by Audrey Hollingshead

You’re tired. Dog tired. Just the simple thought of studying for your looming math midterm makes your eyes heavy. You need to study but you also need to get snacks ready for your kids when they burst through the door from school in an hour. Worse yet, as soon as their done you’ll have to rush them off to the neighbors so you can rush to work. If I just had one decent nap, you sigh to yourself, maybe I wouldn’t feel so dazed.

Well, what if you COULD? What if a simple two-hour nap felt like eight AND refreshed you better then a reloaded webpage? Imagine all the things you could do!!!

As unreal as it sounds this is totally possible. You CAN train your body to put those power naps to good use. But how? By using the Uberman Sleep schedule, also known as Polyphasic Sleep.

See, our brains LOVE sleep. It’s like a double stuff Oreo to them, with REM sleep being the creamy middles it just can’t get enough of, and with good reason. While many phases of sleep are beneficial, the phase with Rapid Eye Movements (And the dreams responsible for R.E.M.) gives us that well rested feeling. With a little training and patients anyone can learn to have R.E.M. filled naps any time, any day. If you think this sleep schedule is right for you, read on!

Step 1: Go to bed at 9:00PM. Wake up at exactly 9:30PM. Do dishes, study, or relax.

Step 2: Go to sleep again at 1:30AM for another 30 minutes. The times are not exact, but you SHOULD be sleeping 20-30 minutes every 4 hours for this to work.

Step 3: Repeat this process for three-four days. WARNING: You WILL feel sleep deprived. This is NORMAL. By the fourth or fifth day your brain will give up on it’s old sleeping pattern and will kick into R.E.M. sleep the second head hits pillow. This means that any catnap you grab will leave you well rested and refreshed.

Step 4: Once your brain becomes the R.E.M. master you should try to nap for at least two hours. This will give your brain enough time to get through a full dream cycle.

So why does this work? Why does breaking up our sleep turn us into better sleepers over all? Because, according to one New York Times article, we’ve slept this way for centuries. Before Thomas Edison had the bright idea of improving artificial light many people used to sleep more then once a night. They’d go to bed around eight or nine, and then wake an hour or two later feeling tranquil and meditative. They’d use this time to pray, or, as the article most mentions, make love to their bedding partners. After an hour of quiet wakefulness they’d go right back to sleep for another four-five hours.

What’s even more interesting is that the article mentions a study done at the National Institute of Mental Health where volunteers experienced more then 14 hours of darkness. Pretty soon everyone in the study was breaking up his or her sleep with quiet wakefulness before returning to dream filled bliss.

So the next time you feel like you’re not getting enough from your sleep, try this method and see if it works for you!

And remember,

Dream Well! Dream Positive!!!

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tanaka/2436918835