So a couple of weeks ago I remarked about my sleeping habits and how I was going to try something a little different with my sleep patterns. Historical evidence shows that in the past some folks would have “two sleeps” every night with a waking interval in between and my body has been showing signs of wanting to do the same thing so I decided to try that approach.
In the past 10 days I have had three nights where I woke up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Instead of having some sort of silent fit, whirling around in my bed to find a new comfortable position and then flipping my pillow around to find the cool side, I would sit up in bed and see if both eyes were functioning. If both eyes were open and functioning, I would get up and walk a lap around the bedroom and then the rest of the house. Ok, I’d pee too, but only in the bathroom. I’d then calm my mind by telling myself that my forefathers could have been doing this very exercise of walking around in the middle of the night and they did it with wood teeth and everything (why I think this I have no idea since it’s a completely unrelated point). I’d then do another walk around the downstairs and then head back up to bed, where I’d put my headphones back on and give the sleeping thing another whirl. I’d end up sleeping right through to the alarm.
I feel better than I did before I started this approach. I haven’t had to spend one moment trying to find a private napping spot in my cubicle during the afternoons at work (don’t tell my boss).
Now this little experiment is completely unscientific and there could be a million and three other contributing factors as to why this is working better for me but I’m not one to complain, as long as I feel well rested and productive during the day.
Yesterday I ended up taking a small nap during my lunch hour and it was enjoyable. I think this was a recharge of Monday more than a need for actual sleep, however, as the nap was more meditative than actual deep sleep. But I think I’m onto something and that can only be a good thing.
Now last night I tried a new soundtrack for the headphones that I wear when I sleep and it helped me have some very vivid and lucid dreams. I love it when I can steer the scenes going on in my head during my dreams. It’s a skill I pretty much mastered when I was a kid and I consider myself quite lucky to still have the ability to do this on a regular basis. Perhaps that’s why I am in such a good mood today.
