As we get older, we tend to need less sleep.
That's a fact.
But, if we get too little "shut-eye", that can be prejudicial to our health.
[Image courtesy of the BBC]
My sleep experience
Since I reached adulthood aged 18 I have never slept for long enough.
As students, we stayed up late into the night "chewing the fat" and putting the world to rights. And, if we were in luck, losing our virginity.
When I started work as a teacher, a job I did for 15 years, I never slept for long enough. I was running on adrenalin.
[Photo courtesy of Westend61]
For the next 15 years I was a schools inspector/adviser, a stressful occupation at the best of times, and the pattern of insufficient sleep continued.
When we did Ofsted inspections, it got worse.
Around that time I had a nervous breakdown.
[Ofsted]
After redundancy, divorce and early retirement - I was 55 - you'd have thought my REM sleep would improve. Dream on!
In a disastrous new relationship with a recently bereaved widow, my stress continued, until I left and went through a spell of depression.
I was alone and a divorced man in my late 50s. I didn't socialise for a while, then I had a great summer in 2008, spent in Luxembourg with another widow, before meeting, by chance, later that year in Ronda (Malaga), the woman who became my second wife in 2010 when I was 60 years old.
Luxembourg Ville [Outdoor Active]
Covid-19 was a challenge which nearly killed Rita and left me with long-Covid health issues.
Three years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The tablets tend to make you a bit "loose".
I also retain water in my legs, the treatment for which is a diuretic which makes you "pee" a lot.
So, now my sleep is interrupted every 3/4 hours because I need to go to the "loo", to do a number 1 or a number 2.
[Photo courtesy of the BBC]
These days I need a siesta in the afternoons. That's OK - a "power nap" for just 10/15 minutes usually "does the trick" and reinvigorates me.
Advice on a way forward
The Olive Press, the fortnightly free paper down here, has just published an article with advice for insomniacs in the form of a list of "do's" and "don'ts".
The journalist Adam Husicka writes that the first 60 minutes after waking up could hold the key to living longer.
Adam Husicka [The Olive Press]
Quoting Dr William Li, a Harvard University-trained physician, he writes that one of the biggest mistakes is to reach for your mobile phone when you wake up.
This, says Dr Li, overwhelms the brain at a time when it is most vulnerable.
"It can lead to stress and poor concentration during the rest of the day".
[Photo of Dr Li courtesy of El Español]
Also, we should avoid eating solid food for about an hour after waking.
Black coffee is OK.
"Light physical activity, eg stretching, boosts circulation, flexibility and oxygen flow to the brain", adds Dr Li.
Other recommendations include stepping outside for sunlight, doing breathing exercises, meditation or a cold shower, concludes Husicka.
[Photo courtesy of Brass Monkey]
And me?
I admit I reach for my mobile on waking, to check the time. Then I often notice I have some unread messages, so naturally I open them.
I prefer tea without milk to black coffee, so I guess that's alright.
I get outside as soon as it's light, so I get plenty of Vitamin D.
I immediately start doing things like cleaning the pool, watering the fruit trees, plants and vegetables, so I think that counts as exercise.
[Photo courtesy of Bosch DIY]
My cold shower substitute is a dip in the pool. At this time of year - end of September - the temperature has dropped to 20 degrees Celsius, which is just like having a cold shower!
Conclusion
I need to drink less beer, ignore my mobile phone on waking
and .....
well, the other things I'm doing rather well at, aren't I?
[Image courtesy of Unifikas]
© Diary of a Nobody
Links:
Magnificent, under-rated Málaga - Eye on Spain
MALAGA CITY - Help me, Ronda
Picasso for free - scroll down past the above article
HELP ME RONDA - Eye on Spain
OUR DAY OUT - Help me, Ronda
Pictures:
Bosch DIY, Brass Monkey, BBC, El Español, Ofsted, Outdoor Active, The Olive Press, Unifikas, Westend61
Thanks:
Adam Husicka, Diary of a Nobody, Dr William Li, Paul Whitelock, The Olive Press, www.eyeonspain.com, www.help-me-ronda.com
Tags:
Adam Husicka, Andalucia, Bosch DIY, Brass Monkey, BBC, El Español, Covid-19, depression, Diary of a Nobody, Dr William Li, early retirement, Harvard, Luxembourg, nervous breakdown, Ofsted, Outdoor Active, Paul Whitelock, REM sleep, redundancy, Ronda, single, The Olive Press, Unifikas, Westend61, www.eyeonspain.com, www.help-me-ronda.com