The Art of Sleeping

HQ An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 2019 Copyright © Rob Hobson Rob Hobson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008339364 Ebook Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780008339371 Version: 2019-10-21

Rob Hobson Registered Nutritionist Bsc, Msc Book design by Steve Wells An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

TABLE OF CONTENTS page 12 INTRODUCTION page 17 CHAPTER ONE: SLEEP • Why sleep? • e circadian rhythm • e body clock • Sleep architecture • Dreaming • e stuff of nightmares • Mind over matter? page 53 CHAPTER TWO:NAPPING • e art of napping • Lark or owl? • Sleep cycles page 73 CHAPTER THREE:BEDTIME • Dear diary page 83 CHAPTER FOUR: BEHAVIOUR • Lights out! • Digital detox • Chill out • Take a bath • Brain download • Get comfortable • Keep moving

page 105 CHAPTER FIVE: ENVIRONMENT • Mess causes stress • Bedding down for the night page 117 CHAPTER SIX: DIET • Eat right to sleep tight • Foods that harm • Foods that heal • Break bad habits • Herbs and supplements • Planning is everything! • Sleep tonics page 153 CHAPTER SEVEN: MINDFULNESS • Losing sleep over it? • Relax every muscle • e stuff of dreams • Don’t forget to breathe page 177 CHAPTER EIGHT: RITUAL • e art of sleeping

Dedicated to anyone who has ever struggled to sleep well

12

introduction

DREAMING OF SLEEP Most of us spend one-third of our lives asleep, but not all of us sleep well. e amount of time we sleep and the quality of the sleep we get on a nightly basis can lead to tiredness and fatigue, the effects of which can filter into all aspects of daily life, affecting our emotions, our ability to focus on daily tasks, appetite, relationships and memory recall. Many people underestimate the importance of sleep and live with the daily symptoms of fatigue, masking them rather than getting to the root of the problem. us, sleep deprivation has become an issue that’s easily ignored, but if poor sleeping is le untreated it can have serious implications on diseases that can impact on your long-term health. Sleep is the natural state of rest in which your eyes are closed, your muscles are relaxed, your nervous system is 13

14 inactive and consciousness is practically suspended. is is a vital period of replenishment and repair for your body and a time when your brain is given the opportunity to process information, memories and experiences. Sleep is essential, and it is undoubtedly one of the key pillars of good health. While our commitment to eating well and exercising regularly is ultimately down to personal choice and conscious decision-making, sleep is influenced by factors that are sometimes out of our control. You can make yourself a healthy lunch, you can find the drive to get yourself to the gym for an early-morning workout, but lying in bed and trying to fall asleep may be a little more tricky. Many of us are victims of the 24-hour culture in which we live, as the modern-day demands and expectations of work and life in general, as well as the impact of social media, very much influence how we live our lives. is way of living can take its toll on our ability to sleep well and whilst you may think you are managing to survive on very little sleep, take it from me that you are not. Many of us have developed coping strategies to function on a daily basis (does that third cup of coffee before 11am sound familiar?) rather than taking a step back to address

the real problem, which is not being able to sleep. Aer years of struggling with insomnia, I became particularly interested in researching the different approaches to achieving the best possible sleep and one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is that one size never fits all. In this personal, practical guide, which references the latest scientific research and expert opinion, I will break down the art of sleeping into three main pillars: Behaviour, Environment and Diet, which can be given the acronym, BED. Once you understand what your daily lifestyle looks like, it’s possible to develop a sleep ritual that is personal to you. My personal battle with sleep is what drove me to write e Art of Sleeping ; however, I intend this book to be for everyone, whether you are similarly struggling with insomnia, looking for a better quality of sleep or are simply interested in the mechanics of sleeping well. I hope that by reading these pages you will be able to achieve the sleep of your dreams. 15

CHAPTER ONE

sleep

18

‘Sleep is

that golden

chain that

ties health

and our

bodies

together.’

Thomas Dekker

19 Sleep is a condition of body and mind that typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes are closed, the postural muscles are relaxed, and consciousness is practically suspended.

doze slumber nap zizz siesta

rest drowse kip snooze catnap bye-byes

22 Sleeping is considered to be a time of rest, but your body is working hard to ensure you are kept in good health. Your brain processes information, memory and experiences. Growth hormone increases to help repair your body’s tissues.

23 WHY SLEEP? Protein is replenished at a faster rate to support growth and repair. Production of skin cells, red blood cells and immune cells increases.

