Basic Pursuits

I believe that staying out of the dumps is a moral imperative. How can you excel and be your best when you are in despair? How can you focus? Care about others? Love to the fullest?

Here are two ways to beat the blues.

Second Sleep

Beating the blues involves not just getting enough sleep, but getting the right sleep.

Recent research on sleep is enough to give sleep experts insomnia.

Cheri Mah of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory reported that athletes who get extra sleep over an extended period of time improve performance.

“While this study focuses specifically on collegiate swimmers, it agrees with data from my other studies of different sports and suggests that athletes across all sports can greatly benefit from extra sleep and gain the additional competitive edge to perform at their highest level,” she said.

For people who are lifetime exercisers, their most important characteristic is consistency. They attain consistency because the exercise makes them feel good. Ask a hundred of these folks why they exercise, the first thing you'll hear from most is, "because it makes me feel good."

O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my sense in forgetfulness?
~William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I