Extending Life With A New Way to Sleep

9/4/13 2:30AM
I've discovered a new way to sleep which I want to share with you. Before the onset of this rare medical disease, I'd been  sleeping really well, 8-9 hrs a night. But, lately, I've developed some new patterns which are very exciting.  They give me a better result: more alertness during wake time, with less time sleeping so more time available for live action.  Right now, with my medical adventure in full swing, I'm eager to be up and doing all the things I want to do for which, as you know, there is never enough time.  Years ago, I read a book by a Cornell professor who specialized in sleep and said that 10 hours was the ideal. Most of what you read says 8 is best with more or less for different people.  The average I read in the US is 6-8 hours. They say Margaret Thatcher got 4 hours, Leonardo Da Vinci 1.5-2hrs, Thomas Jefferson 2hrs, Thomas Edison 5hrs, and Isaac Newton 3-4hrs.


Another famous person, Nikola Tesla, was one of the greatest inventors of all time,  (He invented the polyphase alternating current system which today lights the entire globe.)  And he claimed to sleep just 2-3 hours a day...  saying "I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success.. Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything". That statement captures some of the excitement I'm feeling these days, the excitement of this medical adventure and I think it accounts for the change in my sleeping patterns.

You know how you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. So you waste hours tossing and turning.  Well I sleep, wake up, go back to sleep right away or if I don't after a few minutes I see how I feel.  If I am feeling quite awake I get up. That's why I'm writing right now. It's a great time of day -2:30AM  (or I suppose I should say night except for me it's now my day).  And I believe getting up at this time is more "natural" historically, as this article states and for primitive man over the eons.

BBC world service is on as I pour my drink juiced the night before, streaming news from around the world which makes me feel alive and connected globally in an almost spiritual way.  At some point as I write my eyes get bleary (I don't wear glasses at all either for reading or seeing distance, which is pretty unusual for a 76 year old - and in another post I'll tell you how you may be able to do this too).  If I'm still alert, then I look at an eye chart I've set up to focus my eyes away from the computer to distance.  Otherwise I go back to bed for a nap. I'm finding now that I just nod off maybe for just 10 minutes. Other times it may be 1/2 hour or a bit more.  What I'm doing here is letting my body tell my mind what to do.  Get up or go to bed. These famous people I've cited above, I believe, did what I'm doing now - take a number of naps.  Let their body dictate their sleep patterns and not force their bodies with their minds.

I remember my mother talking of Thomas Edison who lived near her family and visiting his lab and how he talked about how little sleep he got and yet they would find him napping all the time Of course it helps to not have a job with a fixed schedule so not all can do this.  But more and more people are working independently so it isn't just retirees, like myself who can benefit from this approach to sleeping. 

I find this is very exciting.  I am more productive and have extended my life with these new sleep patterns. First by adding 2 perhaps 3 hours, and maybe it will be even more, to whatever days God or Fate decide to grant me,  and maybe by treating my body with more care and respect it will want to stay around longer than otherwise .  Am I going to try to reduce down to say a total of 2 hours of sleep a day, like some of those above, so I could free up 6-7 hours from my previous 8-9 hours a day?  Well that decision is up to my body not my mind.  My mind's part in this is to pay close attention and let my body take us where it wants to go.  And let me add a further thought.  Maybe it's my mind that needs the sleep when I feel tired so when I say I am having my mind pay more attention to my body it really may be I'm having my mind pay more attention to my mind.  Interesting thoughts eh?

Sleep is one of the great mysteries worthy of our thought and experimentation. This has all just occurred in the last week or two so I don't know where this is going. Of course I didn't invent this nor is it a totally knew concept. But for me it is a fascinating new exploration which can significantly add years to my life. Or maybe yours. And maybe it could help you get more sleep if that is a problem for you. I would very much like to hear of your thoughts or experience with this. For me this is new with only a matter of few days experience and I am eager to see where it goes and  will keep you posted.

Big day today.  Off to see my pre-Johns Hopkins Derm Doc.  I last saw him 4 weeks ago. I sort of regard him as my production facility and Johns Hopkins as the research facility.  He's great at removing those things from your skin you don't want and of course Hopkins is famous for their interest in rare diseases.  He has been taking pictures of me on his iPad so I'm thinking we will take another and compare.  In the meantime, since I last saw him 4 weeks ago, I may have gotten worse and then better so there might not be a lot of change between the 2 pictures.  But  if they show I'm better that will be very significant!

That's it for today. Thanks for reading!