Sleep is essential

to everyday life

and influences

many areas

that impact

on our day-

to-day health

and wellness,

including:

24

25

Attention

Concentration

Creativity

Insight

Learning

Memory

Decisions

Emotions

Relationships

25

26 THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM Ever wondered why you feel sleepy at around the same time every night or wake up at the same time every day? It’s simply part of your circadian rhythm at work. Circadian rhythms are roughly 24-hour cycles that occur in the physiological processes of living beings – including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria – and exist in every cell in the body, helping to set sleep patterns by governing the flow of hormones and other biological processes. Circadian rhythms are controlled by the body’s internal clock and influenced by environmental factors such as light and temperature; the sleep/wake cycle is an example of a light-related circadian rhythm that determines our pattern of sleep. 26

27 2.00 Deepest sleep 21.00 Melatonin secretion starts 19.00 Highest body temperature 17.00 Greatest cardio- vascular efficiency and muscle strength 14.30 Best co-ordination 15.30 Fastest reaction time 4.00 Lowest body temperature 6.45 Sharpest blood pressure rise 7.30 Melatonin secretion stops 12.00 Midnight 12.00 Noon 18.006.00 10.00 Highest alertness 18.30 Highest blood pressure

28 e modern human is thought to have originated just north of the equator in Africa, which is a region that has a constant 12 hours of daylight, and research has shown how evolution has impacted on our body clock. As humans migrated into a range of latitudes, they became exposed to variations in the length of daylight, which is thought to have influenced their biological clocks. ese rhythms are ingrained in us and make up the very fabric of our being. Wherever you live, the processes in your body are driven by the basic fact that every 24 hours the Earth pirouettes on its axis, creating a fixed pattern of sunlight and darkness. e knowledge that this clock keeps on ticking regardless of what’s going on in our lives is quite comforting. Under normal circumstances, the biggest energy dips happen in the middle of the night (somewhere between 2am and 4am) and just aer lunchtime (around 1pm to 3pm), which is when many people crave a post-lunch nap. However,

these times can vary slightly depending on your chronotype, which defines whether you’re a morning lark or a night owl, which I will explain later (see page 59). Sleep deprivation can make these fluctuations in sleepiness and alertness more noticeable, so if you’re a good sleeper you’re less likely to feel the dips as strongly as someone who doesn’t get enough sleep. Routine is essential in our day-to-day lives, as it helps us to keep in sync with the natural flow of our circadian rhythm. Going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day will keep your body in a steady state of flux, maintaining energy levels and ensuring proper regeneration throughout the body. Interrupted or erratic sleep will inevitably leave you feeling fatigued and out of sorts, while the effect of light can also influence your biological clock and circadian rhythm. 29

30 THE BODY CLOCK Yes, this really is a thing! Your circadian rhythm can be thought of as a cycle of established events working in the background of your brain, but it’s the complex action of nervepathways in response to light that ensures they occur like clockwork. Exposure to light stimulates a nerve pathway from the retina in the eye to an area in the brain called the hypothalamus. ere, a special centre called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) works like a clock that sets off a regulated pattern of activities that affect the entire body such as the regulation of body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and the release of hormones that help us to sleep.

31 MELATONIN: THE SLEEP HORMONE Melatonin is a natural hormone made by your body’s pineal gland and is the key hormone that drives our sleep/wake cycle. is is a pea-sized gland located just above the middle of the brain; during the day the pineal is inactive, but when the sun goes down and darkness occurs, the pineal is ‘turned on’ by the SCN and begins to actively produce melatonin, which is released into the blood. Usually, this occurs between the hours of 9pm and 11pm. As a result, melatonin levels in the blood rise sharply at this time and you begin to feel less alert, making sleep more inviting. Melatonin levels in the blood stay elevated for about twelve hours – all through the night – until the light of a new day breaks, when they fall back to low daytime levels by about 9am. Daytime levels of melatonin are barely detectable.

32 CORTISOL: THE WAKE HORMONE Once exposed to the first light each day, the ‘clock’ in the SCN begins performing functions like raising body temperature and releasing stimulating hormones such as cortisol, made by your adrenal glands, which also encourage the uptake of the ‘feel-good’ hormone serotonin. e SCN delays the release of other hormones such as melatonin (which is associated with sleep onset) until many hours later when darkness arrives.

33

SLEEP ARCHITECTURE e term ‘sleep architecture’ refers to the structural organisation of normal sleep. In the same way that your circadian rhythm can be characterized by a set of actions occurring in a cycle, so can the structure of your sleep, which occurs in different stages throughout the night. Sleep can be divided into two groups: non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM). During NREM sleep your breathing and heart rate become slow and regular, your blood pressure drops and you remain relatively still.

35 As the name suggests, REM sleep is characterized by rapid eye movements as your pulse and breathing quickens, but the rest of your body remains motionless. It is during REM sleep that you’re more likely to dream, and this is also the stage that occurs before you wake up. A single sleep cycle is made up of four stages, each lasting around 90 minutes, which alternate cyclically throughout the night. e first three stages of the sleep cycle are NREM, each of which have their own set of unique characteristics, including brain wave patterns, eye movements and muscle tone – this takes up around 75 per cent of the cycle. REM sleep occurs in the fourth stage of the sleep cycle, taking up around 25 per cent. STAGE ONE Stage one is a short transition lasting only 5–10 minutes. During this unrestful stage, your eyes are closed but sleep is shallow, and you still have a sense of awareness. In stage one your brain is dipped into sleep, but you don’t feel as though you are asleep. It is during this stage of sleep that you’re most easily woken.

