SAMPLE ESSAY "SLEEPING"

Sleeping is a natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body. So, William Shakespeare called it as a death’s counterfeit. Besides, it is a basic necessity of life, as important as air, food and water. But, Thomas Edison claimed that sleeping is a waste of time. According to Dayton Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Wright State University School of Medicine and the Sleep-Wake Disorders Research Institute, each one of us has a unique sleep requirement, for instance, new born (15 - 20 hours), children (10 - 15 hours), adults (6 - 9 hours) and old age (5 - 6 hours). Except for the people, animals also have a unique sleep requirement such as bats (approximately 20 hours), cats (about 15 hours), rabbit (about 9 hours) and horse (3 hours) a day. There are five interesting and unknown basic parts of sleeping such as sleeping positions, sleeping behaviors, sleeping types, sleeping disorders and sleeping facts.

The first part is sleeping positions. Prof. Chris Idzikowski, who is the director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, identified six sleeping positions and detected personality traits based on them in his survey of 1000 people. The first position is the Fetus (or Fetal) (41%). Curling up on your side. If fetus is your position of choice, curl up on the right side of your body. Because, sleeping on your left side can cause stress on your vital organs (liver, stomach, lungs). Those who sleep in the fetus are described as tough on the outside, but shy and sensitive at heart. They may take time to warm up to people, but soon relax. The second one is the Log (15%). Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. This position keeps the spine straight, which should be beneficial for those who suffer from back pain. Log sleepers are social, easygoing people. The downside: their tendency to trust anyone, including complete strangers, makes them easy to fool. The third one is the Yearner (13%). Lying on your side with both arms out in front. Resting on your side can help decrease some problems associated with acid reflux disease and sleep apnea. Yearners are open to new things, but also suspicious and cynical. They take a long time to make decisions, weighing pros and cons repeatedly, but once they make a choice, they almost never change their mind or have regrets. The other one is the Soldier (8%). Lying on your back with both arms at your sides. Research shows that sleeping on your back may lead to snoring, difficulty in breathing. Soldier sleepers are generally quiet and reserved. They don’t like to make a big deal out of things, and they set very high standards for themselves and others. Another one is the Freefall (7%). Lying on your stomach with hands up around the pillow and head turned to one side. Freefall, or any position in which you’re lying face down, is good for digestion. Freefallers are often extroverted and brash people. They appear nervy, but are truly thin-skinned people who take criticism personally. Last but not least is the Starfish (5%). Lying on your back with both arms up. Like the soldier, starfish sleepers are more likely to snore and have breathing problems while they sleep. Starfish sleepers are described as great listeners and thus good friends. They’re always willing to offer help and generally don’t like being in the limelight. And apart from these positions, 11% of people have varied or unknown sleeping positions.

Second part is sleeping behaviors. There are three important sleeping behaviors. Firstly, we should consume four types of food before going to sleep. As an illustration of this; fish (especially salmon, halibut and tuna), banana (well-known for being rich in potassium, are also a good source of Vitamin B6 which is needed to make melatonin), yogurt (boast healthy doses of calcium) and whole grains (bulgur, barley and other grains are rich in magnesium). Secondly, we shouldn’t do four things which ruin our sleep such as bringing books to bed, counting sheep, facebooking into the wee hours and setting a bright alarm clock. And lastly, we should follow four advices for nice sleeping. For instance; make your bedroom as dark as possible, make sure the temperature is right (18°C to 24°C), move distractions to another room and make sure you won’t be disturbed.

Third one is the most important section of basic parts of sleeping. It is types of sleeping. There are two types of sleeping. First one is non-rapid eye movement sleep. This type of sleep consists of four stages. Stage 1 is an initial stage between awakening and sleep. It normally lasts from 1-7 minutes. The person feels relaxed with eye closed. If awakened, the person will frequently say that he has not been sleeping. Stage 2 is the first stage of true sleep. The person experiences only light sleep. It is a little harder to awake the person. Fragment of dream may be experienced. Eyes may slowly roll from side to side. Stage 3 is the period of moderately deep sleep. The person is very relaxed. Body temperature begins to fall. It is difficult to awaken the person. This stage occurs about 20-25 minutes after falling asleep. Stage 4 is a stage that deep sleep starts in there. Person becomes fully relaxed. Respond slowly if awakened. The second type of sleeping is rapid eye movement sleep (paradoxical sleep/dreamful sleeps). In normal sleep bouts of REM sleep lasting for 5-20 minutes usually appear on the average after every 90 minutes. The first such period occurring 80-100 minutes after the person falls asleep. When the person is in extreme sleep, the duration of each bout of REM is very short. It may even be absent. Most sleep during each night is of a slow wave. It lasts for 80 or 90 minutes. Dreams/night mare even occurs. The difference is that the dreams in slow wave sleep are not remembered but in REM, dreams can be remembered.

Other part is sleeping disorders. In general there are 5 disorders which annoy people. First is Insomnia. This is an inability to sleep. Second is somnolence. This is an extreme sleepiness. Third one is sleep walking. It is common in children. Other one is sleep paralysis. In this disorder, people generally awake but unable to speak or move. Last one is nightmare. This is frightening dream. There are a lot of kinds of nightmares. But if we want to see the common ones; we can give these examples; monsters, being exposed, the witch, being trapped, falling, a mean animal, armless creature turns menacing and bugs.

Last interesting and unknown basic part of sleeping is sleeping facts. There are lots of facts about sleeping such as we spend a third of our lives sleeping; humans spend about 6 years dreaming; you actually burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV; Napoleon, Florence Nightingale and Margaret Thatcher slept four hours a day; most people have an average four to seven dreams every night; the average dream lasts between 10 and 15 minutes; twelve percent of people dream only in black and white; all animals dream too; one third of 25 year olds have difficulty getting up in the morning; quarter of them is late to school or work due to sleepiness; half of them sleep at school or work at least two days a week; quarter of them have driven a car while drowsy that is the cause of 100,000 traffic crashes each year, killing more than 1000 people and injuring another 71000; if you are snoring you can’t be dreaming; we only dream of what we know. Faces are based on people we have seen before; children under the age of 3 don’t dream about themselves; you forget 90% of drams within 10 minutes of waking up and pioneering research means scientist may soon be able to record your dreams.

In brief, sleeping is one of the most important things in our lives. And, if we take into account the interesting and unknown basic parts of sleeping such as sleeping positions, sleeping behaviors, sleeping types, sleeping disorders and sleeping facts; we can get enough sleep, we can also get out of the bed vigorously and we don’t complain about snoozing in our everyday lives too.