Skip to main content

Sleep....

I have often posted on here about the importance of sleep.  If you have not yet got the message then please listen to Chris Kresser's latest podcast on Revolution Health Radio where he interviews Dan Pardi who is a scientist researching sleep and its importance for health.  Dan is also behind the superb Dan's Plan  


Anyway you can listen to the podcast or read the transcript on the site, either way it is full of some really useful and important information.


Why Most People Are Sleep-deprived and What to do About it


Best of all Dan gives some ideas for improving sleep.  Nothing about this is rocket science, but it is all good stuff.   

The thing is, I have written about this before, but my own sleep routine is not great.  I tend to get to bed too late and have been waking up in the night stressing about things.  One thing that I need to address is the internet.  I am getting too addicted to checking, checking and checking - email, twitter, facebook, google reader.  Not much is actually new or that exciting but there is this self imposed pressure to KEEP UP TO DATE....with a lot of pointless drama!  My iphone is the first thing I reach for in the morning and even sometimes if I wake in the middle of the night.  This is not healthy.

There was a good post by a backpacker in the States last week who talked about going without his phone / internet for a while and how it made him feel - truly relaxed!  It is also worth reading and reflecting on.  


But the experiment got me thinking, anyway. Since moving back to Keene, I've been doing things differently than last year. I've cut down drastically on my Internet usage, mostly by cutting out all of my use of forums and web communities. I used to kill hours browsing through discussions on Backpackinglight.com, but I realized I was getting nothing from that community except more and more frustration at the tone of many conversations. I read fewer blogs now, I avoid most news sites, I don't much care what news I'm missing. I feel more relaxed in general, and I now have drastically more time to read books, enjoy the home life, and work on my other projects.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dry January

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was taking part in "Dry January".  I didn't make a big song and dance about it, but I decided to go for a calendar month or so with no alcohol.  A few people have asked me about my experience, so here are a few points. Why take a break from drinking? Alcohol is an interesting topic.  As a drug it is widely accepted in society, central to so much of our socialising and leisure.  There seem to be lots of health benefits - so we are told - yet there are also a lot of problems in terms of health, relationships and lifestyle that come from drinking. Over a few years I'd begun to become aware and then concerned that I was drinking too much and too regularly.  I am in a busy and stressful job and sometimes a glass of wine after work to relax is really helpful.  But over time, one glass became two.  Two glasses became ....I might as well finish the bottle.  A habit got established....and was starting to get too e...
7 comments
Read more

So where have I been?

You will have noticed that this blog has been quiet for a while....  There are a few reasons for that, reasons that I thought I'd list here: WORK -  my day job has been incredibly busy and stressful this year. Working 10-14 hour days the last thing on my mind when I got home was putting something on here.  FACEBOOK/TWITTER - I suppose I've been using other channels to do some of what I used to do here. Quick fire posts pointing to interesting studies or news etc tend to get posted to Twitter (@chrishighcock) or to the Facebook Hillfit group http://www.facebook.com/groups/263083947097000/  REASSESSMENT - I've found myself less comfortable with some of the positions I've taken in the past. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by some of the things I've promoted. I'm not Paleo or low carb. I think Tabata and intervals are misunderstood and misapplied. I cannot really claim to be HIT.   I find myselfunable  honestly to post things on here and pretend that I am some sort o...
12 comments
Read more

Taking up space for a brief update

I've a couple of posts in draft that I will get up soon -  an update / reflection on Dry January and some thoughts on the scheduling benefits of short workouts if your life is busy.  Before that though, I am pointing to something else. However, I wanted to highlight something that is coming this weekend that I've been involved in.   Amber Rogers (Gokaleo and author of Taking Up Space ) has been pulling together a bundle of books from various authors with a common theme, one that I've been pushing here recently.   Keep it simple, avoid the hype, be patient, be consistent and flee the gurus.   I've talked before about how we get obsessed with pushing for more and more, when enough is OK.  I've given my view that so much of the health and fitness internet world is more like a gnostic religion than something that will benefit your life. There are other voices out there saying similar things and I'll be pointing to a bundle of books later this week ...
1 comment
Read more