MACC-sters, I write this as much to myself as to you, but I think the topic of sleep, and how it relates to our class, is worth discussing.  You may have noticed a trend in our morning check-ins, going back to Day One: I don’t think we need empirical data from a statistician to tell us that the dot plot around the word “tired” would be pretty crowded…

Remember, at your age, you need between nine and twelve hours of sleep a day (at my age, you can get by with a few slow blinks…).  Not only does this help you process what you have learned and experienced during the day (think amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex), but it also balances your mood and makes you less likely to be thrown by difficult social interactions.  It helps you be in control of you.  It has also been proven that in order to enter a full and deep sleep, you need to have separated yourself from any screened device at least half an hour before you get into bed.  Easier said than done…

For the scientifically minded, here are a few articles:

“Sleep ‘resets’ brain connections crucial for memory and learning, study reveals”

“Helping our school-aged children sleep better”

“Electronics in the bedroom: why it’s necessary to turn off before you tuck in”

For the more romantically minded, groove on this (and think about how breathing, enunciation, and articulation, like we practiced with our speeches, is at play here) :

Sleep Mediations:

On this page of  CEC guided meditations, the “Fall in Love” mediation led by Steph helps you explore the hypnogogic state that can lead you into sleep or serve as a great place for creativity and/or simple rest at any time of the day.  It is a lying down meditation – works best lying flat on your back, with a pillow under your head, another pillow or two under your knees or calves, and a blanket wrapped around you, arms at your sides.  The first nine minutes or so are her introduction (use the time to get set up and settled), and then the meditation begins.

Kidevolve

Here are four different sleep meditations from Jeff Warren.  Nighty night!

Now stop reading this and get some sleep!