Other/Mixed Sleep Camel

[fractal]

Wait, that would mean I have to go to bed at 9 p.m. (I get up at between 6 and 6:30 a.m.). No way I can do that. I only get home from work at 6:30 p.m. By the time I have dinner prepared, eaten and done the dishes, it's nearly that time. Besides, starting next week we will be teaching dancing 6 days a week in the evening.
I will have to wait until I retire to follow the above advice, whenever that is

That sounds like my life 4 days per week. I get home between 6:30 and 7:30, eat, shower, maybe kick back for 30-60 mins and in bed between 8-9:30. Up between 5 and 5:30 and out the door at 7.

 

[fractal]

Good points Geoff.
Not just restricted to blue collar life either. Try traveling 50-60% of the time. Multiple time zones, staying in different hotels, different beds, difficult food choices, general stress of travel, plus still putting in 10 hours of work (albeit maybe not hard physical stuff) and trying to train on the road.

Enough sleep, and quality sleep are easily compromised...

To make things worse, Matt Walker was saying that when you sleep in an unfamiliar place, only half of your brain actually reaches the deeper levels of restorative sleep. This has been nagging at me as I’ll have to travel to Aus if I want to do my SFG next year.

 

[North Coast Miller]

Wait, that would mean I have to go to bed at 9 p.m. (I get up at between 6 and 6:30 a.m.). No way I can do that. I only get home from work at 6:30 p.m. By the time I have dinner prepared, eaten and done the dishes, it's nearly that time. Besides, starting next week we will be teaching dancing 6 days a week in the evening.
I will have to wait until I retire to follow the above advice, whenever that is

I get up at 4:45, would have to get to bed at 8:45? not going to happen. I normally get 6 and some change. Weekends I sleep in till about 7 or 8, if I really sleep in I wake up with a bad headache and my back hurting.

 

[Steve Freides]

I recommend that anyone who has difficulty falling asleep quickly learn to meditate. There is not a big distance between meditating and sleeping in some ways (and, of course, there is a very big difference in other ways), and indeed there are plenty of stories of monks walking around with sticks to whack the new students who fall asleep as they are trying to meditate.

-S-

 

[mprevost]

Wait, that would mean I have to go to bed at 9 p.m. (I get up at between 6 and 6:30 a.m.). No way I can do that. I only get home from work at 6:30 p.m. By the time I have dinner prepared, eaten and done the dishes, it's nearly that time. Besides, starting next week we will be teaching dancing 6 days a week in the evening.
I will have to wait until I retire to follow the above advice, whenever that is

Jan, that is what I meant by many people having a lifestyle that is incompatible with getting sufficient sleep. But just because you can't (though this is almost always subject to choices), does not mean that you will not face consequences. Life is unfair in that way. I would want to know what consequences I am facing and choose other strategies to mitigate them (i.e., fight insulin resistance and inflammation).

Mike

 

[mprevost]

I get up at 4:45, would have to get to bed at 8:45? not going to happen. I normally get 6 and some change. Weekends I sleep in till about 7 or 8, if I really sleep in I wake up with a bad headache and my back hurting.

When I was active duty I got up at 4:20 every morning. I was in bed by 8:00 pm every night. I did that for more than 10 years. Had to get really dark curtains for part of the year.

 

[Waryrenn]

Maybe I should just start using marijuana

Well... There's some suggestions that it has advantages over some other sleep medications available. Appears to alter make up of sleep cycles to increase deep sleep - which is restorative. This by definition cuts into REM sleep, because you're deeper sleep for longer.
Can get similar effects from hemp CBD products (male plant which does not make the psychoactive THC).
Not a recommendation - but if you're on sleep medication it is worth comparing and contrasting.

 

[Waryrenn]

next week we will be teaching dancing 6 days a week in the evening

What dance do you teach?
Not trying to bump the thread, just interested. We dance salsa (LA style) and bachata. With occasional forays into other Latin and some Brazilian dances.
6 evenings a week is hard core!

 

[Jan]

@Waryrenn : we teach ballroom dancing, both standard and latin, disco swing, west coast swing, Carolina shag, lindy hop, popcorn swing. So quite a variety

 

[Jan]

there are plenty of stories of monks walking around with sticks to whack the new students who fall asleep as they are trying to meditate.

If you get wacked hard enough, it can lead to enlightment

 

[Bryant W]

I recommend that anyone who has difficulty falling asleep quickly learn to meditate. There is not a big distance between meditating and sleeping in some ways (and, of course, there is a very big difference in other ways), and indeed there are plenty of stories of monks walking around with sticks to whack the new students who fall asleep as they are trying to meditate.

-S-

+1 to this.
For a number of years, I used to see patients at a sleep clinic. Those patients that were open to meditation often did much better in the long run than those resistant to it, and were often off their medications within a few months. Some observations from my experience:
1. Trying to introduce meditation, whether it is relaxation work or breath meditation, often worked better at bedtime when I actually introduced it first for a while during the daytime, so it wasn't this new thing they were trying that seemed to stress them even more at bedtime.
2. People with a lot of somatic issues tended to do better with a pure breath focus type meditation, whereas people who complained primarily of "a racing mind" type issue often did better with more of a lying body relaxation type of meditation. Not a hard and fast rule, but definitely a trend. It seemed finding a focus for the mind that was less related to their primary complaints while allowing them to relax was a good way to enter the practice.
3. Many people were really off put by the label of "meditation". It seemed to conjure spiritual or religious overtones that seemed to inspire resistance. So instead I would just label it as a relaxation method. This was a decade ago though, and I wonder if it wouldn't be as big an issue anymore since it seems that mindfulness has made the concept of meditation more mainstream.