Time | The Probabilist . com

Polyphasic Sleep December 17, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Consciousness, Dreams, Food, Health, Productivity, Sleep, Time, Weird, Work , 7 comments

Why is it that we get an average of eight hours of sleep per day and all of it in a single chunk? Is there an alternative method, what is it called and what does it include? What are the pros and cons of choosing this alternative sleep rhythm, called polyphasic sleep? And what does it require and how does one go about to succesfully adapt it?

Polyphasic sleep is the term for sleeping more than once during the existing 24 hour rotation of our planet. The common sleep pattern of sleeping once per day is therefore called monophasic sleep. There are several variations to polyphasic sleep. Primarily, it can be separated into two approaches - schedules that include equally long naps within equal lengths of waking time between them, and schedules that contain a “core sleep” period of a few hours with one to three short naps on the side.

Choosing a schedule without core sleep, the naps can for instance be split into six per day, every four hours and their lengths are 20-25 minutes. This method is called the Uberman’s sleep schedule. Another choice could be to sleep four times per day 30 minutes at a time. Buckminster Fuller is said to have used this schedule for two years, called the dymaxion sleep schedule.

Can this be considered normal? Healthy? Sane? Haughty? There’s only one way to find out. Previous results by other testers show no crucial ailments of conducting this experiment. What is normal anyway? Babies sleep polyphasically. Maybe we’re all being programmed to follow the rotation of our planet since being awake during night time wasn’t very productive until the invention of electricity. Perhaps sleeping polyphasically is more normal and healthy than it may first seem, and that’s just what social conditioning and following others’ examples can do to our minds.

We sleep to get a portion of the REM-stage, which both the mind and body requires. In monophasic sleep it usually sums up to about 90 minutes of an adult’s total sleep time, and most of it at its last stages. This is why we often experience more dreams during the very end of our sleeping time. Polyphasic sleeping therefore aims to convert the mind to start the REM-phase immediately after we doze off. It is sort of a defence mechanism for being robbed off REM for too long after one starts out on this schedule. In total, a succesful transitioning to a polyphasic sleep pattern sums up to a healthy 90-120 minutes of REM per day.

Why choose polyphasic sleep?

First off, a succesful adaptation means 22 hours of waking time and two hours of sleep per day. There’s no more room for complaining about not having the time to get things done. In fact, while trying to transition, one will do anything to get the mind off of the sleep deprivation that is experienced. It is said that after about 7-10 days the overall confusion and fatigue will start to rebound. Sleeping in on a nap is a setback and makes it harder and longer to make the change.

It is also said that once successfully adapted, one has an even greater clarity of mind, level of energy, motivation and ability to focus than during a monophasic schedule. Perhaps it’s a result of hormones and chemicals adjusting to different levels. Sipping coffee and allowing various influencers of body functions make it a rougher starting point to make the transition to polyphasic sleep. So even the diet one subscribes to makes a difference. It is said that a vegetarian or vegan diet makes it even easier to make the change.

Additionally, the chance of having lucid dreams are said to increase. Since lucid dreaming is the skill to allow a certain degree of awareness into the dream world, it sounds probable. This is because reports say that once in a polyphasic pattern, one gets quite dependant on it and falling asleep is quite easy. Once four or five hours are up, it can be very tough to stay awake any further and it may lead to harsh deprivation if the schedule gets out of balance. This can be a big negative side effect of polynapping.

A fourth positive side effect is eliminating jet lag. This depends naturally on how often one travels. Being awake this much raises the question if 24 hours is still a day. Living with a polyphasic rhythm could actually mean that the week is separated into 14 “days” - seven nights and seven days, because weeks and months literally feel like they are moving at a slower pace.

Limits and requirements

This goes without saying, but turning polyphasic requires a pretty flexible schedule. Most full time jobs simply won’t allow the attempt to try it out. Not only are the holidays a good gap to fit the experiment in, but I’m not studying or working on anything until March, except on this blog/business and my own personal development. My business gives me the option to write and publish posts whenever I want to around the clock.

