Understanding how a system is designed to work and making that system work for us are two different things. But making it work for us would be impossible without the understanding. Embedded within the DNA of all living things are cyclical patterns that govern the systems they develop. These systemic patterns tell life when to grow, when to eat, when to sleep, when to reproduce, when to repair and when to break down. Mortality often reminds us of the fragility of these systems when they break and life develops disease, cancers, deformities, and untimely death. Each of these systems rely on each other for support. The growth pattern for example, relies heavily on the sleep pattern. In fact, the sleep pattern may be found to have the most significant impact on every other system in our body. Our ability to learn, retain and recall knowledge, repair injuries, grow, fight infections, and digest food all depend on our sleep cycle to operate at their highest efficiency. So why is it that our natural sleep is probably the least treated symptom of any ailment whether physical or mental? Why do we tend to praise those who are so ‘important’ or ‘busy’ that they sacrifice sleep to achieve some objective? And why have I always had the most difficulty in establishing a normal, healthy, regular pattern of sleep ever since I was a teenager?

I was recently reminded of a great book when the author was a guest on a podcast I was listening to. Matthew Walker, PhD, Director of UC Berkley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab wrote Why We Sleep in 2017. It is a very insightful, scientific, and comprehensive education on the subject of sleep. Walker’s research demonstrates the link between the propagation of some cancers and disease within bodies that do not receive adequate sleep,

“Sleep deficiency is literally carcinogenic. It also degrades your mental ability, your memory, your creativity; it predisposes you to eat more and to add more weight; yeah, and for young people, it is closely related to ADhD and for old people, Alzheimers. It also doubles up the risk of cancer by affecting the immunity.” - Walker

Walker also addresses the links between all the positive benefits of sleep which directly counter the negative, memory, strength, creativity, immunity are all improved. I observe along with Walker that modernized society has been experiencing a sleep loss pandemic for decades, perhaps being the largest contributor to the obesity epidemic in the United States, and the high rates of cardiovascular disease. Certain chemicals in our environment, directly affect our ability to maintain a healthy sleep cycle, namely caffeine. Caffeine being as unregulated as it is, may be the single most addicting and disruptive trigger in our natural sleep cycle. What other addictive substance has been so accepted, embraced and ritualized by society? As Walker suggests, our country is in desperate need of sleep education at many levels, from elementary school to medical professionals.

The circadian rhythm is the internal system that governs our natural sleep cycle. This rhythm is developed even prior to birth. This rhythm exists in all living things from bacteria, plants, animals, and humans and is based on an approximately 24-hour cycle. Rather than delve deeply into the science behind the circadian rhythm, Walker and many others have much to offer on the subject, I have sought to understand my own rhythm and why it has been disrupted for so long. Based on my understanding of Walker’s research and other sources, a sleep cycle may be disrupted by:

• Extensive amounts of time spent in blue light, especially in the evening. Blue light being the kind that emanates from the LCD screens of our computers, TV’s, and cell phones.

• Eating too much or too close to bedtime

• Consuming caffeine or other stimulants

• Inactivity, sedentary lifestyles

• Anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions

• Lack of exposure to natural light

• Travel to different time zones

These are just a few of the things I can remember, but I am sure there are more. So, when considering my own lifestyle now I can probably count on most of these playing a regular part in my own disruption, I can still avoid caffeine (except for when I don’t), so I guess I can count on all of them. There are specific things I sometimes do to mitigate the risk, consistency and discipline are the only real challenges and when the challenge is met I find that my own rhythm does improve, until some other factor (probably a child) has their own disruptive cycle to contend with. It wasn’t always like this, the environmental factors I mean. I didn’t always have a desk job, there was a time when it was rare to be in front of a screen for more than 30 minutes a day and even a few years when I didn’t own anything with a screen. But, even at a time when I could count out each of these factors, sleeping on a regular schedule was always a challenge. So, Dr. Walker if you are ever interested, I will willingly submit myself and my case to your lab for whatever extensive study you deem necessary to determine the cause.

Each of us probably has some type of life-long challenge to contend with. One that does not necessarily ever go away or get better. These nuances of morality can teach us lessons, help us grow character, humble us, give us the opportunity to have empathy, and allow us to exercise discipline if we so choose. It is the choosing that comes first on our path to becoming greater than the challenge. Knowing it may never go away but continuing to do those specific things that make us more than it makes us, we win at life.

Make yourself more than the challenge makes you.

In my case, these are the specific things that have helped subdue this beast:

• Regular exercise. Having a desk job means there is a lot of natural human activity to be made up for. I believe that we are made to move, made to work hard, make to live outside. Sitting at a computer at a desk in an office in air conditioning is just about as far away from inherently natural as one can get. So, make time to make up for it, and make it count.

• Turn it off. No phone, no computer, no screen for an hour before bed. Now this one is tough in our hyper-connected lives. We practically sleep with our phones. But who doesn’t love the natural smell and feel of real pages in an old book?

• Stop eating so close to bedtime. Ok so these are all tough. I have found that if I am a little hungry it can occupy my food addicted brain making it harder to sleep. But being even just a little too full will make it even more so. It is better for me to go to sleep hungry than full. But that is just me and not everyone will have the same experience. My battle with my own digestive system is second only to my battle with sleep. Both seem to be trying different methods to destroy me…

• Be outside. Since most of my exercising has been in the gym recently, I am still missing that natural light that helps us create essential vitamins and reinforces the circadian rhythm. So sometimes I will just go stand outside, especially on a sunny day in the high seventies, and soak it up for a few minutes.

• Start putting the kids to bed earlier than you think they need to. This is another one that will vary from person to person. Some are not even in a stage of life where this is an issue, but for us it is a rogue variable. The time between surprising my kids by saying “it’s bedtime” as if it is a completely new phenomenon that they have never heard of despite it happening every night, and the time that their bedroom lights turn off, and the time that they are actually asleep, can range from two to five hours. Be consistent, give lots of warnings and encouragement and lay down the law. Their own rhythm may be at stake. The evenings are also the best time to spend together talking and doing activities without screens. But who has the energy to play with kids at that time of day, right? Hence the importance of physical conditioning and discipline.

• Meditation and prayer. Before bed, even if just for a few minutes, sit comfortably with eyes closed, concentrate on breathing and as much as possible nothing else. Offer a prayer of gratitude. Slow your breathing and heart as much as you can, in the dark and hopefully quiet.

Again, this is probably not all. And once it is down in a list for all to see I can already feel the pangs of hypocrisy. But what is all that nonsense about writing down our goals making them easier to achieve? Make up a game plan for establishing your own rhythm, that is step two. Step one was choosing. You are the master of your body and life.

Just because I don’t feel like I’ve made it a big enough deal I want to state again that we all struggle with some type of challenge, and some people with many challenges, that will never disappear or heal or get better in life. This is a consequence of mortality. These things can serve to beat us down, make us small, destroy our dreams, or they can help us be humble, make us stronger as we exercise discipline and remind us that there is One who overcame it all, which gift has been granted to all of us through His own grace and mercy. When the time comes, and it surely will, these challenges will be done away and we will have become better for it.