In the past, people constantly split their night’s sleep into two periods, and in between, they did different routine work.
This news is some consolation for those who go to bed, knowing that they will wake up in the middle of the night and will not be able to fall asleep again. Today we call it insomnia, and until the XNUMXth century, people did this trick on purpose!
In the preindustrial era, many people argued about the health benefits of first and second sleep. For centuries, they have used the time they woke up at night to do household chores, visit friends, or make love.
“Sleeping until the morning is a relatively modern invention,” says Virginia Tech professor Roger Ekirch. – Until the 1880s, sleeplessness at night was a rare problem. Even earlier, in the XNUMXth century, this was a normal phenomenon, unworthy of even commentary. “
Bedtime was around 9-10 pm. Most people woke up around midnight or one in the morning, dreaming, talking, making love. In the XNUMXth century, it was believed that sex after the first sleep was the best, because the person felt rested and got more pleasure. Historical records show that people also used the time between two sleep periods to wash clothes, socialize, visit, and even steal firewood from neighbors.
It was believed that making love between two sleep periods was “responsible” for large families, the peasants were able to conceive several children, as they waited for their energy to recover. Chaucer also references two sleep periods in The Canterbury Tales, when his character decides to return to bed after his first sleep.
People could not sleep if it was cold in the house, the bed was full of bugs, or if they were worried about something. Then they did not consider it as insomnia with a sleep disorder and an effect on its quality, but attributed it only primarily to the inability to fall asleep.
But in the decades after the industrial revolution, segmented sleep fell out of favor as people worked harder and harder. As Ekirch notes, the changes came at the end of the 3th century, when the end of the first dream shifted closer to XNUMX o’clock in the morning, and then was completely thrown out.
Later, segmented sleep in two periods was viewed as ineffective, and people were warned that indulging in it could lead to headaches and constipation. As a result, today many people who wake up at night think that this is not normal, that this is a sleep disorder. However, research shows that you are fine, especially if you are away from artificial light and blue light from electronic devices. So if you wake up, take an example from your ancestors and get down to business!