Fascinating stuff, Scott. I remember being deeply intrigued a decade or so ago when there was a burst of mainstream interest in this matter of segmented or biphasic sleep as it made the rounds in the popular press. The big revelation seemed to be that this is how much or most of the human race slept before the advent of the industrial age, and that, as you've pointed out in this post, we may well have lost something by coming to insist that a long span of unbroken hours represents the only "valid" way to envision human sleep patterns.
Thank you for bringing this up. Especially since, in a mild bit of synchronicity, my own sleep has become more biphasic than usual, in a very pronounced way, over the past few nights.
Forgot to mention that, like you, I have a Remarkable. Absolutely love it. Haven't used it yet for writing during "God's hour," but it's definitely a great tool to serve as an infinite notebook/repository for upwelling/incoming thoughts, communications, insights at any given moment. Of course, a paper notepad is also wonderful. Nice to have options.
I know what you mean! I see this very thing frequently named as the biggest drawback people see with the device. At first I didn't mind the lack of a lit screen, but lately I've been missing it.
May 8, 2023·edited May 8, 2023Liked by Scott Britton
Here's a nifty trick I use at 3 AM to receive information from the universe. Before bed, I fill the kettle in the kitchen with water because I use the six-minute boiling cycle as a meditation timer in the early morning hours like this:
I wake up around 3 - 3:30 AM and wander from the bedroom to the kitchen without opening my eyes.
I feel for the kettle and hit the power button. And then next, I assume what Qigong calls: 'dead man's posture.'
(Dead Man's Posture is cupped hands pulled into the lower stomach, knees slightly bent, and core pulled in—in other words: It's relaxed standing.)
All the while, the kettle is going through its six-minute cycle, so I shift my attention to the noise of the water boiling, open my mind and see what pops in, with one caveat. Often I go to bed and ask the universe to show me some options on specific stuff. And sometimes the answer pops out when I'm listening to the kettle boil at 3 AM.
I’ve been meditating recently after a long term relationship ended also trying to live a better life by doing Pilates at the gym, grounding myself, connecting with my spiritual side to connect to the universe/my higher consciousness, I’m relatively new to all of this but have seen some things happen like transfers of energy with my body vibrating and dreams that are coming true recently not so good dreams like jobs going wrong I’m on, I always find myself thinking of the worst case and I know this is detrimental to your mind and life but find it difficult to stay positive being cynical my whole life.
on the other foot I’ve been drinking heavily and think I’ve become an alcoholic, which being English seems like normal for us to drink every day. I also never have slept very well getting 4-6 hours most nights and have used cannabis to aid this for 20 years and I’m sort of coming to an end with this only smoking may 1 small joint in the evening. I've found that recently I’m sleep walking when the two are combined and phantom pissing in random places in the house fml. I know I need to stop drinking or at least curb it and tap into my spiritual side to download the information of the universe and better myself, I’m struggling slightly with it because I’m not really sure where I’m going and feel blind but still making moves listening to my instinct more than looking for guidance, I also started listening to an audio book called the alchemist by paulo coelho some random bloke in the pub a retired architect I was chatting to who out of the blue said you should read this book. I’ve never been a big reader because I struggle to absorb information read and find myself reading things 10 times still not remembering, anyway I bought the audio book and have listened to it maybe 20 times finding new things learnt also just feels right for some reason, this book has lead me to another book called the emerald tablets of Thoth the Atlantean, this by what I can understand was written a long time ago by and I’m not 100% sure about weather it’s true or not but same again feels right for the path I’ve found myself on.
I’m not sure what I’m expecting from this comment but I woke up at 4.30 then came across this post trying to find meaning or something fuck knows! if anyone out there can make sense of any of this leave a comment. Apologies for my Gramar, spelling and general writing, I’m not academically educated and always struggled with spelling and reading etc
Hey Ben - thanks for sharing your experience. Seems like you've got a lot going on. I'd keep trusting your inner wisdom. Sounds like you're doing that w/ the books you're reading. I don't have a background in sleep walking so can't make any suggestion there besides taking safety precautions. Maybe you can ask for guidance next time you wake up in the middle of the night and see what happens
Really interesting because I used to want to "fix" my habit of waking up in the middle of the night. I wear a smart watch to sleep so I know roughly what time I wake up, and I always chalk it up to just wanting to relieve myself to pee. But I know it's something deeper, couldn't put my finger on it. Also, I found it's easy to slip back to the slumber, and doesn't impact my productivity the next day. Next time I wake up (tonight then), I'll ask my consciousness first on what to do after the toilet, let's see if i can download something. Thanks for writing this.
Woke up to the hallway smelt like cigarette smoke, got panic attack because of my health anxiety, but tried to calm down by teaching my inner child/exile that this is not triggering, that i can always talk to my flatmate that i dont tolerate the lingering scent like this. in a way, it's an exercise to turn day-to-day situation around instead of panicking.
