The best dream. What is he like? “Sleep deprivation is worse than pain.” Doctor about clock genes, insomnia and night work Why sleeping until midnight is beneficial

Health

It is believed that an hour of sleep before midnight is equal to two hours after. So why is it better for you to go to bed before 12 o'clock at night?

Let's figure it out.

Sleep consists of various alternating sleep phases: slow and fast. During REM sleep, memories and thoughts of the current day are processed, and at the same time a person experiences vivid dreams.

During slow-wave sleep, the brain is restored and hormones are produced that help correct various disorders and damage in our body.

Once you fall asleep, a cycle of slow-wave sleep begins, which lasts about 90 minutes, followed by REM sleep.

The ratio of non-REM sleep to REM sleep changes throughout the night depending on when you go to bed. At the beginning of the night, between 11:00 pm and 3:00 am, most cycles consist of deep non-REM sleep. At the same time, in the second half of the night (between 3:00 and 7:00) this ratio changes and the proportion of REM sleep increases.

Therefore, a person who slept from 21:00 to 5:00 in the morning will have a different sleep structure from a person who slept from 3:00 to 11:00, although they both slept for 8 hours.

The later we go to bed, the more we are deprived of the restorative functions of sleep.

What will be the consequences of late sleep?

What time should you go to bed?

1. Excess weight

The habit of going to bed late leads to extra pounds. Research has shown that every hour of sleep lost increases your body mass index.

However, an extra hour in the morning will not help you improve the situation. On the contrary, going to bed late and waking up late does not allow your body to recover normally.

2. Frequent nightmares

If you often have nightmares, the reason lies in the fact that you go to bed late. The thing is that the longer we stay awake at night, the higher the level of the stress hormone cortisol becomes. Therefore, falling asleep later greatly influences whether you will have bad dreams.

3. Irritability and bad mood

As you know, lack of sleep affects our psyche and our behavior. The earlier we go to bed, the less irritable, vulnerable and aggressive we will be. Falling asleep early will help us avoid negative thoughts that undermine our inner balance.

4. Anxiety

The later you go to bed, the more anxious you become. And all because changes occur in the sleep functions responsible for attention and decision making.

5. Poor concentration

Recent studies have found a relationship between sleep and concentration. When you go to bed after 11:30 pm, it affects your concentration for the entire next day, even if you got the recommended 8 hours of sleep. To be more productive, go to bed earlier.

6. Frequent illnesses

The more tired our body is, the more susceptible it is to the effects of various microorganisms. Going to bed early will ensure good health and you will be able to more easily resist harmful viruses and bacteria.

7. Dull skin

Sleep repairs the damage that occurs in skin cells, but not just any sleep. Even if you sleep for a long time, but go to bed late, the recovery function will not work fully. Please note that people who go to bed late have duller, yellower skin.

8. Risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Ignoring your natural sleep cycles interferes with your body's normal functioning. People who are accustomed to going to bed late are more likely to suffer from diabetes than those who are accustomed to going to bed early.

“The morning is wiser than the evening” - adults have probably instilled this wisdom in each of us since childhood. But still not everyone understands the true essence of this statement. Some people are inclined to believe that sleep is just wasted hours of life. But this is far from true. Our mind cannot do without this integral part of life for long, which is absolutely necessary for the full restoration of the mental process and other vital functions.

Every self-respecting person should value their health. And quality sleep is the first step towards a healthy lifestyle. Few people think about whether they sleep correctly. What is proper sleep - should it just be sound in order to get enough sleep? What is the best time to sleep during the day? Can you sleep regardless of the time of day? You can find the answer to this and other questions in this article. We will try to determine when is the best time to sleep and look into the most common myths about this.

To get enough sleep, is it better to sleep longer?

This is exactly what most people think. They think that the longer they sleep, the better and more alert they will feel during the day. However, doctors have long proven that this is nothing more than a myth. Of course, you cannot harm your body with a long sleep, but feeling great is out of the question.

The average adult does not need more than 8 hours a day to recover, but older people will need even less. If you sleep longer than required, a person becomes lethargic, inert, and his consciousness will be somewhat inhibited. Moreover, you will get more and more. In this state, which yogis call the “state of tamas,” all initiative for work and active action disappears. Of course, it’s better to oversleep than not get enough sleep, but it’s best to choose the golden mean.

Does your body choose the best time to sleep on its own?

This is one of the most common myths. A person is designed in such a way that sleep during the day is useful only for a couple of hours, but nothing more. For normal recovery, proper functioning of the body and good psychological state, it is recommended to sleep at night.

Hundreds of studies have proven that the best time to sleep is from approximately 10 to 6 am. Vary this time by 1-2 hours depending on your lifestyle, but there should not be a huge difference. It is believed that it is best to fall asleep 3-4 hours after sunset - this is the best time to sleep at night. Not only does the human body easily perceive only night sleep, but food at night is practically not digested. In connection with this, you risk getting stomach problems, but more on that later.

Do you need to wrap yourself well in a blanket along with your head?

This is the reasoning of people who most often suffer from nightmares and lack of oxygen. To get a good night's sleep, covering your head is strictly not recommended. If you are cold, just take a large warm blanket, maybe wool. Carefully wrap your legs and torso, but not your head. If you cover your head, your own microclimate will be created inside the blanket, where the sleeper will breathe his own recycled air. As a result, due to lack of oxygen, you will not be able to get a good night's sleep, and you may experience nightmares or bad dreams.

