Tharindu Dissanayake's Reviews > Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

"The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life span"

This is not a book that I had in any of my reading lists, and only picked up because the title seemed interesting while I was searching for some other books. I'm really glad that I did so, because this turned out to be one of the most incredible books I've ever read: full of enlighteningly descriptive insights on many aspects related to sleeping.

"Wakefulness is low-level brain damage, while sleep is neurological sanitation."
"When sleep is abundant, minds flourish. When it is deficient, they don’t."

The books contains four main standalone parts, starting with explaining what sleep really is, then moving across how/ why should we sleep and dream, and finally on establishing proper sleeping habits. The reader will have the opportunity to learn about different stages of sleep and their functions with a staggering amount of examples and research references to better comprehend the principles outlined. And unlike most health related books, Walker's writing is excellent for readers of any prior background on the area. It made the reading experience very smooth and entertaining.

"REM sleep is what stands between rationality and insanity"
"The REM-sleep dreaming brain was utterly uninterested in bland, commonsense links – the one-step-to-the-next associations. Instead, the REM-sleep brain was shortcutting the obvious links and favoring very distantly related concepts. The logic guards had left the REM-sleep dreaming brain."

It is indeed alarming - as the author has stated throughout the book - how unaware we are about the importance of sleep to all beings. I, for one, had never even dreamed of such severe implications due to poor quality or reduced sleeping, but shared the common misconception of being wake up more is important for success in all areas in life. This book not only correct such mistaken beliefs but will cause a paradigm shift in how we should embrace proper sleeping habits, and soon.

"Humans, modern-living or pre-industrial, need less than seven hours of sleep therefore appears to be a wishful conceit, and a tabloid myth."

I cannot emphasize enough, how important it is for every single person to read this book, and cannot thank the author enough, for this is undoubtedly one the most helpful books one can ever read. I believe everyone should read this - irrespective of any and all variables - and the only worry you will have is not having read it sooner. Read this book, and as soon as you can!

"Memories formed without sleep are weaker memories, evaporating rapidly."