My good sleep tips to be practiced
By Lee Sun-ho
The other day, I happened to visit Goodsleep Neurology Clinic located in Gangnam near my residence in Seoul, and accepted the doctor's trial recommendation to test my night sleeping habit.
For one night I slept in the clinic's test room while being monitored by medical equipment. As an early-bird light-sleeper, I sleep around six hours regularly in the night. Because of my chronic habit of urinating at least a couple of times a night, I am not necessarily a deep sleeper. The doctor's diagnosis was to further check my kidneys as well as my heart for arrhythmia.
By the same token, I have read a number of articles dealing with “How to improve sleep quality” in periodicals and through internet sites from time to time, and have improved my commonsense knowledge and theory in recent months. Those instructive pieces concerning good sleep techniques, whether applicable to me or not, can cause major psychological problems over a period of time, and it is important that I eliminate these things from my life.
Ultimately, I found five lessons, acquired from various sources including medical teams, sleep professionals and KaKaoTalk, that I continue to follow and recommend to others.
The first emphasized rule is “don't sleep right after a meal.” It is best to eat at least three to four hours before going to bed so that digestion is complete. Before going to bed, drink a certain amount of water. In fact, I used to maintain my habit of sleeping on the sofa immediately after dinner while watching TV.
Second is “light an organic lamp,” a habit I have kept for years. I only use a small non-bright-color light bulb for security purposes during late-night hours.
The third rule is to “keep in mind that time is running out.” I know I am truly mortal and my time is so limited. Frankly, I have not been conscious of this until I started thinking seriously about resolute good sleep techniques for a worthwhile living.
Fourth is to “set things aside” before going to bed. This means to simply hold onto everything that I have gathered, like the body, the content of the mind and small things including my pillow and my footwear.
Fifth and lastly, something extra is being pushed on me because of the “magnetic pull of our planet.” When there is too much circulation on the brain, I cannot sleep peacefully. The moment I become horizontal, this pull on the head is strong. However, when I am in a vertical position, this is not so.
I want to use sleep as a platform for awakening so as to become one with all that is real. I now realize that I have to think about being awake and asleep at the same time. Changing the quality of my sleep, rather than quantity, is the necessary terrace for myself to be matured. Aliveness means being absolutely alive, not active in thoughts nor emotion. I feel the duration of the abovementioned five tips is just as important as quality for the surprising health benefits for us all.
The writer (kexim2@unitel.co.kr) is a freelance columnist living in Seoul.