Lynn Quinn - My pleasure! Yes, if one wanted to be a cognitive architect related to the conscious elements of health & wellness one would be wise to start with one's sleep as the foundational element in relation to the "house" one was constructing/building.
If not, one may have to wonder around the basement dwellings of one's mind- some might call it the subconscious, i'd call it the unconscious, in a way not all that helpful to getting in touch with and verbalizing what is most important to our stories we live out in our lives.
Wow! Thank you for the layered, inspiring and thoughtful response Dr. B!
I'm so curious, why do you refer "hidden thoughts" as "un" rather than "sub" conscious?
For me, to be "un" conscious is to be completely unaware, like a knock out punch. I feel using this synonymously with "sub" gives people a "sub" conscious excuse to remove accountability from their actions.
If the thought is "unconscious" the person is not in control, and therefore can divert blame. It's not their house to control. It's something, someone else's responsibility.
If the thought is "subconscious, it's in the basement, in the house, within their control.
What are your thoughts about referring to hidden thoughts as either "sub" or "un" conscious?
@Lynn Quinn I must say I like the way you think! Now, who controls and what in the emotional relm of consciousness is an interesting phenomenon. You have hit upon a central theme in the psychology world. Sub versus Un - Perhaps, it is layers of the not-so-conscious - and how do we tell when we have lesser and more control over ourselves? And when we don’t, say in the unconscious - how do we move the UN to the SUB to the CONsciouss layer of “remembering”? Hints along the way. I’m on my lunch break so no more time for laying out my conscious thoughts! I’m off to explore others including their and my - Un, Sub, Consciousness
@Lynn Quinn Interesting! My first take is you have two zones of color and then 2 zones without color. I might want the zones all color coded but that might just be me for ease of understanding and presentation. If there is a Universal consciousness - is there a Universal unconsciousness or you might use Universal Subconscious. This is what Carl Jung calls the Collective Unconscious.
Thanks Dr. Rice for such a wonderful and informative article. How much exercise is right for sleep? I find quite often, my clients have either too much or too little exercise, both lead to disturbed sleep😅
Fang Wei - You ask such an important question that is difficult to answer as we are all different and yet exercise is needed daily in my opinion so here goes. In my experience with those I work with for optimal sleep, I help them aim for 30-45 minutes of moderate exercise (enough to break a sweat), do some type of strength training 2-4 times per week and so low-intensity movement daily such as walking, hiking or a very slow job. I want to avoid excessive late-night intensity workouts and I try to learn over time how to listen to my body for signs of overtraining.
I love hiking, swimming, Tai Chi, yoga, stretching, weights and deap breathing exercises. I try to help people pick exercises that they love or dislike the least.
If I had to pick one thing it would be 20-30 minutes of some sort of movemet every day. Our bodies aren't meant to be sedantary and function properly.
I suffer from insomnia, so I appreciate the insights. I’m finding I need less of it as I age, but I also don’t have the best sleep routine to take advantage of those five-six hours I do get.
Nikki - Yes, I am in a similar boat per se. I seem to need less sleep as I age, or am getting less, however if I keep my sleep routine + exercise + healthy eating + stress reduction measures in place - I function quite well on 5-6. If I don't not so much!
What would your advice be when someone can't get back to sleep during the night? I've read contrary advice on this—some saying that you shouldn't fight it, stay up and do something until you're tired—and others saying to relax, stay put and try to fall back to sleep. Is an interrupted sleep perfectly natural or is something at play here?
Hi Seamus - I appreciate a few of your questions herein. Let’s start with my strong disagreement to getting out of bed to do much of anything let alone eat those two DoubleTree cookies left on my bedside table. Do yourself a favor and throw those in the trash even if you have to sleep elsewhere. Not to mention the risk of diabetes along the way.
Now I’ll be the first to tell you I have plenty of thoughts on the subject matter of all things health & wellness but when is all said and done we have to experiment and find out what works for us regardless of what I think. So, perhaps, for you getting out of bed works but my bias is that for most not so much. I could be wrong and as you know check the data - but then check your gut when all is said and done right.
Okay, not that we’ve gotten that out of the way - you ever tried heard of Magnesium L Threonate? No - a small dose in the middle of the night does wonders. Stay away from most other types of oral magnesium as it has a laxative effect and in the middle of the night no thanks! However, a touch of magnesium gel on the neck and shoulders often does the trick for me as well. “Journaling” prior to bed helps once in awhile also. Get it out of my head before my head hits the pillow.
