Sleep, Anxiety, and why napping is good for you!

Sleep, Anxiety, and why napping is good for you!

Sleep is one of the mysteries of life. No one can actually give an in depth explanation of why we need it. A process that makes us vulnerable to predators, yet we need so much of it.

We are not built to sleep all night and be awake all day. Like all other mammals, we are designed to take several sleeps over a 24 hour period.

My theory is that not napping in the day can actually contribute to sleepless nights.

Let me explain......

We have a small area in the brain called the amygdala. This assesses all information from all the senses and filters for danger. If danger is present, then the appropriate action is taken, if not then it is dismissed to the memory.

Throughout the day there will be elements that the amygdala cannot make sense of. It will keep hold of these for processing. The more information it stores, the larger it grows, and the more it can store, heightening levels of anxiety and stress.

The processing occurs the most during sleeping hours, whilst you dream. Brain monitoring shows the amygdala as the most active part of the brain while you are dreaming. This is its opportunity to clear and reset.

When we nap during the day, we get the opportunity to clear the stored stuff from the day, resetting the amygdala and allowing to to deal with the afternoon with a clear sheet. So when you sleep at night you only have half the days stored stuff to deal with. This is natural and in normal circumstances we can cope easily to sort everything.

However, if we don't nap, we have an entire day's information in the amygdala, so there is that heightened level of anxiety and stress. Couple this with a stressful job, home life or other contributing factors, and the amygdala becomes hyperalert. This in turn heightens the perception of danger, which will prevent the ability to switch off and sleep.

So, in short, nap for a better night's sleep.

Martin Rothery

Founder and Creator of Sanomentology


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About Sanomentology

I am Martin Rothery, and would like to welcome you to this site. I am a man with a mission. My interest has always been in the universe, seeking answers to the big (and small) questions. for over 38 years I have researched and pondered the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. I have studied theology, science, metaphysics, philosophy, psychology, and much more, seeking the truths that lie somewhere across them all. The problem with this type of research is that one question answered always leads to ten more questions. Many of these questions lead back to the design and makeup of Human Beings, about what makes us tick. Inevitably, this lead me to the world of therapy, especially Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Counselling, and Hypnotherapy. And that's where I started to get pissed off! As with many different arenas of knowledge, the therapy world has proved to me to be an ideology, a dogma. The majority believe they are right and everyone else is wrong, despite most of it being the same principles, principles that have barely advanced or evolved in the last 300 years. And these people are training others to work with vulnerable and desperate people, with no real awareness of what they are doing, nor the damage they could cause. This realisation and frustration sparked a fire inside me. With my knowledge, my expanse of information from various disciplines, and my own determination, I made it my mission to create a single series of programs designed to bring skills that have been developed over millennia together into one place and to share that knowledge and use it to help people in ways that have been previously unavailable. I made it my mission to create the ultimate in therapeutic intervention and change work. And to deliver it to my clients, and train others to do the same, safely and ethically. And that mission is the root of the Sanomentology series of programs.


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