LEARN TO SLEEP: MULTIPHASIC PATTERN
Sleep is a modified innate activity. Young babies sleep for about 16 hours a day, waking up about five to six times in the 24 hours for feeding. This multiphasic sleep pattern may be the innate pattern of sleep. Gradually, as we become older, we learn to sleep more at night and to stay awake more in the day. At about one year of age, we wake up only once or twice at night, but stay awake most of the day. When we reach school age, we go to bed at about 8 p.m. and wake up at about 7 a.m. the next day. When we are adults, most of us sleep for seven to eight hours each night at one stretch. Hence, through learning, we change from a multiphasic pattern to a monophasic pattern of sleep. In some countries there is a sleep in the afternoon called the siesta or midday nap. Sleeping at two different times in the 24 hours is known as a biphasic sleep pattern and is more natural and refreshing than a monophasic pattern since it more closely resembles the innate pattern of multiphasic sleep.
Hence learning a sleep pattern is like toilet training. We learn to sleep at certain times of the night. Our parents expect us to sleep at night, and our teachers expect us to stay awake in class. We are modifying the innate ability to sleep in order to fit in with society, the majority of which shows a monophasic sleep pattern.
Nowadays, with the help of the sleep laboratory, we can demonstrate that there is a recurrent 90 minute sleep cycle, discussed in detail in chapter 5 on Two Kinds of Sleep. Every 90 minutes throughout the 24 hours there is a few minutes of sleepiness which has been called the 90 minute window. During this window we can fall asleep easily if we want to. Can this be a vestige of the innate multiphasic sleep pattern?
Since sleep is a modified activity and we learn to sleep when we are very young, various problems are created. We learn a lot of bad sleeping habits. Bad habits are certain behaviours we pick up and incorporate into our routine.
We watch television in bed, we eat in bed, we stay up late at night, and wake up at all sorts of hours in the morning. Yet we expect to be able to sleep well whenever we want to. If we want to have better sleep, these bad habits have to be unlearned and eliminated.
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