#segmented sleep

What is segmented sleep and is it healthy?

Most of us sleep the same way. Fall into bed late at night and spend the next 8 hours – if we’re lucky – dreaming and snoring until the alarm goes off. But not everyone does it that way. Some people split their sleep into two or more shifts. It’s called segmented sleep and there’s a lot of buzz about it being the right choice in today’s fast-paced world. But before you dive in and make plans for…

I imagine that most of y'all who have studied sociology already know that prior to industrial capitalism the majority of human civilizations favored segmented/biphastic sleep schedules, but I learned this information freshly today and it feels like insanity. So much of what I believe about the human condition is arbitrarily constructed.

It is clear that biphasic sleep was not unique to Western households. Instead, it occurred well beyond the bounds of Europe and North America in other cultures and continents, including the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Latin America, thereby heightening the likelihood that throughout the preindustrial world this form of sleep was not at all uncommon, including in equatorial cultures.4 The French priest André Thevet, on traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1555, reported that the Tupinamba Indians ate whenever they had an appetite, “even at night after their first sleep they get up to eat and then return to sleep.”5 In the early 19th century, residents of Muscat, the capital of Oman, were said to retire early, lying “down before 10 o'clock,” so that “before midnight their first sleep” was “usually over.”6

Street Light by Giacomo Balla (1909) shows a street light overpowering the crescent moon, signifying a new era of artificial light. 

Our unit on time was really intriguing to me because I have a strange relationship with sleep, as I’m sure most of us do. I’ve always struggled to find the right sleeping schedule for myself and I’ve often wondered “what did people do before we had artificial light?”. I got my answer during our unit on making time. Living in an industrialised world, our schedule is thrown off because we have created more time to work. We are pushing the limits of waking hours and putting productivity over health. I have felt pressured to stay up way past my “bed-time” as I struggle to finish an essay or study for a test. Which is dumb! I’ve always thought that was dumb, so why have I been doing it? Sleep is a source of stress for me because I never know if I’m sleeping correctly. With my unnatural schedule it’s hard to know when I’m tired or when I’m ready to wake up. In this day and age, the need to be productive is ever pressing. Factories run through the night, goods are transported at all hours of the day, and the world never really sleeps as a result. This leads to more carbon dioxide production than ever before, as I mentioned in my post “The World We Have Made”. We are fighting our natural clocks.

The concept of segmented sleep came up in our discussion about sleep before artificial light became ubiquitous during the Industrial Revolution. People used to go to bed around dusk, because once it was dark you couldn’t do very much. Then, out of instinct, people would wake up in the middle of the night and socialize, procreate, or meditate for a couple hours before their second sleep. This time between the two sleeps was a time of deep intimacy and healing. I’ve always known that humans need sleep to be healthy, but this unit really solidified that the way most of us sleep now is far from ideal. So, I started going to bed earlier and earlier, limiting my screen time and overhead light use after dinner. I started to feel sleepy around 11pm, then 10pm. My natural waking time shifted to 7am. As final tests and essays crept up on me once again, I fell into my old patterns. It takes a great push to counter the societal schedule we’ve fallen into. I’m continuing to create time for myself where I can detach from school work and screens and just be present.

Mindfulness and sabbath were other topics we covered in this unit. The sabbath is a time to rest and nurture relationships without working, cooking, or spending money. This allows for the creation of “holiness in time” as Abraham Joshua Heschel teaches in Sabbath. We all need to be more mindful, because despite having “more time” it seems like less of it belongs to us. But, we have the power to spend our time how we want to. We can find leisure time in moments we typically categorize as “working”, as is explained in Brigid Schulte’s book Overwhelmed. Time is up to our interpretation.

I was moved by this unit to reflect on how I exist in time. I’ve become more appreciative of my own biological clock, and I’m respecting it more. I’m cherishing my waking moments and I look forward to sleeping. I’ve learned how to make my days feel like my own. I’m proud of how I spend my time, and don’t solely place value in productivity relating to school. One way I feel free from time is by walking, which leads me to the next unit: “Where is Nature?”

It’s 7:20 am. I woke up around 6:45 after going back to bed at 2:45 and falling asleep maybe around 3:20 or so. I probably would have fallen asleep more quickly had I not been dealing with some unrelated stomach issues that were causing me pain and keeping me awake.

I didn’t get enough sleep. By my calculations, I got somewhere around 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep. I can feel it. I need 7 minimum. That said, being tired and under-rested has been pretty normal for me the past few weeks, so it’s nothing new.

If I feel bad enough this afternoon, I might take a short nap, but I’m hoping to head to bed early (9ish) again tonight to see if I fall asleep any easier.

It is 1:30 am. I went to bed around 9 pm but was unable to fall asleep until around 10:30. I’m not surprised, since my usual bedtime is closer to 10-11 pm. I imagine falling asleep earlier will become easier with practice.

I awoke easily at around 1:10. I hope that’s what I was supposed to do. I didn’t set an alarm; I’m trying to see if my body is going to show me what it wants to do.

Is this all a crazy, hippie-dippie experiment? Maybe. But it seems to work for some people, and I’ve got nothing to lose, so why not?

Edit 2:06 am: Forgot to mention that I had heartburn when I woke up. I had a pretty big dinner right before bed, which probably explains it. I’m going to have to keep an eye on that.