I've never been someone who needs total darkness in order to sleep. In fact, if I'm tired I can typically fall asleep in any condition--in the sun, on a plane, on the couch in a completely lit room, etc. But, recently, Ben has been reading the book Lights Out by T.S. Wiley, and because it has been totally rocking his world in terms of how he looks at the importance of sleep, it is now totally rocking my world, as well (isn't that how relationships work?). This book basically says that getting a good, solid night's sleep is the cure-all solution to everything. Since I haven't read it and have only heard about it secondhand, here's a quick excerpt from a review of the book that explains it's message:
This fascinating, thought-provoking study discusses the central role of sleep in our lives. After probing the scientific literature, Wiley and Formby, researchers at the Sansum Medical Research Institute, conclude that "the disastrous slide in the health of the American people corresponds to the increase in light-generating night activities and the carbohydrate consumption that follows." Our internal clocks are governed by seasonal variations in light and dark; extending daylight artificially leads to a craving for sugar, especially concentrated, refined carbohydrates that, in turn, cause obesity. More seriously, lack of sleep inhibits the production of prolactin and melatonin--deranging our immune systems and causing depression, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The authors prescribe sleeping at least nine and a half hours in total darkness in the fall and winter and switching to a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein, vegetables, and healthy fats. They support their arguments with 100 pages of notes and by tracing the progression of disease from hunter-gatherers to our high-tech society...
---Review by Ilse Heidmann, San Marcos, TX
And this is what I've been hearing about for the past few weeks as Ben gets through the book. So naturally, the pursuit of sleeping in TOTAL darkness has become a big part of our life in our new place. This wasn't possible in our old apartment for a number of reasons (primarily one HUGE window with the inability to find curtains big enough to cover it and no doors separating the bedroom from the other rooms), but it is possible in our new place. We spent the first day or two of our move arguing about which room would be the bedroom for just this reason. Ben wanted the bedroom to be in our "den," the tiny, extra room with no windows that would basically hold only the bed (if that!). I wanted our bedroom to be in the bedroom, of course, but Ben was worried about the large window letting in too much light while we slept. The only way that I was able to convince him to move our bed into the actual bedroom was to promise that I would find a way to blackout the window so that we could sleep in total darkness. And that's where we are now.
This fascinating, thought-provoking study discusses the central role of sleep in our lives. After probing the scientific literature, Wiley and Formby, researchers at the Sansum Medical Research Institute, conclude that "the disastrous slide in the health of the American people corresponds to the increase in light-generating night activities and the carbohydrate consumption that follows." Our internal clocks are governed by seasonal variations in light and dark; extending daylight artificially leads to a craving for sugar, especially concentrated, refined carbohydrates that, in turn, cause obesity. More seriously, lack of sleep inhibits the production of prolactin and melatonin--deranging our immune systems and causing depression, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The authors prescribe sleeping at least nine and a half hours in total darkness in the fall and winter and switching to a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein, vegetables, and healthy fats. They support their arguments with 100 pages of notes and by tracing the progression of disease from hunter-gatherers to our high-tech society...
---Review by Ilse Heidmann, San Marcos, TX
And this is what I've been hearing about for the past few weeks as Ben gets through the book. So naturally, the pursuit of sleeping in TOTAL darkness has become a big part of our life in our new place. This wasn't possible in our old apartment for a number of reasons (primarily one HUGE window with the inability to find curtains big enough to cover it and no doors separating the bedroom from the other rooms), but it is possible in our new place. We spent the first day or two of our move arguing about which room would be the bedroom for just this reason. Ben wanted the bedroom to be in our "den," the tiny, extra room with no windows that would basically hold only the bed (if that!). I wanted our bedroom to be in the bedroom, of course, but Ben was worried about the large window letting in too much light while we slept. The only way that I was able to convince him to move our bed into the actual bedroom was to promise that I would find a way to blackout the window so that we could sleep in total darkness. And that's where we are now.
After a week of sleeping in a somewhat dark but definitely not pitch black room, we took a trip to Ikea yesterday to get the rest of our new-apartment supplies and search for blackout curtains (or the closest thing possible for our large windows). As I tweeted yesterday, I think we bought everything but the meatballs they sell in the "cafeteria" (why would you EVER eat a meal--and especially a meatball--at Ikea? eek!), and after much debate, came home with two sets of the darkest, thickest, largest curtains that they sell at Ikea (see picture to the right). We stopped caring about looks (well, I did after Ben said for the 5th time--"this is not about looks!") and went for pure blackout capabilities, and we did pretty well. We installed them yesterday afternoon--two sets, one in front of the other--then tacked the bottom set to the wall so that no light could get in along the sides, and slept for the first night last night in the closest-to-pitch-black room that I've slept in in a long time. It was crazy. Plus, once things are pitch black you begin to notice even the tiniest bit of light...the small green dot on the fire extinguisher, which Ben is covering with tape tonight, the bit of light coming through under the door in the morning, for which Ben will stuff a towel under the door tonight, etc. But I do have to say, I got a great night's sleep. Will sleeping in total darkness change my life? That's yet to be seen, but I am a bit sold on the importance of finding pitch black and of staying away from blue light--the light from computers, TVs, etc--before bedtime.
Interested in learning more? Read this great, short article on the way that light affects our sleep. This is from one of Ben's favorite blogs about "primal living in the modern world," Marks Daily Apple.
I'll keep you posted on how this new sleep set-up does or does not change my daily life--or at least my level of sleepiness and carb cravings throughout the day--and encourage you to read up on it and think about how making changes to your sleep situation could help you get a better night's sleep. It's definitely worth pondering a bit!
Have a restful Monday :)
Namaste,
Mary Catherine
Interested in learning more? Read this great, short article on the way that light affects our sleep. This is from one of Ben's favorite blogs about "primal living in the modern world," Marks Daily Apple.
I'll keep you posted on how this new sleep set-up does or does not change my daily life--or at least my level of sleepiness and carb cravings throughout the day--and encourage you to read up on it and think about how making changes to your sleep situation could help you get a better night's sleep. It's definitely worth pondering a bit!
Have a restful Monday :)
Namaste,
Mary Catherine
