitored.

Each time, he would give an estimate of the date and time, and the surface-team would compare this with the real time. This he did for two months, before emerging into the real world. Mentally, he had completely lost track of time, but the results showed his body had kept up a rhythm.

While the length of Siffre’s waking days varied widely, from 40 hours to just six, a clear pattern emerged. The average length of his days was just over 24 hours. Evolution, it seems, had tailored his body’s clock to run closely to the Earth’s day length.

It’s now known that the body clock is controlled by a tiny pea-sized organ in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN. This tiny region commands a chain of chemical and nervous instructions that ripple through the body, controlling how each organ and tissue functions over the 24-hour day.