Often when health and performance concerns arise, diet and supplements is the first place we look rather than the quality of our sleep, which plays an equally valuable role in our health, happiness and development. During sleep energy within the nervous system is recharged, growth and repair occurs, and detoxify faster than we take in toxins. Without proper sleep we are unable to think clearly, respond quickly, and may experience emotional instability. Lack of sleep will also result in decreased ability to recover from activity.

We all know that there is such a thing as not enough sleep but is there such a thing as too much sleep? The quick answer to how much sleep do we need is enough. A simple guide to our requirements is in knowing that if you can sleep, you need sleep. There are many factors involved in the amount of sleep we need each night and not every night will be the same. We may require increased hours of sleep if the body is going through heavy training, healing, intense emotions or the overall quality of sleep is impaired.

The quality of our sleep is dependent upon several factors. One of the most important is overall lifestyle habits. Increasing intake of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables can improve our quality of sleep by the decreasing the energy required for digestion. Be aware that trying to sleep on a full stomach or shortly after eating is either going to impair sleep or impair digestion. Wait a couple of hours after your final meal before heading off to bed. Other lifestyle factors like regular exercise, expression of creativity and increased emotional awareness improve quality of sleep as they help to promote peace within our lives.

The recognition of compensated and uncompensated stimulation may be valuable in discovering how you can improve the quality of your sleep. An uncompensated stimulation is one whereby energy is being expended with no net gain to the organism for the amount of effort. A compensated stimulation is stimulation that will provide the organism with a net gain of health, efficiency or performance.

The amount of uncompensated stimulation that occurs as the result of poor digestion, noise pollution, television and so on is far more than our nervous system is designed to handle within a twenty-four hour period. The average person is so over-stimulated and under slept that the only way they feel they can cope with an average day is to give themselves a false sense of energy through more stimulating substances like coffee, teas, and many other “food” items like animal foods. By becoming aware of the ways that we excessively stimulate ourselves and decreasing them, we will experience more productive sleep through overall relaxation. [For more information on the nature of stimulation and it’s effect on health and performance I encourage you to read Dr. Doug Graham’s article “Do You Find This Stimulating?” in the nutrition articles section of the OA website.

We tend to allow ourselves to wake up slowly in the morning, but rarely allow for any decompression to take place in the evening. For people who struggle with falling asleep you may want to experiment with developing a nightly ritual near bedtime. This nightly practice should incorporate increased silence and a gradual dimming of the lights. This process allows the body to gradually slow its systems. We can end this nightly ritual with an open expression of our intent to sleep well and permission to let ourselves go.

In our natural environment the wax and wane of our sleep cycle would be dictated by the rising and setting of the sun, but in our modern age of electricity this rhythm is virtually impossible to obtain. But you can improve the quality of your sleeping environment by accounting for the comfort of your bedding, your overall sense of security, air quality, ambient noise, and the amount of light. A dark, quiet room with circulating fresh air will improve sleep drastically.

In “King Henry IV Part II,” Shakespeare wrote: O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature’s soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down, And steep my senses in forgetfulness?

It is great wisdom that refers to sleep as “nature’s soft nurse”. When I read this reference I see a gentle healer that reaches out to our wounds and restores us for a new day but I also see how Shakespeare frets over her absence. It is time for us to recognize the role sleep plays in our health and happiness. With respect to this restorative tool to vitality we can achieve vibrancy beyond measure.