SLEEP.
A young baby should sleep almost all the time, and it will if
intelligently cared for. Overfeeding is the bane of the baby's life and
is the cause of most of its restlessness. The first few months the baby
should be awake enough to take its food, and then go to sleep again. As
it grows older it sleeps less and less.
There is no fixed time for an adult to sleep. The amount varies with
different individuals. The idea is quite prevalent that eight hours
nightly are necessary. This may be true for some. Many do very well on
seven hours' sleep, and even less. The great inventor, Thomas Edison, is
said to have had but very little sleep for many years, and it is
reported that when interested in some problem he would miss a night or
two. Yet he has lived longer than the average individual and is now in
good health. Very few have done as much constructive work as he. Many
other prominent people have been light sleepers.
As people grow older they require less sleep than they did in youth. It
is not uncommon for septuagenarians to sleep but five hours nightly.
Although we can not say how much sleep any individual may require, each
person can find out for himself, and this is much better than to try to
live by rules, which are often erroneous.
Those who live as they should otherwise and select a definite hour for
retiring and adhere to it, except on special occasions, get all the
sleep that is necessary. They awake in the morning refreshed, ready to
do a good day's work.
During sound sleep all conscious endeavors cease. The vital organs do
only enough work to keep the body alive. The breathing is lighter, the
circulation is slower and in sound sleep there is no thinking. This
letting up in the great activity of body and mind gives an opportunity
for the millions of cells, of which the body is composed, to take from
the blood what is needed to restore them to normal. During the day many
of these cells become worn and weary. At night they recuperate. Hence
undisturbed sleep is very important.
Many believe that "early to bed and early to rise" is the proper way,
that the hours of sleep before midnight are more refreshing and
invigorating than those after. This is merely a belief, perhaps a good
one. Early retiring leads to regularity, which is very desirable. Late
retiring often means loose mental and physical habits. Those who are
regular about their time of retiring and live well otherwise feel
refreshed whether they go to bed early or late. Children should always
retire early, otherwise they do not get enough sleep. The night is the
natural sleeping time for most creatures, as well as for man. This is a
heritage of ages. There was no artificial illumination during the stone
age. Man could do nothing during the darkness, so he rested. However,
those who must work at night find no trouble in sleeping during the day.
The tendency among men is the same as among animals, to sleep more in
winter than in summer, not that more sleep is required, but because the
winter nights are longer.
Children should go to bed early. They require more sleep than adults
because of the greater cell activity. Also, children who stay up late
generally become irritable and nervous.
It is not well to eat immediately before retiring. The sleep following a
late meal is generally interrupted, and there is not that feeling of
brightness and clearness of mind, with which one should awake, next
morning.
Lunching before going to bed is a bad habit. Some believe they must have
an apple, or perhaps a glass of milk, before retiring, for they think
that this will bring sleep. The body should not be burdened with extra
food to digest during the sleeping hours. This time should be dedicated
to the restoring of the body, and the blood contains ample material.
Dreaming is largely a bad habit. A normal individual rarely dreams, and
then generally following some imprudence. Dreams begin in childhood and
are then due principally to excessive food intake. As a producer of
nightmares overfeeding has no equal. During adult life dreaming is
caused by bad physical and mental conduct, plus the habit which was
formed in childhood. Fear, anger, worry, stimulants, too much food,
impure air and too warm clothes are some of the causes that produce
dreams. Like other bad habits, dreaming is difficult to overcome once it
is firmly established. The cure consists in righting one's other bad
habits and in not thinking about the dreams. A sleep that is disturbed
by dreams is not as sound as it should be and consequently not as
refreshing as normal sleep. The conscious mind is not completely at rest
and, the subconscious mind is running riot. Normal sleep is complete
unconsciousness. This is the sleep of the just and must be earned.
Before retiring all the clothes worn during the day should be removed.
The night apparel should be light--cotton, linen or silk. The bed
should be comfortable, but not too soft. There should be enough covering
to keep the sleeper comfortably warm, but not hot. Those who cover
themselves with so many quilts or blankets that they perspire during the
night are not properly refreshed. It prevents sound sleep and makes the
skin too sensitive. It reduces a person's resistance to climatic
changes. The feet should be kept warm, even if necessary to put
artificial heat in the foot of the bed. During cold weather the feet and
the legs should have more covering than the rest of the body. From the
waist up the covering should be rather light.
Sound sleep is dependent on relaxation of mind and body. Those who live
the day over after going to bed do not go to sleep quickly or easily.
This habit should be overcome. Do business at the business place, during
business hours, if you would have the mind fresh. There are days so full
of cares that the night does not bring mental relaxation, but those who
have begun early in life to practice self-control find these days
growing fewer as the years roll by. When they learn their true
relationship to the rest of humanity, to the universe and to eternity,
they are generally willing and able to let the earth rotate and revolve
for a few hours without their personal attention. They realize that
worry and anxiety waste time and energy.
Many complain that they can not sleep. This they repeat to themselves
and to others many times a day. At night they ask themselves why they
can not sleep. They do it so often that it becomes a powerful negative
suggestion frequently strong enough to prevent their going to sleep. It
is an obsession. Real insomnia exists only in the mind of the sufferer.
Every physician, sooner or later, has experience with people who say
that they can not sleep. The doctors who give such patients sleeping
powders or potions make a grave mistake. These drugs are taken at the
expense of some of the physical structures, and the day of settlement
always comes. Perhaps it will find the patient with bankrupted nerves or
a failing heart. To be effective, the size of the dose must be increased
from time to time. At last the result will be some disease, either
physical or mental.
