Contents
Hello! Biphasic sleep, and it is also called a siesta, requires several approaches. It usually takes about five hours of night rest, to which an hour and a half daytime is added.
For a modern person, it may seem like torture, especially in the early days of practice, but our ancestors preferred this kind.
And today we will try to figure out how useful and necessary such a regime is.
What is it?
If you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot fall asleep for some time, you should not worry that you have been overtaken by insomnia due to stress and so on. Perhaps your body has switched to a regimen followed by your ancient ancestors.
Why it’s not worth raising a panic right away, especially if you don’t feel discomfort, both physical and emotional, during the night wakefulness. Gradually, everything will return to normal.
This is the opinion of the historian Roger Ekirch, who teaches at the Institute of Virginia and simultaneously studies the materials that serve as proof of his theory.
Based on various historical data, he found out that earlier, when artificial lighting had not yet been invented, after dark, people had no choice but to lie down to rest after a hard day’s work.
However, having slept only 3 hours, they got up and went about their own business, experiencing a surge of strength and at the same time general relaxation. After that, they fell asleep again until the first rays of the sun, which woke them up, falling through the window.
What did the ancestors do at night?
Ekirch discovered the records of a doctor from England who lived in the 16th century and claimed that the working class multiplies very actively due to the fact that rising in the middle of the night, its representatives preferred to devote their free time to making love.
Since after work it was necessary to have time to complete household chores before dark. And then there was just not enough strength. The working class worked to the point of exhaustion.
But in the middle of the night, after a little rest and recovery, having enough time until the morning, the spouses could enjoy each other’s company to the fullest.
Aristocrats, on the other hand, preferred to develop and create during this period. Waking up, they took up books, paper and ink.
An interesting fact is that many people even during this sleepless period went on a visit, visiting friends and acquaintances. The most religious prayed. For them, back in the 15th century, prayers were created specifically for the night time.
Also, this doctor recommended that his “first period” be spent on the right side, and only then lie down on the left side. And during the breaks, follow the example of the intelligentsia and give the brain a load.
By the way, you will learn more about which side is better to choose so as not to harm your health if you follow this link.
When the first lamps appeared, the inhabitants of France were obliged to put them on the windowsills at night. Do you know what for? There were no street lamps yet, and in order to get to visit someone, it was important to see at least the outlines of houses so as not to get lost.
Thomas Wehr experiment
Thomas Ver decided to recreate the conditions that our ancestors had in order to check how the human body adapts and returns to the previous regime. 15 people decided to participate in the experiment. They were placed in a building devoid of artificial lighting.
At first they just fell asleep. Since the opportunity presented itself, they were awake for only 10 hours, and the rest of the time they observed dreams. But after three weeks, they fully recovered and something interesting began to happen. Their organism itself was reconstructed on two-phase rest.
The subjects shared their feelings that, waking up at night, they experienced such peace that they could previously achieve only in the process of meditation and other spiritual practices.
The mind was so clear that they could calmly think about the pressing problems and look for solutions for them.
This is due to the fact that the level of prolactin rises. And it rises just after a night awakening. This hormone is responsible for relaxation and reducing stress and its consequences. It is prolactin that is produced after an orgasm, when a person feels a pleasant bliss throughout the body.
How does this happen?
There are various options for splitting sleep intervals. But the most popular and convenient is the two-phase. Few people can withstand a 20-minute rest 6 times a day or just 4.
Although many legendary figures adhered to such a strict schedule. Thanks to which, perhaps, they managed to create a lot of ingenious masterpieces. For example, Leonardo da Vinci generally slept only 2 hours, Benjamin Franklin four, and Margaret Thatcher about five.
By the way, double sleep is still practiced in southern countries. For example, in some cities in Spain, a lunch break takes as long as a person needs to have time to eat and take a nap for an hour and a half.
This break is called a siesta, hence the second name. It begins just at the moment of the greatest activity of the sun. So, even if a person does not need rest, he will still not be able to work because of the intense heat.
In addition to Spain, siesta is practiced in India, Africa, the Philippines, China, and even in some American countries where Spanish is spoken.
How useful is it?
For the people of that time, there were simply no other options. Until the invention of lighting, they simply had nothing to do in pitch darkness, except to relax after a hard day’s work. Especially during the cold and sometimes sad periods of winter, biphasic sleep was simply a necessity.
Modern people do not need it at all, and it is difficult to strictly adhere to the daily regimen. Still, on weekends there is a high temptation to take a longer walk, watch an interesting movie and do everything that there was not enough time for on weekdays.
But if you decide to experiment, try to plan your vacation so that it does not damage your work and personal life.
The first two weeks will be very difficult. The network has a lot of examples of people who decided on 5 hours of nighttime and 1,5 hours of daytime sleep. Some even abandoned the siesta itself, relying only on a night’s rest.
So, according to their reviews, at first it is difficult to concentrate, to understand what is happening and what others want from you. Fatigue seems unbearable, which is why there is a constant desire to fall asleep even while sitting.
But those who managed and strictly adhered to the regime noted that after 14 days of practice they began to feel much better. But such examples are few. Most of them left the race due to heart problems and so on.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Be careful with your health, it is important that sleep is beneficial, not harmful. Although, perhaps, such a mode will be the most suitable for someone and will inspire achievements.
If you decide to experiment, share your feelings in the comments. Perhaps someone will benefit from your personal experience. And remember to listen to your biological rhythms. It is they who will help to set up your body so that it will work exactly like a clock. At the very least, you shouldn’t ignore them.
Take care of yourself and be happy!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina