Walking to Sleep
Never run when you can walk. Never walk when you can stand. Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lay down. Never lay down when you can sleep. – Largely attributed to Winston Churchill
Many believe that a good physical work-out and plenty of exercise promotes sleep, but it doesn’t, and neither does sleep provide any extra benefit to recovery after exercise beyond that found during relaxed wakefulness. Although heavy exercise can lead to deeper sleep, it has little to do with the exercise itself, but rather, from becoming hot as a consequence, as the same exercise in a cool wind, to keep both body and brain cool, has no effect on deep sleep. Sleep is by the brain for the brain, and a hot and steaming body also means a warmer brain, causing its chemistry to work faster and in need of more recovery during sleep – as reflected by the increased deep sleep.
The good news for couch potatoes, is the far easier way to warm up body and brain, that not only increases deep sleep but also increases sleepiness and speeds up sleep onset at bed-time and, above all, requires no physical effort whatsoever. Just lie in a pleasantly hot bath during the evening, and simply warm up to the same extent as with the exercise and, again, there is more deep sleep that night. Moreover, it’s such a very relaxing past-time and the accompanying peace of mind also gives a more restful sleep. Enjoy it even more and conserve those energy bills by adding plenty of bath foam, as bubbles insulate both body and bathwater from cooling down. More sleep science, here, concerns the body’s natural need to cool down just before a night’s sleep, that provides for a quicker sleep onset. Surely a bath does the exact opposite ? No, drying off afterwards accelerates this cooling, as one’s rosy and glowing torso overcompensates by radiating out more heat than was gained in the bath, and in doing so, cools down quicker, to further speed up sleep. So, forget the shower, splash out on that relaxing bath for a deeper and quicker sleep.
That exercise should be relaxing and not taxing was strongly advocated by the Victorians. For example, in 1900 the British Medical Journal pronounced: “daily bodily exercise in the open air, but always short of great fatigue must be enjoined. What is called carriage exercise is better than no outdoor change at all, but walking is far better exercise and cycling better still, and riding on horseback the best of all ….Gardening in the open air, not in conservatories or hothouses affords good exercises and it is very efficient in keeping up objective attention” (December 8th p627)”.
The thought of ‘gardening as a sport’, but as a means to improve one’s sleep, such a pronouncement is wiser than at first might seem, as the activities of gardening will certainly ‘exercise the brain’ if sufficiently varied and stimulating. In fact, brain exercise comes not so much from computer generated ‘brain training’ sessions, or working on crosswords or suduku, but from spending a few hours walking within a changing and interesting setting and, above all, looking around and absorbing what is going on. Window shopping, sightseeing, or anywhere new and different that is interesting and holds your attention will do just as well. Having conversations and meeting new people in the process, further adds to the important ingredient, here, of novelty, and in putting further agreeable demands on ones mind and brain. All this bombardment with new stimulation makes the brain work harder than when staying indoors, surrounded by familiarity. Reading or watching TV only engages relatively small parts of the brain, not like the real ‘brain strain’ of getting out and about. Seeing an exciting film is still not good enough – it’s too passive – one has to be moving purposely from one situation to another, and interacting with the surroundings. Even the multitasking parent juggling various activities at once, indoors or outdoors, can take comfort that all this effort maybe good for the brain.
The eventual feeling of weariness after that day out at the seaside or walking around a museum is not so much due to the ozone or an excess of ‘fresh air’, but the novelty. And I suspect the accompanying aching feet after all this, is not from excessive walking, but a subtle cry from the brain that it has had enough, can’t take any more, and it’s time to sit down and stop. Here’s where sleep comes in once more, as not only will sleepiness that evening be more evident, and probably one’s need for an ‘early night’, but beneficial changes to the brain’s circuitry in response to the novelty of the day, will occur during this sleep, especially in one type of the deeper non-dreaming sleep. Moreover, these ‘busy days’ have another advantage of taking one’s mind off the hum drum and worries of everyday life, and in doing so, again provide for a more peaceful sleep.
Interestingly, we have found that those older people consistently having more of this type of deep sleep also have a more flexible and quicker thinking ability. Whether these ‘busy days’ are the route to keeping one’s brain youthful, has yet to be seen. But any notion that a good physical workout keeps the brain ‘well oxygenated’, with any improvement in mental ability simply attributed to the exercise, overlooks this arguably greater benefit of simply walking about and engaging with what is going on. In contrast, head down, pounding away at a jog, staring at the ground in front, periodically grimacing at one’s stopwatch, and maybe listening to an iPod, are quite mindless and boring activities for the brain.
Last but not least, being outdoors has one more great advantage – daylight, which has a powerful effect in regulating our internal 24 hour ‘body clock’ and, particularly, the timing of sleep – it is why sunrise can be so effective in waking people up. Daylight also has a subtle alerting effect on the brain during the daytime, in reducing daytime sleepiness, and in doing so further concentrates both sleepiness and sleep into the night, especially at bedtime. Furthermore, daylight and bright indoor light can be very effective in the elderly whose ageing body clock usually needs a daytime boost to minimise napping, as too much daytime sleep worsens sleep at night. By the way, the same applies to babies – don’t draw the curtains during their daytime naps.
So, lighten up on sleep, and when lying in that relaxing bath, maybe reflect on Emerson’s lament that, “few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humour, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much. (Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882). And maybe, why not hang up your running shoes and cancel your subscription to the gym ?