Q. i am constantly tired. How do i find time for "enough" sleep and still get in work, spiritual practice, socializing, etc? Why do we even need to sleep, it seems like such a waste of time?
G. This is a question i frequently get; how to get enough sleep and time for spiritual practice, work, family, socializing, tweeting, gaming, etc.
A common belief is that meditation and yoga are an equal trade w/sleep, i.e. i can do 2 hours of practice/day just by not sleeping for those two hours. IME, that doesn't quite work out. It can almost work out if you normally sleep 7-8 hours, but if you only get 5 to 6 hours, dropping it down to 3 to 4 hours will not work, not for long.
Why do we even need to sleep? Isn't this an evolutionary mistake? Why would it have been evolutionarily adaptive/useful to sleep when there were "lions and tigers and bears" around? How did we develop such a situation? Some form of sleep is done by virtually everything from a fruit fly to a whale. Is this evolution's "biggest mistake"?
The conventional wisdom was that sleep was necessary to store and consolidate memories (for fruit flies?), but that would be a poor trade-off evolutionarily against the increased vulnerability to predators and "lost time". What "good" is sleep?
The Oct 18 edition of Science, a top-tier research journal, has some major new understandings on why we sleep in "Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearing From the Adult Brain" by Lulu Xie, and 12 others, all but one from the University of Rochester Medical Center; the other from NYU. A new circulatory system, christened the "glymphatic system" (strongly recommended to run the short video on the wiki site) was discovered that is highly active only in sleep.
The lymphatic system, responsible for disposing of waste from cellular operation in the rest of the body, does not extend to the brain. The brain has a protective "blood/brain" barrier to seal itself off from much of the operations of the rest of the body. This fascinating barrier has special cells in the walls of the capillaries in the brain which allow only smaller molecules, or particularly tailored ones, to penetrate the walls and enter the brain. This prohibits cell cleaning by the normal routes and systems.
What this team found, under the leadership of Maiken Nedergaard, is that this new "glymphatic system" exists for the very critical task of removing cellular waste from the brain. W/o this, waste accumulates and builds up toxic chemicals that lead to virtually every neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's.
As this glymphatic system is only visible in sleeping, alive brains, its existence eluded scientists. The indication that it must exist was the discovery that the energy consumption of the brain during sleep was not dramatically different from when you're awake, so something "important" must be happening beyond just memory consolidation. The glymphatic system was found to be 10X more active during sleep as it busily removes waste like the beta amyloid believed to be one cause of Alzheimer's.
The glymphatic system pumps cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to sweep out the waste cells and transport them through the blood/brain barrier to the brain's circulatory system where it eventually finds its way to the liver for removal.
As this pumping of CSF takes a great deal of energy, and "brain cleaning" and "typical brain processing" each took too much energy to be conducted at the same time, sleep evolutionarily developed to accommodate the critical cleaning process.
A surprising finding is that to facilitate waste removal, the cells in the brain shrink by 60% during sleep to open up the passages between them. When awake, these brain cells then expand to slow the CSF flow and focus on brain processing.
So unless you want a "dirty brain" (no, there are no "acceptable" pics for this on the internet), you really do need to get some serious sleep.
Can we get "enough" sleep in short doses? Is napping useful in restoring our energy? How, and how much should we nap?
A recent (Sept 3) WSJ article gave research into getting a "perfect nap". As we have all experienced, some naps leave you groggy while others help a great deal. we also have found that we sometimes dream during naps and sometimes not. What's up w/that?
There are different stages of sleep which the brain cycles through about every 90 to 120 minutes. There are two main categories, non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM), often associated w/dreaming.
NREM has stages; 1) light, 2) intermediate and 3) slow wave. Awakening from slow wave NREM is often accompanied by grogginess (sleep intertia/drunkenness) that can take some time to shake off.
Amazingly, the most effective, "bang for the buck", nap for quick energy restoration w/o grogginess lasts 10 to 20 minutes, which would only be stages 1, and 2 of NREM.
Research in Australia by Leon Lack @ Flinders University found that:
a) 10 minute naps dramatically increased "mental sharpness" which was apparent "right away" compared to non-nappers and remained that way for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
b) Naps of 20 to 30 minutes resulted in grogginess for about 30 minutes afterwards w/mental sharpness similar to that experienced after 10 minute naps, but lasted a bit longer.
c) 60 minute naps, which do include slow wave sleep along w/stage 1 and 2 NREM, were found in a study by Sarah Alger @ Notre Dame published in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, to improve memory consolidation a week later over that of the 10 minute nappers. A week later, the 10 minute nappers were no better than the no-nappers on memory tests.
