Sleep

The dictionary refers to sleep as a form of rest for the mind and body. Slumber, snooze, catnap, doze, siesta, nap … there are many forms of sleep. Mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and humans need to sleep. This process is imperative for survival.

If you get a good night’s sleep, you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the world. In contrast, if sleep evades you, you end up tossing and turning, the frustrations of the day race through your mind and you wake up annoyed.

The most common ways of ensuring good sleep is set discipline in your sleeping behavior. Go to sleep and wake up at the same times everyday. If you are not sleepy, do something boring until you feel sleepy. Take a hot water bath before hitting the sack. Do not use the bedroom for anything else other than to sleep.

Sleep is a wonderful phenomenon, a state of mind that has no limits. Sleep moves into dreams and dreams have no boundaries. You can play out your fantasies; secret hopes come alive in this state. As you buzz through the five stages of sleep, you body rejuvenates and prepares itself to launch into a brand new day of activity. Vivid dreams assault your senses in the last stage of sleep (REM).

Today’s youth is deprived of sleep. Partying, studying late or engaging in related activities all contribute to an occurrence of sleep debt. This shortage of sleep is the root cause of fatigue, both physical and mental.

Young children like to sleep with their parents beside them, especially mothers. The physical need for a warm body next to us is an inherent animal quality. The warmth of the body seeps in and enfolds us in a cozy cocoon of satisfaction. This can come from child, woman or man. The sense of being cherished is a special one and we yearn to embrace the heat emanating from another human being who we love.

We can let ourselves loose when we sleep. Some talk in their sleep, others snore. Sleep – a strange place to which all of us have to go. For without sleep, there would be no survival.