A strange thing is happening in North America to our adult sleep cycle. Many, many people are saying that they are having two sleeps a night or one short sleep one night with a long sleep the next night, repeatedly. In the last three weeks, I have talked to family and friends and acquaintances that are all puzzling about why their sleep pattern is changing.
Our Ancestors went to sleep pretty much when the sun went down. After sleeping for about four hours, they would wake up, have some water and something to eat and do something creative like reading/studying, writing, drawing, thinking, carving, baking, dancing, sewing, knitting, mending things, tending to animals, praying/being spiritual, and even watching the sky. Then, they headed off to bed and slept until dawn or just past dawn, averaging about eight hours a night.
This form of sleeping helped the Ancestors process food as they ate later and helped them have time to digest both the meal and the events of the day and plan for the next day. This sleep pattern helped them to be more alert, active, and spiritual. Sleeping like this may have kept them healthier.
Compare the Ancestor’s sleep to the sleep many in North America have. People eat late, drink late, work late, and sleep little. In the past, I have heard so many folks describe sleep as a waste of time. Lots of successful people talk about how little sleep they need.
The question then is - “Why is our sleep pattern suddenly changing?” I think that there are multiple reasons that the sleep patterns are changing for many of us.
- The isolation that most of went through the last two years because of the pandemic has caused us to rest more and I think that most of us are now caught up on sleep. As we merge back into a more mainstream style of working, our body/mind does not want to lose the creativity that we acquired during the pandemic so our brain creates a space for us to be creative.
- There is a rising awareness of the Earth and our connection to it - a view fostered by great advocates like National Geographic and wise and dedicated environmentalists like Jane Goodall. Being awake for several hours during the night helps us feel the connection to the Earth because it is so quiet.
- The time that we are awake at night and processing and asking “why” is allowing us to connect and understand ideas bigger than ourselves. We are actually becoming more spiritual (not religious).
