As
I may have mentioned in earlier reports, of late I have been experiencing an
anxiousness I can’t explain, and it is, among other things, affecting my sleep.
I chalked it up to all the depressing news I can’t seem to ignore, and I
suppose to some extent, world events are responsible for that anxiousness. I’ve
been trying to meditate every morning, but I’m not very disciplined when it
comes to taking care of myself. Vitamins help, and I’ve found that a B100
complex is helpful to take off the rough edges. Now, I understand there are
other possible explanations for my restlessness.
I
was talking to a friend the other day, and he was wearing one of those Fitbit
watches. On top of the annoying alarm that tells you when you’re being too
sedentary (mine would be going off all day), there is a feature which monitors
your heart rate while you sleep. My friend was not getting the sleep he needed,
and this Fitbit feature, which monitored his resting heart rate, confirmed that
something was interrupting his deep sleep while he was unconscious. When he then
investigated the factors that could affect his sleep, he learned that exposure
to blue light might have been the culprit. I did not know this, but apparently,
the blue light emitted from computer screens and from cell phones is
particularly counter-productive to sleep. It has something to do with the hypothalamus
region of the brain. Artificial light, and especially blue light, interferes
with the brain’s normal tendency to produce melatonin, the hormone which
regulates our sleep-wake cycles. I learned that it is advisable to turn off
computer and TV screens one half hour to an hour before going to bed. When my
friend did this, he told me he had a more restful sleep. I’m not sure if this
works or not but I’m going to try to wean myself from this stimulus just before
bedtime to see if it makes any difference. Restful sleep is so important and I’m
hearing more and more people complain about the quality of their sleep.
In
general, I’ve been suspicious of the effects of all the wireless electronics
that surround me – and it IS all around me - wondering if any of it might be
harmful to my health. Some studies suggest that it can be, but no one can tell
me what is too much. Certainly, the earliest cell phones were more dangerous,
known to emit harmful radiation and perhaps to increase the likelihood of brain
tumors. I remember those first Motorola cell phones, the really heavy ones. Now
that cell phone technology has developed, and many of us have grown so attached
to our smart phones, we seem to get nervous if we are without them. Now I’ve
got to consider the possibility that my computer and my cell phone are keeping
me awake at night. It’s always something.
Hurricane
Dorian has run her course, and will likely go down in the history books as one
of the bad ones. We still don’t know how many people perished in the Bahamas,
because so many are still “missing” and presumed dead. While Florida did not
get hit too hard, Dorian crawled all the way up the east coast, with impact on
the Carolinas. It even hammered the Canadian Maritime provinces much further
north as a Cat 2 hurricane. This morning there was frost on the ground here in
Katrine, and everyone was grumbling about the chilly weather, but so far we still
have a roof over our heads. I’m thankful. My heart goes out to the Bahamians so
devastated by Dorian’s wrath.
Jamie Oppenheimer,
Songwriter, Author, Blogger, Radio Producer, & Host has been writing THE
OPPENHEIMER REPORT every MONDAY since 1992 and has published the articles on
his blog since 2006. We are including Jamie's weekly reports, as a new feature
of #HuntersBayRadio, The Bay 88.7FM.
#GotLocal? HuntersBayRadio.com #WeAreMuskoka #WeAreAlmaguin
#GotLocal? HuntersBayRadio.com #WeAreMuskoka #WeAreAlmaguin
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