Sleep and rest

[Guest guest]

rawfood , athdesign@j... wrote:

> Zsuzsa,

>

> Thank you again for a very thought-provoking post. I feel guilty

about

> asking questions in the future now that I see how much time and

energy

> you put into responding. LOL

 

Actually, I don't often post. I've been taking time off this week, a

little vacation from what I need to do, I really enjoy posting, but

I need to get back to my duties. Normally I don't have time to post,

and I may not surface again on lists for months. Posting is a rare

luxury for me, lol.

 

I do put time and energy into most of my responses, but it also

helps me to organize my thoughts, examine my views, do research to

learn--and what a wealth of info there is on the 'net. Much of it

also helps me to gather info--I have been writing a book, slowly and

sporadically, maybe one of these years I'll finish it. I do hope you

won't feel reluctant to ask me questions, even though I normally may

take a long time to answer them.

 

> The one part of my life that has always been " messed up " is my

sleep

> patterns. I was constantly harrassed (yes, harrassed) by my

parents for

> not sleeping on the same schedule as they did. They threatened to

put me

> into a sleep clinic because they thought I slept too much (7-9

hours). I

> was awakened many mornings with water thrown in my face. As a

result, I

> am a very nervous sleeper. Some weeks I will sleep only 3 to 4

hours a

> night, and I never sleep more than 6.5 hours at a time. I feel

guilty

> for sleeping, guilty that I'm not getting something else done. I

rarely

> rest because my mother always accused me of being lazy when I sat

down as

> a child/teen. The rare times I do take a little rest or nap, I

wake up

> irritable and guilty for " wasting time. "

>

> I am trying hard to rid myself of the destructive patterns that

have been

> part of my life for many many years. I guess I have to be patient

and

> listen to my body. Since my parents are now 1100 miles away, they

don't

> know when I'm sleeping.

 

I really feel for you, having been so traumatized all your life for

trying to get some rest. It sounds like you have been so sleep-

deprived for so long, you really deserve a nice long rest! We are

all made to feel guilty even culturally for resting and sleeping--

there is so much to do, and we are always supposed to be doing it,

and it leaves us exhausted. I remember when I first read about sleep

and rest in Hygiene, I breathed such a sigh of relief--someone was

finally saying it's okay to sleep and to rest, and in fact

encouraging it.

 

But that is the way of Nature, adult animals sleep and rest, and

conserve energy whenever possible. We are taught to do the exact

opposite of that which is natural and healthy in our culture. We are

primates, frugivores, and if we look at how primates in Nature live,

we see that they get up in the morning, do a bit of grooming and

socializing, and then mid-morning they find and eat their first meal

of the day, feasting on fruit if they can find it, or foraging for

leaves. Then they take a siesta in the heat of the day, waking up in

the afternoon to find their second meal of the day. Then they do a

bit more socializing and grooming, and then find a place to bed

down, in the trees, and by the time darkness falls, they are fast

asleep.

 

I used to stay up late most nights, unable to sleep until 1 am. I

was tired but not sleepy. When I became vegan, that changed

completely. Now I feel the circadian rhythms of our bodies--we are

diurnal creatures, active by day, and falling asleep when the sun

sets. I can stay up later of course, but it's an effort, and I feel

like I'm sleepwalking. It's such a delicious drowsiness, inexorably

wrapped up in Morpheus' caress. When I went raw, the relaxation

became even more complete. It is because we have gotten the

stimulants out of our diet--the animal products, the cooked foods,

anything artificial. When we eat those, the body continually has to

whip itself into a frenzy trying to get rid of those things, so when

we stop putting them into the body, the body can just relax, and put

us to sleep so it can do its quantum healing.

 

Many people get worried when they experience this lack of

stimulation, and begin to palliate again with animal products,

cooked foods, herbs and " supplements " of all kinds, which results in

a toxic stimulation which they then attribute to these products

giving them " energy " , or fixing a " deficiency " . But of course it's

just whipping a tired horse. And is one gives up these stimulants,

and resists the continual entreaties to palliate, with which the raw

food movement is unfortunately riddled, one finally stops whipping

the tired horse, and that tired horse needs lots of sleep to

recover, cleanse, heal, repair, from a life of enervation and

toxification.

 

I would also recommend some exercise, especially yoga, which works

out and relaxes muscles as well as inviting a release and surrender

of the mind, resulting in an exquisitely joyful relief throughout

the body, mind, and spirit. And of course meditation—just being

with, and relaxing into, sensations, thoughts, feelings which may be

impeding rest and sleep. Sweet dreams

 

Zsuzsa