BIBLE:
Matthew 11:28 – “Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Psalms 127:2 – “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth his beloved sleep.”
SOP:
SLEEP/REST IS NATURE'S RESTORER
“... Sleep, nature's sweet restorer, invigorates the weary body and prepares it for the next day's duties...” (AH 289.1)
“Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, REST, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies. EVERY PERSON should have a knowledge of nature's remedial agencies and how to apply them...” {MH 127.2}
THERE SHOULD BE REGULARITY IN SLEEPING:
“The importance of regularity in the time for eating and sleeping should not be overlooked. Since the work of building up the body takes place during the hours of rest, it is essential, especially in youth, that sleep should be regular and abundant.” {CG 363.2}
WHY?
“... Irregular hours for eating and sleeping sap the brain forces...” (CD 395.1)
“...if they...strictly observe regularity in sleeping and in eating of simple food, taking nothing between meals, they need not be sick...” (CH 142.2)
GET TO BED BY 9:00 PM (9:30 for STUDENTS)
“It is a very bad habit to let work drag and drive one. Drive the work, and then you will not become discouraged. It is a bad plan to give way to impulse. If you see a book you would like to read, and sit down in the midst of your work and read during the precious hours of the day, when there is work that needs to be done, then the work is neglected. MAKE IT HABIT NOT TO SIT UP AFTER NINE O'CLOCK. Every light should be extinguished (there are exceptions to the rule)...” (9MR 46.1)
“In regulating the hours for sleep, there should be no haphazard work. Students should not form the habit of burning the midnight oil and taking the hours of the day for sleep. If they have been accustomed to doing this at home, they should correct the habit, going to bed at a seasonable hour. They will then rise in the morning refreshed for the duties of the day. In our schools the lights should be put out at half past nine.” {CT 297.1}
WHY?
“...sleep is worth far more before than after midnight.
Two hours good sleep before twelve o'clock is worth more than four hours after twelve o'clock…” {7MR 224.3}
“As a rule, the labor of the day should not be prolonged into the evening. . .” I have been shown that those who do this, often lose much more than they gain, for their energies are exhausted, and they labor on nervous excitement. They may not realize any immediate injury, but they are surely undermining their constitution.” -- Counsels on Health, page 99. {Te 140.1}
WHAT HINDERS PROPER SLEEP?
#1: Turning Night Into Day & Reading Until Sleeping Hours:
“...This turning night into day is a wretched, health-destroying habit, and this reading much by brain workers, up to the sleeping hours, is very injurious to health. It calls the blood to the brain and then there is restlessness and wakefulness, and the precious sleep, which should rest the body, does not come when desired.” (9MR 46.1)
#2: Eating Before Bedtime:
“In most cases, two meals a day are preferable to three. Supper, when taken at an early hour, interferes with the digestion of the previous meal. When taken later, it is not itself digested before bedtime. Thus the stomach fails of securing proper rest. The sleep is disturbed, the brain and nerves are wearied, the appetite for breakfast is impaired, the whole system is unrefreshed, and is unready for the day's duties.” (CD 176.1; 181.4)
#3: Lack of Fresh Air:
“...care should be taken, that, sleeping or waking, day or night, they breathe a pure, invigorating atmosphere...” {MH 381.3}
NAPS SHOULD BE TAKEN IN THE DAY (ESPECIALLY FOR THE ELDERLY & SICK):
“I urge you not to work above that which you are able to do. You should have less constant, taxing labor, that you may be able to keep yourself in a rested condition. You should take a sleep in the daytime. You can then think more readily, and your thoughts will be more clear and your words more convincing....But it is not required of you or of me to be on a continual strain...” (2SM 230.3-.4)
TAKE A POWER NAP TO HELP RE-ENGERGIZE:
“My husband laid down upon a bench in the depot, and slept about fifteen minutes, which relieved his weariness in a measure...” (RH, February 20, 1866 par. 9)
GET SOME REST/SLEEP IF YOU HAVE TO SPEAK IN THE EVENING:
“We rode about seven miles, to Bro. Gurney's, and obtained some rest and sleep, to prepare us to attend the evening appointment.” (RH, February 20, 1866 par. 9)
DO NOT SACRIFICE SLEEP/REST IN PURSUIT OF MONEY:
“One of the most fruitful sources of shattered constitutions among men is a devotion to the getting of money, an inordinate desire for wealth. They narrow their lives to the single pursuit of money, sacrifice rest, sleep, and the comforts of life to this one object. Their naturally good constitutions are broken down, disease sets in as a consequence of the abuse of their physical powers, and death closes the scene of a perverted life...” (Te 140.3)
ONE REASON SABBATH IS GIVEN TO US IS TO GIVE US REST TO HELP REFRESH OUR BODIES & MINDS:
“Elder White and Dr. Kellogg have not given themselves proper rest. God instituted the Sabbath as a day of rest to repair nature's exhausted energies. No mind can continue day after day without cessation, either in business which taxes the mental powers, or in the acquirement of knowledge, without injury...”(PH043 39.1)
WHO NEEDS REST?
