The best sleep patterns. Alternative sleep cycles: stretching your day

I have a friend who once dreamed of sleeping only two hours a day and at the same time practically not feeling tired. I dream that on certain days there would be not twenty-four, but at least thirty-six hours in a day.

Fellow workaholics and other creative people, I have good news for you! Stretching the day to thirty-six hours, of course, is impossible, but sleeping less and staying awake longer is very real! Because in addition to the usual for most cycles of "6-8 hours of sleep, 16-18 hours of wakefulness" there are four more that just allow you to work miracles;)

So, in addition to the single-phase sleep cycle familiar to the majority of the population, there are other options for multi-phase sleep that can help expand your working day without harming your health. Jordan Lejuwaan, creator of HighExistence, shares some interesting information.

Cycle of the Superman

This cycle includes sleeping for 20-30 minutes every four hours. As a result, it turns out that you sleep six times a day. The Uberman cycle is considered to be very effective - people feel healthier, feel energized and have very vivid dreams. But he has one significant disadvantage: if you miss at least one phase of sleep, you will feel sleepy and tired.

Steve Pavlina practiced this cycle for 5.5 months, but after that he returned to normal sleep in order to live in unison with his family.

ordinary cycle

This cycle includes one "basic" long sleep (1-1.5 hours) and three or four to five short sleeps of twenty minutes. The remaining time after the main sleep is divided so that short breaks occur at regular intervals.

This schedule is considered more flexible, easier to adjust to, and can be combined with a single-phase sleep cycle of three to four hours. In addition, sometimes you can skip "short dreams" without harm to health.

Dimaxion Cycle

Bucky Fuller derived this sleep cycle from his belief that humans have two reservoirs of energy. And if the first reservoir is very easy to replenish, then the second (second wind) is replenished much more reluctantly. He ended up sleeping for thirty minutes 4 times a day every six hours, for a total of only two hours of sleep! At the same time, he said that he had never felt more energetic. Doctors examined Bucky after two years of such a cycle and declared him completely healthy.

This is by far the most extreme of the four alternatives, but also the most effective sleep cycle.

Biphasic cycle or siesta

This sleep is practiced by many high school students and students and includes four to four and a half hours of sleep at night and about an hour and a half during the day. This cycle is not much different from the single-phase, but still a little more efficient.

It will not be easy to switch to new multi-phase cycles and from about the third to the tenth day you will feel like a zombie. Just be patient, eat healthy low-fat food and you will be fine. In about two weeks, you will feel the promised result.

Such experiments can only be carried out if you know for sure that you have two or three absolutely free weeks left and that your work and study can coexist with your new schedule. As, in other matters, and your family.

The classic idea of ​​“correct” sleep is to oversleep a third of your life, that is, eight hours out of twenty-four available in a day.
However, the modern rhythm of life has accelerated many times, and for some, sleeping for a long time is an unaffordable luxury. Numerous studies in this area have made it possible to develop methods for productive sleep, when the body rests and recovers in a shorter time, say, 5-6 hours.

How it works?

So, the main thing is not how much to sleep, but at what moment to wake up. This is the principle of productive sleep. However, do not be mistaken in the main thing: you cannot uncontrollably shorten the total duration of sleep! If REM sleep restores the psyche and is necessary for brain development, then slow sleep is needed for our physical body, which is also tired and needs rest and recovery.

Why are there different phases of sleep?

Sleep consists of cyclically repeating phases - fast ( 10-20 minutes) and slow. During the non-REM sleep phase ( approximately 2 hours) there are several successive stages, plunging a person into sleep deeper and deeper. Passes through the night 4-5 cycles, and with each cycle, the duration of the REM sleep phase increases.

In the phase of slow sleep, the body's cells are restored and regenerated. Our brain tests the state internal organs and corrects "lost settings", preparing our body for a new day. Slow-wave sleep is a time for the production of antibodies and optimization of the state of immunity. Those who do not get enough sleep on a regular basis are twice as likely to get sick, for example, with the flu and colds.

REM sleep is the time when the bioelectrical activity of the brain is maximum. At this time, the process of analyzing the information accumulated by memory over the past day, sorting and systematizing it takes place. At this time, dreams. The most vivid and memorable dreams occur during the last cycle, in the morning, when the brain has already rested.

REM sleep is vital: in the experiment, the rat was deprived of REM sleep, and after forty days the animal died. When depriving the phase of slow sleep - survived.

Productive sleep technique

"Siesta". One little dream during the day and one large one at night. Lets cut night sleep almost 2 hours. Daytime sleep should not exceed 20 minutes, since the REM phase fits into 20 minutes. To do this, set an alarm clock that will wake you up 20 minutes after falling asleep. If this is not done, you can get the opposite effect and wake up, say, in an hour and a half - sleepy and broken. When using the Siesta method, night sleep is shortened by one cycle and allows you to wake up rested and well-rested not at 7-00 in the morning, but, say, at 5-00.

"Stairs". The essence of the method lies in the number of "steps" - sessions of daytime sleep for 20 minutes, each of which reduces the duration of nighttime sleep by an hour and a half. Two naps reduce night sleep to four and a half hours, three to three hours, four to one and a half hours.

"Superhuman" method - to sleep during the day 6 times for 20 minutes, which is a total of 2 hours of REM sleep.

Of course, not all of these techniques are convenient for people with a standard daily routine, working, for example, in the office for eight hours a day. The most advanced and progressive employers in some companies provide for the possibility of rest with a 20-minute daytime sleep for their employees, since the increase in labor efficiency in this case will compensate for the loss of working time.

However, if you are a creative person who does not have a strict daily plan, for example, a freelancer, then the “ladder” method will stimulate your creative ideas well and allow you to rationally allocate time for work.

The "superhuman" method requires strict self-discipline and timing, because missing one nap will ruin your entire schedule and lead to the opposite result - feeling tired and sleep deprived. You should also not forget that this method cannot be practiced all the time, since it does not allow you to fully restore physical strength and immunity, and the need for a strict routine brings a certain stress to life. The "superhuman" method is good when working on short-term projects that require focus and creativity, "brainstorming".

Hi-tech way

The alarm clock sets the time after which you can not get up, for example, 7.00. In the range of 30 minutes, that is, starting from 6.30, "smart" alarm clock will select the most best time to wake up and wake you up with a pleasant melody, for example, at 6.54, when your REM phase is close to completion.

Some models, in addition to the "wake up" function, have a useful function that helps to soft and comfortable entry into sleep - thanks to a set of special melodies and sounds that bring the brain to a state of rest.

Prices for a miracle device start at $ 150, but it pays off thanks to good health and excellent performance.

There are special programs for the iPhone, iPad and Android OS that allow iPhones and smartphones to work as "smart" alarm clocks. True, for this they need to be put to bed at night so that all the noises and sounds are recorded. Based on their analysis, sleep phases and optimal time for a wake up call.

Proper sleep is a guarantee of health, longevity, beauty, fruitful work. In order to get up cheerful in the morning and willingly take on any business, you must follow certain rules of good, quality sleep.

Why sleep is important for a person

No living being can do without sleep. During sleep, all reactions of the body are inhibited. Man cannot exist without sleep. Sleep allows you to restore the energy resources of the body, not only physical, but also mental.

During sleep, growth hormone is produced, which slows down the aging of the body. This hormone is released only at the stage of the deepest sleep, and begins to actively nourish the cells of the body, accelerating the process of their division, which means helping to restore muscles, bone tissues, immune system.

A good long sleep helps the body cope with many diseases, preserves long time in a good shape cardiovascular system reduces the risk of stroke.

A night's rest brings peace, all the information received during the day is processed, sorted out, and in the morning many problems seem insignificant, or a solution appears.

Those who want to stay young and beautiful for a long time must definitely find time for a long, sound sleep.

Those who want to lose weight should also get enough sleep, because a person who does not get enough sleep is a hungry person. And from constant lack of sleep and subsequent overeating, you can easily gain extra pounds.

And, of course, performance is directly related to the number of hours spent in sleep.

What time to go to bed and what time to get up

The best time to start sleeping is before midnight. Based on numerous studies, scientists have found that the human body is susceptible to biological cycles, and there are stages of activity, stages of its decline, and rest. It is necessary to establish sleep in accordance with these natural needs of the body. So the peak of activity falls on the daylight hours, from about 8 am to about 6 pm. Then its gradual decrease begins, and by 9-10 pm the stage of relaxation, fatigue begins, and by 11 pm there is a minimum of activity. Therefore, the best time to go to bed is 22 hours.

But, it is important not only right time going to bed, but also the right time to wake up. Adequate sleep goes through several repetitive stages that last for healthy person an average of 6 to 8 hours. Therefore, it turns out that you need to get up around 6 o'clock in the morning. These data are, of course, averaged, and depend on many other factors.

• Each person is individual, and one needs more sleep, the other less;
• women need a little more time to sleep;
• people different ages, also sleep a different number of hours, respectively, and the time to fall asleep and wake up are adjusted;
• Diet also affects sleep duration.

How to get into the right sleep routine

It is sometimes difficult for a person to force himself to change something in his crazy life schedule. But, if there were thoughts and a desire to start leading healthy lifestyle life, you need to overpower yourself. And then there will be a habit to live according to the new schedule. Since it takes at least 8 hours to sleep, the first thing to do is to set certain sleep frames and stick to them, for example, from 22 to 07. This is especially difficult if before that many things were done before the middle of the night.

To make it easier, you need to make a daily routine, hang it in a conspicuous place and try to comply. In the daily routine, the whole day should be scheduled, starting from waking up at 6 or 7 o'clock, and ending with sleep at 22 o'clock. If you see that some things did not have time to do by the due time of sleep, then postpone them. Over time, everything will enter into the right rhythm, and even more free time will appear, and all unnecessary things will be eliminated by themselves.

Some time after living according to the newly approved schedule, a feeling of self-satisfaction appears, in the morning there will be a feeling of joy and a desire to live and develop further, productivity and activity at work will increase, there will always be a good mood.

Why is sleep deprivation dangerous?

Lack of sleep is especially dangerous when it becomes permanent. Such a person can be easily identified by outward signs. He looks bad, irritated, has low performance. But, this is not the worst thing that chronic lack of sleep can turn into. The vast majority of those who sleep little, eventually acquire a number of serious ailments and diseases. They appear:

• persistent headaches;
• arrhythmia;
• heart problems;
• heart attack, heart failure;
• jumps pressure;
• diabetes develops;
• numb limbs;
• depression.

Also, those who do not comply with the sleep regime stand out from the crowd with their unhealthy appearance. The skin from lack of sleep becomes flabby, dull, bruises and bags under the eyes appear, premature wrinkles appear.

Lack of sleep significantly reduces attention, the ability to concentrate, and this often leads to accidents at work, or accidents on the roads, if suddenly a tired person is behind the wheel. Distracted attention makes it difficult to build logical chains, memorize something, adequately approach problem solving, productivity is reduced to a minimum.

Sleep-deprived people who find themselves in a stressful situation can commit rash acts that they would never have committed if they were in a normal state.

Continuing to live in this mode, without changing anything, a person also shortens his life by a lot.

What are sleep disorders?

There are several types of sleep disorders:

• presomnic;
• intrasomnic;
• postsomnicheskie.

The first type of violation of night rest is expressed in the fact that a person, oppressed by gloomy thoughts, piled up problems, fears, cannot fall asleep in any way.

The second category is characterized by the fact that sleep comes quickly, but after a while the person wakes up abruptly and then can no longer fall asleep, and this situation can be repeated several times a night. By morning, a person wakes up completely broken, not getting enough sleep.

