Survive on 4 Hours of Sleep a Night

Let me introduce myself. My name is Harris Kern and for the last 30 years I have been surviving on 4 hours of sleep a night.

Let me give you some history on how I started down this road. I was so much into achieving goals and not wanting to waste time that I started experimenting with reducing the amount of sleep. To me sleep was a waste of time. I was fortunate in that I had a strong constitution and I lived a very healthy lifestyle. So what did I do? I tackled the problem by reducing the amount I slept by ½ an hour every 10 days. I also would pace myself during the day so that I did brain intensive activities when I was most alert. I also talked to myself (self hypnosis) telling myself I didn't need much sleep. I was able to get my body used to functioning on 4 hours of sleep a night.

Here comes my legal disclaimer:

I am not a medical doctor and I am offering my own life experience only as information for you.

I assume you are reading this because you want to get more hours out of the day. You want to sleep less but you've read that less sleep decreases cognitive abilities. So what do you do? There are so many things you want to do and so little time in which to do them.

So what's the answer?

One answer is to increase the quality of your sleep while also decreasing the amount of time you sleep.

I do realize that in these days of intense demand on time, that many people are trying to find more hours in the day.

My co author Adriana (Ace) Lewis decided to help me out by doing some intensive research on the subject of sleep, both on improving the quality of sleep and reducing the amount.

Her viewpoint was if you could improve the quality of your sleep, you could reduce the amount of sleep while also increasing the time available to create.

Look over these many suggestions and see if by implementing some of them you can both improve the quality of your sleep and reduce the amount of hours you sleep. I would be interested in hearing of your experiences.

What is sleep?

Sleep is the time when your brain and nervous system rejuvenates itself. It is also the time your body repairs itself and your spirit connects to higher levels. Here are some fascinating sleep facts:

• Your body has an internal 24-hour clock which controls your circadian rhythm. This periodic rise and drop in body temperature tells our mind when to feel tired and when to feel more awake. As body temperature rises, we tend to feel more awake and our brain waves are usually higher. As body temperature drops, we tend to feel more lethargic, tired, and lazy - this is a big cue for our minds to lower brain waves.
  

• Most adult humans are naturally wired for sleeping twice every 24 hour period - a 6-7h nocturnal rest with a 20-60m siesta in the afternoon.

• One of the greatest expenditures of energy in the body is from digestion of food. Large amounts of blood flow are directed toward the digestive system after a large meal. This means less blood flow, thus less energy, available for the brain. Low blood flow in the brain during sleep means poor sleep quality, since the brain conducts all sleep processes. So eat light in the evening.

• Your brain cycles through the different stages of sleep, oscillating between Deep sleep, and light/REM sleep at a period of about 90 minutes.

• Darker sleep increases melatonin which increases sleep quality and promotes good health.

• Deep sleep is very important for cognitive performance. A lot of "neural housecleaning" occurs during deep sleep, which makes it so important for mood, performance, motor skills, productivity, and creativity.

• During deep sleep your cerebral cortex - the consciousness part of your brain - nearly shuts off. Neural activity in the cerebral cortex break down into little islands that can't talk to one another.

• If you go to sleep stressed out, then your mind and brain will be attempting to deal with the stress and this will act as a strain and you won't get quality sleep.

• If you currently spend less than 1 hour getting high-intensity light, you're suffering from light deprivation! Remember, for your eyes spending the day indoors is the equivalent of spending it in total darkness. The more "darkness" you expose yourself to during the day, the poorer the sleep you'll receive in return.

• Your body temperature drops after a hot bath in a way that mimics, in part, what happens as you fall asleep.

• The tiniest amount of light can disrupt circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin. LEDs from alarm clocks and computers, although dim, actually do have a measurable effect on sleep quality.

• The wake-up process occurs via increased blood flow to the brain, which is facilitated by the stress hormones ACTH and cortisol. By anticipating a wake-up time we set our internal alarm clock. When the anticipated wake-up time arrives, the brain signals the pituary and adrenal glands to spike ACTH and cortisol. And you wake up.

• Meditation improves sleep quality. It reduces interruptions to deep sleep. It does this by reducing cortsol levels during the day. Cortisol destroys sleep quality.

• Our brain thrives on automation.

• Our brain runs on habits.

