December 2008 Contents
I. Hibernation
II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room, and the Shrink’s Couch
III. Friends in Print: When you feel like reading
IV. Creative Links
V. Special Coaching Offer: Jump Start January ‘09Newsletter and Info: Share this newsletter, subscribe, or unsubscribe
VI. Newsletter and Info: Share this newsletter, subscribe, or unsubscribe
 

I. Hibernation
We’re going into the dark tunnel to winter’s solstice.
 
Every year about this time, as dawn comes later and dusk falls sooner, I love wrapping myself in warmer clothes and burrowing down into my coziest corners. Sometimes that’s staying in bed, delaying the shock of the footsoles on colder floors. Sometimes it’s playing medieval music, evoking a time when the only light was candles in cold stone castles and gothic churches.

Even if you live in warmer climates, the introverted artist within you may need time for that turning inward to balance out the social outreach of holiday gatherings. Here in the Northwest, the urge to hibernate is pretty strong, as it is for all those close to the poles. Once I let go of the hope for more sun and warmth, I enjoy the shriveling of our plant life, the hardening of the earth at first frost… all good excuses to stay indoors, stay close to the heat. In this gently altered state it seems I more easily relax into curiosity about sensing what surrounds me and the wanderings of my mind within. Like my cat who is curled in a small cave of comforter but still watching, I am open to wisps of new ideas that float by. From this space of enclosure I glimpse possibilities. I hear echoes of ideas and dialogue not fully connected, notes not yet a melody. It’s a ‘what if’ time: What if I could see all the molecules in the firelight? What if I weren’t an artist? What if I could paint with the ends of my thoughts?

Oddly, as I write this, I am in a darkened room, lit not by the evocative light of candle or firelight, but by the light of the computer screen. It is a peaceful room, darkened for healing sleep following a friend’s hard day’s work of medical treatment. This is the dark I love, and even though the low light is that of technology, it is now tamed to support life and healing. And in the dark we all become restored by rest, by turning inward, held gently by the quiet night outside.

A healing solstice to all and my coach’s wish that you create pockets of peace in the turning of the season that nourish and restore your deep creative well.
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II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room and the Shrink’s Couch
Notes* from the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience on Uninterrupted Sleep, Memory and Creativity.
Especially in the holiday season, pure busyness can disrupt our normal alternating rhythms of running around and rest. Recent neuroscience research is highlighting not only how long we should sleep to stay healthy, but the importance of uninterrupted sleep.

Even before we reach the REM stage of deep sleep where dreams occur, prior stages of uninterrupted slow wave sleep are critical for memory consolidation. Of course, some of the evidence is based on how white rats remember where the cheese is in their little mazes. But there is evidence as well from work with humans showing that short naps improve our learning. Brain studies have gone deeper to show how sleep improves the chemistry needed for new cell birth and creativity.

Consider taking this research to heart during the holidays to get a 20-minute refresher for both your brain and your creative work.
* AP news release by Lauran Neergaard. 11/25/08; see also Mednick SC., Nakayama K., Stickgold R. “Sleep-dependent Learning: A Nap is as Good as a Night,” Nature Neuroscience, July 2003.
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