Meg Van Deusen

How to Reduce Stress – Three Simple Ways

Being constantly connected can leave us feeling constantly on call. I share three practical boundaries around technology—designated off times, scheduled message checks, and device-free spaces—to make more room for rest and undivided attention.

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Nature as a Stress-Reliever

A tree, a stretch of sky, or even a photograph of a landscape can offer a pause from daily demands. I explore how nature’s beauty and sense of scale can bring comfort, connection, and a wider perspective on our worries.

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What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means paying attention to the present with curiosity and without judgment. I explore how observing our thoughts and feelings can change our response to stress, along with a simple breathing practice to get started.

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Children and Stress

Loving relationships help children weather stress, but even well-supported kids can struggle under pressure to achieve. I explore the role of secure attachment and how parents can help children feel valued beyond grades, accomplishments, and status.

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The Difference Between Anxiety and Stress

Stress and anxiety can feel similar in the body, but the experiences behind them may differ. Through everyday examples, I explore reactions to immediate threats, worries about the unknown, and feelings we have yet to acknowledge.

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Can A Positive Event Be A Cause Of Stress?

A wedding, a promotion, or a move can be welcome and unsettling at the same time. I explore why positive changes can bring stress and how patience, reassurance, and room for mixed feelings can ease the transition.

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Coping with Loneliness – Lost In Translation

The unlikely friendship in Lost in Translation offers a window into the relationship between loneliness and insomnia. I reflect on how setting aside judgment and sharing something genuine can help us feel less alone and more at ease.

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Chromosome Telomeres: What’s Sleep Got To Do With It?

What might the protective caps on our chromosomes tell us about sleep and stress? I look at research linking telomere length with sleep quality and explore why meditation and self-compassion have drawn researchers’ attention.

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From Insomnia to Better Sleep – Are We Trying Too Hard?

As sleep gadgets multiply, are we getting closer to understanding why we cannot sleep? I question the search for a technological fix and consider whether the answers may lie closer to home, in our habits and emotional lives.

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Insomnia Tips and Answers – The Shared Bed

Why does sharing a bed soothe one person and keep another wide awake? Through two contrasting experiences, I explore how attachment styles, relationship harmony, and a sense of safety can influence sleep beside a partner.

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Depression and Insomnia: A Sleep Story

Ernesto spends his days caring for others while struggling with depression and years of disrupted sleep. His story offers a personal look at how these difficulties intertwine and raises questions about caring for ourselves as well as those around us.

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Why Do We Sleep?

Sleep may look like doing nothing, but the brain and body remain busy. I explore what research on sleep deprivation reveals about restoration, immune function, mood, and why rest is essential to our well-being.

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All writing

Chromosome Telomeres: What’s Sleep Got To Do With It?

What might the protective caps on our chromosomes tell us about sleep and stress? I look at research linking telomere length with sleep quality and explore why meditation and self-compassion have drawn researchers’ attention.

There has been lot of talk among sleep researchers about chromosome telomeres (the “caps” on the ends of one’s chromosomes that protect cellular breakdown.) Now, nobel prize winner and molecular biologist, Elizabeth Blackburn, and her colleague, Elissa Epel have written a book called The Telomere Effect, published in January of this year.

Telomere Shortening

Essentially, the telomere effect is the effect long vs short telomeres have on our health and well-being. Having short telomeres puts a person at an increased risk for disease and, therefore, for shorter life expectancy. Having long telomeres gives cells the opportunity to divide many times and, therefore, replenish.

Chromosome Telmeres and Sleep

What’s sleep got to do with it? Short sleepers have been found to have shorter telomeres (Jackowska et al, PLOSOne, 2012.) More specifically, older insomniacs, appear to have shorter telomeres than those in the same age range who don’t have insomnia (Carroll et al., SLEEP, 2016.) In other words, when the body isn’t given ample time to sleep, it can’t repair itself. Telomeres shorten, cells aren’t as protected and, as a result, they malfunction, making us vulnerable to disease, such as cardiovascular disease or cancer.

This research dovetails with that of Carol Everson who studied the effect of short sleep duration on leukocytes (antibodies responsible for fighting disease.) See my post

Is telomere length just one more thing for the everyday insomniac to worry about? Not necessarily. Elissa Epel, Ph.D. informs us that short telomeres can become long again through proper diet, exercise and meditation and that the reduction of psychological stress, in general, can have a rejuvenating effect on telomeres.

In particular, meditation seems to be key to telomere length. Elizabeth Hoge, M.D., a professor at Harvard Medical School, found that people who had more years of meditation under their belt had longer telomeres than people who had meditated little or not at all.

She looked specifically at loving-kindness meditation, a practice that facilitates self-compassion and compassion toward others, indicating that compassion, in particular, seems to have a calming effect on our nervous system and, subsequently, on our telomeres.

Chromosome Telomeres: Conclusion

So the next time you are worrying about the effects of not sleeping on your telomeres, meditate. Perhaps if you meditate, you can reassure yourself that you are doing something to lengthen those telomeres and promote health and well-being in general. Here is a link to a loving-kindness meditation by Tara Brach, PhD. you can try.