There are more serious sleep pathologies:

• Lethargy;
• somnambulism;
• nightmares;
• sleep paralysis;
• narcolepsy;
• desynchronosis;
• apnea;
• periodic hibernation.

These pathologies are corrected only under the supervision of specialists. To avoid such problems, it is necessary to observe the correct sleep pattern.

Is long sleep good?

Both lack of sleep and too much sleep are harmful to health. In some cases, of course, a long sleep is necessary, for example, during an illness, or when a person is very tired from hard work, or he had to not sleep for a long time. In these cases, the restoration of energy reserves in the body will take more time. In other cases, oversleeping is harmful. With an excess of sleep, a person already lying on a pillow, under a blanket, begins to get tired and lose the strength that he had previously accumulated. Prolonged sleep knocks down the biological clock, begins to change it according to the prevailing rhythm, and always for the worse. As a result, this can lead to depression, when the body closes itself from problems in this way, as if I were sleeping and I didn’t know anything, I didn’t decide. The following health problems may appear:

• high blood pressure;
• psychological illness, depression;
• swelling;
• violation of blood circulation, its stagnation.

Sleep is considered long if it lasts more than ten hours. Normal sleep duration averages 6-8 hours. Of course, everything is purely individual, but still on average, it looks like this.

Why do you have nightmares in your sleep

Frequent nightmares in dreams may indicate internal diseases, but may arise under the onslaught of daily problems. Some emotional traumas received in childhood go through life and sit deep in the subconscious, manifesting themselves in the form of nightmares.

Overwork, stress, prolonged nervous tension are also reflected in frightening dreams.

Diseases only appearing, or some chronic diseases cause nightmares.

1. Temperature, headache, nasal congestion, neurosis - you may dream of fights, wars, other scenes of cruelty.
2. Snoring, breathing disorders cause dreams where a person is suffocating, he has nothing to breathe, and a terrible fear of death appears.

Overeating before going to bed will also lead to unpleasant dream visions.

Some external irritants, for example, stuffiness, cold, unpleasant smell, flashes of light, an uncomfortable bed, and other inconveniences cause bad dreams.

It is believed that for a good rest we need 6-8 hours of sleep per day. After that, full of energy, we can start a new day, which will last an average of 16-18 hours. This sleep mode is called single-phase.

In fact, in addition to the most common single-phase sleep, there are four more polyphasic sleep patterns, when sleep is broken up into several short periods throughout the day.

As you know, the most important part of rest is the phase of REM sleep. When we switch from single-phase to polyphasic, the lack of sleep prompts us to dive into that phase immediately, rather than 45 to 75 minutes later. Thus, the body seems to receive a portion of a full-fledged eight-hour sleep, but at the same time we do not waste precious time on the transition to the REM sleep phase.

Polyphasic Sleep Modes

1. Uberman

20-30 minutes of sleep every 4 hours = 6 rest breaks per night.

Uberman mode is very effective and has a beneficial effect on health. Thanks to him in the morning a person feels a charge of vivacity, and at night he sees bright interesting dreams. Many who adhere to this regimen even note that they can see more often.

Don't worry, sticking to the schedule will ensure you don't miss another nap. The body will give the necessary signal.

2. Everyman

3 hours of sleep at night and 3 times of 20 minutes during the day / 1.5 hours of sleep at night and 4-5 times of 20 minutes during the day.

If you have chosen Everyman, you must set the same time interval between rest breaks. It is much easier to adapt to such a regime than to Uberman. In addition, it is many times more effective than single-phase sleep.

3.Dymaxion

30 minutes of sleep every 6 hours.

Dymaxion was invented by American inventor and architect Richard Buckminster Fuller. He was delighted with this regime and said that he had never felt more energetic. After several years of Dymaxion, doctors examined Fuller's condition and concluded that he was in excellent health. However, he had to stop this practice, as his business partners adhered to a single-phase sleep regimen.