However, not all nappers are alike. Kimberly Cote, @ Brock University, found that "regular nappers" are good at maintaining a slight sleep when they nap and show performance improvements over non-nappers. Why this is so is not yet clear.
Other napping tips to reduce grogginess:
1. If you want to get past the grogginess after a nap, drink a cup of coffee BEFORE you nap. The caffeine won't be in your system fast enough to negatively impact your short nap, but will be there to lessen the after-nap grogginess.
2. Studies have shown that sleeping partially upright makes it easier to wake up. The best place to nap is whatever works for you...under your desk, in your car, in a bathroom stall, etc.
3. If you dream during a short 10 - 20 minute nap, you are very sleep-deprived.
4. The ideal time to nap is 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. - it won't interfere w/your sleeping that night.
As far as just how little sleep you can survive on and do a "spiritual" practice, there is a fascinating book, "Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei", which describes the process of "kaihoogyoo", which requires running up to 52 miles/day for 100 days. (Video.)
The folk who do this, Tendai Buddhist monks, often called "the greatest athletes in the world", circumambulate their sacred mountain, Mt. Hiei. Studies have shown that they do get some sleep, but only during "slow blinks" of the eye, "nanonapping". The ultimate test is 1000 days; only 46 folk have completed the test since 1885.
IMHO, Mt. Hiei looks a lot like Mt. Arunachala in south India, where Ramana Maharshi spent his entire adult life, that folk also circumambulate (but slowly). See blogpost "Can i reach 'nondual awakening' through devotion? Is it the same as self-inquiry?".
So, yes, you do need to get "enough" sleep...it's critical for cleaning toxins from your brain which can lead to serious neurodegenerative diseases. Napping can help to restore your energy, but not clean your brain. It's also important to prioritize you activities. Is another hour on FB, instagram, twitter, youTube, etc., really worth it?
G. This is a question i frequently get; how to get enough sleep and time for spiritual practice, work, family, socializing, tweeting, gaming, etc.
A common belief is that meditation and yoga are an equal trade w/sleep, i.e. i can do 2 hours of practice/day just by not sleeping for those two hours. IME, that doesn't quite work out. It can almost work out if you normally sleep 7-8 hours, but if you only get 5 to 6 hours, dropping it down to 3 to 4 hours will not work, not for long.
Why do we even need to sleep? Isn't this an evolutionary mistake? Why would it have been evolutionarily adaptive/useful to sleep when there were "lions and tigers and bears" around? How did we develop such a situation? Some form of sleep is done by virtually everything from a fruit fly to a whale. Is this evolution's "biggest mistake"?
The conventional wisdom was that sleep was necessary to store and consolidate memories (for fruit flies?), but that would be a poor trade-off evolutionarily against the increased vulnerability to predators and "lost time". What "good" is sleep?
.jpg) |
| Glymphatic system |
The lymphatic system, responsible for disposing of waste from cellular operation in the rest of the body, does not extend to the brain. The brain has a protective "blood/brain" barrier to seal itself off from much of the operations of the rest of the body. This fascinating barrier has special cells in the walls of the capillaries in the brain which allow only smaller molecules, or particularly tailored ones, to penetrate the walls and enter the brain. This prohibits cell cleaning by the normal routes and systems.
 |
| Maiken Nedergaard University of Rochester |
As this glymphatic system is only visible in sleeping, alive brains, its existence eluded scientists. The indication that it must exist was the discovery that the energy consumption of the brain during sleep was not dramatically different from when you're awake, so something "important" must be happening beyond just memory consolidation. The glymphatic system was found to be 10X more active during sleep as it busily removes waste like the beta amyloid believed to be one cause of Alzheimer's.
 |
The glymphatic system pumps cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to sweep out the waste cells and transport them through the blood/brain barrier to the brain's circulatory system where it eventually finds its way to the liver for removal.
As this pumping of CSF takes a great deal of energy, and "brain cleaning" and "typical brain processing" each took too much energy to be conducted at the same time, sleep evolutionarily developed to accommodate the critical cleaning process.
 |
| Cerebrospinal fluid for cleaning "dirty brains" |
So unless you want a "dirty brain" (no, there are no "acceptable" pics for this on the internet), you really do need to get some serious sleep.
Can we get "enough" sleep in short doses? Is napping useful in restoring our energy? How, and how much should we nap?
A recent (Sept 3) WSJ article gave research into getting a "perfect nap". As we have all experienced, some naps leave you groggy while others help a great deal. we also have found that we sometimes dream during naps and sometimes not. What's up w/that?
