Categories
Sleep

REM Sleep

REM sleep or Rapid Eye Movement, is part of the sleep cycle, and in a normal nights sleep can occur a number of times, say 5 or 6 times.

As we sleep, we enter into differing levels or stages, 1 – 5, from a light sleep to a deep sleep, and theses stages will cycle round as mentioned perhaps 5 or 6 times.

Initially as we fall asleep we enter the 1st of 5 stages. This first stage is very light and is akin to being awake it is so close, and often people do not recognise stage as the body begins to relax.

The 2nd stage is a light sleep, where the heart rate slows down, the muscles relax and contract, and the body temperature begins to fall.

As sleep continues the sleep goes into the deepest stages, the 3rd and 4th, the 4th being the deepest, and the sleep will cycle between these two stages. The brain activity is very rhythmic and the body is quite still.

There are different levels of brain activity, and these are defined as:-

BETA           high brain activity, awakened state
ALPHA        a studious brain
THETA         a daydreaming brain
DELTA         low brain activity, deep sleep

It is during this Delta sleep, the 3rd and 4th stages, that the 5th stage is entered into, and this is defined as REM.

REM is characterised by quick, rapid movements of the eyes under the eyelids, and is often accompanied by the rigidity or the paralysis of the muscles, believed by sleep scientists to stop us enacting out our dreams, because it is believed that it is during REM sleep that we dream.

When the brain is monitored with an EEG, and the sleep cycle is studied with a Polysomnography (PSG), it will be seen that there is a high level of brain activity, the heart rate increases, and there could be twitching of the legs, fingers or facial muscles. Very similar to the wakeful state. This is compared to NREM (no rapid eye movement) sleep, which produces brain waves seen on an EEG that are typically slow and of high voltage, the breathing and heart rate are slow and regular, the blood pressure is low, and the sleeper is relatively still.

This REM sleep is often call paradoxical sleep, a mixture of encephalic (brain activity) states of excitement and muscular immobility.

The length of the REM sleep varies as the sleep cycle progresses, from a short 5 minute burst at the beginning to perhaps 90 minutes prior to waking naturally. This length and quality depends upon physical and psychological factors of the subject, for example depressives have shorter REM stages. Then, it depends if the subject is taking any drugs or stimulants, i.e. anti depressants such a s Prozac (click to read) tend to lengthen the REM stage. For me the herbal tea of St. John’s Wort, lengthens and gives me more intense dreams during REM, as it is a mild anti depressant.

Age also has a factor in the length of REM sleep and total amount of sleep. An infant will typically require 16 – 18 hours sleep a day, whereas a teenager will require say 9 hours, compared to and adult from 6.5 to 7.5 hours sleep. As we enter into old age, REM sleep lengthens.

Research has shown that subjects who do not have REM sleep through sleep deprivation may have memory problems, and may begin to hallucinate.

We have seen in earlier articles that the plasticity of the brain, the learning, passing short term memory to long term memory takes places in REM. We have also seen that REM clears the brain of unwanted working memory by having we can say a spring clean.

As stated above, REM sleep is believed to produce dreams. I say the word “believe” as research I have recently seen may indicate dreams are produced both in REM and NREM sleep.

For participants and people who practice hypnosis, REM phenomenon or REM signs can be clearly seen, the movement of the eyes under the eyelids, the rigidity of the body when catalepsy is induced, changes in muscle tone, changes in breathing, all producing a sleep like state that Dr. James Braid (James Braid 1796 – 1860 the Father of Hypnosis) coined the name of “hypnosis“, a sleep like state.

Once we understand hypnosis, we understand that it is not sleep, the client is fully aware of everything that is happening to them, and has full control, unlike sleep REM were the conscious mind is switched off.

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Categories
Thoughts

Our little world on the 26th floor

As I sit here in Kuala Lumpur, on the 26th floor of Villas Angsana, I am amazed by how loud the traffic is way down there below me on the new expressway they have just built. I think it is more noisy up here than it is sitting perhaps next to the traffic.

