Today we celebrate the life of a wonderful man who has been an incredible influence on my life since I was eighteen. He is the grandfather of my children and the father of my ex-husband, we called him Papa.
Whenever all around us chaos reigned, you often would find Papa and I sitting in the yard with various sundry children playing around us. Usually our respective spouses were in the house, hiding from the heat and watching TV, but not us. We thrived in the sunlight and the brilliant play of children. Sometimes we would be watching the kids at the nearby park, weeding the garden or picking raspberries, but we always ended up discussing current events and life as we shared spits with the kids and rocked on the swing.
Papa was a deeply caring and generous man who loved his children and grandchildren. He loved the outdoors and gardening. His good natured spirit was strong and he never let anything get him down. Cheers Papa, enjoy the beauty of God's generous gardens in heaven!
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Cadillac Project
Last month my parents bestowed a
precious gift to us. They gave us my grandfather’s vehicle, untouched since
1974 when he died of a sudden massive heart attack. It is a black 1958 Cadillac
Sedan DeVille and it is officially our new project.
Follow our journey at Mother Daughter 1958 Cadillac Project. We won't be able to complete this without support at Gofundme.
We do know:
We do not know:
Follow our journey at Mother Daughter 1958 Cadillac Project. We won't be able to complete this without support at Gofundme.
We do know:
·
it
has 33,000 miles on it.
·
it
has not been driven, or even started, in 40 years.
·
while
it has been indoors its entire life, it does have rust along the hood and
doors.
·
it
has a dint in the trunk lid and a crease in
the passenger quarter panel.
·
the
seat fabric is immaculate with only minor vinyl cracks where the driver
sits.
·
the
carpets need to be replaced, as does the head liner, due to mice.
·
the
door interiors and dash are in good condition needing a good cleaning.
·
the
front windshield needs replacing as does one headlight cover, a reverse light
cover and two marker light covers.
·
the
wiring too should be replaced due to minor mouse damage (why do mice like
wires?).
·
the
engine oil was very clean when we drained it.
·
the
carburetor needs to be rebuilt as the seals are gone.
·
the
spark plugs looked like brand new with no corrosion and perfect gaps.
We do not know:
·
what
condition the engine and drive train are.
We are so excited and have already started!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
I am Truly Blessed
It is now four years after my divorce was finalized. My life has evolved to transcend the ruthlessly horrible and excruciatingly painful last years of my marriage and subsequent nightmarish divorce proceedings that lasted over four long years. The traumatic effects
caused by the emotional abuse of my narcissist ex-husband caused cognitive impairment, memory problems, impaired neurogenesis, and complex PTSD. It took over five
years to heal from these psychiatric injuries that resulted from my
marriage and divorce. While I would never wish my experience upon my worsed enemy, I learned a
great deal about myself, my former partner, and my children as we were
torn apart by abuse and anger.
Indeed a phoenix emerged from the carnage. I am no longer the insipid, fearful woman who experienced almost constant panic attacks during my marriage. I am confident and successful. Having to work two jobs to pay my imputed child support and going to school full time as I work towards my MBA paid off in spades. My career has blossomed into something of great beauty and I love every minute I am working. My friendships have grown deep and I treasure each one. My family has steadfastly supported me, and continues to be my lifeline, as I am now able to be there for them.
Wonderfully, another unexpected phoenix has borne forth. My daughter, an amazing, resilient young woman, wise beyond her years, has steadfastly weathered the continued emotional abuse and threats her father bestows on her. While her brothers succumbed to his threats and I rarely see them, she insists on sharing her time equally with me and her brothers (who live with their father). She continues to be there for them as they learn and grow while they weather their fathers abuse. She does struggle to find her way through this changing world, yet she does it with a grace and patience that astounds me. I love you my precious phoenix.
Yes, I am truly blessed.
Indeed a phoenix emerged from the carnage. I am no longer the insipid, fearful woman who experienced almost constant panic attacks during my marriage. I am confident and successful. Having to work two jobs to pay my imputed child support and going to school full time as I work towards my MBA paid off in spades. My career has blossomed into something of great beauty and I love every minute I am working. My friendships have grown deep and I treasure each one. My family has steadfastly supported me, and continues to be my lifeline, as I am now able to be there for them.
Wonderfully, another unexpected phoenix has borne forth. My daughter, an amazing, resilient young woman, wise beyond her years, has steadfastly weathered the continued emotional abuse and threats her father bestows on her. While her brothers succumbed to his threats and I rarely see them, she insists on sharing her time equally with me and her brothers (who live with their father). She continues to be there for them as they learn and grow while they weather their fathers abuse. She does struggle to find her way through this changing world, yet she does it with a grace and patience that astounds me. I love you my precious phoenix.
Yes, I am truly blessed.
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Foundation for Success
I had a wonderful and very insightful conversation with a very dear friend of mine last weekend. We compared notes on our lives over the past 10 years as we were both going through very difficult times in our lives... marriage breakdown and divorce. The irony of our parallel universes were uncanny in many ways.
Our conversation was cheerful as we celebrated our successes since our respective separations and compared notes on our daughters. We touched lightly on the businesses we had each owned prior to our separation and our passion for our work. She then became sober and sadly said, "We failed at our businesses, we failed our businesses." I looked at her and saw her shoulders slump in recognition of her perceived failure. I simply responded, "We did not fail anything, our partners failed us." I went on to say that if we had not been in a relationship at the time, our businesses would have grown steadily. My ex-husband openly admitted to sabotaging my business and her ex-partner even stole money from hers. She nodded slightly and I added, with enthusiasm as the thought struck me, "can you imagine if we were with our current partners and building our businesses?!" She looked up at me and smiled, she knew exactly what I meant. She was newly wedded to an absolutely wonderful and amazingly supportive man. He is doing so much to support her in her new business and would have done the same with her previous one.
