It may be only natural that an activity that occupies one third of our lives -- sleep -- also seems to fill our language with interesting expressions and references.

Sleep itself may be described in colorful ways. Someone may be said to be "sawing logs" (in reference to the sound of snoring) or "counting sheep". An individual in an especially deep sleeper may be said to be "sleeping like a baby". Other sleep idiom examples may include:

• shuteye
• sleep like a log
• hit the hay
• cat nap
• rest your eyes
• get 40 winks
• catch some Zs

Moreover, there are countless stories -- even those told at bedtimes to children -- in which central characters are prone to excesses of sleep. The story of Sleeping Beauty and Rip Van Winkle quickly come to mind, with each involving a character who experiences a period of exceptionally prolonged rest.

Can you think of other expressions involving sleep? How about other stories that pertain to sleep? You may even be able to think of movies that relate to sleep topics. Share your suggestions by commenting on this post or discuss it further in the forum.

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For those who observe daylight saving time, this Sunday at 2 A.M. the clocks will move forward one hour. Remember the simple mnemonic: Fall back, spring ahead. For most of us, this means one hour less sleep and a harder time getting up in the days that follow.

A recent study showed that this change can lead to a 6% increase in cardiac events, including heart attacks on the days following the change. Therefore, it might be a good idea to plan for a little extra sleep by going to bed early.

This can be phased in before the change, rather than abruptly losing an hour of sleep and trying to catch up. Go to bed 15 minutes early and get up 15 minutes earlier each of the days preceding the clock adjustment, starting tonight.

It is hard to get up at a time that feels an hour too early, but if you make the adjustment gradually you may be able to ease into things and have a great start to your spring.

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Before you dismiss a midday nap as a sign of laziness, you may want to learn about a recent study suggesting that it may be just the thing to make you smarter.

The study done at the University of California shows that an hour's nap can boost your brain power. In the study, healthy young adults who were allowed to sleep for 90 minutes midday actually performed better than those who did not. Their performance also improved from their baseline testing, suggesting that they also got smarter.

As we spend time awake for a prolonged period of time, we have more difficulty learning new information. It is thought that sleep is needed to clear our short-term memory storage in an area of the brain called the hippocampus to make room for new information. This transfer of information is thought to occur in one of the basic sleep stages called stage 2.

It is rather interesting to think that we are just beginning to learn the function of sleep.

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In case you need another reason to celebrate, don't forget to observe National Sleep Awareness week which takes place March 7-13.

This is the perfect opportunity to be more aware of your own sleep needs as well as the importance of recognizing the symptoms of sleep disorders. If you have a sleep disorder, learn ways to cope or share your story in our forums so that others may learn from your experience. Make sleep a topic of discussion this week, and most importantly, make it a priority.

So take a moment this week and recognize one of the most important aspects of a happy, healthy, and successful life: sufficient and restful sleep.

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