Sleep days for the sleepless

“Did you sleep with this lady ?”

“Not a wink, my lord”.

I heard about World Sleep Day  last week, I checked, it has nothing to do with who is sleeping with whom.

World Sleep Day is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society. The goal is to celebrate the benefits of good and healthy  and to draw sleep society’s attention to the burden of sleep problems and their medical, educational, and social aspects, and to promote the prevention and management of sleep disorders.

Through World Sleep Day the World Sleep Society raises awareness of sleep disorders and their better understanding and prevention, and aims to reduce the burden of sleep problems on society, which threaten the health or quality of life of as much as 45% of the world’s population – Sourced from Wikipedia

All 365 days of the year has a day for something or the other, like women’s day, mother’s day and Friday 15 March 2019, it is the World Sleep Day. Next year, it will happen on Friday 13 March, last year it was on Friday 16 March.. World sleep day is held, the Friday before March Equinox of each year.

In case you are sleeping, the March equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal.

World Sleep Day was born in the year 2008, if its World Sleep Day, it must be Friday.

Along with breathing, diet, sleep is an important fact of life. It goes without saying, how we feel down when we miss out on our sleep. There are incidences where the best fit looking people died, reason as per the doctor, lack of sleep.

Plenty of reasons for sleeplessness :

Anxiety, stress, depression, fear, sorrow, body pain, tooth ache, headache, change in place, weather are some of the reasons for insomnia.

At the same time lack of sleep causes anxiety, stress, depression, anger, worry, grief and trauma.

Malfunctioning of glands like pineal, pituitary or vitamin and mineral deficiency can cause sleeplessness.

There is a Greek God for sleep, Hypnos, which shows how the ancient gave great importance to sleep. Even in India, in ancient times, there are names like Kumbhakarnan associated with sleep.

It is estimated that sleep deprivation costs the US over $400 billion a year with Japan losing $138 billion, Germany $60 billion, the UK $50 billion, and Canada $21 billion.

I do not know about our country, definitely health issues,  an anti national friend joked, increase in population.

Sleeplessness is a serious matter, no body should allow it to take control of their life. Many proudly says they sleep for few hours and its sufficient, however they may not have realised the effect on their productivity, behaviour, mood and health. Early to bed and early to rise may not be necessary, since everybody has their own  bio-rhythm and suitable timings. Expert opinions says 7 to 8 hours of good sleep is necessary for good health

While talking of the ill health due to lack of sleep, the danger of sleep while driving is worth a mention here since it is more dangerous than drunken driving. Drunken driving may be a criminal offense, while sleepy driving can be a fatal offense

Its better to take action for sleeplessness by taking a doctor’s advise and look for solutions without sleeping pills. A nutrition coach can also help, if the cause of insomnia is deficiency of vitamins and minerals

I have my own way of dealing with my sleeplessness, which occurs, rarely. There are points on the wrist, on the leg and one on the forehead when pressed, removes the energy block and allows free flow of hormone like melatonin from the pineal gland and a few breathing exercises that relaxes me to sleep

I cannot advise those methods to you because it is Quakish.

I can pass on a few advises, I have received, to fight insomnia

Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool. If you are used to living near a theatre where dialogues in the night show puts you to sleep, this will not work.

Stick to a regular sleep schedule.  People who work on different shifts, this will not work for you

Turn off all screens at least an hour before bed. Some of the news channel where everybody is outshouting each other, well for some this is required for their sleep

Avoid stimulating activity and stressful situations before bedtime. This includes checking messages on social media, big discussions or arguments with your spouse or family, or catching up on work. I can hear you say, next..

Avoid naps. Napping during the day can make it more difficult to sleep at night. If you feel like you have to take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes, the power naps before 3 p.m.

And then there are also problems in sleep like walking, talking, snoring, worst is others talking in your sleep.