Is “8 Uninterrupted Hours a Night” Flawed Conventional Wisdom?
Conventional Wisdom always gets an eyebrow raise from me. I can’t help it. Eventually, I take an honest look at whatever the experts are saying, but skepticism gets first dibs. I’d call it an instinct if it weren’t learned behavior from years of being burned. For example, I once took to task the most pervasive “truth” around: that everyone needs to drink eight glasses of water a day or risk kidney failure, toxin buildup, bladder cancer, and debilitating constipation. It was pretty easy to do.
But it’s not all BS. Smoking is bad for you, for example. See? I can admit when they’re right!
I wonder about the CW position on sleep, though. We generally agree on the recommended duration of sleep. “About eight solid hours” is what you’ll see everywhere, from official governmental health guides to paleo nutrition blogs (I’m sure there’s some niche community out there claiming to have “transcended” sleep, though). I’m not going to argue with around eight hours, but note the use of “solid.” What does it connote?
Unbroken. Monophasic. Constant. Actually, it both connotes and denotes these things. Solid sleep is good sleep, right? And solid sleep means sleeping for about eight hours without waking. If you wake up, you’ve got a problem. Right?
Maybe not.
For most of human history, nighttime meant darkness. Not the blueish whitish permaglow from storefronts, billboards, and headlights enjoyed by modern city-goers. Not the yellow-orange bath radiating down from street lamps on quiet suburban streets, so ubiquitous that you only notice them when they go out. I’m talking about real, permeating darkness. Camping darkness. Small country road with the car lights out darkness. For our ancestors as recently as a couple hundred years ago, this kind of nighttime darkness lasted up to fourteen hours (well, it does today, too, but we mask it with all that lighting and housing). Artificial lighting meant candles and firewood, and those cost (money or time) and don’t really replace daylight (anyone who’s stifled yawns around a campfire knows that) like today’s artificial lighting replaces daylight. People got to bed earlier – because, unless you’re rich enough to burn candles all night, what else are you going to do when it’s dark everywhere but, as Thomas Middleton said, “sleepe, feed, and fart?” – and their sleep was biphasic, or broken up into two four hour segments, with the first beginning about two hours after nightfall.
The first segment of biphasic sleep was called “first sleep” or “deep sleep,” while the second was called “second sleep” or “morning sleep.” Numerous records of these terms persist throughout preindustrial European archival writings, while the concept of two sleeps is common in traditional cultures across the globe. Separating “first sleep” from “second sleep” was an “hour or more” of gentle activity and wakefulness. People generally didn’t spend this time online gaming or surfing the web or trolling the fridge for snacks; instead, they used it to pray, meditate, chat, or to simply just lie there and ruminate on life, the universe, and everything. It was still dark out so they tended to keep it pretty mellow. Sounds nice, huh?
Robert Louis Stevenson liked the idea, too. Sleep historian (awesome-sounding job!) Roger Ekirch writes of Stevenson who, in the fall of 1878, while trekking through the French highlands on foot, alone, made a remarkable discovery. As anyone who backpacks or spends time outdoors will corroborate, Stevenson found himself drifting off to sleep shortly after sunset. He awoke around midnight, smoked a cigarette, and, only after “enjoying an hour’s contemplation,” fell back asleep. That hour, that “one stirring hour” moved him; Stevenson had never before experienced a “more perfect hour.” He had awoken not because of an interloper, a night terror, or any other external actor, but because of what he later described as a “wakeful influence [that] goes abroad over the sleeping hemisphere” and is unknown to “those who dwell in houses.”
Ekirch thinks that the Industrial Revolution, especially the invention and proliferation of cheap electric lighting, forced modern society into its current monophasic sleep pattern by making artificial lighting that really lit up a room available to everyone. People with access to light bulbs could stay awake longer in brightly lit rooms because they were no longer subject to the circadian entrainment of natural light patterns. We’ve gone over light entrainment before. It’s likely worse nowadays, since we’re not just coping with access to ambient lighting, but also loads of interactive consumer electronics (like this laptop I’m using now) blasting circadian-disrupting light directly into our faces. Whereas Owen the London chimney sweep may have flicked on the light bulb and settled down to a good book and a bottle of ale after his shift and gotten to sleep around nine or ten, Jeff the SEO analyst stays up late arguing on Internet message boards with the laptops blue light beaming into his very soul. Sound familiar?