Dymaxion is the most extreme and most productive of the polyphasic modes. But at the same time, sleep lasts only two hours a day!

4. Biphasic (biphasic)

4-4.5 hours of sleep at night and 1.5 hours of sleep during the day.

Every second student adheres to this regime. This is not very effective, but it is still better than single-phase sleep.

Which mode to choose

The answer to this question depends entirely on your lifestyle, schedule, and habits. Remember that when switching to Dymaxion or Uberman, you will be walking around like a zombie for about a week while your body adapts to the new sleep pattern.

How to enter the new sleep mode

Several useful tips to make the transition easier:

1. Arrange the bedroom so that you feel as comfortable as possible to relax in it.
2. Eat healthy food and avoid fast food.
3. Keep yourself occupied with something during your waking hours, then the time will fly by.
4. Free up two or three weeks for the transition, otherwise there is a risk of falling asleep right at work or school.
5. Do not give up! After a couple of weeks it will be much easier. You just need to wait. Do not skip sleep breaks and do not change the time intervals between them so as not to start the adjustment period all over again.
6. Turn on loud music to wake you up, and make sure that no extraneous sounds prevent you from falling asleep.

If you are seriously thinking about the practice of polyphasic sleep, then we advise you to study

Sleep duration and quality- Criteria that affect many factors: mood, well-being, feeling of cheerfulness. Preparing for a new day, we try to go to bed early, but in the morning we wake up broken and lethargic. On the other day, on the contrary, after a short sleep, we wake up on our own, we feel cheerfulness and strength. Why is this happening and how to learn to sleep? To answer these questions, we will analyze the phases of fast and slow sleep of a person in time and their characteristics.

Discoveries of scientists

Today, sleep is an understandable physiological state. But it was not always so. For a long time, scientists could not track what changes occur to a person during rest. The topic was closed and difficult to study. In the 19th century, a person's posture was evaluated, measured arterial pressure and temperature, other indicators were taken. For a detailed study, sleepers were awakened and changes were recorded.

Hand turns off the alarm clock early in the morning

The first attempts to interfere with sleep yielded results. Scientists have found that sleep goes through stages of varying duration fast and deep sleep of a person, and their importance is great, since it affects all indicators of the body. The German physiologist Kölshütter established that deep sleep falls on the first hours of rest, and then it turns into superficial.

After the discovery of electric waves, scientists took a complete picture of what is happening with the sleeper. An electroencephalogram helped to understand what was happening to a person during rest. In this case, the subject did not have to wake up. Thanks to new technologies, it became known that sleep goes through 2 phases: slow and fast sleep.

Stages of non-REM sleep

Orthodox sleep is divided into stages. Stages differ in duration and depth of rest. Consider the stages of non-REM sleep:

First. Comes after a person closes his eyes. The first stage is called drowsiness. A person is not yet immersed in sleep, the brain is in an active stage. Within 10–15 min. the vacationer processes information that has occurred during the day. During this period, solutions are found to the questions that tormented a person.
Second. At this stage, "sleep spindles" appear. They occur with a frequency of 3-5 minutes. During their passage, consciousness is completely turned off. In between sleep spindles, a person is sensitive to what is happening around. He hears voices or sounds. This feature makes it possible for the mother to hear the crying of the child at night. If the sleeping person is called by name, he will immediately wake up. Physiological changes are reduced to a decrease in muscle activity, slowing the pulse.

During the second slow phase of sleep, a person hears sounds

Third. Delta sleep stage or transition. “Sleepy spindles” persist, become longer. Delta oscillations are added to them. The third stage is called preparatory before deep sleep.

Fourth. At this stage, the pulse quickens, there is an increase in pressure. The person falls into a deep sleep. Dreams during this period are fuzzy and blurry. If the vacationer wakes up during the fourth stage, he will not remember what he dreamed about.

People who sleepwalk or talk in their sleep don't remember anything in the morning. This is due to the fact that all events occur in the deep stage of sleep. Even if you interrupt the walk of a sleepwalker, he will not understand why he is not in bed and how he ended up in another room. It is at this stage that people have nightmares.

