Missing Sleep Can Have Dire Consequences  

. . . .So get some REST

By: Jeff Laughlin, MS

According to a study done in 2000 by the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal, the reaction times of drivers who were awake 17 to 19 hours straight performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05^[1] – that’s just below the legal limit for most US states.

When you deprive your brain of sleep, it begins to shut down and rob you of many of its normal functions. Words begin to slur, reaction times slow. And while decision making centers in the brain don’t shut down altogether, they can get stuck in an endless loop (like an old vinyl record with a deep scratch in it) replaying the same message again and again. That’s why when you stay up all night working on a report or cramming for midterms (for example), you get stuck on the same words and phrases time and time again.

When staying up late becomes “Sleep Deprivation”

Sleep deprivation over time can have dire effects on your health. And while scientists and doctors still don’t understand what makes us sleep, they do know that we need it to live. Without it, our bodies do not have a chance to regenerate, the neurons in our brains do not have a chance to replenish themselves, and our immune system begins to break down. If that’s not enough to convince you to get some rest, consider these statistics:

• According to an article on CNN in March 1997, those who sleep fewer than six hours a night don’t live as long as those who sleep seven hours or more.”^[2]
• Lack of sleep (from travel, jet lag & newborns in the house) has a cumulative negative effect, if it happens regularly -- causing depression, anxiety and stress
• According to Dr. Mark Liponis, Medical Director of Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, When we lose sleep. . . our brain hormones become imbalanced, leading to higher cortisol (one of our stress hormones), and lower growth hormone (a healing and repair hormone) – Over time the stress of sleep deprivation eats away at our brain function[3].
• Rats that are continually deprived of sleep die within two to five weeks, generally due to their severely weakened immune system^[4]

Finding a way to get some REST

But how, you ask, are you supposed to get the seven contiguous hours of sleep you need when you have an hour-long commute each way to work, children to raise, soccer practice to coach, a house to clean? And (by the way) you toss and turn all night because you can’t turn the day off when you lay your head down at night?

The answer may not lie in “sleep” at all but in finding a truly efficient way for your mind and body to REST. REST (or Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique) is a form of relaxation therapy that increases the mind and body’s ability to restore itself. REST or “Floating” (as it is commonly known) combines the healing abilities of warm water saturated with Epson Salts with dimmed lighting and soft music (or complete quiet) to pull your mind and body into deepest relaxation.

The water, with a salt concentration more dense than the Dead Sea, cradles your body in absolute lightness, free of gravities pull. The water and air temperature are held constant at 93.5 degrees. Sound and light, if there is any, are minimal. The lack of stimulation lowers cortisol levels and enables every fiber of you body, every cell of your brain to turn off and restore.

Scientific research has shown that floating for one hour is the equivalent of two – four hours of deep, restful sleep. And done regularly, floating helps reset your body’s circadian rhythms and enables you to find deep, restful sleep on your own.  

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