Light from the window should not fall on the bed

It is best to ventilate the room well before going to bed. Even in the cold season, you can open the window slightly for a couple of minutes and leave the room during this time so as not to catch a cold. But sleeping with an open window is strictly not recommended; the likelihood of getting sick increases tenfold.

As for the placement of the bed, it is better to place it opposite the window so that moonlight freely enters your room. They say the best time to sleep is during the full moon. It will also be easier for you to wake up with the first rays of the sun. But if you are exposed to direct sunlight while you sleep, it can become harmful and even dangerous to your health. Experts believe that in some cases this can lead to the development of cancerous tumors, especially if the human body is already prone to this.

The best time to sleep is in the morning?

Many people tend to think this way because sleep in the morning, just when the alarm clock is about to ring, is the deepest. But this is far from true. It has long been proven that the most beneficial hours are considered to be a few hours before 12 am. It is before midnight that sleep is the most beneficial, so the best time for a person to sleep is at 21-22 pm. According to hundreds of studies, people who go to bed at this time get better sleep. And those who fall asleep after 00.00 feel tired throughout the rest of the day.

You shouldn’t deviate from your routine even for a minute.

We have already said that sleeping for a long time is harmful to consciousness, but I would also like to note the fact that if you are experiencing severe stress or great emotional upheaval, it is better to sleep an hour or two longer than usual.

Returning to the saying “the morning is wiser than the evening,” it can be noted that the main function of healthy sleep is restoration, and first of all, of a person’s mental state. This is precisely why this phrase originated, because after getting a good night’s sleep, a person tends to make more sober and balanced decisions, reason more wisely and act more purposefully.

Do all people need the same number of hours of sleep?

Another erroneous opinion of those who learned from somewhere that the standard is to sleep a certain number of hours, and this figure should not change. Of course, to get enough sleep, a person needs to sleep at least 5 hours a day. The rest of the sleep time depends on a person’s lifestyle, his work, physical activity and even the area where he lives.

An interesting fact is that it is believed that bosses need much less sleep than subordinates. So, Napoleon slept 4 hours a day and remained alert. And he is far from the only example in the history of mankind when great commanders, rulers, monarchs and other outstanding leaders slept quite little. The fact is that they only needed to restore brain cells and balance psychological activity during sleep. People who work physically also need to restore body tissue, so they need to sleep longer to fully function and do their job. The same can be said about athletes, because their recovery is as important a component of success as training.

The best time for a night's sleep comes after good physical fatigue.

Does sunlight or moonlight not affect processes in the body?

I would like to immediately refute this myth. In addition to the good reasons to sleep at night, which we have already talked about, I would like to note the fact that at this time your spine straightens and the load is removed from it, and the process occurs naturally.

At night, the earth's gravitational force increases, and the moon influences all fluids, including those in the human body. The light of the moon has a positive effect on a person’s mental state if he is sound asleep at this time. People with back, stomach, and heart problems are strongly advised to follow healthy practices, namely, sleep in the dark and not fall asleep when the sun is shining. This creates certain shifts not only in consciousness, but also in the human body. Sunlight stimulates many processes in the body, awakens the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, starts the stomach, etc., and if you sleep at this time, a kind of dissonance forms in the body. Let us repeat that the best time to sleep in the day is at night.

If you allow yourself to drink alcohol, it always produces a destructive effect on the body, no matter what the dose. Only sound sleep can completely restore your condition. Don't believe in the mythical effects of a cup of coffee, a can of energy drink, or an aspirin tablet. In the case of alcohol intoxication, it would be best to allow even a daytime nap; it will still be better than being forced to stay awake “drunk.”

Are nutrition and sleep not interconnected?

Most educated people know that all processes in the body are interconnected in one way or another. It is recommended to eat 3-4 hours before bedtime, and it should be light nutritious food, for example, vegetables, cottage cheese, lean chicken or fish, fruits, etc. Overeating at night is strictly not recommended. This can be explained very simply: during sleep, our body completely rests and recovers, as you already understood from the previous paragraphs. And if you eat a lot before bed, your body will already be occupied with something completely different - it will digest and assimilate food.

The digestive system simply will not allow the rest of the body to relax; it will force it to work all night. As a result, you won't get enough sleep and will feel completely groggy even if you get enough sleep. Many people go to bed with a full stomach and in the morning do not understand the reason for their apathy. But you shouldn’t go to bed completely hungry either. This will make you feel constant discomfort and anxiety. Your stomach will demand to be fed, and in the same way will not allow you to fully recover.

In conclusion, I would like to give some more useful tips. It is best to sleep naked or wear minimal clothing so that the skin cells can breathe. In summer, it is better to sleep outdoors if possible. Do not go to bed in a bad mood and do not watch programs or films at night that make you feel a strong emotional shock. The head should be slightly higher than the legs, and the bed should not be too soft. We hope that you understand what time is best for sleep, and learned something new about this most important process in a person’s life.

Currently, there is a table floating around the Internet that lists the value of sleep hourly. Many users were left scratching their heads wondering if this was really true. After all, according to the table, sleeping for an hour from 19.00 to 20.00 is equivalent to a seven-hour rest. It turns out that after this you can stay awake for almost a day (and then again – for one hour). To understand this issue, you need to study the table of sleep hours and its value in detail.

