Learning, memory and sabbath time
Getting enough sleep not only keeps our minds and bodies functioning--it also helps us learn.Sleep--especially REM sleep, when rapid eye movements signal a unique stage of consciousness in which dreaming occurs--creates the conditions our brains need to store new information in long-term memory.
During REM sleep, the brain replenishes neurotransmitters that organize neural networks essential for remembering, learning, performance and problem solving, Cornell University's James Maas says.
This highlights yet another connection between our minds, bodies and spirits--a connection that the sabbath command in the Jewish and Christian traditions seeks to protect and nurture.
Yet millions of Americans are sleep deprived or suffer from sleep disorders that prevent normal functioning.
"We have a crisis in America," Maas told the Monitor on Psychology. "Most adults are moderately to severely sleep deprived, and it affects their productivity, their work and their relationships.
"If we treated machines like we treat the human body, we would be accused of reckless endangerment."
As a pastoral theologian, I can't help but wonder about the connections between our consumerist/consumptionist culture, our embodiment as created beings, and the need for sabbath time.
We know that rest and renewal are necessary for physical and spiritual vitality.
Yet how many pastoral caregivers attend to the stewardship of time and energy--let alone model good stewardship of time and energy--in their pastoral care encounters, in their sermons, and in their teaching and writing?
Our culture and our faith communities need a solid, contemporary pastoral theology of rest that draws on neuroscience, psychology, and the experience of contemporary Americans to make the religious concept of "Sabbath" more robust in our homes, offices, and schools.
.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Monday, July 26, 2004
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