There Really is a Science to Sleeping In
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February 22, 2016There Really is a Science to Sleeping In
There is an art to this as well. Mastered by the few who seriously dedicate themselves to the science of sleeping just a few more minutes. No one can stop these athletic somnambulists. They will not be denied. The next five minutes belong to them. But, the science is what tells us what we need to understand.
The science
Breakthroughs and understanding of our need for sleep has grown tremendously over the past couple of decades. We now know enough about the Circadian rhythm and how it controls us. How the rhythm is controlled by light. We are ruled by the day and night. Millions of years of evolution have defined us by the changes of the day. We are bred to wake up at dawn and sleep when it gets dark. Here we thought we had free will. Silly us.
Turning on the light
The more we can understand nature, the more we can control it. The more we control nature, the more we understand our own nature. Who would have thought that Edison would be our liberator in controlling our own destiny. Now that we can stay awake by turning on the light and interfering with our Circadian rhythms, we are now freed from the boundaries of the night to do what we want — like, work graveyard or run to the all nighte store because we can’t wait until 7 a.m. for that diet soda. Simple things like that.
Youth versus old
It’s no secret we need less sleep when we get older. A teenager needs on the average nine hours of sleep per night. By the time that teenager reaches his or her fifties, they only need seven to eight hours. Our batteries must be getting smaller as we age because we really don’t need as much re-charging as we used to.
Sleeping in
So there are many factors that control our need for sleep and just as many for how we get that sleep. Staying up late cuts into our amount of sleep. It is easy to keep that light on a little longer so we can read another chapter. But, time we take today, we will pay for tomorrow. It all catches up. That is what brings us to…
Here comes the weekend
Saturday, or whatever day your weekend yours starts on, is here. We’ve been waiting all week. By banking our sleeping hours for a rainy day, by staying up late on every week night, we now cash in all of those chips that have earned us the right to stay right where we are for more than just five more minutes. We’ve worked hard for this morning. We deserve it. Anyone who dares to turn on the light, jump on the bed or mow the lawn next door, shall get a reminder that this is Saturday. This is the Doodle Girl’s First Law of Motion. Any attempt to disturb an object at rest, will be breaking the law. You have been warned.
How do you protect your sleep?