Deep sleep duration directly depends on the age of the person and physical condition his body. For example, the duration of a child's deep sleep phase is 20 minutes, but the quality of sleep is completely different than that of most adults: it is much stronger, children may not respond to external stimuli (sound, light, touch). Thus, even the smallest restore energy, "reboot" the body's systems, charge the immune system.

How long is the deep sleep phase? The deep sleep phase, which varies in duration depending on the specific stage, generally lasts one and a half to two hours. Of these, 5-10 minutes are “allocated” for drowsiness, for the second stage (slowing of breathing and heart rate) - 20 minutes, for the third and fourth phases - 30-45 minutes each.

The girl sleeps sweetly, hugging the pillow

Features of REM sleep

At the end of deep sleep, REM sleep occurs. Kleitman opened the fifth stage in 1955. The recorded indicators made it clear that the indicators of the body during REM sleep in humans are similar to the state of wakefulness. REM sleep is accompanied by:

constant movement of the eyeballs;
a significant decrease in muscle tone;
emotionally colored and action-packed dreams;
complete immobility of a person.

How long is REM sleep? In total, superficial sleep is 20-25% of the average time of night rest, i.e. one and a half to two hours. One such phase lasts only 10-20 minutes. The most vivid and memorable dreams come to the stage of REM sleep. If a person is awakened during this period, he will fully tell what he dreamed about.

baby sleeping

Why are sleep phases important?

The well-being of a person is inextricably linked with rest, sleep. No wonder. In the first months of life, a little man has a strong connection with nature and obeys its laws. As adults, we decide how much to sleep. Often incorrect, therefore, the mental, emotional state of a person is disturbed - which is why it is important to know the frequency of the fast and deep stage in night sleep and be able to calculate the stages of sleep for the time of awakening.

Scientists calculated the phases of sleep and after a series of studies came to the conclusion that 4-5 cycles per night. During this period, a person is restored. During non-REM sleep, the energy expended during the day is replenished. REM sleep is short in the first cycles, then lengthens. During the fifth phase, a person processes information and builds psychological protection, adapted to environment. Knowing how to calculate the sleep cycle, it is possible to learn how to regulate the energy capacity of the body and its vital activity in general.

Studies conducted on rats have shown that lack of REM sleep leads to death. The rodents were deliberately awakened to prevent the rats from entering the fifth stage. Over time, the animals lost the ability to fall asleep, after which they died. If the sleeper is deprived of the fast phase, then the person will become emotionally unstable, prone to irritation, mood swings, tearfulness.

Girl sleeping with her hand on the alarm clock

How to calculate sleep phases to know when is the best time to wake up?

We take as a basis that one cycle lasts for 90 minutes. For a good rest, a long REM sleep is required. Therefore, at least 4 cycles should pass per night. Waking up during non-REM sleep makes a person frustrated and lethargic. So, we need to calculate how to wake up in REM sleep: the fifth phase is characterized by the active work of the brain, so the awakening occurs gently and painlessly.

Let's summarize. For a cheerful state of health in the morning, the duration of sleep and awakening after the completion of the fifth phase are important. For an adult, the ideal time for sleep is 7.5-8 hours. The best option- this is self awakening, no alarm or phone signal.

If during the day you feel weak and want to take a nap, then allow this luxury. In order not to harm, fix the rest time. If you slept enough time at night, then close your eyes for 15-20 minutes. This is how long the first stage of non-REM sleep lasts. You will not have time to fall asleep, but you will feel that fatigue has been removed. If the night's sleep was short, then go through one cycle during the day. Sleep for 1-1.5 hours.

Conclusion

The given data is approximate, but the essence is clear. For normal life human body phasic sleep is required. It is important to wake up after 4-5 cycles. Ideally, when the awakening is independent. Daytime sleep does not hurt if the second phase is not allowed to enter, or one complete cycle should be completed.