Some of you will surely think the subject of this column is inconsistent with Quality Digest Daily’s line of interest. But, please, first allow me to remind you that sleep is hardly second to food, as far as human health is concerned. Without the proverbial “good night’s sleep,” we function badly. This can be a serious problem, especially in Western cultures, where we tend to live life at a run—or as machines, either on or off. There is no “standby.”

Animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz may be right when he said that “a healthy animal is up and doing,” but “doing” can have many different meanings. For most of us, either we are active (usually hyperactive), or we sleep. Although we are all aware of cultures where meditation is held in high regard, we Westerners generally don’t bother seeking out a “third” state. Let’s call it the quasi-awareness between wakefulness and sleep, the sort of rest that allows our minds and bodies to idle.

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