Polyphasic sleep

Stress can drain one's energy resources. Life however doesn't always cater for our needs in terms of restful sleep during times of stress. There is so much to contend with - family, work, finances, tasks around the home, social schedules, appointments... it's never ending!

Sometimes we reach a point where we feel like we could just sleep for at least a week and not worry about anything else. Anyone who has tried that knows that it usually just makes you more tired.

In my sleepy surfings, I came across some interesting information on a 'new' sleeping pattern called Polyphasic Sleep.

Usually we go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6am - that is called Monophasic sleep, with all the insomnia, nightmares and the occassional sweet dream we experience. When we are pushed for time, we are more likely to stick to a sleeping schedule to which our bodies adjust. Knowing you have to rise earlier tomorrow, you may go sleep earlier tonight to "catch up" on the hour or so that you will miss in the early morning. This, they say, is the worst mistake - as you may not be able to fall asleep immediately due to your body's clock being set to the time you usually go to sleep.

Sleep experts say that you should go to sleep only when you are too sleepy to do anything else, even if that means a different time every night. However, you should get up at a set time daily in order to promote early rising which has it's own benefits including increased productivity and a sense of well-being. Your body clock will automatically adjust eventually and on more tiring days, you'll feel sleepy earlier. If you don't fall asleep within 5 minutes every night, you go to bed too early!

The Polyphasic Sleep method is a method whereby you sleep at regular intervals for 20-30 minutes. For instance, naps would take place at 1am, 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 9pm. This means that you end up sleeping about 3 hours a day, however people that have tried it claim to be more energetic and productive than ever. It's essential that you stick to the routine and not miss naps or oversleep as this would cause your body to take some time to recover from such a slip-up.

Opinions on whether this is healthy vary. The old school believes that we need a solid 8 hours of beauty sleep. Those who are for the Polyphasic method say that one becomes more rested as the body learns to enter the REM-sleep phase quicker and therefore one achieves more restful sleep.

The jury is out and I may just give it a try... let me first sleep on it!