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The Dream on Project is a Sleeping Program.
Score your current sleeping status, Understanding how best sleep works, Follow the 24-Hour checklist.
Quality Sleep Matters. Your continued best mental & physical health depends on quality sleeping recovery.
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Score your Sleeping Status: 5+/10 = PLAY
Know how much sleep you need?
Understand your 'circadian rhythm' and the recalibration and optimisation.
SCORING YOUR SLEEP

Question
Your answer:
Correct answer:
You got {{SCORE_CORRECT}} out of {{SCORE_TOTAL}}
Your Answers

1a. HOW MUCH SLEEP DO 'YOU' NEED?
1b. WHAT'S YOUR CHRONOBIOLOGY (SLEEP BY GENETICS)??
Interestingly, the work of world-renown 'Sleep Doctor', Dr Michael Breus, suggests people fall into one of four chronobiology when it comes to their ideal circadian rhythm.
Dr Breus studies suggest the world's population fall into defined categories:
Dolphins: 10%
Lions: 15-20%
Bears: 50%
Wolves: 15-20%
Ultimately, while most us are 'Bears', it's wrong to believe everyone will perform their best bouncing out of bed, hammering away till 3 pm, then, start unwinding mentally & physically and be tucked up ready for 8 nutritious hours of sleep from 10 pm.
Click to determine 'your' chronobiology type;
2. TOP 10 REASONS FOR POOR SLEEP!
In no particular order;
1. Missing Breakfast - for most, minimal breakfast or a poor breakfast will disrupt digestion & metabolism later in the day and night! The best scenario and one that may require practice is; a hearty 'good' fat breakfast, a little more of the same for lunch, and light appropriate carbs of dinner.
2. Heavy Evening (and late) meal - Evening meals consumed within 3 hours of sleeping, and loaded with heavy (hard to digest) meats, will, likely, lead to disrupted sleep. Ideally, your brain would like to switch off digestion, not, rev it up! Heavy meaty meals might make it difficult falling to sleep. Beware!
3. Blue Lights - Sensitive sleepers beware! The last 20 years have seen an increase in bedroom electronics. Mobiles, PC's, Fans, TV's, Fire alarms, and security sensors has annoying lights on the rise. Sleeping brains require dark places, and, the sight of lights sparks waking hormones into action.
4. Emotional Stress - From personal challenges to focussing on work tomorrow, if pre-sleep thoughts are focussed on fight or flight, bingo, again, all the wrong hormones kick into gear. This may offer sleep in phases 1 & 2 (see more on this later), but will likely drive active brain waves around 1 am. This will cause dosed waking preventing quality Sleep Phase 3&4. There are strategies to overcome these challenges.
5. Starting too hot, and finishing too cold - Our body temperature changes, systematically, throughout sleep. And, male & female temperatures can offer vast differences. Preparing for these changes is critical in assuring quality sleep.
6. Snoring - Now, for both; the offending snorer, and the poor sod dealing with the tones of a beached whale, there presents a sleeping problem. If the 'snoring' pitch becomes deafening and wheeze-like, it could be a sign of low oxygen. A Physician would be the right place to start. As for the lighter sleeper, well, from earplugs (blutack) to hypnosis courses, there are options – see The Dream On Project.
7. Minimal sunlight - To maximise sleep benefit, most of us require direct sunlight throughout the day, with just 5 minutes hitting the spot. In balancing our circadian rhythm, sunlight drives hormonal harmony, and thus, stimulates the best sleep. See The Dream Project for tips.
8. Fresh Brain & Body - If your brain hasn't been asked to drive complex work, and, similarly, your heart, muscles & bones, have performed little effort, then it's likely there is no need for rest. Thinking, and exercise (structured or incidental), drive good sleep.
9. Dust mites - here in Australia, dust mites rule. Sheets, and particularly pillowcases should be washed weekly. Pillows, also, should be aired in direct sunlight routinely and retired yearly.
10. Frequent travel - From varying time zones, planes, changes in beds & cuisine, travelling usually disrupts one's circadian rhythm. See Jet-Lag tips in The Dream On Project.
ATHLETES BEWARE! Athletes training 'hard', and by that I mean, 2-3 hours + of high-intensity training sessions, can expect difficulty sleeping. While you'd expect training-induced exhaustion and tiredness driving knock out sleep, continuous neural firing from long training sessions amplifies adrenalin, noradrenalin & cortisol. It can take up to 8 hours for these hormones to be sufficiently buffered. See 'The Dream On Project' for counter sleep tactics.
3. CLASSIC SIGNS & SYMPTOMS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION
1. Amplified cortisol and other stress hormones - driving change in behaviour.
2. Weakening & vulnerable immune system - undermanned T-Killer cells activating cold & flu.
3. Appetite Imbalance - namely; insulin imbalance leading to poor pick-up choices.
4. Increased inflammation - hello annoying joint and tendon niggles.
5. The decline in thermoregulation - particularly feelings of cold extremities.
Do any of these sound familiar??
○ Reduced cardiovascular output (reduced fitness).
○ Reduced muscular strength (slumping posture).
○ Depressed (reduced management of challenges).
○ Intolerant and easily angered.
○ Respond to stress with little thought.
○ Lowered sexual interest.
○ Increased interest in sugar hits.
○ Sniffling or irritating head colds.
○ Require caffeine to function.
○ Flakey skin & dry lips.
○ Sore eyes around 3 pm.
○ Low interest in exercise.
○ Warm temples and oily scalp.
○ Annoying joint or muscle niggles.
○ Weight gain around the belly.
○ Athletes suffer from upper-respiratory infections.
4. THE KEY 5 PHASES OF THE SLEEP CYCLE
Phase 1 - 5-15 minutes
◦ Light Sleep and still aware of a presence.
◦ While nerves are starting to down fire, it's common to experience the odd neural jolt, or kick!
◦ Airways are still very much open and snoring is unusual.
Phase 2 - 5-15 minutes
◦ First a drop in body temperature and heart rate.
◦ Eyes stop moving and brain waves are transitioning to delta waves.
Phase 3 - 3 hours
◦ Brain waves switch solely to Delta waves resulting in a deep sleep.
◦ Postural muscles loose integrity as nerves switch off.
◦ Phasic (breathing muscles) also reduce firing resulting in some people subconsciously searching for air - enter; snoring.
◦ Body repairing starts while building speed towards phase 4.
Phase 4 - 3 hours
◦ Much the same as Phase 3, only more pronounced.
◦ Body temperate drops further still.
◦ You should find it difficult waking up during these phases.
◦ Should you find yourself waking up in Phase 4 - 'Consider the Dream On Project'
Phase 5 - 1 hour
◦ Rapid eye movement and likely a time for dreams.
◦ You'll now start to move around a little.
◦ Fat burning will start to slow with the introduction of blood sugar.
◦ Finally, cortisol will now be reintroduced and we start again.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
5. YOUR 24-HOUR HEALTHY CIRCADIAN RHYTHM.