The 8-hour sleep myth: How I learned that everything I knew about sleep was wrong

Many people agonize over their own inability to get an uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep, because everyone “knows” this is how much sleep you are supposed to get. However, an extensive review of scientific sleep studies and historical documents indicates that for much of human history most people actually divided their sleep into two separate, shorter stages with a short period of wakefulness (usually one or two hours) in between. This time was used for anything from prayer to sex, and was important to pre-industrial societies, but over time was largely forgotten about, with the concept of the eight hour sleep cycle replacing it, and also giving rise to angst over failure to get a “full” eight hours of sleep.

Reflect on these key points:

• 1Sleep hygiene, or the notion that a specific space should be used solely for sleep, and at a regular time period, is a notion that frustrates many.
• 2For long periods of history it has been the norm to have two distinct sleep periods.
• 3By learning that our modern eight hours at once rule is not written in stone, or history, we can learn to do what our body wants to the betterment of our spirits and bodies.

“High school trigonometry commenced at 7:50am. I flunked, stupefied with sleepiness. Only when college allowed me to schedule courses in the afternoon did the joy of learning return.”

Read the full story: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/8-hour-sleep-myth-learned-everything-knew-sleep-wrong/