Here is phenomenon that I have been experiencing consistently for at least a decade (likely this has been going on all my life, yet it has happened more often during last several years; prior to that I wasn't paying this much attention and never identified it in precise terms)
I have fairly severe insomnia. In addition to having a very difficult time falling asleep, I also do not get as much rest and recovery from a regular 8 hour sleep and often find the need to sleep closer to 10 hours. I have been in sleep clinics very many times and other than a mild form of apnea (which is way down now that I am lighter and leaner; almost fully gone) the problem was simply identified as Primary Insomnia.
There is however a particular type of sleep that is pretty much magical for me. It can happen in one of two ways
- I sleep for 5 hours or less and then wake up. I spend some time reading or working on the computer (I know not the best way to elicit sleep) and then I go to bed in a very sleep deprived state after around an hour of passing time
- Or I have a meeting/appointment early during the day and leave the apartment early. Unless I was able to go to bed very early, which is very rare, I am totally wasted after the meeting and get back home and lay down
In either case, I (may) drift into a a trance-like state shifting back and forth between sleep and wakefulness and have several quasi-hallucinations. I am naming these as such, because I am not mixing them up with reality; I see images (while my eyes are closed) that are nearly indistinguishable from ordinary images you'd see with open eyes. However I am still at some level aware that my eyes are closed and that these images aren't real. Also, I have a sensation of falling (either like tripping over or a long, sustained fall). Also, some saliva will drip from the corner of my mouth, which pretty much never happens when in a regular sleep
Simply an hour of this type of sleep is PURE MAGIC. I wake up completely rested and would guess that it is as restful as 4 or more hours of regular sleep would have been. In fact, it is possible that even 4 or 5 or 6 hours of sleep would not produce the same "refreshed" sensation that this produces.
Now, is what I am describing above not the typical PHASE I (or Stage I) sleep, which is supposed to be the least useful portion of the sleep cycle?
But much more crucially, who cares what it is called; how can I replicate this more often? I tried, two times, to set up an alarm and wake in the middle if the night and then replicate this but in the two attempts, I failed. Is this simply a natural byproduct of biphasic sleep?
What else can I do to get the same effect?
Thanks a lot All....