It’s likely that societal expectations about sleep structure – that it’s supposed to be eight hours of unbroken, deep, heavy slumber, as everyone knows – are making problems out of what may be normal sleeping patterns. Clinicians are finding that if they can make insomnia patients understand that waking up in the night is actually normal and natural, they feel better about their condition. Because they “perceive interrupted sleep as normal,” they stop stressing over waking and are able to get back to sleep more easily. Some forms of insomnia, in which people wake up in the middle of the night, might not actually be clinical conditions, but rather the manifestation of the natural human sleep cycle trying to assert itself. Insomnia may just be a problem of perception; if you look at your “problem” in a different light as explained by Ekirch, it disappears.
Imagine the possibilities if you could work just such an hour of free waking life into your sleep cycle! You wake up and, instead of exasperatingly checking the time, making a huge huff, and angrily grumbling and tossing and turning in a vain attempt to get back to sleep…
You vigorously and enthusiastically discuss last week’s post with your significant other (whose sleep schedule is also entrained to the biphasic cycle), thus stimulating your mind and supplying a steady rhythmic stimulus to your hip extensors.
You linger in twilight mindspace, that odd world between waking and sleeping that we rarely get to explore, and ponder dreams with a clarity that the 7 AM alarm for work simply doesn’t allow.
You light a candle and quietly read for an hour or so until sleep returns.
Sleep phase entrainment isn’t that easy, though. We do “dwell in houses.” We have by and large been sleeping monophasically for probably our entire lives. Our world is the product of the Industrial Revolution, for good and for bad, and so we must work with that reality. Candles at night will help, as will camping trips when possible, and limiting excessive late night computer exposure (or installing the ever-popular f.lux) is always a good move. You can try getting outdoor light exposure during the daytime – maybe go for that hike, that walk at lunch, or that outdoor workout.
But we’ve gone over that stuff before. It’s good, but it’s been done. In light of this new (old?) information about biphasic sleep patterns, perhaps the most effective change we can make is in our perception of sleep and waking. Make like those insomnia patients and change the way you think about waking up during the night. Don’t stress and fret; welcome it. Maybe, instead of assuming that this is all a horrible mistake and your cortisol is going to spike and you’re going to crave extra sugar in your coffee in the morning next time you wake up in the middle of the night, welcome it. Ever notice how you’re not all bleary eyed and zombie-like when you wake up at 2 AM like you are at 7 AM with the alarm blaring?
I’m thinking we should all explore why that is.
What are your experiences with waking up in the middle of the night? Do you need a solid block of sleep each night, or do you just assume that’s the case? After reading today’s post, see if your next mid-night wakeup feels different.
Get the Primal Blueprint Fitness eBook, Free Health Tips and Primal Recipes Delivered to Your Inbox
Posted By: Mark Sisson
My natural sleep pattern is to sleep for 4 hours, be awake for 2-3 hours, sleep for 2-3 and then a catnap in the afternoon. Worked great when I was in college, not so much in the world I live in right now.
I try to be in bed by 11 each night and tend to wake up around 4 am each morning, but immediately try to go back to sleep since I’m often up between 5:30-6:00 to get ready for work.
Oh, I forgot to my main point (clever girl I am), which is that the ‘Sleep Cycle’ app also works by waking you within the half hour (or you can change the time frame) before your set alarm time by choosing to gently wake you during your lightest sleep, rather than a loud alarm going off and scaring the shit out of you when you were in the middle of a nice deep sleep.
