Episode 93: The Importance of sleep

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Paige: You are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And so today, we’re going to talk about something we all do pretty frequently—it's sleep. So, me and Ian are going to talk a little bit about the importance of it, how all of us, probably, don't get enough of it, and how that's a problem. So again, if you get lost, check out that audio transcript and guide online. So, Ian—sleep. How important is sleep for you? Are you someone that prioritizes getting that recommended eight hours of sleep a night?

Ian: I try my best. I probably get around, closer to six or seven hours, which is quote-unquote “recommended.” I feel like that hour—that number—is changing all the time. It's like a range of six to nine—seven’s ideal, eight’s ideal. So, somewhere in that range, I think is normal. So, I get around probably six or seven hours. But it's super important and it's something that we neglect—sleep. But it's interesting because, recently, I heard a sleep expert—a sleep doctor—his name's Dr. Matthew Walker. He was discussing just how important sleep truly is for our entire body, for immunity systems, for our long-term health. Just the importance of it and how most people really aren't getting enough sleep. And it has really detrimental effects. One thing he mentioned that I thought was super interesting was research is starting to show there's a correlation between not getting enough sleep and leading to mental problems later in life. So, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's, dementia—these kinds of mental ailments that happen later in life are happening a lot with people that, over the long term, are not getting enough sleep. So, he mentioned important people in the past who have even bragged about how they haven't gotten enough sleep, or how they don't sleep enough because they're working so hard. A classic case was former US President, Ronald Reagan. He was somebody who, even during his presidency, he boasted about how “Oh you know, I only sleep three or four hours a night. I'm working so hard for the country, for everything.” And he ended up in the last few years of his life getting really severe Alzheimer's. Now, correlation doesn't always lead to causation but we're starting to see more and more of this come about. So, Dr. Walker was just explaining how it's not even just short term. You're feeling good during the day, having enough energy. It's the long-term importance that people need for their lives. And this is something that really, I think is overlooked. People look at sleep like it's just something we do. I gotta get a few hours of sleep and then I'll keep rocking and rolling the next day, but it's more important and it's actually more complex than that. So, Paige, do you think you get enough sleep? Are you a sleeper or do you suffer from insomnia?

Paige: When it comes to sleep, I really used to not sleep a lot. Like in college, I would probably sleep five hours a night, if that, and I was able to function because I was young, healthy, exercising too much. Once I started working and got older, I felt like sleep was really important. Where if I don't sleep well one night, I'm a mess all week. I'm just tired, I can't think straight, I can't function as well at work. And it really sucks because you have a lot to do and never enough time to do it. So, to have to sleep seven, eight hours every night is a lot. And it sucks that you have one bad night where you sleep four hours and then you can't sleep twelve the next day and you're good. Like, it takes basically a week to recover. So, because of that I try to be more practical or, you know, I try to get a good six, seven hours but you always try. It's always harder to put into practice, but I think it sucks when you get older that you just need more sleep. Like, I just remember being young and I would just take a nap for twenty minutes and I'd be good. And like, not possible now.

Ian: Yeah, it's another thing–it's totally different. Another thing that Dr. Walker mentioned was you can't just say, for example, “Okay, last night I slept for three hours. So, tonight I'm going to sleep for eleven.” He’s just saying how people have this mindset, they think they can just make up for lost sleep, but it doesn't really work that way. Like, for the human body, it's nonrenewable when you lose that night of sleep. It sticks with you. Yeah, it's terrible. And, like you said, even for me now if I have a really late night, if I go out or whatever, I'm a wreck the next day. And it just goes to show, the human body is like a functioning machine. You know, it has to be taken care of, given the proper amount of rest or it's not going to function correctly.

Paige: And it sucks because, here in Chile, the going out scene is all about staying up till the morning. And if I stay up till five, six in the morning, I mean, I'm not just a mess the next day, I'm a mess all week. Like, that's something that will ride with me all week. And that sucks. So, it's like, I probably try to do that once a month, if that, because I'm too old to be able to handle that. I don't know how people do it here because I can't just sleep the whole next day and feel fine. Because then it's like, you go to bed at six in the morning, you sleep all day and then you can't sleep that night because you slept all day. So then, you don't sleep that night and then it affects your Monday, and then it's this vicious cycle. The other thing that sucks about being old is, I feel like it's harder for me to fall asleep. So, I'm someone that's probably tried every recommended Google search habit, how to get a routine so that you can fall asleep because I'm someone that thinks all the time. So, when I go to bed, I'm always making mental to-do lists and thinking about the next day and what I didn't do at work or what I need to do. And then you get in that cycle where you want to sleep so badly that you're thinking about how you're not sleeping, and so you can't sleep. That's terrible. So, for me, a trick that has really helped is reading. I read every night before I go to bed for like a good half hour and it makes me really tired.

