Mikiko Just Gets it Done!

This is an intersting article on other benefits of sleep.  Sleep is so important, especially for competitors!  Not only does it stimulate GH production, and trigger other critical biochemical processes, but it is also crucial in improving mental health!  It seems that, in summary, happy people achieve REM sleep…so make it a point to get your rest, especially in emotionally stressful times.

I often have trouble getting to / staying asleep myself.  Additionally, I can at best get 6 hrs of sleep a night (usually 5) due to my busy schedule. I think it’s not the quantity of sleep, but the quality.  I have found aromatherapy oils helpful in promoting restful sleep (my favorite are the scented oils from Aveda).  Sometimes I will have a cup of peppermint or chamomile tea before bedtime.  I don’t keep any electronics in my room, other than my crackberry.  Finally, I have found a few supplements that improve the quality of my sleep.  My favorite is Phenibut (available here on bodybuilding.com).  I just mix the powder with a little warm water and a pinch of stevia extract, or put it in my evening shake.  I noticed that I feel 1000x more refreshed and happier the next day after I have some!

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July 20, 2009 - Add on to entry…
Especially crucial for contest prep!  I have been SO STRESSED during this whole process and can maybe get 4 hours of sleep a night at best.  The few occasions I surrendered my evening cardio session for an additional 4 hours of sleep, I dropped 2 lbs of water OVERNIGHT! Consistently!
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090616/hl_time/08599190456100

By TIFFANY SHARPLES Tiffany Sharples – 1 hr 15 mins ago
Dreams may not be the secret window into the frustrated desires of the unconscious that Sigmund Freud first posited in 1899, but growing evidence suggests that dreams - and, more so, sleep - are powerfully connected to the processing of human emotions.

According to new research presented last week at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Seattle, adequate sleep may underpin our ability to understand complex emotions properly in waking life. "Sleep essentially is resetting the magnetic north of your emotional compass," says Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2008.)

A recent study by Walker and his colleagues examined how rest - specifically, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep - influences our ability to read emotions in other people’s faces. In the small analysis of 36 adults, volunteers were asked to interpret the facial expressions of people in photographs, following either a 60- or 90-minute nap during the day or with no nap. Participants who had reached REM sleep (when dreaming most frequently occurs) during their nap were better able to identify expressions of positive emotions like happiness in other people, compared with participants who did not achieve REM sleep or did not nap at all. Those volunteers were more sensitive to negative expressions, including anger and fear.

Past research by Walker and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, which was published in the journal Current Biology, found that in people who were sleep deprived, activity in the prefrontal lobe - a region of the brain involved in controlling emotion - was significantly diminished. He suggests that a similar response may be occurring in the nap-deprived volunteers, albeit to a lesser extent, and that it may have its roots in evolution. "If you’re walking through the jungle and you’re tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things," he says. The idea is that with little mental energy to spare, you’re emotionally more attuned to things that are likely to be the most threatening in the immediate moment. Inversely, when you’re well rested, you may be more sensitive to positive emotions, which could benefit long-term survival, he suggests: "If it’s getting food, if it’s getting some kind of reward, finding a wife - those things are pretty good to pick up on."

Our daily existence is largely influenced by our ability "to understand our societal interactions, to understand someone else’s emotional state of mind, to understand the expression on their face," says Ninad Gujar, a senior research scientist at Walker’s lab and lead author of the study, which was recently submitted for publication. "These are the most fundamental processes guiding our personal and professional lives."

REM sleep appears to not only improve our ability to identify positive emotions in others; it may also round out the sharp angles of our own emotional experiences. Walker suggests that one function of REM sleep - dreaming, in particular - is to allow the brain to sift through that day’s events, process any negative emotion attached to them, then strip it away from the memories. He likens the process to applying a "nocturnal soothing balm." REM sleep, he says, "tries to ameliorate the sharp emotional chips and dents that life gives you along the way." (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2008.)

"It’s not that you’ve forgotten. You haven’t," he says. "It’s a memory of an emotional episode, but it’s no longer emotional itself."