Looking out through the open French windows to the banking area of KL, the massive high office blocks where I was only a couple of days ago in a meeting, seeing all the bankers working away, I wonder if they know or care what suffering is happening to others not far from them.

I look into the sky and see an aircraft at high altitude, carrying people back to their homes or away on business or on their holidays, and wonder if they knew of how life was proceeding towards the end 35,000 feet below. Often as I fly around the world, looking down as the earth slowly passes below me, I wonder if the people know there is someone looking down at them, and I wonder what these people are doing at that time.

As I am writing this blog, do the people who are keeping the internet and the computer structures functioning, know how I and others are trying to make suffering as easy as possible.

I wonder if those in the shopping centres, buying their new dresses, gadgets, toys and food know I can see the bright lights of the shops, yet have no desire to visit them, there are more important things happening here now.

Above the noise of the traffic I hear the calls to prayers, and I wonder if those who are worshipping their god, in their belief system, are considering how they could pray for those less fortunate, and perhaps how they can offer hope, help and support as well as prayer.

At the moment it is as if here on the 26th floor we are on our own.

How many more people throughout our small world are going through what we are experiencing?

……….

We try and find some medicine to make the brother-in-law more comfortable, but suddenly, my brother-in-law has taken a turn for the worse, and we call his two sons and another brother-in-law to come to help as an ambulance is called.

………..

It is a time to give care, kindness and compassion, as he is taken to hospital.

For me I will stay behind on the 26th floor with my sister-in-law, who herself is too ill to go with him.

We will sit up into the night to await news.

Categories
NLP Sleep

Sleep, Power-Naps the downside

I have just awoken from my “power-nap”, and I notice a downside.

I feel very groggy as soon as my eyes open, my arms feel heavier, my legs are like lead, my head does not want to work. I feel my age of 95, or is it 96?

Groggy after sleep
Groggy after sleep

But I know if I relax a little, within a short period, I will be like the superhero I am.

Super Hero Phillip
Super Hero Phillip

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Categories
Sleep

Sleep, Power-Naps the benefits

A power-nap can be from a couple of minutes to no more than 90 minutes research has indicated, and having a power-nap can have many beneficial results.

As in the previous article Sleep Power-Nap, it has been found that when REM sleep is attained, the brain passes short-term memory to long-term memory, the brain learns, the plasticity of the brain occurs. In Berkeley continuing research indicates that a 15 minute to 35 minute “power-nap” is the most efficient to obtain best results for increased cognitive learning and increases in IQ.

There is a saying in English, “If you have a problem, sleep on it.” How often have you woken in the middle of the night with an answer to a question you have been searching for the previous day? For me, many times. A “power-nap” may be the answer to problem solving.

“Power-naps” may help us to be more creative, as stepping away from a problem will help us gain insights to new ideas, find loose associations which we may have missed having been too close to the subject, or just dreaming to hallucinate new ideas.

Often our brain becomes overloaded with information, for some this is alright, they can cope, but for the majority, this overload is too much, by having a “power-nap” the brain has time to dump unnecessary information, clear working storage, sort-out and link associated ideas, in computer terms undertake a defragmentation, leaving room for more learning and information. Even just standing up from our desk, our study book will perhaps be enough.

Taking the afternoon nap, even at the desk research has found, reduces the stress hormones, thus leading to a more focused and risk free afternoon and evening. We can become more alert, energetic and having more stamina. Our mood can change and we will be more efficient.

“Power-naps” can be beneficial to health and well being as it triggers cell repair, maintains hormone levels and their maintenance. It has also been seen to reduce the risk of heart disease, as research on young men from Greece, where the culture is taking an afternoon snooze, nap or siesta, when compared to other young men who did not “power-nap” had a 35+% lower risk of heart related deaths.

People who say cannot sleep at night, like a certain person I know, can help themselves by having a “power-nap”, as it seems that the cumulative sleep over 24 hours will be equivalent to a straight 8 hours.

Can a session of hypnosis produce the same results? I believe so, as work I have done with colleagues produce good results, especially as hypnosis produce sleep like states, i.e., REM, paralysis or rigidity of the outer limbs, and brain waves similar to REM sleep or Delta sleep.

