Sara C. Mednick - The Power of the Downstate: Recharge Your Life Using Your Bodys Own Restorative Systems

T his world is hard. Adulting is hard . It takes an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and other resources to respond to the pressures bearing down on you from work, finances, family, personal health, and other areas, not to mention the never-ending information barrage from the news and social media. And, in this dystopian new era of highly contagious viruses, planetary destruction, and all the other troubles of the world, you can easily find yourself living with heightened levels of anxiety, vulnerability, and hyperarousal that tax your ability to maintain any sense of balance.

Most of us live our lives as the human equivalent of smartphones running on 10 percent battery power. At any given time, youre just an hour or so away from shutting off, but you insist on eking out a few more minutes in Low Power mode. Which means youre slower than you need to be. Dimmer. You feel drained. Stressed out. Your processing time stinks.

The truth is that you have battery chargers everywhere, and Im here to help you find them.

Welcome to The Power of the Downstate

The Downstate is a comprehensive term that refers to the wide range of recovery systems you can tap into on a daily basis to restore your most vital functions at a cellular level, including giving your heart, brain, and metabolism a rest; repairing overtrained or inflamed tissue; and allowing time to process some of the more complicated business of being humanyour memories, emotions, carefully made decisions, and Aha! moments. The Downstate is also the time for housecleaning the brains toxic by-products of everyday living. Its your opportunity to plug yourself into a metaphorical outlet and power back up.

You wont find the Downstate Im talking about in any self-help books, medical manuals, or laboratory studies because until now, there hasnt been a word for it. I developed the concept based on research insights discovered in my University of California lab. For the past decade, the scientific community has recognized that a type of Downstate happens every night, starting when your head sinks into your pillow, your eyes close, and your brain takes its delicious dive into sleep. As a professor of cognitive science at UC Irvine and world expert on sleepspecifically, the role that sleep plays in forming our long-term memories, regulating our emotions, keeping our cardiovascular system functioning properly, and helping older adults stay alert and agileI have discovered just how important that nighttime Downstate is for our mental and physical health. Thanks to experimental findings from my sleep lab, along with other labs findings, we now understand that in the depths of sleep, a healthy brain switches from On to Off mode in successive, one-second intervals, called Upstates (when brain activity is high) and Downstates (when brain activity is low). Together, the sleep science community has established that these Downstates are the driving force for all of sleeps restorative benefits. And most alarmingly, they are the very thing were losing as we head into middle age.

But the story doesnt end with sleep. The Downstate is an integral part of all the physiological, cognitive, and emotional processes that allow us to stay resilient, yet it is often ignored by our go, go, go and do, do, do society. You can capture Downstate moments at any time of day by taking your fingers off the keyboard and sinking into a deep breath, taking yourself on a walk around the block with your furry friend, or mindfully preparing a meal that will do your body good. Downstate moments can also be harnessed by maintaining a regular schedule with your sleeping, eating, and exercise routines such that your mind and body synchronize to your own natural rhythm, rather than the rhythm imposed on you by society, your family, or your job. By honoring these Downstates, we tap into our personal renewable resources that help us live longer, wiser, and healthier lives.

I am a sleep researcher by trade. My lab showed that an hour-long nap rich in deep Downstate sleep can reverse the accumulation of fatigue that erodes our thinking during the day in ways that other interventions, such as caffeine, meditation, or even the promise of money, cannot.