What is a sleep value chart?

The sleep value table by hour is as follows:

Sleep efficiency table

It is unclear what the compiler was guided by when determining the time intervals. There is no scientific evidence for the above. He claims that the value of sleep, starting from the period 19-20, decreases with each subsequent hour by exactly one. And starting from 2.00 to 6.00, the count goes on in minutes (there is no pattern). Further, according to the author, there is no point in sleeping.

A few words about the author

As it turned out, the author is Sergei Budilov, presented on the Internet as a traditional healer. According to him, he studied many different health practices and directions and created his own method, called “Alfea”. The value of sleep per 1 hour (table) is part of the job.

On some resources he is positioned as a scientist. The first title is member of the professional association of visceral therapists. In fact, such an organization is called the “Association of Visceral Chiropractic,” which has nothing to do with official medicine. There is no information about Budilov’s medical education.

The second title of the compiler of the masterpiece called “hours of sleep and its value” is a member of the international academy of ecology. This organization actually exists, but its “internationality” is limited to Kazakhstan and has nothing to do with Western countries.

How much sleep do you need?

Scientists believe: the minimum amount of night rest should be five cycles. Each cycle consists of a fast and a slow phase and lasts about 1.5 hours. That is, a person needs to sleep at least 7.5 hours. Based on the data presented in the table, it turns out that it is enough to sleep from 19.00 to 20.00 or until 21.00, and then not go to bed again until the next evening. It is obvious to even a first grader that only an hour or two will actually pass.

5 repeating sleep cycles add up to about 7 hours

Such mathematical miscalculations threaten serious health problems. It is well known that lack of sleep gradually leads to depletion of energy reserves, nervous breakdowns, and mental illness. The same thing happens with excess - the risk of disruption of the cardiovascular system, obesity, metabolic processes, and the functioning of the endocrine glands increases.

Do not forget that each person has his own biorhythms. It is known that people are conventionally divided into “night owls” and “larks”. If the latter easily fall asleep at 22.00, and just as easily wake up at 5.00, then this mode is not suitable for night owls. For the “owl person,” sleep is important precisely in the morning hours, when, as the table of the value of sleep for 1 hour states, “sleep is pointless.”

Where is the truth “hidden”?

Taking a closer look and making real calculations of time, you can see that in general terms the recommendations of the sleep table compiler are not so far from the advice of scientists. If you do not take into account the incomprehensible coefficients given to each period, it turns out that the night's rest from 22.00 to 5.00 will be 7 hours. This does not contradict generally accepted norms.

Sleep is essential for maintaining human health and performance.

This is also the case with weakened people, for whom the author recommends rest from 19.00 to 5.00. In real time this will be 10 hours (according to Budilov - 28). This amount of sleep is considered beneficial especially during illness or convalescence. A person gains strength and recovers faster.

Thus, the truth of the sleep value table by the hour is only in the actual duration of rest time. The numbers corresponding to each individual interval can only be considered a claim to some kind of innovation.

Conclusion

The value of sleep is not according to the table, but in real life, first of all in itself, in its quality and presence as such. During rest, the body's energy reserves are restored, the functioning of all organ systems is normalized, and immunity is increased. A person who sleeps well has a more stable psyche, an adequate attitude to life situations, and high mental and physical performance.

Healthy, long sleep is often the first thing modern people sacrifice in their attempts to do everything. For some, this regime has no tangible consequences and after four hours of rest they feel quite energetic. For others, such experiments are absolutely contraindicated. And although in general the night side of life is little studied, doctors still have answers to many questions. So how much sleep is good for your health? What time is best to go to bed? What is “social jetlag” and how is it related to sleep? AiF-Volgograd answered these and other questions somnologist, member of the all-Russian public organization “Russian Society of Somnologists” Alexey Katyshev.

Dream "according to Napoleon"

Gleb Danilov, AiF-Volgograd: Alexey, why does a person need sleep?

Alexey Katyshev: Sleep is a normal physiological state whose purpose is rest and recovery. From the outside, the dream looks boring: a person lies in bed with his eyes closed. However, in the process of studying sleep, it turned out that only the body rests, and the brain actively works, as in the waking state. According to scientists, during sleep, the brain organizes the information received during the day, stores what it needs into long-term memory, and erases what it thinks will not be useful to us.

During sleep, only the body rests, and the brain actively works, as in the waking state - it organizes the information received during the day, stores what we need into long-term memory and erases what is not useful to us.

- How long should a person sleep?

The duration of sleep for a person is individual and is determined by clock genes (from the English clock - clock). Most people sleep between 6 and 8 hours. But there are short sleepers, for whom 4 hours or less are enough, and long sleepers, who need 10 or more hours for proper rest. For example, the first, according to some sources, included Napoleon, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. They slept only 4 hours a day. But Albert Einstein loved to sleep. He spent 10-12 hours in bed.

- Can sleep lovers restructure their bodies and become “short sleepers”?

Unfortunately, changing your need for sleep time is too difficult. Chronic fatigue will accumulate.

- Maybe long-sleepers just have a slow rhythm and live longer?

No. In 2002, Japanese scientists found that the healthiest people are those who sleep 6-8 hours a day. Those who sleep too little or too much have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a 1.6-fold reduction in life expectancy.

