The Louvre Heist and Sleep

Oct 22

Written By Sarah Petroski

Hi friends,

After reading about last weekend’s fantastical crown jewel Louvre heist,

I was thinking about how even the world’s most famous museum needs better guards.

And I also couldn't help but consider the metaphor that SLEEP is our version of that night watch.

While we rest, the brain reviews the day’s experiences, deciding which memories to secure in long-term storage and which to quietly let go.

* In the kids series "Inside Out", memory orbs are ball-shaped spheres that store a person's memories and are color-coded by emotion. They . The Emotions in “Headquarters” glow like brightly colored crown jewels and form into memories, which are temporarily stored on shelves before being sent to long term memory at night while we SLEEP.

Research from Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania (and basically every single university that has studied sleep) shows that sleep strengthens emotional memories, enhances learning, and clears neural waste through the glymphatic system.

This cleanup and organization can’t happen when we’re awake.

So how do we guard our own memory museum and keep from stealing sleep from ourselves?

Keep regular hours. The hippocampus files memories best when circadian rhythms are consistent.

Accept imperfection. A rough night here and there is normal, not a breach in security.

Get help. There is no medal for going it alone and googling sleep hacks at 3am. Book a clarity call with me if you get in a sticky space with sleep and we can certainly reset your nighttime security system.

Protect the hours between lights-out and sunrise as if they were holding something priceless. Because they are.

Sarah

Sarah Petroski, PGDip Sleep Medicine
Sleep coach • Movement educator • Human being

PS. Please forward to a friend who needs to see this and like, share, and save on socials. The algorithm hasn't been sharing my stuff lately but you can. Thank you. 🖤