Gee, I sound like I sell this thing…
Very interesting – both the blog post and the comments about everyone’s sleep patterns. The times I feel the most refreshed and alert in the morning are the times I’ve slept solid through the whole night (8 hours is best for me in summer and at least 9 hours is best for me in winter). I generally feel extra groggy and tired in the morning when I’ve woken at 2, 3 or 4.
Wow, nature has already created this first and second sleep for me.
I am a breast feeding mother. I go to bed. Baby wakes up, I feed him for an hour, we go back to sleep. I can imagine that has been the pattern for many mothers since the beginning of time!
I have especially always enjoyed that hour of feeding my baby in the middle of the night. Everything is quiet, no body is calling us, it is just peaceful bonding time.
Now I do admit, that sometimes that sleep is also broken up by a second or even third feeding, my three year old waking up with a nightmare, a bout of teething that makes everyone a bit tired…
However, it seems like once again nature has already created for us the “perfect plan!”
I rarely get 8 hours uninterrupted. Between the sleep apnea early on in my life and the babies my life consisted of many tiny naps strung together. Thanks to Primal I sleep deeply now. What I find is that I can sleep less because I am getting quality sleep for the first time in my life. I feel more refreshed and energized on less than 8 as long as it’s one solid chunk of time. If I’m woken in the middle somewhere, it just never seems as energizing.
I almost never get a “solid” 8 hours.I’ve actually come to enjoy my quiet time in the middle of the night as the only time when I can really reflect on life. The rest of the day is too busy or noisy. I’ve started going to bed earlier, just to allow for that extra hour, and I don’t feel like I’m lacking any sleep because of it.
Hi everyone,
Just thought you might find this post from Ted about sleep, which entirely backs your argument, interesting.
Sorry if anyone else has posted this
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jessa_gamble_how_to_sleep.html
Rebecca x
This argument from Ted by Jessa Gamble totally supports your argument.
Thanks
Rebecca
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jessa_gamble_how_to_sleep.html
Interrupted sleep may have served as a survival mechanism – think old school sentry duty.
But for many, sleep is their only viable escape, a luxury and necessity at the same time. Given a choice, I’d rather sleep ~8-9 hours uninterrupted in deep, deep sleep.
Regardless of number of hours, what I want is to wake invigorated, not groggy or tired.
In college, when I had my own apartment, my friends thought I was nuts when i told them that I’d come home from work/class, go to sleep for a few hours, wake up around 10 and study/eat/whatever until 1 or 2, and then go back to bed until I had to get up for work (5AM) or class (6AM). It was great, got me through college, and allowed me to be really productive when others would be sleeping.
Perhaps my night owl tendencies, besides all the tech (just installed f.lux), come from having bypassed that first phase of sleep, and then making up for it by shifting the phases til later. When I do that, I’m optimal at 2AM-10AM, with a little wake up around 6 or 7.
Also, it changes with the landscape. In Oregon, it was asleep at 2-3AM for 8 hours. Here in Washington, it’s 12-8AM, with a brief alert period sometime during the night (I don’t have a clock that glows or anything).
BTW, Mark, this article was excellent. Also, I wonder if, after the Industrial Revolution, the period of time in the middle of the night was not mentioned or encouraged because it isn’t strictly “productive” time. Our industrial culture doesn’t really promote time to reflect and meditate (and even our media that advocates meditation will tell us to schedule it for a certain time period, which isn’t usually at night).
I often wake in the night and stress about trying to get back to sleep. After reading this I am going to try and embrace it when it happens next – can’t wait!
Thanks
Unfortunately I wake up all night long. I have been using a CPAP machine for about two years now and still haven’t gotten used to it. I fidget all night, adjusting and readjusting until I finally get up in the morning. I am hoping – as I advance into my primal life style – that weight loss and a lack of food related allergies will help alleviate some of my nighttime breathing problems making it easier to sleep. I would be happy with about four hours of uninterrupted sleep!
I’m another mother who never “sleeps through the night.” In fact, prolactin (the breastfeeding hormone) makes you sleep more lightly and arouse more easily. Handy!