36 STAGE TWO Stage two is oen referred to as ‘light sleep’ and represents one of the most important parts of the sleep cycle, taking up almost half the night and characterized by a slowing down of both breathing and heart rate. Memories and emotions are processed during this stage, as is the regulation of your metabolism – the chemical processes that occur in the body to maintain life. STAGE THREE Breathing is slowest during this stage of NREM sleep and your muscles also start to relax, while heart rate is regulated. You’re unlikely to be woken up in this stage, and if you are you will feel disorientated for a short while aerwards. e difficulty in waking up at this point in your sleep is one reason why your body tries to get deep sleep over with as quickly as possible. Your body has its own natural drive for deep sleep, so once you have met that, the need dissipates. e third stage normally occurs halfway through the night and your cycle then adjusts to more time in light sleep and REM.

ese stages of sleep are very much about your body as the thinking parts of the brain go ‘offline’. During deep sleep your body secretes the human growth hormone to help rebuild and repair cells of tissue, bone and muscle. Stages one to three also help to strengthen the immune system. Age can impact the sleep cycle, as you spend more time in light sleep and less time in these stages of deep sleep as you get older. STAGE FOUR While the previous stage of deep sleep is all about the body, stage four – or REM – is focused on the brain, because it is at this point in the sleep cycle that it is most active. Your body will largely remain inactive but your eyes will move rapidly in different directions. During this stage your heart rate increases and your breathing becomes more irregular. Protein synthesis also peaks, helping to maintain the processes required to keep your body working properly. Dreaming usually occurs in this fourth stage, as well as the regulation of emotions and memories.

39 DREAMING Dreaming is one of the most notable but least understood characteristics of sleep, during which our thoughts follow bizarre and seemingly illogical sequences, sometimes random and sometimes related to experiences gathered during wakefulness. While the most intense dreams occur during REM sleep, because this is when the brain is most active, some can still occur during the stages of NREM. Dreams oen take on a fantastical feel, as within them we’re able to act out scenarios that would never be possible in real life. However, the experience is not always positive, and nightmares can induce

40 feelings of terror, anxiety and distress, which have been linked to sleep problems such as insomnia. ere are many explanations as to why we dream, and these have been offered by both philosophers and psychologists. Sigmund Freud suggested that dreams reveal a person’s deepest unconscious desires and that we disguise these impulses with symbolic objects. Other theories offered by researchers have suggested that dreams may be a type of offline memory processing, whereby the brain consolidates learning and daily memories, and that dreams even offer a way of developing cognitive capabilities. It has also been suggested that dreams are an ancient biological defence mechanism, simulating threatening events so that we’re more perceptive and able to avoid them in real life. However, others believe that dreams are simply a result of random activity in the brain. e true meaning of dreaming is still something of a mystery and many questions remain unanswered by the current available research. Perhaps we will never know, but for now you can choose what you would like to believe.

43 THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES Most people don’t get enough sleep. We are a society that burns the candle at both ends, a nation where people stay up all night to study, work or have fun. However, going without adequate sleep per night carries with it both short- and long-term consequences that can affect every aspect of our lives. e optimum number of hours of sleep is thought to be just under eight, but research carried out by the Royal Society for Public Health has shown that most people manage less than seven. Over the course of a week this deficit equates to a whole night’s sleep, and research by e Sleep Council has shown that 33 per cent of people only manage 5–6 hours, while 7 per cent get less than 5 hours. e regenerative power of sleep allows the brain to process information, muscle and joints to recover and enables protein to be replenished

44 in every part of the body, which promotes the growth and repair of tissues, cells and organs. Most of us are familiar with the short-term effects of not getting enough sleep, when we experience fluctuations in mood, concentration and alertness, and our ability to recall memories, our creativity and decision-making are also affected. All of these can filter through into many areas of everyday life, such as relationships and work. But it’s the long- term effects of poor sleep that will really give you nightmares. DIABETES Research published in the journal Sleep Medicine Clinics found that insufficient sleep could put you at a greater risk of type 2 diabetes by affecting the way your body uses glucose, the carbohydrate fuel that energizes cells. e study showed that when healthy subjects had their sleep cut in half from eight to four hours per night, they processed glucose more slowly than when they slept for twelve hours. It’s a finding that is reflected in many other studies of a similar nature.

45 HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE Inadequate sleep can also cause elevated blood pressure, even when this happens over minor periods of time. A study carried out by the University of Alabama found that a single night of inadequate sleep in people who already have high blood pressure can cause elevated levels the following day. As high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, this contributes to the correlation between poor sleep and heart disease. MENTAL HEALTH Your mental health can also be affected by lack of sleep. Given the effect a sleepless night can have on your mood and concentration, it’s not too much of a leap to think that chronic sleep deprivation may result in more serious mood disorders. Already there is lots of well-documented research showing an association between chronic sleep issues and depression, anxiety and mental distress. In one study carried out by University College London, subjects who slept only four hours per night showed declining levels of optimism and sociability following repeated days of inadequate sleep. In a similar study, subjects with less than four hours’ sleep reported feeling sadder, stressed, angry and