Lying in bed during daytime: Good or bad? Happy or guilty?

These days we sleep with a vengeance!

A recent survey by the UK health group Bupa put “sleeping in a freshly-made bed” on top of the list of 50 things that make people happy. At first, I wondered why something routine felt special to many. Then I realized that before the lockdown, office work and bad traffic made us too worn out to feel the satin on our skin.

The bed has also lost its ability to catapult us to the shower at 5:30 a.m. so we can catch the shuttle to work. We now have a little more time to rewind a nice dream.

While we celebrate humankind’s reconquest of sleep, the satisfying indulgence of lying down in the daytime is still fighting for social approval.

In The Art of Lying Down: A Guide To Horizontal Living, essayist Bernard Brunner lamented that this “pleasurable position” is so frowned upon. He wrote, “In a society tuned to memorable performance…and people prove their mettle by sitting down for long hours in front of computers, reclining often goes unappreciated.”

Brunner observed that aside from people thinking that “Time spent lying down automatically  seems to be time wasted,” it is “seen as a proof of indolence or a sign of powerlessness in the face of a fast-changing world.”

Some therapists identify too much bedtime as an indication of depression. They connect staying in bed to a lack of ambition, a prominent trait manifested by depressed people. That’s why lingering in horizontal comfort is against the book of Type A people, those competitive leader types who have been found to always sit on the edge of the chair. In fact, as many motivational books attest, most successful leaders are early risers. These achievers also do relax. But only 20 minutes while on a chair. And they have given it the name “power nap” to feel less guilty about it.

By the way, WebMD says “The Classic Type A personality…is a heart attack waiting to happen.”

Brunner disagreed that lying in bed is always unproductive compared to back-breaking toil. He asserted that “when we lie on our backs and direct our gaze upward to the ceiling or the sky, we lose our physical grasp of things and our thoughts can soar.”

Brunner suggested that Michelangelo must have been lying down when he envisioned the spectacular paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Brunner is sure “lying down can be like taking a walk in the thick fog – we often emerge with clearer thoughts than before.”

As an artist, I can certainly relate to that. I can imagine, though, how hard it is to convince your boss that you’re actually thinking of a marketing strategy when he finds you lying on your office couch at 11 in the morning. But I can reassure you right now, I have completed so many songs and paintings in my head while on my back staring at the ceiling. Thankfully, I have never been distracted by any leaking pipe.

Lying down’s benefit to the mind is matched by its good effect on the body.

One of the modern human’s unseen enemies is anxiety. With primal instincts carried over, our body still prepares for battle when we are angry, scared, or threatened. Our heart pumps more blood to muscles. To allot more resources for fighting or running away, the body will put on hold the function of repairing organs and fighting disease.

The human stress response is easily turned on but it is not as easily turned off because we cannot fight Covid 19, bad news, bad traffic, or our angry boss and we also cannot run away from them. So, stress persists and accumulates into our body until we develop anxiety.

Recognizing this, the Alexander Technique has been introduced. It involves lying down for 10 minutes every day in a semi-supine position. The teachers of the technique say that this “active rest” position is “like a reset button.” “As well as realigning the spine, it stops you from feeling overwhelmed, allowing you to focus on yourself and providing vital time out to quieten the mind and process emotions.”

This may sound like another wellness fad but for many years prior, even medical websites recommended stress relief by lying down and breathing deeply and slowly. The Harvard Medical School gives us a choice between taking a 30-minute walk or a 30-minute nap. When offices re-open, it may be a good idea to ban shoes in the working area so employees can take their mandatory nap on the carpet!

The other day in a zoom talk, I advised creative people to resist the La-Z boy. It was actually just my picturesque language for the avoidance of Netflix overdose. Netflix or TV per se is not bad. I work in a media network for crying out loud. My intent was to tell people to ensure enough time for passions.

To avoid confusion, let me now change my pitch: Spend extra time in bed, but have something to show for it. Then again, there’s should be no pressure nor comparison. If it’s your thing for whatever reason, I judge you not. 

But if you have a kingdom to lead out of a crisis, something wise needs to come out of your daydreaming. 


Read:

Anxiety is in Your Body, Not Your Mind by Emma Pattee on the Elemental website

Don’t Take Fatigue Lying Down by Matthew Solan on the Harvard Health Publishing website

Get Ready to Get Happy! Survey Reveals 50 Simple Things That Make Us Feel Great on the Today 

Website

Stress? Take it Lying Down on the STAT  (Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique) website

The Art of Lying Down: A Guide to Horizontal Living by Bernd Brunner Translated by Lori Lantz,PhD

Type A Triggers Heart Disease by Jeanie Lerche Davies on the WebMD website

Why Do Depressed People Lie in Bed by Jonathan Rottenberg, PhD on the Psychology Today website

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How bad mood ensures the survival of the species

Image
 Animals and humans have a built-in alarm system: the hormone cortisol.  Animals may stray away from their family to get some food, freedom, or sunshine. The sun increases the brain hormone serotonin which is responsible for a joyful feeling. After a while, before an unseen predator attacks, cortisol rises to make them feel anxious, restless, generally feeling bad and not knowing why. At this point, the animal would rush back to its family or herd. In the company of those we love, like or trust, the brain chemical oxytocin shoots up. Oxytocin gives us a good feeling. Anxiety and fear make animals and humans irritable and even hostile. But avoiding trouble is the response if the threat is too big. Evolutionary scientists noted that animals who were not easily scared were the first to die. Humans also try to displace the cortisol surge by getting angry. We kick the trash can, curse someone, or unfriend people on social media. Some deal with it by praying or meditating. When we are having
Read more

Democracy is Dangerous. What Should We Do?

Image
In Georgias, Plato warned that the populace is easy prey for charming politicians with hidden agenda. He argued that democracy can collapse into tyranny. Plato was validated. In the book How Democracies Die, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt recalled that many dictators “ascended the despotic throne” riding on popular vote. In the past two centuries, many countries widened the base of people allowed to vote. It was a clear attempt to make societies more egalitarian but had risks and tradeoffs. Harvard professor Jennifer L. Horschild commented that decision-making in terms of tackling issues and choosing leaders have “become of lower quality” as a result of expanded suffrage. I wish not to put down the lower classes. But it’s true that lack of education and lack of access to the right information can make people become easy victims of liars, especially in the era of fake news. Even today, mass education has not ensured a better-informed electorate. In the book Too Dumb for Democracy, D
Read more

Explain Nation: The Origins of Bias

Image
Bias was and still is meant for the survival of our genes. In the beginning, our ancestor animals knew there were a million ways to die. When looking for food or just enjoying the sunshine, they looked like meals to a tiger. Later on in evolution, tribes often competed for food and killed each other. So, people learned to trust only those from their own family and village. Most mammals lived with “family” and in herds. People lived with family and tribes in villages. When with trusted ones, the brain produced oxytocin, the brain chemical that made them feel good and relaxed. When animals and people strayed away from their circle of trust, oxytocin dropped and the hormone cortisol would rise to give them a bad feeling. They would then be compelled to go back to the herd or family for that nice oxytocin fix again. That’s how the survival mechanism worked. We have inherited the instinct. Up to now, we have a predictive brain. It makes us feel uncomfortable when with people or in a situati
Read more