Book review #43 : Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

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Before starting this book, I was very excited to know the facts related to sleep and dreams. Little did I know, I am about to encounter the best book of my life. This book certainly has changed my perception towards sleep. Oh man! I am seeing this world with different lenses now.

Mathew Walker is a scientist, precisely “Sleep Scientist”, and for an instance you can consider him God of Sleep too, because he has presented innumerable observations regarding the biological clock of living beings with respect to their sleeping patterns. 


This book is divided into four sections, each represents a different universe of interrelated norms of good night sleep. It doesn't matter how you are going to start the chapters, you will definitely gain a vast perpetual experience of our circadian rhythm. 

In the first section, he described what is sleep, how much it is important for different living beings, how every individual has their own periodicity of sleep cycle, how irregular sleep can be with even a small dose of caffeine related products, how and why sleep vary from infants to old age people, and many more detailed observations related to it. You will be amazed reading minute lab tests performed on the volunteers.

In the second section, it is shown that how memory performs with sound sleep, how our basic cognitive process gets enhanced with the introduction of planned sleep, how muscle memory is also related to brain memory, consequences of sleep deprived instances and its long term impact on an individual's health. Whether you accept it or not, you will be glued with keen monitored measurements and why it results in severe diseases like cancer, Alzheimer, cardiac arrests and more. 

In the third section, he specifically explained the logic behind dream patterns, and why our brain needs REM and NREM equally. It is very evident after reading all the research that Mathew is in love with sleep and dreams, because it is a dream which makes our brain creative and progressive. Spoiler alert, you will get to know so many myths and very-famous-teachings-of-our-elders to be wronged with appropriate evidence. 

In the last section, Mathew has explained about different disorders caused by lack of sleep, and how it can be resolved, or at least lessened their impingement. He also suggested ways to improve lifestyle for the sake of sound sleep.


Undoubtedly, this is my best read till now. I whole-heartedly suggest this valuable work to everyone. I mean everyone. And it can only be possible, if it will be included as a mandatory read/subject to high school students. It should be made a mandatory training topic for every working adult. I know it will take a very long time to establish an ecosystem, where people genuinely understand the worth of sleep. 


Mother Nature has created a beautiful rebound therapy for free, why are we taking it for granted? 


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