"Saved by Siesta" by Bruce Faraut

Just finished reading "Saved by Seista" by Brice Faurat. My learnings...

I have often chimed that "We are what stories we tell ourselves" . With zero knowledge of the science of sleep, my story on sleep was - To be at the top of my game, I need very little sleep. Aka, I am a short sleeper (A chronotype which requires less than 6 hours of sleep)

One line summary - I stand corrected.

After this book, I have armed my self with a Sleep framework and am on the journey to undertans whether I am really a short sleeper or?hugely sleep deprived!The objective is to align my Sleep time and duration to what my body needs. Thus starts the journey of knowing myself better.

My notes from this read

Sleep is of 3 types - (Light, Deep and REM) = Set

These 3 happen one after the other as a Set over approximately 90 Mins and then repeats itself over the course of the sleep time.?

Total sleep duration approximately breaks into

• Light - 20 - 25%
• Deep - 20 - 25%
• REM - Rest

Key for me was the fact that Deep Sleep starts reducing after the age of 40 and hence it needs attention from me.

Lots of chapters spoke about bad things which happen because of Sleep deprivation like aging, Cardio vascular issues as well memory loss…

Good news was Siesta could be a great way to reduce Sleep Debt ! Hence "Saved by Siesta"

Key point to remember is Siesta can't replace a good night sleep! So first step is to observe yourself for a few week..what do you do just before sleeping, do you get up often in the night, do you dream a lot, what's your routine just after waking up.....

How to sleep better at night ?

• Set a time when you want your sleep to start and do a few small steps 2 hours before that to create a mind set to sleep.
• Have a bath and reduce body temp by 1 degree.
• Reduce light glare progressively in the room.
• Avoid screen at least 1 hour before the nap time.
• Make your room as dark as possible.

If you still feel your body needs a siesta to recoup , then start planning for Siesta at the time your body sends you a message like slump in energy, yawns. Urge to lie down etc..

• Few highlights - Siesta can be 10, 20 or 30 Mins
• If you have woken up really early, most likely you have lost a lot of your REM sleep. Try a siesta session between 9 AM to Noon, It will leave you refreshed.
• The other very effective slot for Siesta is Noon to 4 PM. Try a 10 to 30 min session if you find your self in an energy slump..
• After 5 PM avoid any siesta, it will meddle with your night sleep pattern.

Interesting bit with coffee

Coffee takes 4 -5 hours to get out of your brain. So plan your last cup of coffee accordingly.

It takes the coffee 20-25 minutes to enter your blood stream, so having a coffee and then sleeping for 20 minutes can wake you up refreshed. This is called a Coffee Nap!

Hope I have excited you enough about the book.

Happy reading.

Cheers Sid?

#newbook #Newbookreview #health #mind