They say that if you learn to sleep in short periods, you can increase the total time you are awake and improve your performance. Is it so?

According to historians, Leonardo da Vinci slept only an hour and a half a day - 15 minutes every four hours. But such polyphasic sleep is an interference in the natural course of events. A person needs all phases of sleep - both fast and slow.

Most people sleep between 6 and 8 hours. But there are short sleepers, for whom 4 hours or less are enough, and long sleepers, who need 10 or more hours for proper rest.

In a healthy person, sleep begins with the slow-wave sleep phase, which occurs in several stages. For the first 5-10 minutes he falls asleep and dozes. Then comes shallow sleep, which lasts about 20 minutes. Another 30-45 minutes fall during the period of moderately deep and deep sleep. After this, the sleeper returns to the shallow sleep stage, followed by the REM sleep phase, which lasts about 5 minutes. At this time, a person sees the greatest number of dreams. This entire sequence is called a sleep cycle. The first cycle lasts 90 - 100 minutes. Then the cycles are repeated, with the proportion of the slow-wave sleep phase decreasing and the proportion of the REM sleep phase gradually increasing, the last episode of which in some cases can reach 40 minutes. On average, with full, healthy sleep, there are 4-5 complete sleep cycles.

"Social jetlag"

Is Monday a hard day?

- How harmful is shift work?

Up to 20% of people cannot get used to a shift schedule. It has been proven that after a round-the-clock shift, a person sleeps less than usual. Working at night is unnatural for a person, and therefore has a negative impact on health. To reduce harm, you need to simulate day at night while working - turn on a bright light, and during the day, when a person is sleeping, “create” night - tightly close the curtains, turn off the phone, TV and other sources of noise. Only in complete darkness is the sleep hormone melatonin produced.

- Is it true that an hour of sleep before midnight is equal to two hours after? What time is best to go to bed?

No. Otherwise, you could go to bed at 20 o’clock, sleep until midnight and wake up as refreshed as after eight hours of sleep.

- Many people don’t get enough sleep on weekdays and sleep in on weekends. Doesn't this harm the body?

This has a negative effect. For example, on weekdays you go to bed at 11 pm and get up at 6 am. And on weekends you go to bed at 1 am and get up only at 11. The difference in wake-up time is 5 hours. It turns out that on weekends you shift your biological clock, as if you flew from Volgograd to Irkutsk, and on weekdays you try to return everything back. Adapting to a time zone change of an hour takes a day. With a five-hour shift, it will take the entire work week to get back to normal. But as soon as the body has aligned its biological clock, the next weekend comes with another “flight”. This is where “social jetlag” forms - weekend insomnia. No wonder people say: “Monday is a hard day.” If you try to even out your daily routine, Mondays will no longer be hard.

What kind of bird are you?

- “Owls” and “larks” - is it a myth or reality? And is it possible to become another “bird”?

The optimal sleep pattern and duration are recorded in each of us in genetic memory, and they cannot be changed. However, there is a slight change in human biorhythms at different ages and seasons.

In winter, the alarm clock rings too early for the vast majority. During the summer, many people become more early risers and need less sleep.

Children are mostly “larks,” but as they grow older, they fall asleep later and later, turning into “night owls”: at the age of about 20, people are active at night, because, for reasons still unknown to science, they are programmed that way by nature. With the end of adolescence, all people again become closer to the “lark” type.

Night owls become active after 4 p.m., while early risers work better in the morning until 3 p.m. And “pigeons” remain active throughout the day. Changing your chronotype is difficult. You need to gradually shift your bedtime and wake-up routine, bringing it closer to what you want. But as soon as you stop controlling this process, everything will return to normal.

Friend of loneliness

- Why does insomnia occur?

Insomnia is not an independent disease, but only a clinical symptom that can signal several dozen different diseases. Most often, insomnia is caused by depression, anxiety, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (breathing stops during sleep), restless legs syndrome (a neurological disorder when there is a need to move the legs or other parts of the body during rest), caffeine, alcohol, and medications.

Academician Ivan Pavlov wrote that dreams are “an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions.” However, the electrical activity characteristic of REM sleep, when we dream, has even been recorded in fetuses in the womb. What could he be dreaming about if he hasn’t seen anything yet?

- How can you tell if it’s insomnia or a low need for sleep?

With a lack of sleep, fatigue will accumulate, which will result in a bad mood. A person can tolerate pain, even severe pain, but does not tolerate sleep deprivation very well. After three days of continuous wakefulness, hallucinations begin, after five days the will is lost, consistent activity is disrupted - speech becomes incoherent, movements are slow, and can be interrupted halfway. Long-term sleep deprivation leads to death.

- Why do people dream?

Scientists still don't know this for sure. The science of oneirology studies dreams. Academician Ivan Pavlov wrote that dreams are “an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions.” Our brain is capable of constructing a dream on any topic, combining fragments of daytime visions into a single picture. However, the electrical activity characteristic of REM sleep, when we dream, has even been recorded in fetuses in the womb. What could he be dreaming about if he hasn’t seen anything yet?

- Why do you have nightmares?

Most often, children have terrible dreams; they are impressionable, and some cartoon film can provoke nightmares. In adults, as a rule, nightmares arise against the background of a traumatic situation - the death or illness of loved ones, troubles, and so on.

