Anyone who has suffered with sleep issues could tell you that there’s nothing more frustrating than waking up in the middle of the night and lying there for hours before nodding off again just as your alarm goes off…
Cue serious tiredness the next day.
But, whether waking up in the wee hours is a regular issue for you or not, one expert believes it’s time for you to start looking at those 3am sleep breaks in a completely different light.
In fact, according to medical expert Dr Michael Mosley, waking up in the middle of the night is exactly how our 19th century ancestors, the Victorians, opted to rest.
And, writing in the Mail on Sunday yesterday (25 March), Dr Mosley revealed that embracing this Victorian style of sleeping has actually helped ‘cure’ his own insomnia.
Explaining his own sleep issues, Dr Mosley said: “Since I hit middle age, my own sleep has followed a pattern that might be familiar: I woke up in the middle of the night, and found it hard to get back to sleep.
“There are other types of insomnia: not being able to get to sleep, or waking up early in the morning. But the most common type is waking in the middle of the night, particularly as we get older, partly because our sleep is much lighter, but also because of things such as having a full bladder and feeling the need to go to the toilet.”
But, after coming across research by a US history professor, Roger Ekirch, Dr Mosley soon discovered that sleeping for a few hours, waking up for a couple of hours, and then returning to bed for a ‘second sleep’ was once the norm.
“[Dr Ekirch] claimed that my pattern – falling asleep, waking for a while, then falling asleep again – was how most people slept in pre-industrial times,” says Dr Mosley.
“When it got dark, they would go to bed, sleep for about five hours, then get up. They would then stay awake for an hour or so – doing household chores, visiting friends or enjoying a bit of intimacy – before heading to bed again for ‘second sleep’.
“As the practice of sleeping continuously became more widespread, the idea of a ‘first’ and ‘second’ sleep faded from public consciousness. Now it is seen as a sleep problem, something that needs to be “cured’.”
Explaining that scientific research supports the idea that so-called ‘ biphasic sleeping’ (sleeping in two chunks) may be more natural for humans, and that resting this way may support the body’s repair processes, Dr Mosley says he decided to give the Victorian method a go.
And, weirdly enough, he claims that it has ultimately helped him feel more rested – and may well work for you, too…
“When I do wake around 3am, rather than lie there fretting, I get up, quietly, and have a glass of milk (containing tryptophan, a sleep-inducing amino acid), listen to music, meditate or read a really boring book. I have a special collection of books I keep for this purpose,” he says.
Adding that it’s best to avoid doing anything stimulating or looking at screens, he continues: “When I start to feel sleepy, which is normally after 40 minutes or so, I go back to bed for three or so hours of ‘second’ sleep.”
He adds: “Since I have, slightly reluctantly, accepted that I am unlikely to return to sleeping for a whole night without a break, I’ve felt more rested, less stressed and much less likely to nod off during the day.
“Try it for yourself.”
Hmm, next time we find ourselves tossing and turning at 2am, we might just give this a go…
