This is Michael Maxwell with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today, I am recommending Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD., a book that has already changed my life for the better, and that I hope will improve yours too! If you have no idea what your “sleep debt” is or you feel personally victimized by Daylight Savings, you absolutely must check this one out.
Everyone knows that a good night of sleep can be miraculous, but the reasons behind this often lurk in a murky area where science and spirituality comingle and confuse. In Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker illuminates the secrets of this confounding state in which we spend roughly one third of our lives. Walker shows readers how what appears restful and quiet from the outside is actually a state of important brain and hormonal activity that is so meticulously critical to our functioning that sleep deprivation, even in mild amounts, might be the boogeyman behind a wealth of health and societal issues impacting our basic safety.
As I read Why We Sleep, I often thought of my college self with new compassion. That guy was not getting enough sleep! What starts off feeling like bad news in this book, that your lack of sleep might be causing you problems, becomes empowering over the course of learning all this new information as it leads to a hopeful conclusion within reach: maybe you just need to go to bed earlier tonight.
Check out Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD. and other enlightening books about your mind and body at the Sioux City Public Library today!
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