- So there is no point in looking in dream books?

By and large, no. You cannot say with certainty that if you dream of a cucumber, you will have a boy. Each person can associate the object of a dream with completely different things.

We continue our selection of materials on the topic of dreams. In this publication you will find three articles at once:

• Sleep is the key to your health - how to sleep effectively
• The less we sleep, the fatter we get - scientific fact
• Effective sleep system - for those who are interested, a rather voluminous publication by Elena Nabatova

Sleep is the key to your health

Do you get tired easily and often feel unwell? This is because you don't go to bed at 8 pm and don't wake up at 4 am. This is what experts who are passionate about the young science of valeology say.

Healthy sleep - until midnight.

According to valeologists, all people are larks by nature. Everyone, without exception, needs to wake up between 3 and 5 am. At this time, all organs in the body awaken and the blood is renewed. When the kidney is brought to a vertical position, sand and stones do not form, the spine straightens. But you need to go to the side from 20 to 22 hours.

In order for the body to gain strength, in general you need to sleep for at least 20-24 recovery hours. Only from 10 to 12 o'clock at night the nervous system rests in sleep. Chronic fatigue syndrome awaits those who like to stay up past midnight.

Valeologists say that from 19 to 20 pm one hour of sleep is equal to 7 recovery hours; from 20 to 21 – 6 o’clock,

• From 21 to 22 - 5 o'clock,
• From 22 to 23 - 4 o'clock,
• From 23 to 0.00 – 3 o’clock
• From 0.00 to 1.00 – 2 hours
• From 1 to 2 o'clock - 1 o'clock
• From 2.00 to 3 – 30 minutes and at other times – only 15 minutes.

The less we sleep, the fatter we get

Zhanna Milano

Because we steal hours from the night by sitting in front of the TV or surfing the Internet, we sleep less. It's rare to hear anyone complain that they've slept too long; they usually talk about lack of sleep. We are a sleepy society, and the desire to sleep is becoming an emergency that experts say is reaching the proportions of a hidden epidemic. But sleep is an absolute necessity, and the consequences of insufficient sleep affect health in a variety of ways, manifesting itself in the form of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular pathologies, diabetes and hypertension. And also excess weight, as follows from the results of recent studies.

Unfortunately, doctors, like the public, despite the enormous amount of accumulated knowledge about the effects of sleep on the body's systems, know very little about how important it is to maintain a sleep-wake ratio.

The most recent reports come from the United States, with data collected from 39,000 study participants aged 32-49 years.

What did scientists find out? “Anyone who slept less than seven hours a night at the initial stage of the study, after 20 years(study started in 1982) was much more likely to be overweight or, worse, obesity," says Giovanni Chizza, an endocrinologist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, one of the authors of a paper published in the journal Sleep that reports on the study. "This is confirmation of what has already been said. From 1992 to today, a series of studies point to a strong link between short sleep and a number of health problems,” Emmanuel Mignot, director of the Stanford University Sleep Center, told the Washington Post.

In this regard, obesity is a worldwide problem, and many contributing factors have been identified: excess calorie intake, diet too rich in fats and refined foods. "Unfortunately, the evolutionary changes in our genome lag behind the many changes in our lifestyle," Mignot comments in an editorial in the journal Sleep.

It turned out that the duration of sleep compared to the 19th century was reduced by 20% - by an hour and a half per night. “Over the decades, technological innovation has thrown our body out of its natural rhythm, disrupting the magical 24-hour biological clock. It is like the conductor of an orchestra, coordinating the complex symphony of chemical, hormonal and neural activity in our cells,” explains William S.

According to the calculations of the founder of the Stanford University Sleep Research Center, Dement, each of us needs an average of eight hours of sleep. This need varies from person to person. “Each individual has his own needs. The brain tries to achieve this goal: the more we move away from the norm we need, the more actively the brain will try to put us to sleep,” he explains. Balance must be restored.

The fact that lack of sleep can be the cause of excessive weight was discussed these days at the annual meeting of the North American Obesity Association in Vancouver, Canada. From an evolutionary point of view, sleep is as necessary for the survival of the species as food or sex. Numerous studies have shown that sleep is good for health, has a positive effect on the immune system and is the elixir of longevity.

Those who sleep little harm their health and shorten their lives. “We now know that lack of sleep increases the release of the stress hormone cortisol. In those who sleep little, the balance between two hormones is disturbed: leptin, produced by adipose tissue, and ghrelin, which stimulates appetite,” writes Mignot. Leptin, which signals the brain to satisfy hunger, was 20% less than necessary in those who sleep little, so the signal was weaker, and ghrelin was 20% more, so the feeling of hunger increased. Ultimately, the coincidence of these two signals leads to excessive food consumption.

"From an evolutionary point of view, this mechanism makes sense. In a situation of danger, a human hunter must stay awake, he needs energy reserves, this response of the body was an incentive to obtain food, but today? The modern equivalent of a state of anxiety pushes only to take a few steps that lead us from bed to the refrigerator to open it and satisfy your hunger,” comments Chizza.

Findings about the link between sleep deprivation and obesity need to be confirmed by more research. "At the National Institutes of Health, we've started a new experiment where we take obese patients who sleep less than six hours a night and make them sleep 90 minutes more, and do so for a year. At the end, we'll see if they lose weight thanks to sleep and whether the balance between the two hormones, leptin and ghrelin, will be restored,” concludes Chizza.