Other experiments I did and introduced into an intensive language course in Istanbul, Turkey, seemed to prove that the participants who were in-class from 9am till 9pm, with breaks, and whom I placed in a trance for 30 minutes in the afternoon and early evening, learned better than those who did not attend the hypnotic sleep time.

So now I have earned a “power-nap”, sitting here on a comfortable sofa with a cooling breeze lulling me towards downtime.

Dreams
Power Nap

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Categories
Sleep

Sleep Power-Nap

 I do not know what it is, the heat, the humidity, or the different time zone to the UK, Malaysia being eight hours in front, but often I need an afternoon nap, a small sleep in the afternoon.

This afternoon sleep, may last from ten minutes to one hour, but I find it such a deep sleep, the whole body plus my brain seems to shut down.

When working in Saudi Arabia, we had a time when the office hours were changed from working 9am – 6pm, to working 9am – 1pm, we would then go home to return to the office at 5pm and work until 9pm.

I would enjoy an afternoon sleep, away from the midday heat, but what a waste of a day, by the time we had returned home in the afternoon, had lunch and a nap, it was time to go back to the office, and in the evening, by the time we got home, prepared a meal, it was time to get to bed.

On my many trips to China giving training, it really confused me to see straight after lunch, office workers, participants, ordinary people, suddenly fall asleep at their desk, in their chair, but just for say half an hour.

Much research has been undertaken on afternoon naps, or what is known as “power-naps”.

In a California University, many years ago, researchers undertook tests on a group of cats.

The cats were taught a challenge, something special to do, and their brain waves were monitored. After a while the group of cats were split into two, and one of the groups was allowed to sleep or nap, whilst the other was allowed to learn the challenge.

A while later, the group of cats were woken, and the two groups were tested on how well they had learned the challenge. It was the group of cats that had slept who had mastered the challenge better. Sleep had increased learning.

Whilst the cats were taking the nap, researchers noticed unusual brain activity, and at a time when the sleep was at its’ deepest, when the cats entered REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep. The researchers said that this was the first time they had seen the brain learning, the short-term memory passing information to long-term memory, a function they called the plasticity of the brain.

Further research has been carried out on REM sleep, in Harvard University (USA) and University of Surrey (UK). It was found that when nappers took 1 hour to 90 minutes sleep say around 2pm, and which involved slow wave sleep, that is light sleep, which also included REM sleep, that is deep sleep which is often identified with dreams, they performed better than those who did not sleep or had a “power-nap“.

It was also noted that the “power-nap” enhance performance of work and duties in the afternoon, but remarkably only if REM was achieved as well as light sleep. Also noted was that the “power-nap” was no substitute for a normal good nights sleep.

Research at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center suggests that a nap does not effect the normal nights sleep, in fact they found that the nap could be beneficial for improved cognitive performance, to perform arithmetic, decision-making and reaction time tests and mental for up a day after.

It is said that there have been famous and great “power-nappers” in our time including Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Lance Armstrong (the cyclist), yachtswoman Ellan MacArthur, Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison, and that they could/can exist with a few hours sleep a night. But experts say that a full night’s sleep is still necessary for many bodily functions.

Will a “power-nap” influence the circadian rhythm or biological clock? No, only if you take more than 90 minutes for a nap.

sleeping man power nap sleeping man power nap

So sleep and nap well, I will.

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Categories
NLP Travels

My part of the skyline of Kuala Lumpur

It is not that I am not doing anything here on the 26th floor of Angsana Villa’s. I can, on occasions, get a WIFI signal from a nearby apartment, or a mobile phone internet connection, allowing me access to the internet to answer emails, send messages, write proposals. I have a couple of books I wish to read and research, and I trust I am helping in a small way in caring for the sick people here even if it is moral support.

I have time to look over the vista of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, to reflect over our own mortality, of how short life is.

