April 2009
All We Are Saying Is… Give Sleep A Chance
Forty years ago, in the spring of 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent two separate weeks in bed to raise consciousness about world peace. Peace activism, usually associated with more boisterousness, found a new and unexpected venue in the bed.
Sleep specialists today might frown upon staging such a rousing event in bed. But I like the idea of associating the bed with peace activism. I like it because I think that peace and sleep are, in fact, very closely related. And, I believe that we have been caught in a subtle cold war against sleep for many decades that requires our attention.
As common as complaints of sleeplessness are and as serious as the consequences of poor sleep can be, I am baffled at how few people make sleeping well a priority. Maybe there’s a sense of hopelessness about it. So many believe that sleep problems are inevitable in our fast paced world, particularly as we age. The pathway to healthy sleep can, furthermore, look daunting.
This is where Lennon and Ono’s message applies. I often hear myself telling patients, just give sleep a chance. Sleeping well, in fact, calls for a kind of personal activism, including effecting changes in lifestyle and, yes, even consciousness.
The Cold War Against Sleep
The lifestyle changes required for healthy sleep are not surprising. In short, a good night’s sleep depends largely on a good day’s waking — good nutrition, adequate exercise, stress management and active spirituality. But healthy sleep also calls for a shift in consciousness.
States of consciousness like sleeping and waking are, in some curious respects, like nation states. With the advent of industrialization, the state of waking dramatically expanded its power and position. This happened at the expense of sleep, which has been losing territory ever since. The border between these two states is not nearly as open and easy to cross as it once was. For many, it feels guarded and even walled-off.
To give sleep a chance we must begin by examining the barrier that segregates the worlds of sleep and waking. It may be helpful to reflect on our personal participation in cultural practices that strongly value waking over sleep. How readily and frequently do we swap sleep time for waking activity? To bring down the wall and open our personal borders, we must make peace with sleep.
Sleep and Peace
My experience suggests that when we finally do give sleep a chance, we are quickly reminded of its exquisite and incomparable gifts. In opening to deep sleep we can come to realize that sleep is much more than unconsciousness. It is actually a peaceful kind of consciousness. Working to improve our sleep is, in effect, a personal peace movement. And discovering that special place of peace inside of us can serve as a foundation for advocating for peace in the world around us.