Effective sleep system

Elena Nabatova

• Why are we sleeping?
• System
• Yoga practice exercises
• Finally

Effective sleep system

• How can you reduce sleep time and increase the period of active wakefulness in emergency situations?
• Where can I find a few extra hours for productive work?
• What to do when you don’t have time to do anything, you constantly don’t have enough time to complete some things?
• How to sleep less, but not feel tired and lose energy?
• Will reducing the dose of sleep affect your health?

These and similar questions arose repeatedly at seminars and consultations on time management in the context of discussing the topic “Resources”. The same topic was quite often and actively discussed on the forums of the website www.improvement.ru.

Experience

So, is it still possible to sleep, for example, 4 hours a day and feel no worse, or even better, than after 8 hours of sleep? Experience confirms that you can feel full of strength and energy, look cheerful, feel fresh and happy, “spring out” with new ideas, even completely excluding sleep, in the usual sense of the word. Just by adhering to some simple rules.

Now I sleep from 4.30 to 7 hours a day. On weekends 7 o'clock, on weekdays 4.30. I can notice that the need for seven hours of sleep is gradually disappearing, since I sleep only because I supposedly need to sleep off - this is a stereotype. In fact, these days I feel not better, but worse than on weekdays. There were weeks when I didn’t sleep at all (I felt sorry for wasting time on sleep, I wanted to get everything done). And then 30 minutes of complete relaxation (discussed below) replaced me with 6 hours of sleep. Efficiency did not decrease, but jumped up sharply. The feeling of satisfaction and confidence did not leave.

And here are the statements of my brave followers from among the active participants in TM seminars:

“I began to sleep less and get more done than I originally wanted.”

“The time for sleep has been reduced, but there is no feeling of “lack of sleep,” rather the opposite – activation of consciousness and physical tone.”

“The most interesting thing is that with 3 hours of sleep, I am able to exercise for 2 hours a day and not feel tired.”

“I sleep little, do a lot, and that’s what satisfies me and brings excellent results at all levels - I managed to achieve a lot that I had never even dreamed of before.”

“I decided to enter into the experiment out of despair: I’m overwhelmed at work, sheer stress, global fatigue, my health and appearance are tormented to the limit. By practicing TM methods and the effective sleep system, I coped not only with my own problems, but also solved many of the problems of my native company, plus there was no depression, fatigue, sickness or pallor left in my appearance. Moreover, quite unexpectedly, in two or three months I acquired a figure that I had never even dreamed of.”

Perhaps there are other methods, unfortunately, they are not known to me yet, and if someone offers their own or another method, we can only welcome it. I myself am ready to be the first to start testing it.

Why are we sleeping?

To begin with, it would be nice to find out why we sleep? It’s right for our body and our brain to rest. And so that in the morning of the next day we can again begin to exploit them to the maximum.

What does the body need for proper rest? Exactly! He needs to relax. It's the same with the brain.

This means that effective rest means maximum relaxation of soul and body.

When we fall asleep, we supposedly turn off our body and brain, expecting rest.

But is this really so? Has it ever happened to us that we wake up after a long sleep completely broken, with aching joints and bones, with a headache that makes it difficult to concentrate on some task or thought.

Why is this happening? That’s right, because neither our body, nor even our brain rested, it was only the illusion of rest. During sleep, our brain switches from one form of its activity to another: we see dreams, which are most often associated with our reality. Those. all the problems of the day flow smoothly into another form and continue to pester our brain, like an enemy penetrating our rear or outflanking us.

We've sorted out the brain a little, but what about the body? Let's consider this aspect: when we curl up in balls or sleep with clenched fists, grind our teeth, finally see dynamic dreams and sometimes reproduce some movements, our body is in tension, perhaps less than in a normal waking state, but Still, it’s difficult to call him maximally relaxed.

Now let’s put these conclusions together and what do we get?

Here's what. In order to achieve complete relaxation of the body and brain, soul or anything else (optional), it is not at all necessary to sleep. We sleep by inertia. I can already hear the whistling of stones flying over my head and loud shouts: “Nonsense, this is impossible, nonsense.” This opinion is quite widespread, which indicates mass inertia of thinking, and this narrative is not intended to lead a lengthy debate, so let us dwell in more detail on another thesis.

Is it still possible to sleep, but in such a way that this process, with a small amount of time spent on it, actually turns into complete rest? It is possible and even to prepare as much as possible for the further continuation of active and fruitful life by staying in sleep not as long as is customary (here I mean the generally accepted 8-hour or longer sleep), but as long as we need, arbitrarily shortening it from 6 to 2 o'clock.

And now, a few words about how you can achieve such a life?

Relax and enjoy the process of very specific actions, including physical ones.

This is difficult to achieve, but it is possible.

System

Firstly, after 5 o’clock in the morning, sleep is restless and incomplete, absolutely useless and even harmful. The most effective time for sleep is from 22 to 24 hours. It is these hours that a person concerned about his health and longevity should use for relaxation. Going to bed in the evening no later than 10 o'clock, people noted that they woke up at 2 or 3 o'clock and could not fall asleep. I advised them not to force themselves and not to force their body to sleep if it doesn’t want to. This state is called: “already slept enough.” We get up and do some useful things, reading, creativity, searching for information, work tasks are going very well, not to mention meditation. Such a dream provides wonderful rest and the opportunity to live and work energetically and fully all day until... 10 p.m. Then again “bainki”. If for some reason you cannot go to bed at the indicated time, see the following rules.

