Sleeping is not just important for your physical well being, but for your emotional well being as well. The benefits of sleep are actually associated to both at the same time, as if your emotional well being is sacrificed, then so is your physical well being, they are connected. The benefits of sleep go far beyond most peoples general understandings.
They are numerous sleep associated illnesses, such as:
* High blood pressure
* Disruption of companions sleep quality
* Poor quality of life
* Emotional issues, such as stress, depression, and anxiety.
* Heart attack
* Heart failure
* Stroke
* Obesity
* Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
* Mental impairment
* Injury from accidents
In the overly busy lives of most Americans we often short ourselves by our own lists of priorities. Many people bring their work home with them, shorting themselves relationally and physically. Somewhere, our hurried lifestyles often rob us of the things that matter significantly, which includes our sleeping habits. There are those who work all day long, stay up late, and rise up early to go to work leaving themselves without necessary sleep recovery. Some people might say, well I do fine, I get 4 or 5 hours and that’s all I need. Really? Most people who might say that have probably been doing it for a prolonged period of time and they are used to it, as long as they have a cup of coffee in the morning to wake them up.
In the article on dreaming we discussed how dreams come from our deep places, that dreams are actually emotional residue. The emotional stuff that we do not deal with, for whatever reason, while we are awake. God has built in to us a mechanism to help us cope with stress and other emotional related issues during our sleep. That is one major reason why we need to be getting adequate sleep. The emotional residue comes up within our dreams and helps us to achieve resolve for the deeper issues below our waking consciousness.
Sometimes people are just plain cranky when they do not get enough sleep, however there are those who are robbing themselves of Gods built in healing agents. They end up carrying more emotional residue than others do who get adequate sleep. That higher level of residue impacts how they treat others, how they react to situations, and their overall health. The more unresolved emotional stuff inside, the greater it’s personal impact.
Now some may want to say at this point that they do not have any emotional stuff below their consciousness. So Are you, have you been, or do you recall some difficult times you have went through recently? The adversity has a way of taking an emotional toll on you, and you need some emotional rejuvenation which will come during sleep. Can you think of anyone who has hurt you? You thought of that person just now because I pointed at it, you may not have been as aware of it until the question was asked. But now you are looking at that pain, yeah, it is still there. So sufficient amounts of sleep can help you manage and bring peace to that bruised area.
For many they need to forgive the past pains that they feel someone has caused them, but that is not associated with the everyday stresses we deal with on a ongoing basis that can take emotional tolls on us. So those daily emotional occurrences can add up and increase our emotional stress levels if we are not getting enough sleep, because the sleep brings comfort and helps us to release those daily emotional impacts. Did you know that God can talk to you in your sleep and help you with unresolved feelings?How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with Thee, (Psalm 139:17-18). Notice how the scripture says "Thy thoughts" and then refers to waking up afterward. I do not know about you, but I want to God to talk to the depths of my soul.
There are some people who have incurred emotional bruisings and deep emotional cuts from experiences of different levels that need time and sleep to help them heal. But some of them continue with the shorter sleeping cycles that hinder the therapeutic benefits of sleep. Sleep is a natural built in remedy for soothing, comforting, and restoring many of our emotional irritations. For more sleeping insights, please continue on to the article on dreaming.