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Festival of Sleep Day

1/3/2022

18 Comments

 

In this post, we'll take a look at how to get good, quality sleep at night, what you can do during your evening routine to make things better & the benefits of biphasic sleep.

Why? Because it's Festival of Sleep Day! :)
Climb into your PJ’s, jump into bed and relax, or even take a nap if you are able! The Festival of Sleep Day was encouraged so that people could enjoy some relaxation and much-needed “shut-eye” after the holiday period. - DaysoftheYear.com
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According to research, 1 out of 3 Americans are sleep-deprived because they don't get enough sleep and/or the quality of their sleep is impaired. How about you?

​Are you getting enough sleep? If not, here are ways that changing your evening routine may help...
​

Does Your Evening Routine Need Tweaking? Take the Quiz


True or False...

(1) You often eat dinner later than you intended, and on those nights, you often go to bed later, too.

(2) When dinner is over, you're already exhausted, so the dishes-and-wipe-down routine happens on fumes, and there's no energy left for a me-time evening routine.

(3) You like the idea dedicating time for simple pleasures or restful self-care, but more often than you'd like, that time never gets added to the schedule.

(4) You often go to bed later than you planned, because completing what's on your to-do list takes longer than you anticipated.

(5) You go to bed on time, but can't sleep because your mind is still spinning.
If you are the type to keep running all the time, perhaps the first step on your Sabbath Simplicity journey is to begin to see the evening as a time to take a small rest, to reconnect relationally, to stop.
- Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity​
Maybe aromatherapy can help you to wind down, and let go of all of the tension or stress the day handed you, so you can get to sleep & wake up refreshed the next morning.

Lavender is a great essential oil for all three purposes.

It can help you relax and can hug away your stress and tension. It can help you surrender to sleep when it's time to go to bed. And it's soothing properties may make the entire wind down process easier than it would be otherwise.

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Lavender calms the nervous system by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature – all processes which take place during the body’s natural transition to sleep. - Tuck.com

Benefits of Biphasic Sleep


Would a split sleep schedule help you?

​Almost all of us do all of our sleeping during one period of time each day. But is that really the best way?

Let's look at how biphasic sleep could benefit you.
 Biphasic sleep is the idea of breaking
up the sleep period into 2 distinct
and separate time periods.
Some studies suggest that humans would naturally adopt this style of sleeping when they're deprived of clocks and external time cues like the sun. 

Typically, biphasic sleep consists of...

  • A core sleep period of 3 – 4.5 hours
  • A secondary sleep period of 90 minutes.

Many people think of this second period of sleep as a "nap." The 90-minute time frame is important because most people have a sleep cycle of 90 minutes.

Your greatest challenge is likely to be fitting the nap into your schedule.

Ideally, you could nap when you're most tired. This seems to be in the afternoon for many of us.

If you don't work outside the home, 3pm maybe an easy time to take your nap. 

But for women who would be at work then, taking a nap just before or after dinner seems to be the best way to fit one in during the day.

Benefits of Biphasic Sleep

Here are the biggest potential benefits of biphasic sleep...

  • Reduced total time spent sleeping. Biphasic sleepers don't seem to need to 7 or 8 recommended hours.
  • Improved quality of sleep. Biphasic sleepers report that their sleep quality is deeper and better.
  • More dream recall. For those who like to analyze their dreams, these decreased periods of sleep appear to making remembering their dreams easier.
​
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Starting a Biphasic Sleep Practice


You may find that starting a biphasic sleep practice is easy. Just take a nap for 90 minutes in the early evening and then go to bed three to four hours later than you usually do.

Expect to be tired for the first week. And give yourself 21-28 days to really evaluate if biphasic sleep is for you. If all is well, after that time, you'll know that this sleep practice works well for you.

Do you take a planned nap each day? Would aiming for less nighttime sleep, but scheduling or taking an afternoon nap work for you?

My take - I'd like to try it, because I think it would make it easier to get up early in the morning. But I think I would want my nap to happen around late morning or early afternoon.

See you tomorrow!

Love, Jeanine

18 Comments
Brenda Marie Fluharty
1/3/2022 12:50:10 am

My whole I have had bad sleep patterns. I am a night owl and the world run by the day. I do manage to get at least 6 hours most nights.

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 02:54:12 am

I am a night owl, too, Brenda! And I have struggled with sleep all of my life, too. But I find that my best chance to sleep well is to have an evening routine and then stick to it - which is the hardest part.