There are different stages of sleep which the brain cycles through about every 90 to 120 minutes. There are two main categories, non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM), often associated w/dreaming.
NREM has stages; 1) light, 2) intermediate and 3) slow wave. Awakening from slow wave NREM is often accompanied by grogginess (sleep intertia/drunkenness) that can take some time to shake off.
Amazingly, the most effective, "bang for the buck", nap for quick energy restoration w/o grogginess lasts 10 to 20 minutes, which would only be stages 1, and 2 of NREM.
 |
| Leon Lack Flinders University |
a) 10 minute naps dramatically increased "mental sharpness" which was apparent "right away" compared to non-nappers and remained that way for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
b) Naps of 20 to 30 minutes resulted in grogginess for about 30 minutes afterwards w/mental sharpness similar to that experienced after 10 minute naps, but lasted a bit longer.
c) 60 minute naps, which do include slow wave sleep along w/stage 1 and 2 NREM, were found in a study by Sarah Alger @ Notre Dame published in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, to improve memory consolidation a week later over that of the 10 minute nappers. A week later, the 10 minute nappers were no better than the no-nappers on memory tests.
However, not all nappers are alike. Kimberly Cote, @ Brock University, found that "regular nappers" are good at maintaining a slight sleep when they nap and show performance improvements over non-nappers. Why this is so is not yet clear.
 |
| Regular napper |
1. If you want to get past the grogginess after a nap, drink a cup of coffee BEFORE you nap. The caffeine won't be in your system fast enough to negatively impact your short nap, but will be there to lessen the after-nap grogginess.
2. Studies have shown that sleeping partially upright makes it easier to wake up. The best place to nap is whatever works for you...under your desk, in your car, in a bathroom stall, etc.
3. If you dream during a short 10 - 20 minute nap, you are very sleep-deprived.
4. The ideal time to nap is 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. - it won't interfere w/your sleeping that night.
 |
| Mt. Hiei |
As far as just how little sleep you can survive on and do a "spiritual" practice, there is a fascinating book, "Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei", which describes the process of "kaihoogyoo", which requires running up to 52 miles/day for 100 days. (Video.)
The folk who do this, Tendai Buddhist monks, often called "the greatest athletes in the world", circumambulate their sacred mountain, Mt. Hiei. Studies have shown that they do get some sleep, but only during "slow blinks" of the eye, "nanonapping". The ultimate test is 1000 days; only 46 folk have completed the test since 1885.
 |
| Mt. Arunachala |
IMHO, Mt. Hiei looks a lot like Mt. Arunachala in south India, where Ramana Maharshi spent his entire adult life, that folk also circumambulate (but slowly). See blogpost "Can i reach 'nondual awakening' through devotion? Is it the same as self-inquiry?".
So, yes, you do need to get "enough" sleep...it's critical for cleaning toxins from your brain which can lead to serious neurodegenerative diseases. Napping can help to restore your energy, but not clean your brain. It's also important to prioritize you activities. Is another hour on FB, instagram, twitter, youTube, etc., really worth it?
For dialing in a "perfect nap" I highly recommend Sarah Mednick's book: "Take a Nap: Change Your Life". It's a keeper. Sarah's a Harvard trained sleep researcher: www.takeanap.info
ReplyDeleteHi Richard,
DeleteTks for the recommendation on Sarah's book. BTW, your iRest/yoga nidra work was in several discussions, and during my talk and Q&A @ the Truth and Transmission gathering this weekend. Many questions about meditation protocols for PTSD, etc. Many of the folk are aware of your great work.
stillness
Thank you - very interesting article.
ReplyDeleteGreat that you found it useful. Tks for the feedback.
DeleteHey gary,
ReplyDeletethanks for the useful tips
What is your experience with sleeping? do you find that you sleep less since the paged turned?
Iftah
Hi Iftah.
DeleteGreat that you found the piece useful. It had several surprising pieces of science, and the nap tips proved useful for me as well.
my experience w/sleeping is that the primary positive factors are exercise during the day, particularly late in the day, some carbs for dinner, no food after 9:30 or so, and following the nap guidelines. Negative factors for me are alcohol, no carbs for dinner, caffeinated tea after 7:00 pm, new surroundings for one night.
As far as since the page turned, that is 15 years now. you've read the blogposts on how faulty our memories are. i honestly don't remember and if i did "remember", it would be wrong.
Great to see you on the Buddhist Geeks "Hangout" on practice. Great questions.
stillness
thnks
Deletewas great watching
iftah
Thanks a lot Gary, very interesting article(s).
DeleteHi Prem. Great that you found it useful. It was a nice piece of research that answered some long standing questions.
Deletestillness