My two sleep cycle

(In medieval time they seemed to sleep all together with children, servants, and even travelers stopping by for the night!)

I have always liked to get up early. Although the deep night activities of mine: studying to prepare university exams, had a very special intense flair, and I still remember that beautiful feeling of the nights spent in solitude with my favourite activity: studying… But, in spite of that, the very early morning was my real thing.

When all the hustle and bustle of my life was over and I little by little regained a rhythm belonging to me, to my way and preferences, the early morning getting up were my favourite hours. Usually at 6. With the time I woke up earlier and earlier. My getting up normal time became 5.

Then I realised I tended to wake up between two and three and couldn’t get back to sleep again. Therefore the only possible thing was to get up. Difficult to accept this rhythm, because after some hours of activity I did feel sleepy again and I had to go back to bed, where I deeply slept for at least one or even two hours.

I perceived this behavior of my body quite annoying, especially when it was the day when I go to the Turkish bath at half past eight. And without allowing me to the second sleep, my day was completely upside down.

I ended up in changing the time of my Turkish bath to the midday hour, when usually people eat, so that I can enjoy the steamy moment just with myself.

Without even thinking of the possibility that this rhythm was natural, one day I see on YouTube a video about the biphasic sleep pattern, which was common until the industrial revolution, when changes in lifestyle and the advent of artificial lighting shifted sleep habits to a more consolidated 8-hour sleep cycle!

It seems that in medieval times, people commonly practiced two distinct phases of sleep, often referred to as first sleep and second sleep.

-First Sleep:
People would go to bed shortly after sunset, typically around 9 PM.
This initial sleep lasted for about 3 to 4 hours.
-Waking Period:
After the first sleep, individuals would wake up for a period of 1 to 2 hours.
During this time, they might engage in various activities such as reading, praying, or even socialising.
-Second Sleep:
After this waking period, they would return to bed for another 3 to 4 hours of sleep.
This second phase would last until dawn, allowing them to complete their rest.

[The following article is quite interesting:  “The forgotten medieval habit of ‘two sleeps’”]

I have accepted this awkward rhythm of mine. It doesn’t happen frequently though. I would rather prefer it did happen regularly, so that I could adjust to it and make it my normal habit. Perhaps one day it will.