How You Can Sleep Like a Baby Almost Every Night, Part I

by

John Stephen Mauldin, MLA (not AI assisted)

All right reserved, copyright © 2025

Extrapolation is often quite foolish. So, I do not wish to assume that because these sleep ideas work for me, they will, in turn, benefit you. They may not help you at all. Moreover, I am not a physician or a sleep specialist. Therefore, if you have difficulties sleeping, meet with your doctor as soon as possible.

We fall into the grandest of novels each night, for it is a singularly autobiographical script in which we are the protagonist. Outrageous triumph, tenderest compassion beyond the doorway to our secret heart, fanciful and many-colored Picassoian shapes await us there. We choose the agony or the ecstasy. Our waking moments determine these adventures of comedy or nightmares, and conversely, these empyrean memoirs might project our waking future, for we live within this ethereal realm one-third of our lives.

   I dreamed I was flying many times, which was the ultimate exhilaration I have encountered in my sleeping or daytime hours. I dreamt hilarious dreams, too, and laughed for days about them. I sometimes dreamed of pastels and glowing golden light. Other times, original songs came to me. Some dreams were vignettes yet wondrously theatrical.

   But there have been a few times endured amidst terrifying dreams, feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, and sorrow, principally due to my diet before living the plant-based lifestyle. Other times, I struggled to relax or even breathe for much of the night in a semi-conscious state from sleep apnea.

   Is it possible to sleep in peaceful slumber, after which we awaken refreshed and rejuvenated? The quality of our sleep during thousands of hours likely determines the excellence or mediocrity of our waking life. So, isn’t it true that we probably have a good life if we sleep well during that far-reaching span of time? Therefore, it is natural that we might want to know how to sleep.

   Sweet sleep reorders the banter of the day, reconciling its dissonance, finding an equilibrium of the conscious and unconscious, and, finally, blessed forgetfulness. Though we dream continuously, often journeying amongst bizarre symbolic images, we forget all or virtually all these psychological adventures upon waking, for we have been to the land of no recollection.

   In this deepest stage of sleep, our eyes dart roundabout in their full orbital limits, and, thus, it is appropriately called rapid eye movement (REM). Dreams that we can remember occur during a stage in which we sleep less deeply and more closely aligned to our consciousness and, therefore, we might recall them. But REM, this deepest stage, is essential to optimal health. Here the anabolic process attains the apex of metabolism in which simple substances are synthesized into the complex materials of living tissue, repairing the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, ovaries, testes, and adrenal glands. Therefore, we will consider enhancing our sleep by remaining in REM for as long as needed each night. Foremost among these is the essence of light and darkness.

   The day is for wakefulness, the night repose. For, light stimulates a nerve pathway from the retina in the eye to an area in the brain called the hypothalamus, where the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) signals other parts of the brain, which control hormones, body temperature, and other functions causing us to feel alert. The SCN acts as a clock powered by light reception, stimulating a miraculous sequence of events affecting the body as a whole in which our temperature rises, stimulating hormonal release. Simultaneously, the SCN delays the release of other hormones, particularly melatonin, anticipating the darkened night, where in the absence of light, it causes a welcomed quiescence.

   “Melatonin,” says the National Sleep Foundation, “is a natural hormone made by your body’s pineal gland. This is a pea-sized gland located just above the middle of the brain. During the day, the pineal is inactive. When the sun sets and darkness comes, the pineal is activated by the SCN and begins to produce melatonin, which is released into the blood- stream.

   “Usually, this occurs around 9 pm. As a result, melatonin levels in the blood rise sharply, and you begin to feel less alert. Sleep becomes inviting. Melatonin levels in the blood stay elevated for about 12 hours—all through the night—before the light of daybreak when they fall back to low daytime levels by about 9 am. Daytime levels of melatonin are barely detectable.”

   This natural clock suggests the ideal time to sleep is between 6 am and 10 pm, based upon the fact that the Sun rises as early as 5 am in the summer and as late as 7 am during the winter months; therefore, 6 am is a medium time to arise throughout the year.

   So, should all other factors be normal, the essence of sleep is the absence of light, for it beckons our whole body to a dream state for which it yearns. Thus, a dark bedroom is a necessity. Window blinds and curtains should block outside light. And to fully allow our bodies to receive a strong SCN signal, we might consider wearing a sleeping mask. Such a mask should be comfortable and easily washed before wearing.

   Good sleep commences upon waking, ironically, for this is when we begin making decisions affecting our bodies sixteen hours later when it is time for dreaming. In other words, if we avoid sleep inhibitors during the day, we will prepare ourselves for quality rest at night. Sleep inhibition is caused by salt, sugar, and sugar substitutes, margarine, other butter substitutes, deli meats, non-organic fruits and vegetables, salted nuts and seeds, canola oil, soda, caffeine, and alcohol.

   Excessive salt eaten during the day and any salt before bedtime will interfere with the descent to REM. Consequently, Sigmund Freud consumed salt before sleeping, for he wanted to block his dreaming entrance to REM, thereby inducing vivid nightmares, which would serve as a laboratory for his dream analysis. Should you have problems with nightmares, merely reduce or eliminate your salt consumption, with no salt or salty foods in the afternoon.