About Lucid Dreaming

I was about to write a post about lucid dreaming when I came across this blog post, which effectively did it for me. Go figure, right?

Regardless, you should check out that blog because it's pretty good stuff. I'll offer you the graphic included in the link, since it has a ton of useful information.

This pretty much covers it.

As the caption says, that graphic pretty much covers it.

My only contributions are from personal experience. Here are some of my reality checks: 

• Push two fingers against the palm of the opposite hand - results in reality and dreams tend to differ. 
• If there are light switches, flick them - generally nothing happens in dreams. 
• Push against a wall - sometimes, in dreams, your hand will go through. 
• Try pinching yourself hard - usually it does not hurt in dreams. 

I like the nose/breathing idea, I might also incorporate that. The text and mirror examples are context sensitive, but good, though the mirror test can be frightening at times.

Alright, I have a ton to do in the morning, so thanks for reading and check out that blog!

How to Hack Your Sleep: Polyphasic Sleep for Fun & Profit

How to Hack Your Sleep: Polyphasic Sleep for Fun and Profit

Sounds a little like a business self-help book, doesn't it? In a way, it is - except it's more of a strategy.

Polyphasic sleep comes in a variety of intensities - there's the hardcore polyphasic sleeper, who sleeps for 20 minutes every four hours or so; but, there are lighter degrees of polyphasic sleeping.

Before we begin, I need to give a word of warning. Transitioning to polyphasic sleep can be difficult for a variety of reasons. One of the least considered is the social difficulty of running on an entirely different schedule from everybody else you know. You won't be getting much in the way of cuddles if you're only taking a 20 minute nap every four hours.

That being said, polyphasic sleep can dramatically increase your productivity by freeing up as many as 40+ hours per week that would normally be spent sleeping. Is this safe? Yes, so far as we all know. Polyphasic sleepers are perfectly healthy, functioning people; but, I can't speak for the truly longterm problems, if there are any.

How does polyphasic sleep work? It's based on optimizing your brain to immediately shift into Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is what has been found to be the most restorative portion of the sleep cycle. On any given night you only spend 1 - 2 hours in REM. Polyphasic sleep works by training your body to enter REM sleep in short spurts, spreading it into 20 minute segments throughout the day instead of in one big lump at night.

Monophasic sleepers are what most people have grown up as, particularly in cultures that do not promote napping (aka, la siesta!) - this means 8 hours of core sleep and only 2 hours of REM every night, or 5 more or less wasted hours. The siesta gives a portion of restorative sleep in the afternoon allowing for less required sleep at night. Give an hour, take an hour, basically.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This man takes his siesta very seriously.

To step up the polyphasic sleep schedule, I recommend going 'cold turkey' and sticking to a pattern for months.

Two twenty-minute naps during the day and be sure to schedule them to take into consideration the time it takes to fall asleep! These two twenty-minute naps reduce your core sleep time at night to four and a half hours, giving 5.2 total hours of sleep time -- without sacrificing restorative REM sleep!

Or try three 20 minute naps per day and 3 hours of core sleep at night, yielding 4 total hours. That's a total of 20 hours per day for work and play - while still feeling rested!

For example, you could take your core sleep from 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM at this stage and take your naps around 8:30/9:00 AM; 12:30 PM and 3:00/4:00 PM - or whatever scheduling works best for you.

Or try stepping it up to four 20 minute naps and 1 and a half hours of core sleep, giving a total of 2.8 hours. An example of this schedule: Core sleep from midnight to 1:30 AM; 20 minute naps at 7AM, 11:30AM, 1PM and 6PM.

Or the epic polyphasic sleep model, which is simply six 20 minute naps at four hour intervals throughout the day, yielding a total time of 2 hours of pure REM sleep.

So, what's the catch? The more naps (and thus less total sleep time) you take, the more rigorously you have to guard the scheduled times. At the 'few naps per day' levels you can be off a couple hours and still be OK, whereas at the six nap level you generally need it within half an hour. If you fail here you'll mess up your schedule and probably be tired for days.

The other 'catch' is that you do have to train your body to do this - the first few days, especially of the six nap mode, might be hell; however, it is doable and, if you can make it through the first few days, your body will adjust and you'll start feeling peachy.

Enjoy your new levels of productivity!

Streamlining Your Mornings, Part I

Your alarm goes off and you open your eyes blearily, flailing to switch it off. Maybe at this point you get up. Maybe you listen to that little subconscious voice saying, "Oh, it's OK, just a few more minutes won't hurt. Feel how comfortable the bed is? Just a couple more minutes..."

Next thing you know it's an hour later and you have five minutes to get ready for work, if you're lucky.

Why does this happen? Why is it so easy to give in, snooze and mess up your schedule?

Because your subconscious is a selfish, malevolent sociopath hellbent on foiling your plans in a cozy prison cell of warm sheets and comfy pillows.

How to Hack it

The lifehack here is pretty straightforward: Ignore that lying, two-faced siren.

But how?

With an iron will that would make Stalin and Beethoven whimper... and with practice, of course. After all, you know what they say about getting to Carnegie Hall: You have to get the fuck out of bed.

Try this: Sometime during the day, set your alarm to a few minutes later. Get in bed and, when your alarm goes off, open your eyes, take a deep breath and immediately get out of bed for a little stretch, then walk away. Start walking towards and even doing what you want yourself to do as part of a morning routine.

If that's exercise, get dressed for it and start putting your shoes on or whatever. If it's update your blog, head for your computer and, if it's a laptop, you'd better use it at a table.

Do this several times. I mean it. At least five times, preferably more. Follow up with more practice the next day and take note of any progress on getting your lazy bum out of bed and into activity. For me, results were immediate, but your experience may vary.

Why? You are training your body to respond to the stimulus of your alarm a certain way. The more repetition you have the better - think Pavlov's dogs.

Training your body to automatically get out of bed allows you to more easily ignore your inner dialogue, which is exactly what you need.

Do not listen to yourself when you wake up!

If you've found this interesting, informative, entertaining, tedious, repulsive, or even if you'd just like to know more or have suggestions, please comment and follow the blog!