...grinds to an almighty halt. It's not that I haven't got the desire to sleep well, it's just that the theory of sleep patterns and cycles requires a consistency of bedtime that is just not that easy if you want to have something resembling an actual life. I'm getting up at 6.30am every morning and my Lumie light is helping to bring a consistency to the time that the sun comes up. But my bedtime is ranging from 9.30pm on days when I just can't keep my eyes open anymore, to midnight on those days when I've been working, the children have gone to bed fairly late, I've not had tea (or dinner depending on whether you come from the north or south of the country) until late, but I still just want that free half an hour to myself. A clear block of time to enjoy a glass of wine and maybe, if I'm lucky, catch a decent bit of TV.
Not you might argue that it's up to me to pull my weight and put in the effort required to be consistent at bedtime if I want to enjoy the fruits of consistent and refreshing sleep. Well yes. But this month's not really been the time to focus on it. You see, those of you who have been regular visits to this page for a while might know that I am something of a dancer. Or at least I was 15 years ago and despite my body's protests my brain still believes it now.
So 6 months ago I found an advanced Jazz and Tap class for adults in my area and I jumped at it. The fact that they were gearing up for their 2-yearly show at the local theatre made it even more enticing. And before my husband knew it he was being single-dad for 3 Saturdays on the trot for dress rehearsals and for 3 evenings of the show from 6pm until I finally got home at 11pm all excited with adrenaline still pumping from the experience of dancing in front of a sold out theatre of over 500 people.
I absolutely had a ball. And we are already back into weekly classes learning new routine for next time. So with all the good intentions in the world, sometimes life just takes over. And I'd much rather be reaching for the coffee and living life, than being a wide awake and refreshed bore.
So I'll try and be consistent. When I can. And in the meantime, let me know if you find that consistent bedtimes and wake up times makes any difference....!
Showing posts with label the sleep experiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the sleep experiment. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011
The sleep experiment...
OK, so I've been experimenting with my sleep patterns this week. To catch up click here. I've definitely noticed that I wake up more refreshed and ready to go if I can remember the dream I was having when I awake. Essentially if I've had time dozing, and I get out of bed between dozes, then I'm OK.
I point out that 'ok' in this case simply means I'm slightly less likely to bite your head of if you try and have a conversation with me within the first 30 minutes of being upright.
I also seem to do better if I've had a 'round' number of hours sleep. I realise that was incredibly poor grammar, and no-one will understand what I'm trying to say, so I'll try that again... When I sleep for 6, or 7, or 8 hours and wake 'on the hour' I'm better than if I wake on the 1/2 hour. I can only assume that my sleep cycles happen to add up like that.
In fact, sleeping for longer does not necessarily mean I'm more refreshed. It's more about where I am in that cycle when I awake.
I'll keep experimenting, and you never know... I might soon be lifting the corners of my mouth before I get to the school gate!
I point out that 'ok' in this case simply means I'm slightly less likely to bite your head of if you try and have a conversation with me within the first 30 minutes of being upright.
I also seem to do better if I've had a 'round' number of hours sleep. I realise that was incredibly poor grammar, and no-one will understand what I'm trying to say, so I'll try that again... When I sleep for 6, or 7, or 8 hours and wake 'on the hour' I'm better than if I wake on the 1/2 hour. I can only assume that my sleep cycles happen to add up like that.
In fact, sleeping for longer does not necessarily mean I'm more refreshed. It's more about where I am in that cycle when I awake.
I'll keep experimenting, and you never know... I might soon be lifting the corners of my mouth before I get to the school gate!
Friday, 10 June 2011
How to cope with loosing sleep!
I have always had trouble getting up in the morning. I'm a grumpy, impatient, groggy mess for at least an hour. That is an hour after I get out of bed, and generally I've been slamming the snooze button for a good 20 minutes before then.... becoming more and more annoyed at that button in the process.
Before I had children I used to be able to sleep until 8.30am and still get to work for 9.30. I'd then work until 6pm, as I seem to be at my best between 3pm and 6pm. This pattern was so distinct that my colleagues began to deliberately avoid asking me stuff until late afternoon. And even though I was going to bed before 11pm and getting over 9 hours of sleep, I still wasn't lively and awake in the morning.
Now I have 2 young children and I never get up in a good way. I always feel angry at the day for starting before I'm ready for it. I feel frustrated that the children and my alarm clock wake me up. And I'm envious of my husband's apparent ease at getting out of bed in the morning happy and fully awake.
