Polyphasic Sleep / Napping & Audio Visual Stimulation

I closed down the thread I started in the Proteus forum and moved it here because, upon further examination of these forums, this seems like the more appropriate place for this discussion...

Hello!
I'm not sure if anyone here is familiar with Polyphasic Sleep... it's a method of brain-hacking that allows one to sleep for extremely truncated periods of time without losing normal functionality by replacing "all night" monophasic sleep sessions with multiple, shorter sessions.

I have a little blog about my personal experiences here: http://thesixthnapoleon.wordpress.com/

At any rate, I was doing really well with polyphasic sleep until a month or two ago when I suffered from an intensely bad cold/fever type of illness that disrupted my circadian rhythms and threw me into my current chaotic (lack of a) sleep schedule.

I've also been interested in self-hypnosis and meditation all my life, though I've never done much about it. Because of all this brain-hacking I've always wanted to do, my very skeptical girlfriend got me a Proteus for Christmas. I am very impressed with the machine and I'm hoping it can help me with my polyphasic sleep.

Here is my situation...
As a polyphasic sleeper, my goal is to have one "core" sleep session of three hours and three 20 minute naps throughout the day. In theory, and in my experience, it is possible to train the brain to have enough REM Sleep to enable you to function normally with this amount of sleep.

I was using white noise mp3's designed specifically for polyphasic sleep when I was in my prime, and they worked pretty well. Now I'm experimenting with the Proteus.

Session 44 - Cat Nap - seems to put me into REM sleep very quickly, which is awesome. The only problem is waking up. I used to wake up from naps very quickly and efficiently and feel fine. With the Proteus, when I wake up from my nap sessions I feel EXTREMELY physically tired. It's not a sleepiness, it's a strange sort of lethargy... Like my mind wakes up, but my body doesn't, and I feel very fuzzy headed and disoriented.

Once I finally do get up and get around, I feel fine, but the lag time is significant and I'm wondering what the cause of this might be and if there is anything I can do to "snap out of it" faster... Or is this maybe something my body just needs to adjust to?

Are there any other polyphasic sleepers out there? Are there any programs that will help me quickly get into REM sleep and STAY in Rem Sleep for my 3 hour core naps?

Am I correct in assuming that "Theta" waves are what I should be striving for in terms of REM sleep? Does the Cat Nap session KEEP you in REM sleep or does it cycle you in and out of it? I need my twenty minute nap sessions to put me into REM as quickly as possible and to keep me in REM for the entire 20 minutes.

Thanks for your help in advance!!!

-Aaron

Hi Aaron,

Doesn't look as though polyphasic sleep is a favourite around here.

I haven't experimented with it (I enjoy plain old sleep too much to want any less of it), but the subject has come up a few times over on the Transparent Corp forum. You might want to see if any of the polyphasic sleepers are still around over there.

Cheers,
Craig

Thanks Craig! I'll check out that forum now.

I've been experimenting with it and I think I figured out my nap situation. I realized from reading the session guide that the cat nap programs are intended to put you to sleep and keep you asleep after their done, so I just switched to the 15 minute #43 program which seems to work really really well. I fall asleep very quickly now.

If anyone in the future finds this thread and is using the Proteus with Polyphasic Sleep get in touch with me! I think they work very, very well together.

Polyphasic Sleep is extremely interesting. I haven't formally undertaken a program using it but for years of freelance work I would just sleep whenever I felt like it in short naps maybe 3 or so a day. I read a person's experiences with at http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...yphasic-sleep/ . Dreams seem especially intense using this sleep pattern as it seems to be the brain's primary priority which is surprising.

I think that AVS sessions could be created that mimic this pattern and I will try my hand at creating some.

I'm with Craig on this one. I'd rather practice Dream Yoga and Lucid Dreaming than Polyphasic Sleep, but I have worked with others who have aspired this lifestyle.

IMO, the problem was in the long run, lack of delta sleep rather than REM sleep. With some meditation or BWE experience, it is relatively easy to get to the REM stage quickly. 20 min sessions are sufficient to get enough, but 30 min sessions, giving you 10 min to get to theta, and 20 min in theta is better. Getting to delta, where the body does it's repairing and when growth hormones are released, takes much longer.

If delta sleep is suppressed for too long, the body will break down, and you will get sick, which will require more delta sleep to heal. I suspect that is what happened to the OP. The people I have worked with experienced similar experiences.

Humans are hard wired to be diurnal. This is rooted in the most primitive part of out brains. While this may not be the case for a very small percentage, it is what we are. Changing this natural cycle can be a daunting task, if not down right dangerous.

However, polyphasic sleep is a necessary part of our lives, at least for periods when parenting or work duties demand it. I recommend a session that takes you to delta as quickly as possible to be used at least once a day, and if time permits 2 or 3 times. Use theta sessions as needed for power naps. REM sleep will come naturally after you have reached your delta needs.

Return to a regular day/night cycle as soon as possible. It may be necessary to use beta sessions supplemented by bright light in the morning to reset the circadian rhythm.

I did a comprehensive study of my sleep patterns for the last 3 months of 2011 using the Zeo and attempting a regular schedule of same time to bed, same time to awaken and gathered a nice data set. This night would be typical of an upper range of deep sleep vs. REM vs. light sleep.

So out of 8 hours, I would usually get less than 1 hour deep sleep. My REM was twice that. That gave a pretty high ZQ score of 74. I had a few 90's and a fair amount of 80's but many 40's and 50's as well. The ZQ is a sleep quality rating.

Now for the next 3 months I am loosening my patterns up a bit to see the difference.

The Zeo is an interesting device and I have some plans for it. There is a newer version than the one I have now.

Years ago when I was reading Jane Robert's Seth books I remember that Seth suggested either a four hour sleep with two naps or two 3 hour periods and maybe other patterns I've forgotten. In two books He devotes entire chapters to the varied health, social, mental benefits to be derived from this. I think the information was in "Seth Speaks" and "The Nature of Personal Reality"

I tried for decades to follow his guidelines and failed. Now thanks to an enlarged prostrate I break up my sleep several times a night and later if I am tired, take a nap. Good luck with your sleep repatterning.