Secondly, it is imperative to spend at least 15 minutes in the “Corpse Pose” (Sawa sana). This complete relaxation makes it possible to restore strength and increase efficiency. The need for sleep is reduced, since this pose replaces 3 hours of night rest!

Thirdly, take into account the following rather banal, but in our case important factors:

• don't sleep with the lights on;
• the room where you are going to sleep should not resemble a crypt; it is better to fill it with fresh air;
• plants emit carbon dioxide, so it would be good to move them to other rooms that do not serve as bedrooms;
• if there is a need for night clothes, then let them be comfortable, light, made of natural fabrics;
• the back should be straight, so soft mattresses and high pillows, alas, are out.

Fourth, follow a certain and very pleasant order of awakening. It consists of “sipping with passion.” First, place your legs side by side. Then we stretch one leg as far as possible, then the other. Can be repeated 2-3 times. Takes 3 minutes and benefits for the whole day. Strengthens the nervous system, stretches the spine, and has a rejuvenating effect on the entire body.

Fifthly, you should adhere to some already hackneyed “carrot” principles in nutrition.

• The most important thing, I cannot say enough, is to eat only when you are really hungry. Especially in the evening before going to bed, do not “pack” your stomach to capacity with bakery and sandwich varieties.
• Drink 1-2 glasses of water in the morning on an empty stomach.
• Include 2 walnuts and 5 fresh apples in your daily diet.
• Eat with concentration, with pleasure, without being distracted by extraneous thoughts and actions.
• Try to avoid fatty foods.

Do not consume one type of starch during one meal: rice with bread or potatoes. It is also not advisable to mix starch with protein (eggs, meat).

Eat more vegetables and fruits. It is advisable to eat fruits before meals and preferably an hour before (they promote digestion and active absorption of nutrients), and not after (they encourage the processes of food rotting, which leads to negative consequences).

It is better to drink not immediately after eating, but after the same hour or hour and a half. Drinks should not be too hot or too cold.

Sixth, small yoga practice exercises

1. ASANA (for sleep).

Performed on the floor for 15 minutes.

1. We sit on the floor with our legs stretched out in front of us, our arms behind our backs, our palms resting on the floor, our fingers pointing towards the body and not away from it. The back is straight.

2. Raise the left leg slightly, bend the right one and lower the left one hanging in the air onto it.

It turns out that half of the pose is Turkish (right leg), and half is extended at a right angle to the body (left leg). Now we tilt our body forward and reach out with our hands to reach our toes.

In this case, one hand overlaps the other, and the head is raised so that the gaze rests on the toes. We remain in this position until we count to 12 with a measured count. You can start counting from eight, gradually increasing the period of stay in the pose.

Then we slowly lower our head and try to bring it as close to our knees as possible. Again, we count to 12. Well, okay, to 8.

Repeat a similar exercise with the right leg, bending the left one.

2. Now sit down straight again, legs extended at right angles to the body. And again we went into a tilt. The back is straight, the spine is elongated, we contemplate the toes, after the count has already been entered, we lower our head and return to our knees. We sat like this for several minutes, counting to 12 or 8 (we try not to cry from overexertion and do not strain ourselves to the point of losing consciousness), and slowly return to the starting position.

3. Hands behind the body, palms this time away from the body. We gradually lean back, stretching our whole body, arms extended, straight. We tilt our heads back so that we can see the wall behind us and freeze in this position until we count to 12 (8) or read or sing our favorite line.

“Some kind of fanaticism,” those who tried their luck will say after the first time, and it is very difficult to refute such a statement, which I am not going to do, but after a few days this opinion will radically change, thanks to the amazing results. It is important to do them regularly, not paying attention to all the difficulties of the First Stage.

And, most importantly, enjoy the process! Feel your body and it will respond positively. Listen to yourself while performing the exercises, focus on them and on the reaction of your body.

4. Returning to the starting position, we raise both legs (difficult, but necessary), holding them in weight with our hands, slightly leaning our body back. We keep it at the same count of 12 (or using another unit of time).

5. Remaining in the starting position, we slowly twist, i.e. placing the outstretched left hand behind the right knee (the hand is at ankle level), which is bent, we try, despite all existing stereotypes about our body, to turn so as to see the left corner of the room. We repeat everything to the right.

6. And finally, we raise our legs up, first straight, then slightly tilt them to the side behind our heads, then lower them so much that our toes touch the floor (to begin with, you can substitute a low stool, cabinet, or other object). And now we perform a deadly number: we stretch our arms behind our heads, lower them (behind our heads) and our legs so that they are knees near our ears, no more, no less.

And at the same time, don’t forget about the score. It is the same everywhere - at first there are 12 (8 is possible).

In the future, the duration can be increased to 16, 20, 24, etc.

7. From the previous position we slowly move to the lying position. We spread our arms to the sides. Beauty! The buzz is rare. LET'S RELAX.