The transition is no walk in the park either. Most people quit after a day or a few out of sheer tiredness and boredom. Keeping the mind occupied is the best remedy to make it through the first week when the going gets gradually tougher. Therefore it’s more or less a requirement to have a list of things to do before one starts out. I still haven’t set a date to start out, my list of things to do and my final schedule are still incomplete. I’m on the verge of moving to another apartment in the near future as well. So I’ll post them closer to the launch of this experiment.

I’ve also collected some polyphasic audio that consists of white noise that swooshes on during the sleep and is followed by loud noises guaranteed to wake me up. Or at least I hope they will.

This experience/experiment is all in the name of trying for myself to get my own opinion on the subject. If it’s too difficult to adapt to, or it simply isn’t a smarter or better way to live (and sleep), then I can always turn back to monophasic sleep. During my endeavors I’ll keep everyone posted on my progress, level of clarity, use of senses and tiredness. So stay updated in the near future on my polyphasic journey.

(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

Synchronicity November 14, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Consciousness, Personal Growth, Purpose, Beliefs, Responsibility, Time , add a comment

Have you ever stopped and wondered about the pattern your life is following? I wrote earlier about destiny and the freedom of choice and in this article I will delve deeper into how the simple mechanism of seeing and applying synchronicities can improve your life in a better direction.

To make the concept very easy to grasp I’ll use the internet as an analogy. If you search for health advice you will get pop-ups concerning diet programs. If you search for investment advice, then that’s the kind of pop-ups you will see filling up your screen. And if you like to gamble, then internet casino ads is what you will attract. The greater the interest you have for something, the longer your mind will be occupied on meeting the demand you’re experiencing.

A Synchronicity is the link between what you think and what you get. You won’t buy a red jacket if you only look for and visualize yourself wearing a blue jacket. You won’t find energetic and resourceful people if you’re depressed and have given up control of your life. You won’t attract a loving and inspiring partner if you don’t love and inspire others. And you won’t find advice on personal development unless that’s what you specifically seek.

Now attach this model to your whole life. You will quite easily visualize a timeline of people and events throughout your life who and which made great impacts on your behaviour and occupation. The work you do, the people you’re around, the matters that interest you and the thoughts and feelings that make up your daily life today are the great sum of all synchronicities that you’ve gone through your entire life.

Which leads us to today. Is there something in your life that you would like to leave behind? Let’s say that you want to give up smoking. The first step is to identify where and why the habit begun. Maybe you’re playing the blame game. You might reason that if it weren’t for your teenage friends or poor parenting you’d never started. It’s all their fault, you say! Then at least you remember and identify the source, but you’re giving up your control. Now is all that matters and you are the only one who can end your habit.

The second barrier for change might be deluded reasoning. A woman I know reasoned that smoking workers are more effective workers since they will always look forward to and work for going on a cigarette break. I don’t want to verify for myself if that is true or not, but it has two negative aspects to consider. Firstly, if going for a smoke is even partly a reason why you’re working then what does that tell you about living and working purposefully? Secondly, it just sounds like the mind of such a person is trying to desperately find at least one positive effect of smoking. Deluded reasoning is everywhere among bad habits and often the greatest single reason why the bad spiral isn’t coming to an end.

The third thought I want to suggest is the power of using a synchronicity. What do you want to create or abandon? What future state do you want to accomplish? Decide on this first and the synchronicities will appear everywhere like pop-up windows filling your mind and senses. It’s the simple rule of “ask and you shall receive.” But asking is pointless if you don’t believe you’re worthy of getting what you wish. Everyone is worthy of becoming a greater person than they are now, when they believe in it. It’s up to you to follow the chain of events that will follow.

This website is a synchronicity. You were searching for something and ended up here reading this article. Maybe it wasn’t quite what you were looking for, but there’s something inside you telling that it wasn’t a wrong turn either. I have deliberately chosen to write on a broad scale of common interests - just look at the list of categories. However, it’s all in the name of improving your odds in living a more prosperous and purposeful life. It’s up to you how you deal with this event, abandon it or create a foundation of a richer and healthier life.