• EMF stands for Electro-Magnetic Fields. EMFs are released by electronic appliances that are present within your sleeping environment. EMFs are known to disrupt the pineal gland and interfere with the production of melatonin and serotonin which are essential in promoting good sleeping patterns.

• Our body's natural biological clock has been thrown out of balance because of modern electricity and lighting. Biologically the body wants to go to sleep around 10:00pm and wake up around sunrise.

Things you can do during the day that will improve your sleep at nightExercise

• Exercise
• Get daily sunlight
• nic fruits and vegetables
• Stay away from junk food and processed food
• Do a power nap
• Meditate
• Maintain a positive attitude
• Flax seed oil

Things to avoid in the evening

• Nicotine or other stimulants
• Arguments
• Heavy meals
• Watching the news
• Heavy exercise
• Anything upsetting

De-stress before going to sleep (This improves the quality of your sleep)

• Make a list of the things you need to do the next day
• Deep rhythmic breathing
• Practice EFT on any distressing things that occurred during the day ( EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique, find out how to do this at www.emofree.com
• Think of 5 things you are grateful for
• Forgive the people who upset you that day
• A warm bath (adding Epsom salts and lavender oil or sea salt)
• Soothing herbal tea (sleepy time )
• Melatonin
• Magnesium
• Light stretches

Make your bedroom a sanctuary

• Find sheets thatsanctuaryFind your skin
• Find colors that comfort.
• Have a picture that you enjoy looking at
• Reduce noise and light
• Remove EMF fields such as tv, clock radios, cable btves, etc
• Make the space really dark
• A sleep mask
• Soothing music to go to sleep to
• Cool temperature
• Get an ionizer or humidifier to improve the air quality of your bedroom
• A comfortable mattress
• Visualize a beautiful place that you can go to for relaxation and peace

Start winding down an hour or two before going to bed

• Take time for youbed
• at a light high protein snack
• Decrease your intake of liquids
• Do something that makes you happy

Think of things you have to look forward to the next day

• A friend you wildayAe or talk to
• Something creative
• A time with a pet
• Time with nature
• Something about work that you enjoy

Set up rewards for your body

• Food
• Exercise
• Sex
• Touching
• Any sensory pleasure

What you are doing is giving your mind, spirit and body something to look forward to; so that you are reaching to wake up as opposed to dreading it.

Suggestions for waking up

• Establish a routine
• InupEstablishight box that gradually increases the light
• Get some uplifting music
• Do some stretches
• Drink as much water as you can
• The juice of a lemon and some honey with water
• Eat some fruit

Ridding yourself of false beliefs

You might have some strange ideas about the amount of sleep that you need, things your parents told you or your friends. A useful idea is to purge yourself of these ideas as they interfere with your efforts to change your lifestyle. Make a list of all the different things people have told you or that you have read or seen on TV concerning the subject of sleep.

Talk to yourself about the value of time

Treat time as if it were your most valuable resource, which it is. Get the idea of really focusing in on what you are doing when you are doing it so that you are devoting all of your attention to one thing. So if you are sleeping, you are fully and completely sleeping. If you are spending time with your family, then fully enjoy the moment. If you are eating, then only eat and really taste your food. Ponder on the value of time.

Sleep affirmations to say to yourself a few times a day

• I choose to falldayIeep easily
• I enjoy deep refreshing sleep that fully rejuvenates me
• I dream creatively
• I need less and less sleep to feel fully refreshed

A way to get your body used to sleeping less is start implementing as many of the above suggestions as possible while reducing the time that you sleep ½ hour at a time. You need to stay at the reduced level for 10 days at least, before reducing by another 30 minutes.

What to do if you get foggy or tired during the day

• A power nap of 20 mindayA
• Drink vinegar and honey with your water to alkalize your body
• Take antioxidants (Vit C, Vit E, Alpha LipoVitAcidVittc)
• IncreaLipoicr mineral intake (dried fruits, seaweed, etc)
• Deep breathing
• Light stretching
• Go to that special place in your mind that makes you happy
• Drink water with a splash of lemon
• Go for a short walk, really noticing things around you

So there you have it; a smorgasbord of suggestions to try. This article comes from the book "The Ten Commandments for Mastering Discipline" by Harris Kern and Adriana (Ace) Lewis.

Discipline is the key to surviving the coming years. Can you afford to be without it?