The human body responds to an increase in speed with an increase in internal tension. Greater speed raises the average muscle tone. If you drive a car moderately, fast, or very fast, when are you more tense? In driving, we at least have the possibility of slowing down, which allows us to lower the body’s tension—but only if we have enough time and conscious control over the gas pedal. However, if we are in a hurry, slowing down actually increases bodily tension, as it raises the likelihood of arriving late.
The more obligations, demands, and desires we have, the faster we must act, and over time, we may lose the sense that we are operating too quickly for our body. We become unable to relax simply because we lack the time and don’t have a low enough number of unresolved problems. The influence of the environment is the primary factor determining how the body functions as a whole, how it affects the nervous system, how the brain works, and therefore how our consciousness operates. The ever-increasing pace of life—created and enabled by technological and scientific progress—has already surpassed the speed at which we can still achieve temporary relaxation and bodily calm.
As a result, higher levels of sensory-motor amnesia (SMA) develop, which masks these chronic tensions from our awareness, thus allowing us to function at chronically excessive speeds. This leads to one of the most significant and long-term destructive pandemics of modern times: the pandemic of insomnia and sleep deprivation.
A study (summary available at: https://www.mountsinai.org/…/a-consistent-lack-of-sleep…) showed that a prolonged period (six weeks) of reduced sleep duration leads to significant changes in the immune system (hematopoietic cells). The inadequate immune response increases inflammation and the risk of disease.
If we sleep on average less than 7.5 hours a day, we should undertake a project to extend our sleep, as it has the strongest effect on the immune system. The problem is that higher physical and muscle tension makes it impossible to achieve appropriately long sleep. For the body, an excessively fast pace of life reduces the efficiency of problem-solving and increases fear of future problems and growing helplessness. In such a state, sleep becomes a “waste of time,” because it’s deemed wiser to sleep less and solve what worries us first—then rest peacefully in a temporarily managed environment. This works if the pace is acute. If it’s chronic, however, we are left with chronic sleep reduction, which leads to the deterioration of all bodily systems, requiring more SMA, more stimulants, and even more speed—since we also need to fix the mistakes made due to exhaustion and hidden burnout.
If you can sleep longer due to more efficient problem-solving and reduced SMA, you think differently, need fewer stimulants and less help, and can think more soberly. This allows for better accuracy in determining what you truly need and what you don’t. You become a less ideal consumer—not only of material goods but also of professional help. Even worse is the fact that children are already caught in this cycle.
Solutions exist (the AEQ approach), as do tools that help us feel how fast—or too fast—we are living (AEQ exercises). Without that, neither the environment nor its influence on us can change, and therefore neither can our sleep.
