SLEEP AS MEDICINE

In The Deadliest Lie, Judah tells Miriam about an asclepion where his mentor’s wife was treated for mania. (see my blog of February 23, 2016). An asclepion is a spa-like temple dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of health and medicine. The patient participates in exercises, diet, mineral baths, massage, and various other rituals before lying down on a sacred skin (called a kline from which we derive the word clinic) for the curative sleep.

Is sleep curative? Sleep is a time when your body restores and repairs different functions, among others getting the hormones back to a healthful level. Second, while you sleep, the body makes more white blood cells to protect the body from infection. Third, sleep lessens demands on your heart to lower blood pressure and give the heart a rest. And so, when you awaken you are ready for the day ahead.

One of my rituals before going to sleep is to read. I escape my everyday cares as I’m transported to a different time and place. Try following Miriam as she takes you to first-century CE Alexandria. The Historical Novel Society praises the stories as “finely crafted and fascinating historical fiction,” and readers say “You gain a full sense that you have actually been transported back to Ancient Alexandria, that you are walking down a real avenue with all its wonders and danger. You are there!” So, just click here to choose a story.