Those who insist that they "do not sleep at all," or that they sleep
"but a few minutes" each night, sleep a few hours, but they make
themselves believe that they do not sleep. We are compelled to sleep,
and even those who "do not sleep at all" can not remain awake
indefinitely.
Those who are troubled with the no-sleep obsession will soon realize
that they sleep as well as others if they cease thinking and talking so
much about the subject. I have seen people suffering from this bad habit
recover in one week. Those who have been taking drugs to induce sleep
generally have a few bad nights when they give them up, after which the
nervous storm subsides and sleep becomes normal. All drugs should be
discarded. The physician who understands more about the working of
nature than about the giving of drugs will have the best success in
these cases. Soothing sleep always comes to people possessed of a
controlled mind in a healthy body.
If the day has been exhausting and the nerves are so alive and wrought
up that sleep will not come, do not allow the mind to delve into worry
about it. Do not say to yourself: "I wish I could sleep. Why can't I
sleep?" Such fretful thinking produces mental tension, which drives
sleep away. Instead, say to yourself: "I am very comfortable. I am
having a refreshing rest. It does not matter whether I sleep or not." By
all means relax the body. Choose a comfortable position and remain
quiet, having the muscles relaxed. It is remarkable how soon a relaxed
body brings tranquility to a disturbed mind. Let a man in pugnacious
mood relax his face and his fists and in a very short time his anger
vanishes. It makes no difference whether a person sleeps eight hours on
a certain night. If he is fairly regular about going to bed he will get
enough sleep. Those who realize this truth do not complain of insomnia.
Most people who think much have an occasional night when an idea takes
such strong possession of the brain and demands so forcibly to be put
into proper shape, that they can not sleep. Under such circumstances it
is as well to to get up and work out the idea. Three or four nights like
that in the course of a year will do no harm.
People rarely sleep well when lying on the back. If the theory of
evolution is correct, we were not intended to lie on our backs during
sleep. A good position is to lie on the right side, the right leg being
anterior to the left, both being flexed. Another position that is
restful to many is to lie on the abdomen, the arms extended away from
the body.
The breathing should be entirely nasal. It will not be nasal if there is
obstruction in the nose. A healthy person who breathes through his mouth
at night must use autosuggestion to overcome the habit. He should
suggest to himself, "I will breathe through the nose; I will keep my
lips together." If he persists in this, closes the mouth when he goes to
sleep, in time the mouth-breathing will cease, and with it the
disagreeable habit of snoring. The harmfulness of mouth-breathing is
explained in another chapter.
At all times the bedroom should be well ventilated. Some people are in
the habit of sleeping in unventilated bedrooms, but upon rising in the
morning they throw the windows open and give the room a good airing. The
ventilation does not do much good except when there is someone in the
room. During the day the bedroom could be closed with very little harm
ensuing, though it is best to have it sunned and aired as much as
possible.
The sleeping porch is excellent. Outdoor sleeping is all right and it is
not a modern fad. Where Benjamin Franklin got his information I do not
know, but he has this to say about outdoor sleeping: "It is recorded
that Methusaleh, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have
best preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for
when he had lived five hundred years an angel said to him: 'Arise,
Methusaleh, and build thee an house, for thou shalt live five hundred
years longer.' But Methusaleh answered, and said: 'If I am to live but
five hundred years longer, it is not worth while to build me an house; I
will sleep in the air as I have been used to do.'" This may partly
account for some of his many years. His alleged conversation with the
angel indicates that he was a man of equanimity.
Under ordinary circumstances those who sleep indoors should have one
sash of window fully open for each person in the chamber, or more. It is
well to have plenty of fresh air, but it is not best to sleep in a
draught. When the wind is blowing through the windows it is not
necessary to have them wide open, for an aperture of four inches will
then give as much fresh air as a sash opening in calmer weather.
It is best to get up promptly upon awakening in the morning. Remaining
in bed half asleep is productive of slothfulness. Too much sleeping and
dozing make one dull.
Those who overeat require more sleep than moderate people. The
sluggishness and sleepiness following a too heavy meal are familiar to
all. Animals that do not get food regularly, but are dependent on the
vicissitudes of preying for their nourishment, often gorge themselves so
that they can not stay awake, but fall into a stupor, which may last for
days. Man, who is generally assured of three meals a day, has no excuse
for this form of self-abuse, but unfortunately he practices it too
often. It is a gross habit, one in which people of refinement will not
continue to indulge.
Young children should take a nap each day. They are so active that they
need this rest. Adults can with profit take a short nap, not to exceed
thirty minutes, after lunch. Those who are nervous owe it to themselves
to take a nap. Those who use the brain a great deal will find the midday
nap a great restorer. If sleep will not come, they should at least close
their eyes and remain relaxed for a short time. A long nap makes one
feel stupid.
Those unfortunate people who are addicted to various enslaving drugs,
such as cocaine and morphine, often are very light sleepers. They are
deteriorating physically, mentally and morally. Such people are ill and
are no guides to the needs of healthy people.
Coffee drinking is a destroyer of sound sleep. At first the coffee seems
to soothe the nerves, but in a few hours it has the opposite effect. The
habitual use of coffee helps to bring on premature nervous instability
and physical degeneration.
Sleep is self-regulating. If we are normal otherwise we need give the
subject no thought except to select a regular time to go to bed and get
up promptly in the morning upon awaking.
It is easy to drive away sleep. Those who wish to enjoy this sweet
restorer at its best must be regular.