Kuala Lumpur's skyline with Petronas Twin Towers and Telecom Tower from Agnsana Villa
Kuala Lumpur’s skyline with Petronas Twin Towers and Telecom Tower from Agnsana Villa

I have time to observe the interaction of different personalities of a large family group, the dynamics, the power struggles, the strong characters competing with the weak, of those who only put an appearance once in a while but who try to influence the outcome with little or no background knowledge, and how that affects the state of those who are left to “run the show”.

I see loads of kindness, compassion, help and support, as people pull together to find resolve and peace. Each in their own way contributes to the whole.

Compromises have to be made as the situation changes from one minute to the next, and even if one person becomes upset by another’s decision, they soon come back into the group.

I now see group decisions, where people are coming together in the hours of need, listening to others points of view, facts are being presented in a meaningful way, as the core group discuss and decide the best outcome, the best strategy.

It is a good learning curve for me. I am in my small world on the 26th floor of Angsana Villa’s and I am just a speck, only a small part of the whole, a small part of the visa of Kuala Lumpur, but like us all, my contribution, now matter how small, adds to the group, the whole, the world.

I must act with integrity, compassion, trust and goodwill, with kindness of heart, to stand back and consider others feelings and points of view, and to put a positive outcome on what may come our way.

Categories
Culture Travels

Villa Angsana Condominium swimming pool

Here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it is a tough time as there are two gravely ill relatives, husband and wife, who cannot look after their basic needs, and as a result I find myself stuck in an apartment on the 26th floor in the Villa Angsana Condominiums, with no head for heights, offering what little help, encouragement and support I can. Today the husband will be taken to hospital for a CT scan, leaving me to be with the sister-in-law.

There is on the complex a swimming pool, in well maintained gardens, used by many of the residents in the complex of this multi cultural and religious country.

Villa Angsana, Kuala Lumpur, swimming pool  Villa Angsana, Kuala Lumpur, swimming pool
 Villa Angsana, Kuala Lumpur, swimming pool from 26th floor walkway and poolside.

Yesterday, two of the many nephews and nieces, and whose parents own apartments in the complex, well the father’s company constructed the condominiums, came across to visit and to take a swim in the pool.

Now me, uncle Phillip is always game for a laugh, and is roped-in to join them for the swim. I have no objection as I enjoy being in water, and it is a chance to cool down in the tropical heat and humidity.

I put on my red swimming shorts and a white short sleeved shirt, the nephew and niece each wearing a short sleeved swimming top and tight figure hugging swimming shorts.

We get down to the pool, and I am just about ready to dive into the pool, which already had a few teenager boys in their tight fitting swimming shorts and briefs, when a guard approached us and indicated that I could not go in the pool as I was wearing shorts.

But these are swimming shorts by Speedo, they are not baggy, or too tight, showing none of my manhood, in fact being very conservative, unlike the bulge enhancing swimming costumes usually seen on the beach or swimming pools, and as the ones being worn by the teenagers.

I then understood that it was not acceptable that I did not have any covering on my upper body, a tee shirt.

But hang on, what about the teenagers in the pool already, how about the man sitting in again tight fitting shorts at the side of the pool? They all have bare chests.

I can not understand that the day before I was swimming in the same way without comments, and now?

OK, I do not want to cause offence, cause distress, go against any religious beliefs, after all Malaysia is not my country, and I must respect others beliefs and culture. It is a shame that visitors and new residents to the UK do not respect the British way of life, culture, and demand to impose their beliefs and religion on the British.

So if my bare chest is a problem, I am happy to cover up, so I put my shirt on, and jump into the pool.

Now another guard turns up, senior to the first, as he is wearing a white shirt as against a blue one worn by the first guard, and also he has more badges. He is not happy that I am swimming in my white shirt. Me? I am happy as I will not get sunburnt like I did the previous week in Rimini, Italy.

So I take my shirt off, and nothing more is said, except the phones are hot to the relatives in the apartment on the 26th floor, that uncle is in the pool swimming in his shirt.

I am confused. Keeping calm, I try to work-out the logic, the reasoning behind what is happening. I can understand the need to keep standards, keep moral code especially in a family based complex, but a swimming pool is a swimming pool, what do people expect swimmers to wear?

