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Day 137: What is Sleep?

I




I did it!


I woke up at 6:00 a.m.!


This may not seem like that great a feat to you, but to me this is huge!

I was pondering my sleep pattern as I journaled yesterday.  Something so basic for most living beings (Apparently scientists are hesitant to say all living creatures sleep".http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130927-do-all-animals-need-sleep) has been a stumbling block for me my whole life.

Wow.  This is huge!

I discovered that I am angry in the morning. Mostly angry at the alarm clock - how irrational is that?

So last night I redid my schedule. 

I wrote a big note by my alarm clock this morning:

6:00 a.m. WAKE UP
  1. Weigh self
  2. Dog out
  3. Make tea
  4. Water plants 
6:30 a.m. BLOG

Instead of waking up and cleaning and exercising, I will wake up, weigh myself and put the tea kettle on for tea. Then while it brews I let the dog out and water the plants. Then I will carry my steamy mug of Earl Grey goodness back into my room and log onto Blogger.

It worked!  Today at least. But I will just take one day at a time.

It was surreal being up so early. I actually watched the sun come up. I was up so much earlier than usual, that I confused the dog! She stirred in her kennel. I said, "Good morning, Honey! Want to go outside?" She looked at me and wagged her tail politely.

So I let her out. But she refused to go outside. Too dark? Too cold?

I tried feeding her.  She just looked at me. So I poured my tea. When I turned around she was gone.

I found her on my bed! So she is back in her kennel. Dogs are creatures of habit. I will let her out again at her normal 9:00 a.m. hour.

After I type this, I am going for a nice trail walk.

Today is the first day of Autumn. I can feel the briskness in the air. A hint of things to come.  Although I heard the forecast was 80 tomorrow, I think the rain is coming.

Now back to my original subject: Sleep.

So, what is sleep?  The definition of sleep according to the I was thinking about this before my alarm rang. Yes. I was actually conscious BEFORE the alarm. I was reading about brain waves yesterday, in "Writing Down Your Soul". I read that the theta brain waves are the phase in which we wake up naturally.  You tend to remember your dreams and be in a very creative state when you are in theta.

I so very rarely experience the luxury of waking up naturally.  Usually an alarm or a sound wakes me up.  Maybe that is why I wake up angry?

I actually went to bed last night at 10:00 p.m. I didn't fall asleep right away, but when I did, I slept through the night.

So it appears that I need about 7 hours of sleep.

I googled "sleep". According to oxforddictionaries.com, the definition of sleep is:

"A condition of body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended."  (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/sleep)

I am curious about the "consciousness practically suspend" bit.   Perhaps I need to do a research project on sleep!

After all it seems to be at the root of my problems.  I have never felt ready for sleep at night. In fact I get my second wind, so to speak. I have always identified with the night people.  And I rarely, if ever bounce out of bed.  I usually crawl out, cursing and grumbling. Nice way to start a day right?

 I would like to continue with this subject, but my trail walk is calling!

 I found a very interesting article at sleep association.org (https://www.sleepassociation.org/patients-general-public/what-is-sleep/)
I have it bookmarked and will report on what I have learned tomorrow.

Today I woke up at 6:00 a.m.  Anything is possible!

Happy Wednesday! :)

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