People ask me, as if it’s some kind of contest, whether my 10-month-old sleeps through the night. He doesn’t, but I really don’t mind. As long as he’s only up a couple of times and goes back to sleep easily, I barely even remember it. I sincerely doubt primal mothers sleep-trained their babies! It’s so much nicer to get a quick check-in on the baby in the middle of the night, let him get a snack (babies have tiny stomachs, after all), and go back to sleep afterward.
I am learning so much about instinct and primal habits from my son. From hating shoes, to squatting down to play, to preferring meat to any other food (after good old mama milk of course), you don’t get much more primal than a baby!
I know! That got to driving me nuts with my second child, the whole notion that I was supposed to be “teaching” her to sleep. I was like, “she has no problem sleeping, people–what’s to teach?” We have such a hard time just letting people be people at all stages of their lives. Infants are not miniature adults!
My lady, (Barbeygirl) and I have been discussing this subject quite a bit lately. We are both in bed by 9 and both awake between 1 and 3 for about an hour. Thanks Mark, for clearing this up for us. From now on, I’ll grab a non-fiction book and read until I’m ready to go back to sleep.
This article makes me feel much better. Since my high school days(I am now 61)I have only slept in 2 to 3 hour intervals. Everyone in my family thinks I’m a little weird for that but it was always just normal to me. Thanks for posting this article. It sheds new light on what’s normal for each person and what everyone has been told is normal or necessary. Grok on…..Twigs!!!!
While doing extended river rafting trips that might be anywhere from 3 nights to 14 consecutive nights camping and while on a 5 week bike tour where I was camping 6 out of 7 nights per week, the typical nights sleep was very similar to what you describe in the post. It only makes sense that primal man would get up in the night – that would be a survival trait that most likely was passed down genetically. I have seen the damage done by sleeping pills and to me, taking an approach to sleeping like you articulated makes perfect sense.
Carthusian monks sleep 4 hrs then wake for prayers (2-3 hrs) then sleep again for 3 hrs. They’ve been doing this for 900+ years and seems to work for them as they generally live long and healthily. I was a novice with them and that midnight time was most contemplative.
Something that struck me is, if people did wake up in the middle of the night for a couple of hours back when they didn’t have electricity, they still in total managed to get 8 or so hours of sleep, since they were in bed for much longer.
Nowadays, when people are in bed for a total of 8 hours (on a good day), and they lose 2 hours of sleep at night, they’re then down to only 6 hours of sleep…
This true, and my main problem. With all of this technology and so much work to do, it is hard to go straight to bed when it gets dark. Especially with children to keep you busy all day and then trying to catch up with everything else once they go to bed. I usually don’t get to bed until about 11pm, and then have to get up before 7pm to get them ready for school etc. and start the day. That is eight hours. But because I wake up for a couple of hours during this time, I’m not getting a lot of sleep.
Kitty, try meditation before bed. It is a great intermediary between all that other stuff and sleep. Also do it through the day, 10 minutes or more, and you will find that it is very restful and good for ya.
Thanks Rocco. I used to meditate, but life just got a bit out of control for a while. Just need to get back into it. Starting today
The period between the two sleep phases presumably was (and still could be) a good time for procreation.
I was beginning to wonder when someone would notice that….All these comments about it being a good time for a chat or some meditation…
I can’t remember the last time i woke up during the night, however, i do find the idea of regulating sleep patterns absolutely nauseating. I don’t want to go to bed at 9 every night. Sometimes it’s later, sometimes not at all, sometimes i sleep in till ten, sometimes 6am. Unless i eat crap, then i’m never tired from this. I think it’s great to do an all nighter from time to time, sit up listening to music or reading/writing/d1ancing(i love dancing through the night)(no computers though)). When i’m at my folks farm sleep is the best. Window wide open, sleeping naked, fresh air breezing through, the sound of the stream trickling away, the odd baa of a sheep, moonlight shards illuminating the bedroom walls and so on. I miss that terribly in the city, although i sleep just as well, but perhaps a bit less naturally if that makes sense. Yeehah!