Now I’m a touch older now and my PCP says hey you’ll likely have to get up to pee once a night. Yep, most nights unless eat those DoubleTree cookies than I have to get up to pee twice.
I’d also try deepening your sleep hygiene regimen before bed - and if you don’t have one - well, not a bad place to start. Know what else will cause middle of the night waking up? Drinking water - two hours prior to our bedtimes. I hate this one - but it’s true!
So as we get older waking up once or so is likely natural but who knows right maybe something else is a foot right.
Let’s start here - feel free to ask me additional questions.
These three are definitely the most important of everything we do for self-preservation and well-being. Sleep should be number one, because it revitalizes our mind as you said. Once we are able to think and focus more clearly, we can choose the best ingredients for an effective diet, and then we have the energy and strength to jump into a good exercise routine from a plan our sharp minds designed.
We have been prioritizing sleep and a great diet, and she has been exercising religiously to get into shape. I am in fairly good shape, but still lazy to do enough exercise. This is my next goal.
Hein - I appreciate you reading my work and I like your line of thought herein. As far as your next goal, I might think about playing around with two thoughts. One get 20 minutes of cardio daily - enough to produce a light sweat. You can do more but this is where you want to start. The second - play around with the timing of the 20 minutes. For more energy in the morning - do the 20 minutes first thing in the morning right after your feet hit the floor.
I also like to add in another cardio element at my lunch hour. Again, 20 minutes should do it but if you can get more that is a bonus. Stick to what you like the most or dislike the least.
I could go on but start with 20 minutes daily. Our bodies are meant to function best with movement of some sort every day. I don't make the rules I just try to figure them out and live by them as best I can.
Yes this is very ture that sleep is the powerhouse , without proper sleep we are disturbing our overall health, decision making skills,I never knew that 9 to 15 March is the sleep awareness week that very new to me , sleeping on a right and waking up on same time helps us to maintain our biological cycle that make our feel fresh in the morning and during the whole day , thank you Dr Rice for sharing such a wonderful article about sleep
Anket - I'm glad you liked it. Good quality sleep really is at the top of my health & wellness advice for getting the best out of the quality of our living.
Being a young guy with a relatively stress-free lifestyle, I have to admit my admiration for sleep was pretty non-existent. I've never had issues with it and even saw it as a bit of a burden.
But my dad was recently admitted to hospital, and I've been busy tripping up their every day amongst other things, and it's made me realise just how impossible life is without sleep.
Sleep is the magical bogeyman that we skip at our own peril. In the short term, it can seem somewhat unnecessary, however skip your recommended sleeping hours enough times and it'll take over before you know it.
Essential reading right here Bronce. Thank you so much. I didn't sleep for the first 5 years of my life.(Only 4 hours a night and none during the day.) I can now sleep the clock round and am truly grateful that I can. It's truly essential. Thank you ❤️✨
Thank you Anton! Yes, the trio of movement, nourishment and rest is where our wellbeing equations often become more vibrant and alive in ways that help us better contend with ordinary living if you will.
Thank you for the links and reminder of the importance of sleep.
I've been anxious and not sleeping well lately.
This article is the boost I need to improve my overall wellness and decrease my anxiety.
Thank you Doc!
Lynn Quinn - My pleasure! Yes, if one wanted to be a cognitive architect related to the conscious elements of health & wellness one would be wise to start with one's sleep as the foundational element in relation to the "house" one was constructing/building.
If not, one may have to wonder around the basement dwellings of one's mind- some might call it the subconscious, i'd call it the unconscious, in a way not all that helpful to getting in touch with and verbalizing what is most important to our stories we live out in our lives.
Wow! Thank you for the layered, inspiring and thoughtful response Dr. B!
I'm so curious, why do you refer "hidden thoughts" as "un" rather than "sub" conscious?
For me, to be "un" conscious is to be completely unaware, like a knock out punch. I feel using this synonymously with "sub" gives people a "sub" conscious excuse to remove accountability from their actions.
If the thought is "unconscious" the person is not in control, and therefore can divert blame. It's not their house to control. It's something, someone else's responsibility.
If the thought is "subconscious, it's in the basement, in the house, within their control.
What are your thoughts about referring to hidden thoughts as either "sub" or "un" conscious?