 Ian: Yeah, definitely. We even talked about this in another one of our podcasts about how in this age, especially with so much digitization and we're on our phones and whatnot, something I've really been working on, recently, is doing the same thing—putting the phone down about a half-hour before bed, opening up the book and really trying to calm myself down and get relaxed and fall asleep. Because otherwise, I'm the same way. It can be hard for me to kind of just shut off my brain and go to sleep. There are so many things running through my head. So yeah, it's a really good way to do that. Another thing that I've found to help is to do like a little bit of stretching, some breathing, things like this. Just, again, at the end of the day, you've had a full day of doing things, talking to people, stresses coming in, computer screens, phone screens. So, at the end of the day, your body just needs a real break from everything. So, that’s something I've been working on recently, to try to get my sleep to be better.

 Paige: And a quick reminder, don't forget if you want to advance your English more, learn more, go online to dynamicenglish.cl where you can take private classes, you can take group classes. You can even now take classes online.

Paige: I have to ask, what kind of sleeper are you? Are you a deep sleeper? A light sleeper? Are you someone who wakes up in the middle of the night, you can't fall back asleep? Or will you not hear it or?

Ian: I'm kind of somewhere in between, I think. For most of my life, I've been a light sleeper. So, any kind of noise would wake me up really easily. I think I've gotten a little bit better with it, but I'm also someone who, I actually suffer from night terrors. I don't know if you knew that. So ever since I can remember for, I don't know, at least the last ten years or so, sometimes I have really vivid nightmares. Sometimes, I yell in my sleep. I've always been a sleep talker. My brother, he's a sleep talker. So, I don't know if it's something in the family or what but I mean, I've woken up roommates yelling in a dream or kicking in my bed. Yeah, it's really not good. So, that's something I've had to deal with. Do you ever have vivid dreams or nightmares? Are you a light sleeper? A heavy sleeper?

Paige: I have to go back to this night terrors—I've never met someone that has night terrors. Have you been to a doctor? Do they tell you why you have this?

Ian: I haven't but I should. Yeah, it's another one of those things I keep putting off. I don't know, a lot of times they say it could be trauma or other things like this but I think I should do a little bit more research. And there will even happen sometimes like sleep paralysis. So, like in the middle of the dream. it's like your lucid dreaming—you kind of know what's happening but you can't move your body at all. You're just completely stiff. And that's when you hear someone yelling or that's when it gets a little bit scary. I think that the sleep paralysis part has only happened to me a few times. But yeah, it's not fun. You wake up panicked and “what the hell is going on?” And it's not the best. And it's interesting because it's usually something that happens with children, and then it usually stops once you get to teenagers or adulthood. Then in some smaller cases, it carries through adulthood or it comes up in adulthood, which happened in my case.

Paige: So, have you had any stories of saying some weird shit when you were sleeping that your roommates or girlfriends have told you?

Ian: No, it's usually just like yelling and when it's a nightmare, that's when the yelling comes out. So, I just yell for something or someone to leave me alone or to get away like I'm being chased. It's usually me yelling for something to leave me alone so yeah, definitely scares other people if they're sleeping nearby or whatnot. You know, I've had my college roommates—all of them. It  happened every once in a while and they'd be like, “Dude, are you okay?” And I wouldn't even realize what was happening and they would just say, “Dude, you were yelling in your sleep.” “I was?” And sometimes, you're not even aware of what's going on. So, that's probably the scariest part is like, I don't think I've ever done sleepwalking or anything like that but it could lead to that and that can be dangerous.

