Return to Sleep
Thoughts
Black
Out Curtains & Sleep
I
would be remiss if I didn't say something about the value of
blacking out your bedroom before sleep. I have found out
that eliminating all light sources from my bedroom has improved
my sleep substantially. The reasons are obvious to me... and
quite natural. Through millions of years of evolution it was the
night that was the great
equalizer in a brutal world. During the
daylight hours we expended our energy caches, and then some,
simply to survive. Like a sprinter who must rest up after a long
run, humans required more energy then came naturally to compete
for space on this big blue ball we call Earth and they needed a
way to re-energize. The darkness gave humans, and other species,
an envelope of protection from most predators and sleep became
an energy restorative necessity.
In
the modern world the night's natural protection takes on less
significance. But genetically we are still subject to biorhythms handed
down to us from millions of years ago. Black-out curtains
can be an insomniac's best friend. Make your sleep chamber as dark
as a cave. Avoid all light sources. This includes LED clocks,
lights on electronic gizmos and televisions. When I had an
LED clock I would simply turn it away from view. I listen
every night to talk radio and eventually put in one of our
nature sound recordings... but I still turn the CD player away
from my view as it does put out some light; and any light is bad
light.
On
a side note I dreamed up a new idea recently: Black-out curtains
that slowly open up on a timer as an alternate type of alarm
clock. Instead of a blaring audio alarm one could have a much
less stressful and more natural 'daylight' alarm. Simply
extrapolating this idea further, it would also be relatively
easy to innovate a light emitting device that slowly fills one's
bedroom with simulated daylight on a timer. Both of these 'light
alarm' ideas might, and probably do, already exist somewhere.
But sometimes it's the simple ideas that slip through the
cracks.
Ah,
the things you think of when you had a good night's sleep!
Dream good dreams!
Brad McBride
Comments?
email me
