stress<\/a> can raise cortisol levels which clearly has been shown to affect our ability to reach deep sleep. But childhood and teenage years can be the most stressful in a person\u2019s lives too \u2013 largely because we are encountering physical and emotional issues for the first time and must struggle to learn how to deal with life\u2019s problems without prior experience or the toughening of our heartstring tissue.<\/p>\nSo, these types of stress level changes cannot be the main factor. We need to look at what is required for us to reach deep sleep to find this answer, because it does not matter so much that we are losing sleep \u2013 but that we are losing Delta sleep. THAT is a matter of huge importance.<\/p>\n
Reaching the Delta Stage of Brain Activity<\/h3>\n
To reach the Delta Stage of brain activity, all research points towards the need to shut off our awareness of our surroundings. When in light sleep, we still have a connection with our surroundings so that if someone sits on the bed, or we hear a noise in the kitchen, our defensive reflexes engage, and we wake up.<\/p>\n
Once we do and can ALLOW our brain to slow down to the delta state, that connection to our surroundings is then turned off. Our defensive reflexes are deactivated. Which is why, once we crossover from light sleep into deep sleep, it becomes very hard to wake up.<\/p>\n
Bed movement will no longer cause us to waken because our defensive reflex is not receiving a signal from our surroundings. We must instead be shaken awake. And if we are forced to wake from the Delta State, our connection to our surroundings must be re-established. Our nervous system has to reboot. And, until it does \u2013 someone who has been awakened from the deep sleep often has no idea where they are or what time it is or even how to put on a pair of pants.<\/p>\n
Awareness of Our Surroundings<\/h3>\n
Now, the question can be fine-tuned, and we must ask \u2013 once we hit the age between 18-25, what is keeping us aware of our surroundings and\/or is keeping us from letting go of our need to be aware of our surroundings? Why suddenly can\u2019t we allow our defensive reflex to be deactivated when we reach this age?<\/p>\n
For most of us, in leaving home, we lose the security of being provided for, the nurturing comfort of knowing someone has our back and is just down the hallway.<\/p>\n
I Can Remember…<\/h3>\n
I can remember the first time I moved to New York City \u2013 I could not fall asleep for days from the need to be aware of my surroundings. From the fear of completely letting go of my defenses.<\/p>\n
Add to this the fact that many people become parents in this time period. Now it is not just ourselves that we need to provide for and protect. Even though I am hard of hearing, I was always able to hear the sound of my children\u2019s cries. Why? Because I never slept? No \u2013 because I almost never reached Delta sleep. I was always hyper aware of my surroundings even in light sleep. My defensive system was attuned to the frequency of their cries \u2013 and my subconscious never allowed it to be shut off.<\/p>\n
I lived the life of a touring Broadway actor straight out of college \u2013 and though I had left my parent\u2019s cocoon, and had to struggle at times between jobs, I only had me to worry about during the hard times. Once I got over my fear of my strange surroundings \u2013 I was fine \u2013 and if I found myself in trouble, I had the comfort and the security of knowing I could run home to my parents in the back of my mind. And while on tour \u2013 I did not need to worry about booking my travel, checking my bags, creating my schedule, making my bed, cooking my food \u2013 it was all done for me!<\/p>\n
The result \u2013 I did not age. I was still being cast as a college age ing\u00e9nue into my late
\nthirties.<\/p>\n
But then \u2013 Peter Pan grew up.<\/p>\n
The Aging Process<\/h3>\n
It was not until I got married and had my first child that I had my first gray hair, and the aging process began.<\/p>\n
![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/First-Gray-Hair.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Suddenly, I had others to worry about 24\/7. I had responsibilities looming over my psyche that I could not just hand over to my parents. My need to provide and defend went up-up-up, and my deep sleep periods went down-down-down.<\/p>\n
And all the effects of less Delta impacted me physically, mentally, and emotionally. My growth hormone production plummeted \u2013 as did the production of all the other healing agents we naturally produce during Delta.<\/p>\n
So my<\/p>\n
\n- immune system suffered,<\/li>\n
- memory became worse, and<\/li>\n
- temper shortened.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I AGED.<\/p>\n
Bringing More Delta Activity Into People’s Lives<\/h3>\n
The importance of finding a way to bring more Delta activity into people\u2019s lives is monumental, especially in today\u2019s world of coronaviruses, instant and 24\/7 subjection to social media persecution, a scary big brother watching us with GPS accuracy, differing opinion intolerance and cancellation, and other stresses that have never before been suffered by a population that causes every society to look over their shoulder more and more. To be more defensive. TO FEAR.<\/p>\n
But how do we bring more Delta into people\u2019s lives?<\/p>\n
\n- Drugs?<\/em> It is true that some drugs can bring the Delta State of brain activity \u2013 but these drugs run the risk of fatal overdose and addiction \u2013 and have other dangerous side effects as well.<\/li>\n
- Hypnotism?<\/em> This has been shown to help achieve this Delta State but can interrupt circadian rhythms and can be counterproductive in the long run.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Massage’s Connection to Better Sleep<\/h3>\n
It is a well-known fact that relaxing massage can help people fall asleep faster and sleep longer and deeper. But unless the technique being used is applied with the intent to disengage a person\u2019s awareness of their surroundings and deactivate the person\u2019s defensive system, the profound potential for massage to bring the person into the Delta State will not be achieved either on the massage table or later that night when they are asleep. In fact \u2013 most techniques that are being taught and practiced are causing the opposite effect \u2013 heightening a person\u2019s defensive system, cortisol levels, and emotional angst.<\/p>\n
Delta Wave Massage<\/h3>\n
That is what makes the Delta Wave Massage vitally important. Its philosophy and technique focus on releasing subconscious tension in the client while eliminating the conveyance of the subconscious tension held by the therapist into the client through the language of touch.<\/p>\n
It builds trust and an anticipation of relief (which disarms the defensive reflex) versus causing fear and an anticipation of pain (which activates the defensive reflex).<\/p>\n
Because every aspect of the Delta Massage is geared towards helping the client experience Delta brain activity on the table and then again more deeply that evening, you can have a powerfully positive impact on all aspects of the client\u2019s aging process.<\/strong><\/p>\nIn fact, the healing benefits of Delta brain activity are so profound that reaching this state should be the goal of every massage \u2013 especially if there is a technique such as the Delta Wave Massage that allows you to incorporate deep work and ROM without triggering the client\u2019s defenses.<\/p>\n
The health threat to a society that is yearly seeing the amount of time spent in Delta decrease cannot be stressed enough. Put it this way: once that ever-shrinking average of minutes per day that we reach Delta hits zero \u2013 we die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Discover more about the aging process and how a different technique, the Delta Wave Massage, can be instrumental in slowing it down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":5931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aging"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5917"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6811,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5917\/revisions\/6811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrativehealthcare.org\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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