ARTICLE TODAY: Brain waste removed during sleep – 10/17/13
Science is showing now that some kind of ‘brain waste removal’ happens during sleep – involving the liver somehow…
It seems in almost every traditional culture in some way related with this organ we call the “liver” – there have been some striking correlations. Universally it seems this liver is almost always associated with sleep, dreaming, the ‘dream body’, visions, even life-purpose kind of vision, and indeed almost always – the eyes. The way I tell it to myself, Kevin Costner ate the buffalo liver in Dancing with wolves for attaining THE VISION of a true native.
We think of it as a detoxing organ – so in health food stores its always about “detoxing” a congested liver.
But its also how the blood is cleansed, and monitored – regulated if you will – to be sent back into the body flowing, smoothly, easily, without stuttering. When its good and we reach out (and touch someone) the experience has some grace and ease.
During the day we are conscious – we feel at the surface of the body. We are alive at the pores, we are breathing, we are in the outermost layer of our bodies – in our Lungs breathing, exchanging air w/ our pores….
During the night the rhythm gets pulled in….to the liver. For real, not just the “Chinese Medicine Liver” – the blood gets stored deep in there – staying warm – resting. Pulling us in the old days into keeping the blood warm during long nights in the cave, making us thankfully less aware of the howling wolves, and tigers….
When we are kids it stays in there. I could pick up my boys in the middle of the night and carry them like lumps from car to bed or wherever. The in-and-out lung/liver circulation worked well. With aging, it can get a lot less…smooth.
On the way in we pull in our eyesight – our vision of the world changes – we have dreams. REM sleep…. Then it goes all the way in and its non-conceptual – deep deep sleep – we are unbounded. If we are sick and painful all day long – it doesn’t exist there. Complete and miraculous healing is even…possible. And maybe normal – we feel regenerated. On the way back out from the depth – dreams are added to what was – beyond that…. Maybe we have a dream that seems to last a week, and its only a 30-second resurfacing from that deep liver place that then gets some content, some story, from somewhere…on its way up.
How do we mess this up? A little by just being human – getting older, stiffer, less supple affects us in and out. Eventually it happens to everyone if they live long enough. Of course if we have a David Crosby lifestyle, or an unlucky pickup of Hepatitis C or something – we can get there a lot more quickly. We can also accelerate the way I am doing it right now – typing and looking at a screen later at night. Entertainment for the eyes. It keeps the drawing in from happening…Push past the 10 pm sleepiness and keep going.
What can help? More greens, less overeating at night, more tension/release of muscles (yoga/exercise/walking/tai qi), emotional balance, herbs and acupuncture, getting to bed consistently at night… Or maybe also getting a little visionary at night too – some late nights playing music, doing art, having a dark or bright night of the soul…is also helpful.
OK – I’ll go with it – heres to a little brain waste removal!
🙂