Polyphasic sleep – definition, forms of sleep, effects

In line with its mission, the Editorial Board of MedTvoiLokony makes every effort to provide reliable medical content supported by the latest scientific knowledge. The additional flag “Checked Content” indicates that the article has been reviewed by or written directly by a physician. This two-step verification: a medical journalist and a doctor allows us to provide the highest quality content in line with current medical knowledge.

Our commitment in this area has been appreciated, among others, by by the Association of Journalists for Health, which awarded the Editorial Board of MedTvoiLokony with the honorary title of the Great Educator.

Monophasic sleep is the actual 6-8 hour sleep that occurs once a day. Any other form of sleeping, i.e. short naps taken during the day, is a polyphasic sleep. Many scientists argue that for the better functioning of the body, naps, which allow you to use the time to regenerate. Thanks to this, we can sleep shorter during the day, and thus be refreshed.

  1. Read also about the effects of shift work: Night shift body

Polyphasic sleep is a dream consisting of many phases, a combination of a nap and basic sleep or only half dreams (naps, light dreams). This form of sleep is first mentioned by Leonardo Da Vinci in the XNUMXth century. A polyphasic dream the military command became interested in the First World War. They noticed that while the soldiers could go on without sleep for a long time, they eventually got tired. Back then, the Everyman and Uberman systems were invented, allowing you to sleep only two hours a day. This system was used by the military and intelligence agencies. However, a civil researcher, Claudio Stampi, who could not sleep 8 hours during the trip during the trip, indulged in short naps and noticed that sleeping in this way can function normally, also had a big impact on sleep research. Stampi conducted an experiment on a young man who spent about 3 hours – sleeping and the rest – working. Above polyphasic dream the Canadian Navy, the NASA agency and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute also worked. Astronauts use it during space missions polyphasic sleep with the effect of improving short-term concentration.

Each sleep cycle is divided into stages. First, we fall asleep, we begin to receive less external stimuli. Brain waves follow the alpha rhythm (8-13 Hz). Then our waves calm down and go into theta state (4-7 Hz). We sleep cut off from the reality that surrounds us. In the next phase, we enter the delta state, until we go even lower to the REM phase, where dreams appear. Once REM is over, the cycle repeats itself. This is what it looks like in monophasic sleep several times a night. It should be noted that the longer we sleep, the shorter the deep sleep and the longer REM phase. When awakening us from REM sleep, we will be immediately ready for action, but if we wake up in deep sleep, it will be really difficult for us to recover.

Polyphasic sleep is another form of sleep. A different approach to sleeping. We sleep several times a day. Our body is to learn how to get the most out of sleep and get the maximum benefit from it. Thanks to this, we will be really well rested and refreshed than with the classic monophasic sleep for 7 hours without a break.

Polyphasic sleep – types

We polyphasic dream we give in to short naps whenever we feel like them. The entire system must be based on regularity. We distinguish three forms polyphasic sleep:

  1. biphasic (two-phase) – once a night we sleep for about 6 hours, a nap for 20-30 minutes during the day,
  2. everyman – we sleep about 4 hours at night and take three naps a day for 30 minutes,
  3. Dymaxion – four-phase – once a night we sleep for 3 hours and 3 times a day during the day for 20 minutes or in a cycle at intervals of 6 hours 30 minutes.
  4. uberman – six-phase – every 4 hours we undergo a 20-30-minute nap.

Remember to stick to the selected cycle. Naps must not be postponed or extended. If we move the scheduled nap to 16 p.m. by one hour, the entire schedule will be disrupted, which will cause you to feel unwell.

People experimenting with polyphasic dream claim that their efficiency has increased, and despite shorter sleep, they are more refreshed. With an 8-hour working day, this is virtually impossible in the office. When we work for ourselves or remotely, we have the possibility of such experiments. Under natural conditions, only infants and young children sleep polifazowo, then we are unlearned to sleep by the imposed social cogs polifazowo, the option of biphasic sleep remains.

With the techniques polyphasic sleep can be used by everyone who cares about the effects they offer. However, nowadays, they are most often used by the military, athletes, students and freelancers working at irregular hours.

If you have trouble falling asleep, go to Medonet Market and try a dietary supplement with melatonin tablets. We also recommend a mixture of calming herbs available in an economical package containing 500g of dried herbs.

Leave a Reply