Why start here? It’s the easiest thing to change and affects all conscious experience. That’s a big deal 🙂. Quality sleep is the soil from which all things thrive. Deprivation of sleep can gradually lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other health and psychological issues.

Memory, intelligence, clarity, emotions, relationships, physical ability, and prevention of dementia and Alzheimer’s are all affected by quality sleep. If sleep is something you get minimally when you feel exhausted, or, you find it really hard to sleep deeply and consistently, it’s worth considering a few consequences and ideas presented here.

Sleep is the first layer in the stack for two major reasons. First, sleep undeniably impacts all of the other layers. Second, it’s the easiest part of your life to start looking at and making adjustments to.

A common surprise: the choices you make about sleep don’t start at bed time, they start several hours BEFORE your head hits the pillow. Caffeine, for example, disrupts sleep whether you notice it or not, and is still active in the body 12 hours AFTER you last cup! An afternoon or evening coffee may be causing harm, even if you feel sleepy at bed time. Similarly, alcohol may make one fall asleep easily, but it is actually diluting the ability for your brain to take care of itself at night.

Key Teachers and Resources

1) Matt Walker, Scientist, Author, Neurophysiology

Podcast Episode:
The Kingdom of Sleep

Book:
Why We Sleep

2) Jeffrey Iliff, PhD, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

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