As a long time rescue swimmer I know the value of quality sleep, and I can personally attest that the perfect 8-hour night is not a necessity. The key to productive sleep is reaching that deep REM level of sleep which may be different for each person. I have survived many difficult times out to sea with 3 hr. sleep cycles and with entirely underestimated power nap (10-30 min). Your health and nutrition play a large roll in quality sleep as well. Supplimenting your normal diet with B-vitamins and other ingredients that provide your body healthy energy (try http://www.fighterenergystore.com) will help you stay active throughout the day and your body will naturally seek that deep sleep when the time is appropriate. Has anybody tried logging their hours of sleep to find their ideal range?
Among people who live outdoors (travelling Rennies and homeless people living in tents spring to mind, seeing as how much of my early twenties was spent falling into one of those two categories) encounter this a lot. You go to bed a bit after sunset, sleep for awhile, wake up, go to to the bathroom (a hike of between 500 yards and a mile depending on the campsite) and then hang out at the fire, with people who were still up, smoke a cigarette, and then wander back to bed for the rest of the night.
It’s a nice cycle.
In classical Luganda (the widest language of Uganda, which first encountered European influence in the late 1800s), the times of the day are named in a more qualitative manner (“the time when the fireplace goes cold”), as opposed to the modern qualitative way (“10 PM”).
Interestingly, and in accord with this that you write above, their 11 PM was called “Ekisisimuka ekisooka”; literally: “the first stirring to wakefulness”. And midnight was called “Ekisisimuka ekisooka”; literally: “the second stirring to wakefulness”. The ancient names for the times of the day (and night; to them the day was when the light was on, and it did not cover all twenty-four hours) are very instructive into that kind of time.
It’s rare when I have a completely uninterrupted night of sleep. When I do, they’re quite awesome. The kind of sleep that feels like you just had an hour or so of sleep, but actually had a full 8 hours of it. Those days are great, but I usually wake up at least once during the night. It’s usually around the same time(s) too. I notice if I keep the same sleep patterns all the time I actually wake up peacefully usually 5-10 minutes prior to my alarm going off. I opted for a natural alarm clock (by Philipps)which gradually lights the room up with a “natural soft light”. I have it set to birds chirping to wake me up, but it’s a lot better than the usual beeping. I also makes sure to have my windows cracked in my room to allow air to circulate. I also make sure no electronics are in my bedroom. No TV, or anything that can disrupt my sleep. It’s pitch black when I turn everything off, other than the very dim light coming from my alarm clock. These little things alone make a huge difference.
Hey guys,
I found this article very interesting in that it provides good insight into why the modern-day lifestyle may not be compatible with our internal clock.
If anyone is interested, here are two articles about polyphasic sleep:
http://www.dustincurtis.com/sleep.html
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/
It’s already been pointed out that different non-developed cultures have totally different sleep preferences than us.
The basic idea is that by sleeping in several blocks (instead of one 8 hour block) gives you more REM sleep and yet you spend less time “sleeping”.
And, by doing this, we can achieve those so-called “sentinel” periods more often, and as such be more alert and more productive.
Steve Pavlina from the second link explains what this meant for him.
Point is, monophasic sleep seems to be the result of our modern lifestyle, not of our evolutionary preferences. People are able to adapt to different sleep cycles.
Such a cool tips to sleep.
I actually wanted to jot down a small remark in order to appreciate you for some of the remarkable pointers you are posting at this site. My long internet search has now been compensated with excellent content to share with my pals. I ‘d claim that most of us site visitors are truly fortunate to dwell in a really good site with so many lovely people with valuable techniques. I feel somewhat blessed to have encountered your web page and look forward to tons of more pleasurable moments reading here. Thanks once more for everything.
welll I know that at the moment i’m only getting about 3-4 hours sleep a night and it’s killing me….considering that once it’s daylight I can’t get to sleep at all…and it doesn’t matter how early I go to bed at night, I don’t get any extra sleep