For the first time, the professor-historian of the Virginia Polytechnic University Roger Ekirsch became interested in the phenomenon of "double sleep".
According to his research, the sleep of our ancestors was divided into two phases: the first lasted three to four hours, after which a period of wakefulness began (from two to three hours), and then people went to bed again.
This phenomenon is mentioned in many historical documents and literature.
“It's not even about the amount of evidence that we managed to find. The fact is that this phenomenon was clearly ubiquitous, says Ekirsch.
One English physician, for example, wrote that he considers the period between the first and second phases of sleep to be the ideal time for work and inspiration. And yet another doctor, who lived in the 16th century, claimed that the birth rate among the working class was higher due to "double sleep". The fact is that during the break, most people stayed in beds, or at least in their bedrooms, while away the time reading or praying. Some smoked, talked, or had sex. Whoever was not at home could go to visit the neighbors.
Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales tells of a character who goes to bed a second time.
As we all know, this phenomenon has completely disappeared from the life of a modern person. Ekirsch explains this with the invention of street lighting, and then electricity. With the advent of these benefits, night ceased to be a refuge for criminals and slobs, providing additional time for work or communication. "Double Sleep" was ultimately considered a waste of time.
That is, the "double dream" disappeared with the onset of the twentieth century and until the 1990s no one really remembered it.
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Scientific point of view
In the early 1990s, National Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist Thomas Wehr began researching photoperiodicity (exposure to light) and its effect on sleep.
During one experiment that lasted four weeks, Ver restricted 15 participants to 10 hours of light. Thus, the usual 16 hours of active life for these people were reduced to 10. The remaining fourteen hours, in the absence of light, were given to them for rest or sleep. It turned out to be a kind of imitation of winter time with short daylight hours and long nights.
At first, the subjects slept for a very long time, making up for the lack of sleep common to modern humans. But as soon as they slept off, their sleep split into two parts.
At first, the volunteers slept from four to five hours, after which they stayed awake for a while, and then slept again - already until the morning. In total, the duration of their sleep was no more than eight hours. In the interval between the first and second phases, according to their own confessions, they experienced an unusual peace of mind.
Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford, explains that even during a typical eight-hour sleep, waking up isn't always a cause for concern. "This is just an attempt by the body to return to a bimodal sleep pattern."
But in order to return to this practice, modern life must be completely changed. Someone JD Moyer did just that. Together with his family, he spent a whole month without an electric light.
Moyer writes: “I went to bed at 8:30 pm and then woke up at 2:30 am. It was inconvenient at first, but I reminded myself that before the advent of electricity, people followed this routine for decades. For an hour or two I went about my business and then went to bed again."
Moyer did not aim to reproduce the bimodal structure of sleep. No, it happened naturally, due to too long darkness of the day.
Be that as it may, scientists have not yet been able to discover any benefits of double sleep. Yes, it does make you feel more rested, but only because you have more time to relax and fall asleep.
However, if you carve out an additional three to four hours for blissful idleness before and after sleep, you can get the corresponding effect with the traditional eight-hour sleep.