AboutBaihu Expertise I am working toward a Ph.D. in Natural Health, and have a B.S. Med.Sci. with 14 years past clinical experience as a physician assistant in psychiatry and cardiology. I am a Reiki Master, and have a special interest in subtle energy medicine, meditation and aromatherapy. My grad studies have covered many topics including accupressure, chinese medicine, herbology, naturopathy, ayerveda and others. I am a U.L.C. ordained minister (title Preceptor - minister for individuals, instead of a congregation) to better serve the spiritual needs of my holistic health clients.
Experience I have had 13 years clinical practice as a physician assistant with experience in both psychiatry and cardiology. I am currently working toward a Ph.D in Natural Health, and have been working with various levels of Reiki since the mid-90s.
Publications Point of Light Magazine, spring 2000.
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Science in Medical Science (physician assistant) with past national certification. License currently inactivated, as I am not in mainstream clinical practice. Currently enrolled in Ph.D. program with Clayton College of Natural Health, Birmingham, AL, USA. Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Universal Life Church, Modesto, CA, USA
Awards and Honors Outstanding Young Women of America 1988, 1997, Writer's Castle poet of the year 2004
Question Hi there, I dont understand whats wrong with me. I have been going to sleep between 11pm and 12 midnite but I am having such a difficult time getting out of bed before 10-10:30am! I am a graduate student and have a part time job as well so its such a waste of my time to spend 10-11 hours in bed. I cant seem to push myself out of bed, i set my alarm clock at 7 then close it and set it at 8, close it again and so on. i really dont know what to do about this problem, do you any advice? btw Im a 22 year old female and have had this problem for as long as i can remember except these days its even harder for me to get up so yes it is worse now. (i have mild anemia, and low blood pressure, if thats important to know as well.)
thanks tons,
Neda
Answer Hello Neda
I can't do a full evaluation in a situation like this, with such little information to go on, but here is one of the few topics where eastern and western medicine, holistic and mainstream agree:
The quality of your sleep is as importiant as the quantity of your sleep. What are those 10 or 11 hours like for you? Is is quiet enought that you can sleep soundly, or, like most dorms, is it chaos 24/7? Do you ever find yourself waking up even if it is quiet? How is your mood? Depression and stress can impact sleep and energy levels. What is cousing the anemia? The national collegate potato chip and pepsi diet, or something more serious? What is your weight like? Even young people who have severe weight problems...and I do mean SEVERE, not just 40 - 50 pounds or so...can start having breathing problems that interfere with sleep quality...thus creating a craving for more sleep and depleating energy during the day.
So the first step would be to make sure you are medically health. If everything is fine, then you can turn your attention to lifestyle and mood for more answeres.
I'm working on my Ph.D, so I understand the pressures of education...especially at your age and if you are living on campus.
First and formost, do NOT make the mistake of using chemicals for this! Street drugs of any kind are OUT. You didn't make any mention of that sort of thing, but it is always worth a mention. You might want to (gasp!) think of going (gasp!) caffine free. You'll be dogging it the first three or four days, and may have some wicked headaches while it is getting out of your system, but at least it won't have any residual effects on sleep, and ultimately you'll get more energy as a pay-off later on. It is tough, but if you are extra-sensitive to that sort of thing, it would be worth it in the long run. Same goes for sleep aids, if your sleep quality is poor. They can be more disruptive than they are worth by depleting deep dream (rem) sleep. Studies show that is essential. You can have all the light sleep you want, but without rem sleep, you get problems. Just ask anybody with a baby!
Managing stress might be helpful too. I know you are tight on time, and I would have a hard time taking this advice myself, but you might want to consider setting aside time for a little light yoga, meditation or whatever spiritual practice you follow, if any, toward the end of the day. Some styles of meditation aren't suitable for in bed or right before sleep, so you may want to seperate the meditation from actually laying down to sleep by five or ten minutes.
And, obviously, treating the anemia is going to help tremendously. Find out what is causing it! If it iron-deficiency type, then by all means eat the leafy greens, or if you are a meat eater, indulge in the occasional chicken or hamburger or what have you. If you are vegan, make sure you get enough of the iron containing veggies, or use some eggs/cheese if you allow that.
This is also hard to do when you are strapped to a chair cramming, but getting just a little aerobic exercise actually helps boost alertness, learning, improves sleep quality and improves energy.
And lastly, don't beat up on yourself too much. Younger people (under 25 or so, but it is different for each person) and people in high stress, high demand situations just plain old need more sleep. It is just a matter of brain biology. And you can catch up on sleep, believe it or not. Is there one day a week, or at least every now and agian where you can just let yourself sleep as long as you want? In the Naturopathic and vitalistic schools of though, sleep is the great healer. Maybe just letting yourself roll with it every now and then will make the other mornings easier. And don't overcompensate...let yourself have a full, uninterrupted 8 hours before you start banging on the snooze bar!
I know this sounds like an fda announcement, but naturopaths would tell you the same thing because it all affects the "vital forces" theory, and traditional chinese medicine gives the same advice since all this affects things like kidney yang, kidney chi, shen, and other chi aspects.
So make sure you are medically healthy, keep the lifestyle clean and green, and if that doesn't do the trick, then a face to face consult with a holistic practitioner, if you can at all afford it, would be the next logical step, I would think.