Paige: No, I didn't know that about you. I feel bad for you. Or maybe just your roommates because, I guess, you don't really know what's happening. What kind of sleeper am I? It takes me a very long time to fall asleep, but when I'm asleep, I'm pretty in deep sleep. And I can go back to sleep. Often, I have a routine where my body will just wake up at three or four in the morning and I'll have to go to the bathroom, and then I can go right back to sleep. It's no problem. Where my ex-boyfriend, if he woke up in the middle of the night, he's done—like he can't go back to sleep. But he could fall asleep standing up. Like, in that initial going to sleep, he'll read a book and he'll read half a page. It's instantaneous how quick he falls asleep. I get very jealous because I'll be reading for like an hour trying to get tired and he'll fall asleep on his book in thirty seconds. I’m like, “I hate you.” But I've also adapted a weird habit where I have to sleep with noise. I'm one of those people that need white noise. I think because I think too much that if it's silent, I'm just in my head. Where, if there's a fan, something to distract me, I can just get lost in the sound. So, in the winter, it could be negative degrees and I'll still have a fan on just to have that noise.

Ian: Yeah, I hear you. Yeah, I'm kind of the same way. I like to have a little bit of background noise when I can because if it's completely silent, it's kind of weird. It's just like you get lost in your thoughts really easily in silence. So, if you have something as background noise, it can kind of help to lull you to sleep. So, yeah, I'm the same way with that kind of habit.

Paige: It's something too my parents had. So, they did it for me, my sister so, I don't think I could ever stop now. It's like thirty years of sleeping with noise. Like, I even was the weirdo that brought it to college and I was like, “Sorry roommates, I'm putting this on.

Ian: Deal with it.

Paige: Yeah, so sleep. Everyone, get lots of it because you don't want Alzheimer's when you’re older. So really, in all seriousness, get a lot of sleep. It's better for you than you can imagine. So again, if you get lost, check out that audio transcript and guide online. Thanks for listening.

Ian: We'll see you next time.

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     to prioritize (verb): to treat something as more important than other things.

a.     I need to prioritize my goals for university next year.

2.     quote-unquote (phrase): way to show the repeating of something someone else said.

a.     The school director said that he was quote-unquote “busy” and couldn’t come to the meeting.  

3.     to neglect (verb): to ignore, to not give attention.

a.     She likes to neglect her responsibilities so that she can have fun.  

4.     detrimental (adjective): negative, harmful, unhealthy.

a.     Not getting enough sleep is detrimental to one’s health.

5.     correlation (noun): relationship, connection.

a.     The research shows a correlation between smoking and lung cancer.

6.     ailment (noun): illness, sickness.

a.     The doctor told him that he had a mental ailment in his old age.

7.     to brag (verb): to praise oneself, to talk about one’s accomplishments arrogantly.

a.     He likes to brag about how cool he was in high school.

8.     to boast (verb): to brag.

a.     She boasts about her fancy car and house every time that she meets a new person.

9.     causation (noun): the action of causing something to happen.

a.     The scientists are researching the causation for the disaster.   

10.  nonrenewable (adjective): cannot be renewed or recovered.

a.     Oil is a nonrenewable, natural resource that we use too often.

11.  to stick with someone (phrasal verb): to affect and to continue with someone.

a.     Not getting enough sleep really sticks with me and affects me the rest of the week.

12.  wreck (noun): mess, a person whose mental or physical strength is gone.

a.     I’m a wreck if I don’t get enough sleep every night.

13.  night terrors (noun): episodes of intense nightmares with screaming, fear, and paralysis.

a.     Night terrors are rare but can be scary for those who have them.

14.  vivid (adjective): clear, vibrant, producing strong feelings.

a.     Sometimes, I have vivid dreams and nightmares.

15.  to put off (phrasal verb): to delay doing something, to procrastinate.

a.     She likes to put off going to sleep so that she can play video games.

16.  paralysis (noun): loss of the ability to move one’s body.

a.     Night terrors can cause paralysis in the victims during sleep.

17.  lucid (adjective): clear, the dreamer is aware they are dreaming or sleeping.

a.     The movie Inception is about lucid dreaming.

18.  stiff (adjective): hard, rigid, cannot be moved.

a.     The bed was so stiff that I hardly slept an hour.  

19.  white noise (noun): a constant, background noise used to cancel silence.

a.     Many people use white noise to help them sleep.

20.  to lull (verb): to calm someone to sleep.

a.     The white noise always lulls me to sleep.