Trouble Resting at Night? Learn About Biphasic and Polyphasic Sleep Patterns

September 13, 2021

Sleep is a basic human need. We’ve all experienced a sleepless night or two before, and the day after is usually difficult to get through. Without proper restful sleep, we will find it difficult to focus, concentrate, be alert and so much more. If you suffer from insomnia, then you know this feeling all too well. In fact, you may be looking for something to help you improve your quality of sleep and help you get some much-needed rest, like luscious CBD gummies



Biphasic Sleep

Biphasic sleep is a sleep pattern in which you experience two sleep phases. So, if you’re a regular napper or part of a culture that enjoys siestas, you’re a biphasic sleeper. Those who split their nighttime sleep into two parts are also biphasic sleepers. A biphasic sleep pattern is also called bimodal or segmented sleep. In contrast to this is monophasic sleep, sleeping through the night. Long ago, before many modern amenities, people would go to sleep with the sun, sleep for several hours, and then wake to eat, feed the fire, etc. After this short intermission, people would go back to sleep and wake with the sun. Now that we have electricity-powered lighting, we are able to prolong our waking hours and shift into monophasic sleep, or sleeping once a day. Splitting your nighttime sleep into two segments is also considered bimodal.

Biphasic Benefits

If biphasic is more your style of sleep, there are some notable benefits that accompany it. It’s been shown that a nap during the day can help to boost concentration and cognition. Short naps, or power naps, that are less than 15 minutes can do wonders for reducing sleepiness and getting you back on track for the day without any grogginess as a 30 minute or longer nap will often be accompanied by. Regular nappers notice these benefits more significantly than occasional nappers.

Polyphasic Sleep

Polyphasic sleep is sleeping multiple times throughout the day and night. The aptest example of this is the way we sleep in infancy. Infants typically sleep and wake at will more than twice a day. Most people who engage in polyphasic sleep are looking to intentionally maximize their wakeful hours. Many animals are also polyphasic sleepers, including most mammals. People adopt this type of sleep pattern when absolutely necessary, like going on a lone camping trip, boat race, and the like.

Polyphasic Benefits

There’s not any scientific evidence of polyphasic sleep being of any benefit to those who adopt this sleep pattern; however, it is certainly better than not getting any sleep at all. It isn’t recommended that you try to get your body to adjust to such a little amount of sleep.


Now that you know that there are different ways to approach sleeping, you can figure out a sleep pattern that works best for you. Whether it’s a bimodal pattern or a polyphasic Dymaxion or Uberman schedule, how you sleep is up to you. Just be sure that you’re getting a good night’s rest as often as you can.



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