The other day we went to our daughter’s open house to meet her teacher. We were the next in the row, and the teacher was quite angry with the parents whom she was talking.
Teacher; “Your kid falls asleep in class often; at what time does he go to bed?”
Father; “11; 00 clock”
Teacher; “So late? What does he do till 11 o clock?”
Father; “watch cartoons.”
Teacher; “at what time do you wake him up?”
Mother; “6; 00 clock”
I was shocked to hear this because I have known proper restful sleep increases the efficiency of the brain. A new research study has found that the quality of wakefulness affects how quickly a person drifts off to sleep. The study points out that the quality of experiences before bedtime influence sleepiness. At this juncture, I would like to tell you an interesting fact. Seals sleep with only half of their brain at a time which is biologically unusual.
The scientists studied three groups of mice. They allowed one group to follow the usual pattern of sleep. The other two groups had the same amount of sleep deprivation but were kept awake in different ways. In one group the sleep was delayed by changing the cages often. The mice were busy examining their surroundings. While the other group of mice was kept awake by gently tapping.
The end result was mice that were gently kept awake fell asleep more sooner than the mice which were busy cage hopping. The scientists are trying to tell the fact that gentle or quiet activity before bedtime allows you to fall asleep more easily. I read in a newsletter that pink noise helps you to get quality peaceful sleep.
Another recent study on sleep points out that insufficient sleep may contribute to weight gain. It may also lead to obesity by increasing the amount of compounds which stimulates appetite naturally. Earlier studies point out that adequate sleep helps in weight loss along with proper diet and exercise.
Take care,
Swarnam
Photo by Marin
Photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net
Take care,
Swarnam
Swarnam