1: The Sick: “The sick, as a general thing, are taxed with too many visitors and callers, who chat with them, and weary them by introducing different topics of conversation, when they need quiet, and undisturbed rest...” (2SM 458.2)
2: Children: (they need frequent intervals) “Children need more frequent change of employment and intervals of rest than grown persons do...” {AH 289.2}
3: Gospel Workers (DA 360.2)
4: Nurses (MH 220.1)
5: Overworked persons (GW 243-246)
6. Aged Ministers (2SM 226.2)
7: Bible Workers (EV 494.1)
8: Women Workers (EV 494.1)
9: Sanitarium Workers (CH 314-315)
10: Those with tired nerves (MH 326-327)
11: Persons engaged in constant mental labor (CH 563.2-564 (top of page)
12: Physicians (CH 361.5)
***Those who do not labor have no need for rest. (GW 246.1)
***Remember that James White suffered tremendously from not resting his mind enough...” 1T 519.1-.2
DO NOT SACRIFICE SLEEP FOR AMUSEMENTS:
“The majority of pleasure lovers attend the fashionable night gatherings, and spend in exciting amusements the hours God has given them for quiet rest and sleep in order to invigorate the body. . . . They are robbing the cheeks of the glow of health, and then to supply the deficiency use cosmetics.” {ML 143.5}
Would it not be better, therefore, to break up this habit of turning night into day, and the fresh hours of morning into night? If the youth would form habits of regularity and order, they would improve in health, in spirits, in memory, and in disposition.” (ML 143.4-.6)
PROPER PERIODS OF SLEEP & REST ARE ESSENTIAL TO HEALTH OF BODY & MIND:
“Proper periods of sleep and rest and an abundance of physical exercise are essential to health of body and mind. To rob nature of her hours for rest and recuperation by allowing one man to do the work of four, or of three, or even of two, will result in irreparable loss.” {7T 247.1}
MEDICAL SCIENCE:
GETTING LESS THAN 6 HOURS OF SLEEP DOUBLES A PERSON'S CHANCES OF:
- Anxiety
- Chest Pain
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Exhaustion
- Heart Disease
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Messing with the Genes
- Strokes
- Weight Gain
- And Much More
Getting 9 or more hours of sleep triples a person's chances of all the above diseases.
EXCESSIVE SLEEP = A SIN (CD 44.1)
***A person should GET 7-8 HOURS OF SLEEP each night.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN'T GO TO SLEEP:
Sit in the sun from 8:00-9:00 am every morning. Take a warm bath for 20 minutes
DRINK HOP TEA
“...Hop tea will induce sleep...” (2SM 297.5}
(1.5 t. hops in a coffee cup. Pour boiling water on top and cover (steep) x 20 minutes).
Walk 1 hour every day in the sunshine in the morning hours.
PRAY
***DO NOT watch TV or be on the Internet right before bedtime.
***Turn alarm clock facing away from you if it has a red light on it...this interferes with proper sleep.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN'T STAY ASLEEP:
Sit in the sun from 4:00-5:00 pm every afternoon. (Spring/Summer months...earlier for Fall/Winter months)
***Sunshine helps with serotonin levels which help build melatonin levels at the proper time.
SOP ABBREVIATIONS:
AH = Adventist Home
MH = Ministry of Healing
CG = Child Guidance
CH = Counsels on Health
9MR = Manuscript Releases, Volume 9
CT = Counsels to Parents, Teachers, & Students
7MR = Manuscript Releases, volume 7
Te = Temperance
CD = Counsels on Diet & Foods
2SM = Selected Messages, volume 2
RH = Review & Herald articles
PH043 = Pamphlet 43
DA = Desire of Ages
GW = Gospel Workers
EV = Evangelism
1T = Testimonies for the Churches, Volume 1
ML = My Life Today
7T = Testimonies for the Churches, Volume 1
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