World Sleep day

Did you know that your brain needs its beauty sleep too?

Many of us have experienced sleepless nights that cause us to be cranky, sluggish, and forgetful. Sleep deprivation not only affects our mood and energy levels but also affects our brain functionality. Brain plasticity theory, which is a theory that is based on the idea that the geographic layout of the brain isn't set in stone; it can change, develop, and rearrange. The interesting thing is that we can control plasticity through various exercises, medications, and therapies.

Sleep is imperative for our neurons to grow and reorganize which helps with our memory and ability to retain information. But with the stresses of everyday life and the added anxiety of the pandemic, how can we slow down our minds to get a restful night’s sleep?

We spend so much of our lives sleeping, yet its precise function is unclear, despite our increasing understanding of the processes of generating and maintaining sleep. We now know that sleep can be accompanied by periods of intense cerebral activity, yet only recently has experimental data started to provide us with some insights into the type of processing taking place in the brain as we sleep. There is now strong evidence that sleep plays a crucial role in learning and in the consolidation of memories.

Considering World Sleep Day on March 19, here are some ideas of some easy things we can do at home to prepare for a good night’s rest.

Set a Schedule

Routines are good for our well-being in general and particularly useful for sleep. When we practice going to bed at a consistent time and waking at a consistent time our brain learns that pattern. We become prepared to fall asleep before our head hits the pillow and wake up before the alarm goes off.

Don’t Lie in Bed Awake

Contrary to popular belief, lying in bed and willing yourself to sleep is not helpful. If spiralling thoughts are keeping you awake at bedtime or the middle of the night, then get up and grab a glass of water or read a book for a few minutes until you feel tired. Getting up and then returning to bed helps to break invasive thought patterns and prepare the body and mind to start a new sleep cycle.

Put Away Technology

While we may associate phones, computers, and TV as pleasurable downtime they are very stimulating to our brains. The blue light produced by devices suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that makes us feel drowsy. Turn off technology at least 30 minutes before bedtime and try reading a book, listening to music and audiobooks, or talking to a friend/partner to facilitate unwinding before sleep. If you need to be on a device before bedtime, then use blue light glasses to reduce exposure.

What to eat and what to avoid

Avoid eating a large meal before going to bed. This can cause indigestion which interferes with your body’s ability to fall asleep. But you can try eating small amounts of tart cherries or kiwi fruit before bed. These foods are naturally rich in melatonin and serotonin, two compounds that help with relaxation and sleep!

Proper nutrition and a healthy mindset are important factors to achieving restful sleep, but these are forgotten when we look at how to get a good night's sleep.

Be Kinder

As individuals, we struggle every day to cope with the restrictions that we accepted to fight the Pandemic. However, as a society, we haven’t yet come close to reckoning with the impact this new (sur)reality has had on our collective mental health, and the long-term effects on friendships and familial relationships. Some days a trip to the grocery store can bring up a generalized feeling of anxiety. The obvious discomfort I feel when I see people not physically distancing on a TV show. Spring break is coming up in our area, and I have the fear or perhaps the knowledge that the numbers of people infected daily may look very different again after these holidays when infection rates spike because people chose to ignore the rules.

I am not sure about you, but the constant need to try and anticipate the unpredictable becomes wearing. It also seems to me that there is so much anger at what we cannot control which shows up by the ease with which exchanges on social media or in general can ramp up into something much more volatile.

Layered on top of the systemic inequity that existed long before the pandemic, the intensifying public mental health crisis needs, In BC we have another health crisis with overdose deaths, caused by many reasons. This is another layer on top of the systemic inequity that existed long before the pandemic, As a society we need to recognize that public mental health crisis needs to be acknowledged, addressed, and put high on the priority list, not just prioritized. Rather than focusing exclusively on “building back better,” we need to talk, now, about the overwhelming need to build back kinder and more compassionate. This is a vital part of healthy healing for families, workplaces, and communities. There is no time to waste.

Our new normal

 COVID, the illness, and the restrictions put in place because of it caused many of us to rethink our values, our attitudes, and our life choices. A year ago, we were forced to change because of this Pandemic. We were told that we would be in it for the long haul, very few of us believed that to be true.

A year ago, we were losing the battle but now the tide is changing, and we are slowly starting to see a chance of victory over the virus. Or at the very least a reprieve and a chance to get back to normal. Have you noticed that very often, when tides start turning, and great gears start shifting, and gusting winds start blowing at the onset of a change of alignment with your present life, there is commotion, unpredictability, even turmoil?

Hang on for the ride of your life as we face the transition from what some say was a year unlike any we have experienced for a lifetime, to a different year. The transition will not be smooth, it will be unpredictable, scary, and devastating for some and for some exhilarating. Most of us will get through the transition because we have learned to live with and accept commotion, unpredictability, even turmoil as part of the new normal.

For those who have not yet learned to accept this new reality, life still goes on. When I was young and struggling with a task or a goal, I learned that if I focused on how far or how much I had to do, I would just want to give up. I learned that if I looked at how much had been done, I would take heart and be able to move ahead. We have over the last year learned a great deal and with the help of great scientists, health care workers and providers many have survived and are becoming stronger and better.

Radio Stations all over the World

When I was growing up, I had this old transistor radio and every night I would try to get stations from as far away as I could. I remember betting a radio station from California, which was over 1,000 miles away, on a clear night in August. That was a thrill. 

I don’t know about you, but I still listen to the radio at night. I use the Radio Canada App to get some interesting stations from Ontario and Alberta. But I find this site incredible! When you click on the link below you will open a Google Earth map. The green dots on the map represent radio stations. Move the cursor over any of the dots and you will immediately hear that station with very good reception. Zoom in or out to determine where you are--which country or which city. Any of you who are multilingual will enjoy this…listen to stations in Europe, Asia, Australia, or wherever. Listen to music from Ireland playing Irish pub music or any type you want. Here is the link: http://radio.garden/live/toulouse/radiopresence

Memories of the 1950s for those of us who were born in the ’40s and early 50’s this is a wonderfully nostalgic, but unrealistic look back at the 1950s/ This is over 7 minutes long but, considering we are somewhat trapped indoors this year anyway, why not sit back, listen, watch, and reminisce about days gone by? Rotary telephones! Mercurochrome! Fun with Dick & Jane books. Brylcreem. Turquoise or Pink Bathroom fixtures. Bonanza. 24” B & W TVs. Hula-hoops. Drive-in movies. Click here for memories: https://1funny.com/fond-memories-of-the-1950s/