The Sleep Revolution

Only when we grasp this fundamental truth can we truly live the lives we want and not the lives we settle for.

Is it true that we shouldn’t eat big meals right before bed? Yes—that bit of conventional wisdom is true, especially if you suffer from acid reflux, which afflicts an estimated 40 percent of Americans. This can be a particular problem given our modern-day work schedule, says Dr. Jamie Koufman, who specializes in acid reflux:

Sleep involves a range of complex functions associated with memory, our ability to learn, brain development and cleaning, appetite, immune function, and aging. And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what it does for our mood, our well-being, our creativity, and our relationships.

That’s why, as author Tom Rath writes, “We need to rethink sleep as a core family value.” When I was growing up, my mother

Fragmented sleep changes how the immune system deals with cancer in ways that make the disease more aggressive.”

When we wake up in bed on Monday morning and think of the various hurdles we have to jump that day, immediately we feel sad, bored, and bothered. Whereas actually, we’re just lying in bed. —ALAN WATTS, The Philosophies of Asia

I’ve come to see it as a great lesson for living life as if—as the poet Rumi put it—everything is rigged in our favor.

that subject—it ‘knows’ you need to work on it to get better, and this seems to be where dreaming can be of most benefit.” It’s as though we’re bringing in another brain with a different skill set to work on

Lack of sleep impairs a child’s ability to learn, their emotional well-being (mood swings, anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems) and even leads to many health problems like infections, high blood pressure and obesity.”