@Lynn Quinn I must say I like the way you think! Now, who controls and what in the emotional relm of consciousness is an interesting phenomenon. You have hit upon a central theme in the psychology world. Sub versus Un - Perhaps, it is layers of the not-so-conscious - and how do we tell when we have lesser and more control over ourselves? And when we don’t, say in the unconscious - how do we move the UN to the SUB to the CONsciouss layer of “remembering”? Hints along the way. I’m on my lunch break so no more time for laying out my conscious thoughts! I’m off to explore others including their and my - Un, Sub, Consciousness
So fun to chat about consciousness!
I posted a note biased off of our chat here and broke down the layers of conscious in what I call “zones".”
What do you think of them Dr. B?
Pink Zone - Consciousness (thinking with awareness)
Yellow Zone - Subconscious (thinking without awareness)
Higher Zone - Universal consciousness (ancient wisdom - soul)
Halt Zone - Primitive consciousness (survival instincts - human)
@Lynn Quinn Interesting! My first take is you have two zones of color and then 2 zones without color. I might want the zones all color coded but that might just be me for ease of understanding and presentation. If there is a Universal consciousness - is there a Universal unconsciousness or you might use Universal Subconscious. This is what Carl Jung calls the Collective Unconscious.
Yes! I originally called the halt zone the black zone but it didn’t want to be a color.
The pink and yellow are “everyday emotions” while the higher and halt are rare throughout the day.
After some thought, intuition guided me to separate them.
Universal consciousness is all encompassing. It includes both the sub and conscious layers.
Enjoy!
Thanks Dr. Rice for such a wonderful and informative article. How much exercise is right for sleep? I find quite often, my clients have either too much or too little exercise, both lead to disturbed sleep😅
Fang Wei - You ask such an important question that is difficult to answer as we are all different and yet exercise is needed daily in my opinion so here goes. In my experience with those I work with for optimal sleep, I help them aim for 30-45 minutes of moderate exercise (enough to break a sweat), do some type of strength training 2-4 times per week and so low-intensity movement daily such as walking, hiking or a very slow job. I want to avoid excessive late-night intensity workouts and I try to learn over time how to listen to my body for signs of overtraining.
I love hiking, swimming, Tai Chi, yoga, stretching, weights and deap breathing exercises. I try to help people pick exercises that they love or dislike the least.
If I had to pick one thing it would be 20-30 minutes of some sort of movemet every day. Our bodies aren't meant to be sedantary and function properly.
I hope that helps.
I go to Chi Gong through free classes on Eventbrite.
I've found Eventbrite has a lot of online, free classes that get me energized and ready for a positive day.
Cheers to daily movement of chi!
Indeed! I love this “daily movement of chi” :))
Wow 🤩hands down to the master 👍thanks so much for the answer. I learnt a lot from you and your newsletters, look forward to your upcoming book
I look forward to yours! 🙇
I suffer from insomnia, so I appreciate the insights. I’m finding I need less of it as I age, but I also don’t have the best sleep routine to take advantage of those five-six hours I do get.
Nikki - Yes, I am in a similar boat per se. I seem to need less sleep as I age, or am getting less, however if I keep my sleep routine + exercise + healthy eating + stress reduction measures in place - I function quite well on 5-6. If I don't not so much!
Tell me about it! That’s another reason why I’m working on exercising more in the sun.
Bingo!
The sun is sooo powerful for the spirit.
I felt better after only a few days.
Did you also get your Vitamin D levels checked at the same time by chance?
I did not. I gather it’s an expensive test, not normally done. My calcium is okay, and the D goes with that supplement.
Very informative, thank you
Thank you Priyanka Upadhyai for letting me know! This had made my day :))
I agree! ;)
What would your advice be when someone can't get back to sleep during the night? I've read contrary advice on this—some saying that you shouldn't fight it, stay up and do something until you're tired—and others saying to relax, stay put and try to fall back to sleep. Is an interrupted sleep perfectly natural or is something at play here?
Hi Seamus - I appreciate a few of your questions herein. Let’s start with my strong disagreement to getting out of bed to do much of anything let alone eat those two DoubleTree cookies left on my bedside table. Do yourself a favor and throw those in the trash even if you have to sleep elsewhere. Not to mention the risk of diabetes along the way.