I'm not drawn normally to any talk about spirituality, meditation, psychedelia, and the lot of it, as there is just too much of it for my taste. But I found this article incredibly helpful. I wake up almost every night at 02:46am. Now, I shall be prepared.
Thank you so much! This is perfectly timed for me (like many things these days). I got a huge “download” one night at 2am and the next night also. Now I understand the significance and how to tap into it. I started making it a daily practice to meditate a little over a year ago and life has been super-charged since then.
I experienced several times these early morning awakenings. Recently it happened again 3 nights in a row, and I knew it was a sign to get back on track with my sleep pattern to be more receptive to instructions or messages.
I guess once you experience those set of timings you can utilize them and collaborate to be more aligned in any project or mission of life you have to uncover. I specifically designed a dream book and another Mind journal to help me navigate those timings, they have become partners in the "making".
It is always strange to just wake up, it does feel like you are woken up! I can imagine the angel stating it's time tic tac, tic tac (with his popcorn watching the student get to work).
Thank you for such a deep piece that sheds light on "The Encounter".
Most of my adult life has been about having interrupted sleep, often at the exact same time, and like you, sometimes having 'downloads'. I also can start dreaming within minutes of falling asleep, but that's probably because I'm going into hypnogogic dream states (liminal dreaming). The various dream states we can achieve is equally interesting and many can be trained over time. Jennifer Dumper has fascinating work about this.
My partner struggles with this! I always thought it was anxiety but maybe that’s his body and minds way of needing a peaceful chunk of the day to just exist and think
Fascinating stuff, Scott. I remember being deeply intrigued a decade or so ago when there was a burst of mainstream interest in this matter of segmented or biphasic sleep as it made the rounds in the popular press. The big revelation seemed to be that this is how much or most of the human race slept before the advent of the industrial age, and that, as you've pointed out in this post, we may well have lost something by coming to insist that a long span of unbroken hours represents the only "valid" way to envision human sleep patterns.
I recall reading a 2013 Harper's article on this subject by Dr. A. Roger Ekirch (https://harpers.org/archive/2013/08/segmented-sleep), who also wrote the 2016 paper "Segmented Sleep in Preindustrial Societies" (https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/39/3/715/2454050) as well as an entire book looking at sleep patterns from the past.
See also the excellent 2016 AEON article "Broken Sleep" (https://aeon.co/essays/why-broken-sleep-is-a-golden-time-for-creativity).
Thank you for bringing this up. Especially since, in a mild bit of synchronicity, my own sleep has become more biphasic than usual, in a very pronounced way, over the past few nights.
Thanks for sharing all these great resources Matt! I'm excited to dig in.
And that is quite the synchronicity indeed. Excited to see if anything comes of it for you : )
Forgot to mention that, like you, I have a Remarkable. Absolutely love it. Haven't used it yet for writing during "God's hour," but it's definitely a great tool to serve as an infinite notebook/repository for upwelling/incoming thoughts, communications, insights at any given moment. Of course, a paper notepad is also wonderful. Nice to have options.
I'm digging the remarkable, but wish it had a backlight for Darkness! My only qualm about it
I know what you mean! I see this very thing frequently named as the biggest drawback people see with the device. At first I didn't mind the lack of a lit screen, but lately I've been missing it.
Here's a nifty trick I use at 3 AM to receive information from the universe. Before bed, I fill the kettle in the kitchen with water because I use the six-minute boiling cycle as a meditation timer in the early morning hours like this:
I wake up around 3 - 3:30 AM and wander from the bedroom to the kitchen without opening my eyes.
I feel for the kettle and hit the power button. And then next, I assume what Qigong calls: 'dead man's posture.'
(Dead Man's Posture is cupped hands pulled into the lower stomach, knees slightly bent, and core pulled in—in other words: It's relaxed standing.)
All the while, the kettle is going through its six-minute cycle, so I shift my attention to the noise of the water boiling, open my mind and see what pops in, with one caveat. Often I go to bed and ask the universe to show me some options on specific stuff. And sometimes the answer pops out when I'm listening to the kettle boil at 3 AM.
That is quite the ritual! I hope you live in a single story home : )
Lols — it's not every day, just those days when it feels right.
I’ve been meditating recently after a long term relationship ended also trying to live a better life by doing Pilates at the gym, grounding myself, connecting with my spiritual side to connect to the universe/my higher consciousness, I’m relatively new to all of this but have seen some things happen like transfers of energy with my body vibrating and dreams that are coming true recently not so good dreams like jobs going wrong I’m on, I always find myself thinking of the worst case and I know this is detrimental to your mind and life but find it difficult to stay positive being cynical my whole life.
