Polyphasic Sleep: The experiment

Hello again blogosphere, it seems I'm back after some time of absence. Of course I've been meaning to get back into these things all the while and have a great many topics and issues to address, but I'm going to skip all that and jump straight to the event that has driven me here today.

I am presently nearing the end of the first day of an exciting life experiment. I have decided to replace my boring, inefficient monohasic sleep routine with a brand new, state-of-the-something polyphasic sleep schedule. For those of you who don't know, a polyphasic sleep pattern is one in which the normal 8 hour block of sleep is split into 2 or more shorter sleeping sessions spread through-out the day, usually with the aim of achieving a more efficient/convenient sleeping schedule. The big idea behind the whole scheme is that in a normal monophasic sleeping session, only about 2 hours are spent in the crucial life-giving REM cycle. The other 6 hours are practically wasted on superfluous resting cycles. The ambitious polyphasic sleeper usually aims to avoid this waste using strategically timed naps through-out the day.

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
http://www.highexistence.com/alternate-sleep-cycles/

After all is well and done, I should be thriving on a mere two hours of sleep, daily.
Of course there's something of a catch: the adaptation process, which is said to take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks, has been described as both grueling and agonizing; it also has, depending on the precise schedule pursued, a relatively low rate of success. This is probably because, to date, the only known method of conditioning the brain to switch immediately from awake to REM involves some pretty intense sleep deprivation.

Like so many of my fellow internet addicts, I have decided to record my transition experience in blog form, with possibly a video entry or two depending on my (sure to be eccentric) mood.

My goal: incorporate what is known as the 'Dymaxion' sleep pattern into my daily routine.

My plan: Limit all my sleep to timed, half-hour intervals, until my brain gets the hint and then gradually reduce the number of naps until a homeostasis of 4 half-hour naps/day is achieved.

My reasons: (Shamelessly stolen from Jordan Lejuwaan at www.highexistence.com)

- Polyphasic sleepers report feeling more mentally alert than ever before. In fact the sensation is reported to be so rewarding that the ONLY reason they switch back to monophasic sleep is to accomodate the normal sleep cycles of their friends, family and co-workers.

- Time! Duh.

- Lucid Dreaming. Polyphasic sleepers report having the very frequent and vivid lucid dreams. Because polyphasic sleep allows your body to go right into REM sleep, the cycle where you dream, it’s a lot easier to bring some consciousness into the dream. Oh and lucid dreams are AWESOME.

- The mind-fuck aspect. Everyone that succeeds in becoming polyphasic writes about how psychologically strange it is to get used to. Every day tends to blend with the next since there is never really a solid break in consciousness. I love messing with my own head whether it be psychedelic drugs or meditation. A new mental challenge?? I’m game.

- It’s ridiculously cool. Only sleeping 2 hours a day and doing something that 99.9% of the world never does? That’s awesome.