We all know how important sleep is but did you know that too little, too often, really puts your life, both in terms of quality and duration, at risk. To make life better, we can use hypnotic power naps to enhance brain function and health. . . .
Restful Hypnosis in the form of power naps!
Our body has a unique way of making us sleep, be it through tiredness or sheer fatigue. However, for some, even when tired or fatigued, sleep is difficult, it could be because of a sleep disorder or the consequence of too much anxiety, stress, and illness, or depression. No matter what the cause is, the outcome is invariably the same, our body and brain begin to suffer and as a consequence of that, so do we. Our performance will drop, mistakes will become more frequent and eventually, our health will decline.
This research highlights the fact, that the rest we get through sleep enhances the reparative function of the brain as a whole, but more specifically, the neurons highlighted through this research. In addition to this research, there have been numerous other research projects that highlight the benefits of meditation and since the state, we know as hypnosis, is essentially the same state as meditation (at least as far as the brain is concerned), I can comfortably exclaim its merits? The state we know of, as hypnosis is known by many names, for example, trance states, sleep states, theta brainwave state, meditative state and, of course, the hypnotic state. Therapeutically speaking, these two states are arrived at voluntarily, although hypnotic and meditative states do also occur throughout each day involuntarily, e.g. daydreaming etc.
As a practising hypnotist, I can say, with much confidence, that it is possible to guide ourselves into very deep states of hypnosis and meditation, a state known as delta brainwave state or NonREM phase 3. This state is much deeper than the more normal hypnotic state (theta) and is deeper than most of our normal nightly sleep states (REM and NonREM 2). This is the state, while we are asleep, where the brain repairs itself and our body. So this research is another step to understand how the brain regulates, repairs and replenishes itself. It also lets us know how important sleep is, for a healthy life, but of far more importance to me, is the understanding that we can consciously make decisions to enter states of brain repair throughout the day.
While not proven, it is my hypothesis, that taking the time to have regular moments of deep rest throughout the day, will greatly reduce stress, fatigue and the damage that accumulates throughout the normal day. Ultimately, all things being equal, this has the potential to slow down the ageing process and make our brain systems become more efficient and, quite possibly, to make us healthier and happier!
Hypnotherapy stands out as one of the most effective strategic life management methods there is, especially in its ability to promote clear thinking and good states of mental wellness. The behaviours that make life challenging are often a result of too much stress, too little sleep and too little by way of clarity! So, to get or take back control of your mind and your life, it makes perfect sense to use a methodology that addresses the subconscious mind's role in perpetuating negative, vague and ambiguous states of mind. Hypnosis helps us to create calm relaxing states of mind that make life work better! If you would like to address any concerns you have in this direction, or, if you just want to make your life feel better, then why not make an appointment for a Free Consultation? Hypnosis gives you the ability to have a good life!
The objective here is to help people understand how and why we become illogically trapped into irrational emotional experiences that may actually be happening for reasons different to that which we would imagine! If you want to know more about how Hypnotherapy can help you; why not make an appointment for a Free Consultation?
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The Research:
In a new study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel reveal a novel and unexpected function of sleep that they believe could explain how sleep and sleep disturbances affect brain performance, ageing and various brain disorders.
Using 3D time-lapse imaging techniques in live zebrafish, the researchers were able to define sleep in a single chromosome resolution and show, for the first time, that single neurons require sleep in order to perform nuclear maintenance.
DNA damage can be caused by many processes including radiation, oxidative stress, and even neuronal activity. DNA repair systems within each cell correct this damage. The current work shows that during wakefulness, when chromosome dynamics are low, DNA damage consistently accumulates and can reach unsafe levels.
The role of sleep is to increase chromosome dynamics and normalize the levels of DNA damage in every single neuron. Apparently, this DNA maintenance process is not efficient enough during the online wakefulness period and requires an offline sleep period with reduced input to the brain in order to occur. "It's like potholes in the road," says Prof. Lior Appelbaum, of Bar-Ilan University's Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, who led the study. "Roads accumulate wear and tear, especially during daytime rush hours, and it is most convenient and efficient to fix them at night when there is light traffic."
Appelbaum calls the accumulation of DNA damage the "price of wakefulness." He and his doctoral student David Zada, the first author of the study, as well as co-authors, Dr Tali Lerer-Goldshtein, Dr Irina Bronshtein, and Prof. Yuval Garini, hypothesized that sleep consolidates and synchronizes nuclear maintenance within individual neurons, and set out to confirm this theory.
Their discovery was achieved thanks to the characteristics of the zebrafish model. With their absolute transparency, and a brain very similar to humans, zebrafish are a perfect organism in which to study a single cell within a live animal under physiological conditions. Using a high-resolution microscope, the movement of DNA and nuclear proteins within the cell -- inside the fish -- can be observed while the fish are awake and asleep. The researchers were particularly surprised to find that chromosomes are more active at night when the body rests, but this increased activity enables the efficiency of the repair of DNA damage.
The results establish chromosome dynamics as a potential marker for defining single sleeping cells and propose that the restorative function of sleep is nuclear maintenance. "We've found a causal link between sleep, chromosome dynamics, neuronal activity, and DNA damage and repair with direct physiological relevance to the entire organism," says Prof. Appelbaum. "Sleep gives an opportunity to reduce DNA damage accumulated in the brain during wakefulness."
"Despite the risk of reduced awareness to the environment, animals -- ranging from jellyfish to zebrafish to humans -- have to sleep to allow their neurons to perform efficient DNA maintenance, and this is possibly the reason why sleep has evolved and is so conserved in the animal kingdom," concludes Prof. Appelbaum.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Bar-Ilan University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- D. Zada, I. Bronshtein, T. Lerer-Goldshtein, Y. Garini, L. Appelbaum. Sleep increases chromosome dynamics to enable the reduction of accumulating DNA damage in single neurons. Nature Communications, 2019; 10 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08806-w
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