on the other foot I’ve been drinking heavily and think I’ve become an alcoholic, which being English seems like normal for us to drink every day. I also never have slept very well getting 4-6 hours most nights and have used cannabis to aid this for 20 years and I’m sort of coming to an end with this only smoking may 1 small joint in the evening. I've found that recently I’m sleep walking when the two are combined and phantom pissing in random places in the house fml. I know I need to stop drinking or at least curb it and tap into my spiritual side to download the information of the universe and better myself, I’m struggling slightly with it because I’m not really sure where I’m going and feel blind but still making moves listening to my instinct more than looking for guidance, I also started listening to an audio book called the alchemist by paulo coelho some random bloke in the pub a retired architect I was chatting to who out of the blue said you should read this book. I’ve never been a big reader because I struggle to absorb information read and find myself reading things 10 times still not remembering, anyway I bought the audio book and have listened to it maybe 20 times finding new things learnt also just feels right for some reason, this book has lead me to another book called the emerald tablets of Thoth the Atlantean, this by what I can understand was written a long time ago by and I’m not 100% sure about weather it’s true or not but same again feels right for the path I’ve found myself on.
I’m not sure what I’m expecting from this comment but I woke up at 4.30 then came across this post trying to find meaning or something fuck knows! if anyone out there can make sense of any of this leave a comment. Apologies for my Gramar, spelling and general writing, I’m not academically educated and always struggled with spelling and reading etc
Cheers Ben
Hey Ben - thanks for sharing your experience. Seems like you've got a lot going on. I'd keep trusting your inner wisdom. Sounds like you're doing that w/ the books you're reading. I don't have a background in sleep walking so can't make any suggestion there besides taking safety precautions. Maybe you can ask for guidance next time you wake up in the middle of the night and see what happens
I’ll try asking that next time yeh thanks 🙏
Really interesting because I used to want to "fix" my habit of waking up in the middle of the night. I wear a smart watch to sleep so I know roughly what time I wake up, and I always chalk it up to just wanting to relieve myself to pee. But I know it's something deeper, couldn't put my finger on it. Also, I found it's easy to slip back to the slumber, and doesn't impact my productivity the next day. Next time I wake up (tonight then), I'll ask my consciousness first on what to do after the toilet, let's see if i can download something. Thanks for writing this.
I totally had a similar relatinoship with this for most of my life! Did you try this? What happened?
Woke up to the hallway smelt like cigarette smoke, got panic attack because of my health anxiety, but tried to calm down by teaching my inner child/exile that this is not triggering, that i can always talk to my flatmate that i dont tolerate the lingering scent like this. in a way, it's an exercise to turn day-to-day situation around instead of panicking.
I'm not drawn normally to any talk about spirituality, meditation, psychedelia, and the lot of it, as there is just too much of it for my taste. But I found this article incredibly helpful. I wake up almost every night at 02:46am. Now, I shall be prepared.
Thanks Roen. Please share if you end up having a positive experience!
The biological phenomenon of biphasic sleep has been documented for centuries. No need to invoke religious experiences. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep
Why not both
Indeed. I just have a personal preference for progressive knowledge arising from rational, evidence-based thinking.
Thank you so much! This is perfectly timed for me (like many things these days). I got a huge “download” one night at 2am and the next night also. Now I understand the significance and how to tap into it. I started making it a daily practice to meditate a little over a year ago and life has been super-charged since then.
Thats wonderful to hear!
Definitely read this at 2:44 a.m.
While mid-night wakefulness isn't typical for me, I'll consider you tonight's synchronicity. ✨
Nothing better then synchronicity : )
Another synchronicity piece!
I experienced several times these early morning awakenings. Recently it happened again 3 nights in a row, and I knew it was a sign to get back on track with my sleep pattern to be more receptive to instructions or messages.
I guess once you experience those set of timings you can utilize them and collaborate to be more aligned in any project or mission of life you have to uncover. I specifically designed a dream book and another Mind journal to help me navigate those timings, they have become partners in the "making".
It is always strange to just wake up, it does feel like you are woken up! I can imagine the angel stating it's time tic tac, tic tac (with his popcorn watching the student get to work).
Thank you for such a deep piece that sheds light on "The Encounter".
🙏
I like the angel imagery you propose! Thanks for reading : )
There a good piece from the BBC in 2012 about this, which is when I think I first heard about it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783
Most of my adult life has been about having interrupted sleep, often at the exact same time, and like you, sometimes having 'downloads'. I also can start dreaming within minutes of falling asleep, but that's probably because I'm going into hypnogogic dream states (liminal dreaming). The various dream states we can achieve is equally interesting and many can be trained over time. Jennifer Dumper has fascinating work about this.
https://jenniferdumpert.com/
https://oneironauticum.com/
Appreciate these great resources Maura!
My partner struggles with this! I always thought it was anxiety but maybe that’s his body and minds way of needing a peaceful chunk of the day to just exist and think
Perhaps! Wonder if it is embraced if anything changes
Scott, I too have nights when I embrace the thoughts that seem to readily flow. D
Nice! Definitely a gift
Let me know how it goes! Remarkable is kind of tough without the backlight without a little nightlight which is kind of what I have