Perhaps it is my missing six pack which has long since become a barrel, or my white skin which is really red from the sunburn, and or my white head of hair and beard contrasting against the blue tiles of the pool. Or perhaps it is that the residents management committee is holding their AGM near the pool, and the guard must be seen to be doing his job, upholding the rules.

Such is life.

Categories
Uncategorized

Sleep


I am surprised how well I do when travelling to all the countries around the world, being able to adjust to the different time zones, without jet lag. I could be eight hours different if I fly from the UK to Malaysia or China, two hours if to Turkey, one hour if to Italy or Spain, yet I can usually function well and get a normal nights sleep.


Perhaps it is some of the ways I approach my international travel.


I set my watch to the time zone I am travelling to as I approach the departing airport, and put myself in the time frame of that country, thinking about having dinner, even if it is breakfast time, thinking that it is time to go to bed, when perhaps where I am waiting to board the aircraft people are just getting up after a nights sleep.


I tend to arrive the day the course or training I am about to give is to start, or the day before. After the course has finished, I try and take the next available flight to my next destination.


I have found that as soon as I “get on stage”, my mind I so focussed on the task of training, my mind and body has no time to consider tiredness, fatigue, jet lag. It is after the days course has finished that I feel tired, and thus I get a good nights sleep.


Other tricks I have found useful, is not to eat on the aircraft, but wait until I get to the destination, and eat the appropriate meal for the time I arrive. On a long haul flight, say the UK to Malaysia, about twelve hours in the air non stop, where I will need to have food, I presuppose that I am already in my destination time zone, and make the meal I am to eat the appropriate meal for that time.


And so it was on this trip to Malaysia. Last Monday I was in Italy, having just finished co-delivering a Society of NLP Master Practitioner, travelling on via the UK with a few hours stop-over to Malaysia, arriving late Tuesday evening, to deliver Wednesday morning a workshop on NLP.


At no time on Wednesday in the workshop did I feel any fatigue.


It is only now on Saturday that I feel tired, but that is I think due to the fact that I am staying in an apartment on the 26th floor, and me and heights do not get on. I am not phobic anymore about heights, I would say not happy about them.


Also my brother and sister in law are gravely ill, and every move they make in the next bedroom during the night, keeps me awake, wondering what is happening, being ready to react to any situation which may need urgent attention. So, I lie awake, listening to every little noise, my mind too active to switch off until after prayer time at 5:30am, only to awaken at 8:30 as visitors descend upon us and a new day starts.


Why do we need a good nights sleep?

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Categories
NLP

NLP for Human Resource Management


In the NLP for Human Resource Management n Malaysia, in conjunction with LexisNexis, we held a one day workshop on how NLP will help in HR management.


The content of the workshop was extensive, covering what is NLP, how to use NLP, NLP and coaching, negotiation skills including the Harvard University BATNA.


We saw and experienced how the human processes information, and how we understand the world around us, demonstrating George Miller’s 7+/-2 theory, how the human brain then deletes, distorts and generalises information given to it, resulting in an understanding of the world which is not the real Map of the Territory.


We reviewed how the human took in information from external sources through the five senses, VAKOG, and processed this information internally, again with VAKOG.


Understanding how employees and employers accessed and processed information, would help those in the human resource field to manage and lead to achieve excellence.


An interesting and full day, which included far more than the above, including Eye Accessing Cues, thus giving those who attended a broad outline of how NLP can be implemented within their organisations.

Categories
Travels

Rimini Italy, to Malaysia

Today I start the long journey to Malaysia via the UK, after finishing my training in Rimini in Italy.

It has been yet another wonderful experience working with the participants on the Society of NLP’s Master NLP Practitioner course.

I must thank the participants for all their hard work, and joy they gave me.

But now, I must start my journey to my next training, in Malaysia on Wednesday (see entry) with HR personnel with LexusNexus.

I have to go via Bologna, a wonderful city, to catch my flight to London, to arrive Monday afternoon, then take the evening flight to Malaysia, arriving Tuesday night.

I hope the flight will be smooth so I can get some sleep. Having been sun burnt on the beach here in Rimini, I think I will have a restless flight.