I've tried one of those Lumie light clocks. It's helpful to an extent, making waking up on those dark winter mornings slightly more palatable. But it has had no effect no effect on my morning mood. So now I've had enough. I thought about it; worked out that I wake up slightly less grumpily if I'm woken up whilst dreaming vivid dreams, and I thought I'd make the effort to learn more about sleep and how it works so as to better understand how I can help myself.
It turns out that we sleep in cycles of about 90-110 minutes, and each cycle contains various stages; drowsy sleep(1), light sleep(2), deep sleep(3&4) and REM sleep, with us working through them in this order; 1,2,3,4,3,2,1,REM for a couple of cycles, and then loosing number 4, then number 3 on the next couple of cycles. It also turns out that if your alarm clock wakes you up in the middle of your deep sleep you'll feel groggy and unhappy as this isn't the natural point at which to wake. You actually want to wake up whilst in REM sleep; or whilst you are having those dreams! Meaning the length of time between falling to sleep at night and waking up in the morning is the important part; not what time it happens to say on the clock when you wake. Of course the length of the stages and cycles will also vary from person to person.
So going to bed late does indeed throw out the natural rhythms as you will interrupt your sleep with the alarm at a different point to usually. The time; 6am; may be the same, but your body won't be at the same point. (read more here)
So I'm going to try going to bed at 10pm, with an aim to be asleep for 10.30pm, 1 cycle would take me to 12.20am, another to 2.10am, another to 4am and the final to 5.50am. But since 5.50am would be the end of that cycle after a longer period of REM sleep and I'd be about to move back into stage 1, I'll try setting the alarm for 5.40am on the basis that I should be in the middle of REM then.
It seems very early.
I usually try and set the clock for 6.15am and drag myself out of bed at 6.30am. Today was particularly difficult, but I went to bed early last night and was asleep by 10.30, so was probably back in the stage 1 when the alarm went off.
It all sound a bit complicated, but I'll experiment and let you know how I get on. Of course, in an ideal world I'll be getting up and exercising....! Hmmm. Baby steps....
Before I had children I used to be able to sleep until 8.30am and still get to work for 9.30. I'd then work until 6pm, as I seem to be at my best between 3pm and 6pm. This pattern was so distinct that my colleagues began to deliberately avoid asking me stuff until late afternoon. And even though I was going to bed before 11pm and getting over 9 hours of sleep, I still wasn't lively and awake in the morning.
Now I have 2 young children and I never get up in a good way. I always feel angry at the day for starting before I'm ready for it. I feel frustrated that the children and my alarm clock wake me up. And I'm envious of my husband's apparent ease at getting out of bed in the morning happy and fully awake.
I've tried one of those Lumie light clocks. It's helpful to an extent, making waking up on those dark winter mornings slightly more palatable. But it has had no effect no effect on my morning mood. So now I've had enough. I thought about it; worked out that I wake up slightly less grumpily if I'm woken up whilst dreaming vivid dreams, and I thought I'd make the effort to learn more about sleep and how it works so as to better understand how I can help myself.
It turns out that we sleep in cycles of about 90-110 minutes, and each cycle contains various stages; drowsy sleep(1), light sleep(2), deep sleep(3&4) and REM sleep, with us working through them in this order; 1,2,3,4,3,2,1,REM for a couple of cycles, and then loosing number 4, then number 3 on the next couple of cycles. It also turns out that if your alarm clock wakes you up in the middle of your deep sleep you'll feel groggy and unhappy as this isn't the natural point at which to wake. You actually want to wake up whilst in REM sleep; or whilst you are having those dreams! Meaning the length of time between falling to sleep at night and waking up in the morning is the important part; not what time it happens to say on the clock when you wake. Of course the length of the stages and cycles will also vary from person to person.
So going to bed late does indeed throw out the natural rhythms as you will interrupt your sleep with the alarm at a different point to usually. The time; 6am; may be the same, but your body won't be at the same point. (read more here)
So I'm going to try going to bed at 10pm, with an aim to be asleep for 10.30pm, 1 cycle would take me to 12.20am, another to 2.10am, another to 4am and the final to 5.50am. But since 5.50am would be the end of that cycle after a longer period of REM sleep and I'd be about to move back into stage 1, I'll try setting the alarm for 5.40am on the basis that I should be in the middle of REM then.
It seems very early.
I usually try and set the clock for 6.15am and drag myself out of bed at 6.30am. Today was particularly difficult, but I went to bed early last night and was asleep by 10.30, so was probably back in the stage 1 when the alarm went off.
It all sound a bit complicated, but I'll experiment and let you know how I get on. Of course, in an ideal world I'll be getting up and exercising....! Hmmm. Baby steps....
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