2. CORPSE POSE (SAVA SANA)

We remain (preferably on the floor and without any pillows) in the same pleasant position with legs and arms outstretched. Let's make sure that there are no drafts or objects in the room that could disturb us in the next 15 minutes.

We concentrate all our attention on our body. We reject with indignation the thoughts that stubbornly strive to seep into our consciousness. And yet we relax. You can start with any part of the body or organ. This will work out over time. The optimal option will be determined by itself after daily practice. But, relatively speaking, let's start with the head. Let's focus on it. First at the highest point of the head. We say to ourselves: “My head relaxes, freeing itself from tension and thoughts.” At the same time, we feel how the process has begun. We do the same with the forehead, eyebrows, eyes, and other parts of the face. After the neck, we finish with the internal speech module: “My head is absolutely relaxed, free from tension and thoughts.” Fine. You can already feel your body filling with pleasant heaviness. But we continue, deepening the relaxation. Shoulders, chest, arms (to the fingers and in turn: left, right), heart, liver...(internal organs), back, hips, calves, ankles, feet (also in turn: left, right). We do not forget any organ or part of the body, always ending with the phrase “My, my, my...absolutely (completely relaxed), there is no tension.” Having reached your toes, listen again to your body, feel that you are nothing do not feel it. Repeat everything in the reverse order: towards the head. When finished, enjoy an extraordinary state of lightness and pleasant bliss.

We come out of the pose gradually. Let's move our toes and hands, close our lips, and take a few breaths. Now you can slowly rise up. No sudden movements!

We don’t get up right away, we’ll squat for a few minutes with our heads buried in our knees and our feet pressed to the floor. Also a very useful exercise. In addition, it helps to get out of a state of complete relaxation.

3. PRANAYAMA (conscious control of breathing)

Breathing exercises – 5.10 minutes. We sit on our knees (pelvis pressed to our feet) or in a Turkish position (you can also sit on a chair, knees at right angles) and your back must be straight. We breathe with our bellies. Inhale on a count of 1, sticking out your stomach. Exhale on a count of 2, glue the intestines to the spine - draw in the stomach as much as possible. We repeat this 3, 6 or 9 times.

4. PRATYAHARA

Set yourself up for sleep or meditation – 5 minutes. Just breathe (preferably with your stomach), focusing on your breathing. We inhale positive energy, exhale all negativity, stress, illness, fatigue. It’s important to feel it, you can say it “to yourself.”

5. POSITURATION

Control of sleep posture (adopting the optimal posture for healthy sleep). We lie down on our backs. It is advisable that the head is not too high. We disperse positive energy throughout the body. It was pleasantly warm. We don’t stress and don’t think about anything, we try anyway. Let's fall asleep.

It’s not easy to fall asleep without thinking about the day’s problems; you don’t have to strain yourself and resist their powerful onslaught with terrible force. Blocking them regularly will eventually do the trick.

6. ASANA (towards the day)

Upper set of exercises – 15 minutes.

You need to stand up straight, it’s better to face east, it’s difficult, it sways after sleep, but still.

Raise your hands up, lean back a little, count to the count we accepted in the evening. Then lean a little to the side. First left, then right.

Raise your left leg, pull it with your hand so that it rests on the inner thigh of your right leg, as high as possible. Hands at chest level, palms pressed to each other, elbows to the sides. We stood there as long as we could. They lowered their leg. We repeat everything on the right.

Raise your hands up and your head behind them. Stand like this until the end of the count 12 (8).

Then we slowly bend lower and lower until we rest our palms on the floor and at the same time we do not squat, but quite the opposite, we try to keep our legs straight, even if they tremble. We'll have to be patient. If this is still not possible, then at first you can bend your knees slightly and place your hands at a possible distance from your legs. We enjoy feeling how the body becomes toned.

The next step is to crawl into a position ready for push-ups, the body is straight and elongated, as are the hands that hold it. Now we need to bend them at the elbows and hold on like this for the amount accepted by our “company”.

Then we fall to the floor. No, we don’t fall flat, but smoothly transition to a prone state.

Hands up to the elbows lie on the floor, palms down. Raise your head and upper body to the waist. Moreover, we transfer the load to the body, and not to the arms. We stayed in this position for the required period of time.

Yeah, let’s lie down and that’s enough, go up again, “into the stretching dog pose”: Legs are straight, arms too, pull the butt back. How? Up..., yes, yes, yes.

We stand straight, feet pressed to the floor, and the body is tilted straight forward. Head down. We freeze in this position. Breathe, recover

Now let's straighten up.

7. ATTENTION!

Don’t even start “under the influence”, especially when it comes to pranayama, asanas and meditation

Bath/shower: at least half an hour before or after classes

Meal: large at least 2 hours before, and modest 1 hour before.

Finally

Physical exercise is only the first step on the path to your own harmonization. But even this is already enough to feel certain changes. And the results will not keep you waiting long. Elimination of stress and situations leading to it, self-organization, harmony with the world and oneself, self-elimination of most problems, the emergence of joy and meaningfulness of life, achievement of desired goals (no matter how unthinkable they may be), physical and psychological recovery - and this is not a complete list of those useful that a practitioner of this system will receive.

I will be happy to answer any questions or feedback you may have. I sincerely wish everyone success and satisfaction from the processes and achievements!

Nabatova Elena,
Director of the Consulting and Analytical Center "BaytInform".