Now I’ll be the first to tell you I have plenty of thoughts on the subject matter of all things health & wellness but when is all said and done we have to experiment and find out what works for us regardless of what I think. So, perhaps, for you getting out of bed works but my bias is that for most not so much. I could be wrong and as you know check the data - but then check your gut when all is said and done right.
Okay, not that we’ve gotten that out of the way - you ever tried heard of Magnesium L Threonate? No - a small dose in the middle of the night does wonders. Stay away from most other types of oral magnesium as it has a laxative effect and in the middle of the night no thanks! However, a touch of magnesium gel on the neck and shoulders often does the trick for me as well. “Journaling” prior to bed helps once in awhile also. Get it out of my head before my head hits the pillow.
Now I’m a touch older now and my PCP says hey you’ll likely have to get up to pee once a night. Yep, most nights unless eat those DoubleTree cookies than I have to get up to pee twice.
I’d also try deepening your sleep hygiene regimen before bed - and if you don’t have one - well, not a bad place to start. Know what else will cause middle of the night waking up? Drinking water - two hours prior to our bedtimes. I hate this one - but it’s true!
So as we get older waking up once or so is likely natural but who knows right maybe something else is a foot right.
Let’s start here - feel free to ask me additional questions.
These three are definitely the most important of everything we do for self-preservation and well-being. Sleep should be number one, because it revitalizes our mind as you said. Once we are able to think and focus more clearly, we can choose the best ingredients for an effective diet, and then we have the energy and strength to jump into a good exercise routine from a plan our sharp minds designed.
We have been prioritizing sleep and a great diet, and she has been exercising religiously to get into shape. I am in fairly good shape, but still lazy to do enough exercise. This is my next goal.
Hein - I appreciate you reading my work and I like your line of thought herein. As far as your next goal, I might think about playing around with two thoughts. One get 20 minutes of cardio daily - enough to produce a light sweat. You can do more but this is where you want to start. The second - play around with the timing of the 20 minutes. For more energy in the morning - do the 20 minutes first thing in the morning right after your feet hit the floor.
I also like to add in another cardio element at my lunch hour. Again, 20 minutes should do it but if you can get more that is a bonus. Stick to what you like the most or dislike the least.
I could go on but start with 20 minutes daily. Our bodies are meant to function best with movement of some sort every day. I don't make the rules I just try to figure them out and live by them as best I can.
Yes this is very ture that sleep is the powerhouse , without proper sleep we are disturbing our overall health, decision making skills,I never knew that 9 to 15 March is the sleep awareness week that very new to me , sleeping on a right and waking up on same time helps us to maintain our biological cycle that make our feel fresh in the morning and during the whole day , thank you Dr Rice for sharing such a wonderful article about sleep
Anket - I'm glad you liked it. Good quality sleep really is at the top of my health & wellness advice for getting the best out of the quality of our living.
So very true!
Lisa - I knew you would find it! :)
I have another post on Sleep itself that I believe goes below the surface if you will.
Being a young guy with a relatively stress-free lifestyle, I have to admit my admiration for sleep was pretty non-existent. I've never had issues with it and even saw it as a bit of a burden.
But my dad was recently admitted to hospital, and I've been busy tripping up their every day amongst other things, and it's made me realise just how impossible life is without sleep.
Sleep is the magical bogeyman that we skip at our own peril. In the short term, it can seem somewhat unnecessary, however skip your recommended sleeping hours enough times and it'll take over before you know it.
The nice thing here is that you sound like an inherently good sleeper under normal circumstances. If so, that bodes well for you.
I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. I certainly know how stressful those circumstances can be. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Yes, skip sleep at your own peril!
I am, thankfully! But life has other plans sometimes...
Thank you for your wishes 🙏 He's doing better although still unwell.
Essential reading right here Bronce. Thank you so much. I didn't sleep for the first 5 years of my life.(Only 4 hours a night and none during the day.) I can now sleep the clock round and am truly grateful that I can. It's truly essential. Thank you ❤️✨
No question and I'm glad you have figured out how to sleep. It truly is essential to the quality of our living.
Thank you so much, I'm relieved too🙏
Loved this gentle nudge to look at health as a harmonious trio—movement, nourishment, and rest. Thanks for weaving simplicity with such clarity.
Thank you Anton! Yes, the trio of movement, nourishment and rest is where our wellbeing equations often become more vibrant and alive in ways that help us better contend with ordinary living if you will.