Sound Sleep is Necessary to Build a Strong Heart
Primitive men and women arise at daybreak and the early hours of their days are spent in vigorous physical activity. About mid-day they eat their largest meal and then immediately afterward they lie down to rest or take a nap (just as babies and young children do). In an hour or so they wake up refreshed – ready for the 2nd half of the day. Then they are active again until sundown, and shortly after sundown they go to sleep again. So primitive man is awake about 12 hours and sleeps about 12 hours.
Modern, civilized man drives himself all day under high-pressure. His day is filled with stresses, strains, worries and cares. A daily nap or siesta is unknown to the routine of most people. All day long he takes stimulants to keep himself going – coffee, tea, alcohol, pills, cigarettes, excessive amounts of sugar, candy, chocolate, ice-cream, etc. – everything to try to keep his poor body up to the constant go – push mode.
He lives in this hectic, fast driven age and at night he has brilliant lights and action to keep him awake. His amusements and entertainments all begin at night. The night clubs turn on bright lights and loud music. Movie theaters lure him in to films that are promoting sex, crime and violence. Television, the radio, parties – everything seems to be geared to stimulate him. Instead of going to bed for much needed sleep he drives himself, chasing happiness and peace of mind.
When he gets sleepy he just takes a pill to keep him awake or drinks some strong coffee – then to relax he has some poisonous alcohol. He is constantly straining his nervous system – all of which has a disastrous deadly effect on his circulatory system and his heart.
Think of yourself as a “battery” – you discharge energy and you must recharge yourself with proper food, sleep and constructive emotions.
The majority of American’s nerves are so jangled and frazzled that it’s often impossible for them to sleep. As a result, they consume tons of sleeping pills and tranquilizers to try to calm their exhausted nervous systems. It’s no wonder that, in addition to the soaring heart disease rate in the United States, we have more people in mental institutions than ever before in history. A half-million American men and women are committed to mental institutions every year. These facilities are now so overcrowded that they represent one of our society’s greatest medical and financial problems today.
Sleep is Essential To Life Itself
You cannot have a strong heart, a sound mind and a healthy nervous system if you do not get enough good and sound restful sleep! Sleep is essential to building and maintaining a strong, vital heart. Sleep is more necessary than food! Anyone can fast on water for days – or even weeks if necessary – without any serious harm if they are well-nourished before beginning the fast and have a satisfactory food-supply after its conclusion. But no one can fast from sleep for a few days without side effects. Man can’t endure an entire week of sleeplessness.
In early English history condemned criminals were put to death by depriving them of sleep. Forced sleeplessness, in fact, has been used as a form of torture and execution by the Chinese and is more feared than corporal punishment. Those subjected to this always died raving maniacs! Sad facts illustrate the necessity of sleep!
Take a Daily “Siesta”
If you want to build a strong heart and nervous system, take a mid-day nap. Getting an hour’s rest in the middle of the day is just like having 2 days in 1, because when you wake up after your mid-day nap or siesta you have stored up a terrific reserve of nervous energy. We believe the people of Mexico, South America, Spain, France and Italy had a good idea when they followed the long established policy of closing down businesses from noon to 2 pm. Rest is important for building a powerful body and heart!
How Much Sleep Do We Need?
How much sleep do we need? Every individual is different. Some people require more sleep than others. Those possessing the greatest vitality and the strongest constitutions require less sleep than those of limited vitality and weaker recuperative powers. Those who possess a strong metabolic system and great vitality can store energy during sleep and they also recover from the exertions of the preceding day more rapidly. A strong person will be restored more quickly than others. Their system can more rapidly repair the wear and tear of their daily work than that of a weaker individual.
Newest University of Chicago research has found strong signs of accelerated ageing in healthy young men after less than a week in which they slept for just four hours per night. Not getting enough sleep can age people prematurely and promote illness! Getting 12 hours of sleep for several nights turned the students back to their right age.
Most people need 7 to 8 hours of sleep nightly. Women and children require 9 to 10 hours sleep. We feel that 8 hours of sleep per night is important for a strong heart and that 1 to 2 hours of this sleep should be obtained before midnight. A single hour of sleep before midnight is worth 3 hours of sleep after midnight. We enjoy short afternoon naps when possible – the siesta habit is great
