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This is a close to 2 hour seminar given by Dr James Maas on Relaxation, Stress & Sleep in a MDRT SeminarAbout James Maas——————–James Maas is an American social psychologist, professor at Cornell University, and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow. He is best known for his work in the field of sleep research, specifically the relationship between sleep and performance. He coined the term “power nap”[1] and wrote the best-selling book Power Sleep. He holds a B.A. from Williams College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell.Maas has produced numerous film specials on sleep research for PBS, BBC, and others.For his preaching, Maas has received the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award and Cornell’s Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching.In 1995, a Cornell University ethics committee recommended sanctions against Maas for sexual harassment. The charges were based on the complaints of four women who graduated between the years 1990 and 1994. For five years Maas was prohibited from taking on female students as advisees, or hiring any female students to assist with childcare.[2]For over forty years, he taught Psychology 101 (now entitled Psych 1101) at Cornell. Over the course of that time, the class achieved a “near-mythical status” and often had enrollments of more than 1500 students, making it one of the largest classes in the country.[3] The class size required a large venue, Bailey Hall, the university’s main concert hall.[3] He has instructed over 65,000 students in his career, and retired on December 31, 2011.–Sleep for SuccessMost Americans don’t value sleep, because many of us are ignorant of what can happen when we don’t get enough.  Dr. James Maas says over 71percent of the population is moderately to severely sleep deprived.  “Whatever you estimate your total sleep to be, it’s probably overestimated by an hour,” says Dr. Maas.  “We have a nation of zombies.” There is a significant link between a lack of sleep and stress, depression, ability to think and perform, hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, Type II diabetes, periodontal disease, skin problems, obesity and cancer.  “We need to value sleep not as a luxury but as a necessity,” says Dr. Maas. We might feel alert enough to get through the day, but we are performing well below our potential.  Most adults need between 7.5 and 9 hours per night.  Typically we should feel wide awake, energetic and alert all day without a significant midday drop in alertness. Dr. Maas says we sleep for two reasons.  First, our bodies run on cycles called circadian rhythms, of which the sleep cycle is one.  Many of these cycles, such as heartbeat, blood pressure, respiration, metabolism, and temperature, drop or slow during the sleep cycle.  Light is the most powerful cue affecting sleep and darkness triggers the release of melatonin, the hormone that brings on sleep.  Noise and temperature also play key roles in the regulation of our sleep cycle.Second, we sleep because the longer we are awake the greater our need for mentally and physically restorative sleep.  It takes one hour of sleep to pay for every two hours of wakefulness.  So we start to tire after being up for 16 hours.  Sleep debt is cumulative, which means the longer you deprive yourself of rest, the more of it you will need to feel rested. Two of his students at Cornell had a daughter who was figure skating.  She was good, but perhaps not good enough to win a medal in the Olympics.  She was training twice a day (early in the morning and later in the afternoon).  Her parents consulted Dr. Maas.  He suggested eliminating the early morning practice, changed her sleeping habits giving her one extra hour of sleep a night (she went from 7 to 8 hours).  Soon her grades went up and physically she became stronger.  “Sleeping builds muscle and enhances athletic performance,” says Dr. Maas.  This young girl was Sarah Hughes who went on to the Olympics and won the Gold Medal in figure skating.Dr. Maas says there are four simple keys that we can incorporate into our lives for one week. Essential Key #1:  Determine your “Personal Sleep Quotient” and meet it nightly.  Pick a bedtime when you are likely to fall asleep quickly that’s at least 8 hours before you need to get up.  Keep to this bedtime for a week and note when you wake up in the morning.Essential Key #2:  Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up naturally at the same time every morning, including weekends.Essential Key #3:  Get your required amount of sleep in one continuous block.Essential Key #4:  Make up for lost sleep as soon as possible.About The Featured Products