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Get Enough Sleep this Winter!

Please note: I'm offering a 10% discount on all visits for those who schedule an appointment to discuss their sleep problems until December 15, 2006.

Today we're going to talk about sleep. Did you know that we need more sleep in the winter time? Please check out the book Lights Out by TS Wiley if you have any doubts. Ms Wiley says that we need between 7 and a whopping 9.5 hours of sleep a night. The amount of time is determined by the season. In the crazy summer time we need less because there are more daylight hours which nourish us in their own ways. In the winter when the sun sinks lower in the horizon we need up to 9.5 hours a night. Think of the bear. They hibernate in the winter, right?

So be sure to make a dark cave for your self in your sleeping quarters. All lights out and if you can't block ambient light from coming in through your windows please purchase a mask and wear that over your eyes to block out extraneous light. The reason for this? Melatonin.

Melatonin is a hormone that lets us shut down and rest. It has the potential to always be produced (that's how much our body wants to rest!) but its secretion from our pineal gland is suppressed when there are lights on in our environment.

Working on your computer or watching TV after 9 PM is also contraindicated. The pulsating waves coming from those screens inhibit your body's ability to produce melatonin.

When melatonin is low you have an increased risk of developing cancer. We know that nurse shift workers who sleep and work opposite normal day/light cycles have a much increased risk of breast cancer.

For those who have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, going back to sleep after you wake up in the middle of the night, or who wake up too early, please schedule an appointment so we can get a handle on that problem. Its very destructive to your mental, emotional and physical health to be sleep deprived. There's no need to suffer. We have numerous resources to correct sleep problems.

I will be teaching one final class at Elephant Pharmacy in San Rafael this Thursday Nov 16. Next year I'll be teaching classes in my San Rafael office through the Tam Adult and Community Education program. I will also be giving a presentation to reverse aging at a women's salon in April.

If you have a group or organization that would like to hear one of my presentations please let me know. I would be delighted to consider the opportunity.