Reply
Laura Orsini link
1/3/2022 01:17:41 am

I got covid in November, and I am certain it was at least partially due to my poor sleep habits. I stayed up much later than I knew was good for me - and never slept quite enough. Since having been sick, the most consecutive sleep I've had was 6 hours (last night, as a matter of fact), but I am sleeping much more than I used to by taking naps throughout the day as the need hits. This is a great post

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 02:56:29 am

Oh, good for you! I love that you are making naps work. But I am sorry about your COVID and post-COVID sleep troubles. It might help to build in lots of soothing experiences in your daily routine, but especially before bedtime.

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Marcie Hardy link
1/3/2022 06:54:33 am

I am a sleeper. Naps for me are two or three hours and then I sleep 7-8 hours a night. I don't take a nap every day though. It's usually on Sundays or Saturdays when I don't have something else to do. I consider it part of self care. LOL

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 02:53:45 pm

It certainly IS part of your self-care! I am in awe of your ability to get so much sleep. Oh, if only I could sleep that much. I'm a bit of an insomniac, but I find that winding down + having a little snack at night helps me sleep. But I doubt I could do both 8 hours and a nap. Love that you can, though! You are no doubt healthier overall and will live longer.

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Lora Amy Bright link
1/3/2022 07:35:35 am

I nap! In fact, a reason I seek self-employment is to get my 20-30 minute power nap in around 1pm. I like to hear my napping validated!

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Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 02:55:21 pm

YES! And I'd love to try the 1pm nap, too. To do that, though, I will have to master getting up at around 7 a.m in the morning. Love that you are doing that, already!

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Martha link
1/3/2022 09:19:08 am

I go to bed usually by 10 but I'm luckty to get to sleep by 2 or 3. LOL I start reading and searching on my phone and the next thing I know it's tomorrow! I do like to use lavender, that also helps my leg cramps!

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 02:57:50 pm

Hmm. Do you diffuse your lavender, too? I wonder if you did that at 10pm, if you'd get sleepy sooner. Or rub it into the bottom of your feet with some lotion. I also wonder if maybe you're a night owl and are trying to sleep earlier than is natural for you.

Reply
Roy A Ackerman, PhD EA link
1/3/2022 10:00:18 am

I use a modified biphasic (maybe triphasic) schedule. I sleep 3 to 5 h a night. And, at least three days a week incorporate a 31 minute snooze; the other four, I have more time to complete a 90 minute nap.

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 02:59:54 pm

Roy, I love that!!! Sometimes I get 5 hours of sleep at night but then never add to it with a nap. Is it planning that makes you able to get the naps in? I really admire that and am going to try it myself. What it would do for me is make it easier to stay up later, without penalty, since I am naturally a night owl.

Reply
Dominique link
1/3/2022 10:25:34 am

My sleep habits got destroyed in medical school! LOL It prepared me for having babies though! Dialysis did another number on my sleep habits. Then with COVID and my hubby traveling for work, social distancing and having to sleep other places than my bed have added more disruption.

Since med school, I have been a napper -- one nap during the day along with 5-6 hours at night. I like the biphasic strategy though...

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 03:01:56 pm

Okay, I have got to get in on this nap thing!! I can see how both those things could affect your sleep, but I love how you say med school prepared you for being a mom! Getting 6 hours a night and a nap sounds great.

Reply
Cheryl link
1/3/2022 11:35:28 am

Very interesting post. I had never heard of biphasic sleep. While working I could only do naps on the weekends. Now that I’m retired after a stroke I find that naps are an integral part of my day. I truly think I sleep better at night because of it. I love lavender and forget to make this a part of my evening routine.

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 03:05:10 pm

That's great that you are getting naps in! The last time I took naps regularly was when I was in my 20s and having to get up really early for the first time on a daily basis, for work. I'd come home and take a nap before dinner. And still get to bed on time. You guys are encouraging me to try again, but earlier in the day.

Reply
Laurie link
1/3/2022 01:53:42 pm

Goodness, but this is tempting to try!
I just have a problem of squeezing in such a long nap, or any nap at all! I’d heard that you DON’T want to go over 20-30 mins on a nap, otherwise it messes up your normal sleep rhythms. Sounds like this is changing the sleep patterns entirely. It’s an interesting thought. Today I’d go for it 100 percent.

You’ve given me food for thought.

Thank you.
Laurie
Ridge Haven Homestead

Reply
Jeanine Byers link
1/3/2022 03:07:04 pm

You're welcome! What makes it worth a try for me, is all the research about the harm that can come from not getting enough sleep and having an ongoing sleep debt. If napping could help to make up the difference, perhaps it would be life-changing. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!

Reply



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    Hi, I'm
    Jeanine

    Contemplative, mystic spirit, spiritual coach, master Reiki practitioner, and a spoonie living with ME/CFS who writes about spiritual awakening, spiritual self-care, self-love and the enlightenment path.
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