We struggled mightily to grow our businesses, support birthing mothers, and in doing so, provide for our own children, all while dealing with the adversity we received from our chosen life partners. This despite our support of them on such a level that we compromised ourselves, our companies, and even our health to do so.
The foundation for success can be a small brick of hope on which we build. Sometimes we have the wonderful support of other bricklayers and sometimes we have brick thefts even within our most trusted circle. Sadly our respective businesses did not survive the brick thieves, but we learned a great deal from our experiences. We are rebuilding in different ways, with a foundation of stronger bricks as a result of those experiences.
Our conversation was cheerful as we celebrated our successes since our respective separations and compared notes on our daughters. We touched lightly on the businesses we had each owned prior to our separation and our passion for our work. She then became sober and sadly said, "We failed at our businesses, we failed our businesses." I looked at her and saw her shoulders slump in recognition of her perceived failure. I simply responded, "We did not fail anything, our partners failed us." I went on to say that if we had not been in a relationship at the time, our businesses would have grown steadily. My ex-husband openly admitted to sabotaging my business and her ex-partner even stole money from hers. She nodded slightly and I added, with enthusiasm as the thought struck me, "can you imagine if we were with our current partners and building our businesses?!" She looked up at me and smiled, she knew exactly what I meant. She was newly wedded to an absolutely wonderful and amazingly supportive man. He is doing so much to support her in her new business and would have done the same with her previous one.
We struggled mightily to grow our businesses, support birthing mothers, and in doing so, provide for our own children, all while dealing with the adversity we received from our chosen life partners. This despite our support of them on such a level that we compromised ourselves, our companies, and even our health to do so.
The foundation for success can be a small brick of hope on which we build. Sometimes we have the wonderful support of other bricklayers and sometimes we have brick thefts even within our most trusted circle. Sadly our respective businesses did not survive the brick thieves, but we learned a great deal from our experiences. We are rebuilding in different ways, with a foundation of stronger bricks as a result of those experiences.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Hostile Aggressive Parenting
What causes Parental Alienation Syndrome in children?
Hostile Aggressive Parenting (HAP) is defined as : A general pattern of behaviour, manipulation, actions or decision-making of a person (usually a parent or guardian) that either directly or indirectly; 1) creates undue difficulties or interferences in the relationship of a child with another person (usually a parent or guardian) involved with the parenting and/or rearing of the child and/or, 2) promotes or maintains an unwarranted unfairness or inequality in the parenting arrangements between a child’s parents and/or guardians and/or, 3) promotes ongoing and unnecessary conflict between parents and/or guardians which adversely affects the parenting, well-being and rearing of a child.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is most apparent in child-custody disputes and is used most often as a tool to align the child with one of the parents during litigation over custody or control of the child. However, HAP can be present in almost any situation where two or more people involved in a child’s life are at odds with each other over how a child may be raised or influenced by the parties. HAP can be present to some extent even when couples are still living together.
Although Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is often confused with Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), a term coined by Dr. Richard Gardner, HAP and PAS are not the same. HAP refers to the behaviours, actions and decisions of a person, whereas, PAS relates to the psychological condition of the child. In the vast majority of cases HAP is the cause of PAS.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is not limited to the biological parents but also applies to any guardian – grandparents, extended family members, daycare providers and to any other person who may be involved in caring and rearing of a child. In some cases, it may even involve a parent in dispute with the child’s grandparents, sometimes the parent’s very own parent! Any form of interference to a normal, healthy relationship between a child and a person (most often one of the parents) caused by another person or agency having some control or influence over the child, is wrong and ultimately causes emotional and psychological harm to the child. Throughout this document the word “parent” shall be considered synonymous with “guardian”.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is a very serious and damaging form of abuse and maltreatment that parents and even other family members can engage in. HAP is most often identified in individuals with controlling and bullying personalities or those with mild to severe personality disorders. HAP can be a factor in all types of parenting arrangements including sole maternal custody, sole paternal custody and joint custody. Interestingly, it is sole custodial parents who are most often reported to practice Hostile-Aggressive-Parenting, especially in its most severe form.
In general, parents exhibiting Hostile-Aggressive-Parenting have not succeeded in getting on with their own life and remain, instead, controlled by their negative emotions and continue to exercise power and control over their ex-spouse’s life, their ex-spouse’s parenting and to a large extent, over the children of the relationship as well. HAP parents will blame everyone else except themselves.
High degrees of conflict during custody settlements and litigation are almost sure signs in these affected families. Hostile-aggressive parents are unable to appreciate the needs of their child and in many cases view their child as a possession belonging to them and no other persons have any right to the child, especially not the child’s other parent or other persons that the HAP parent does not like. Hostile-aggressive parents will use the child as a weapon against the other spouse and family members whenever they have the opportunity. A parent engaged in Hostile-Aggressive Parenting will also take comfort in that the community in general will choose not to get involved, probably because they don’t know what to do. Angry and vindictive HAP parents are often able to bring a reign of terror and revenge on to a non-custodial parent and their family, their goal being to get them out of the child’s life or at the very least to severely damage their child’s relationship with the other parent and other parent’s family.
Hostile Aggressive Parenting (HAP) is defined as : A general pattern of behaviour, manipulation, actions or decision-making of a person (usually a parent or guardian) that either directly or indirectly; 1) creates undue difficulties or interferences in the relationship of a child with another person (usually a parent or guardian) involved with the parenting and/or rearing of the child and/or, 2) promotes or maintains an unwarranted unfairness or inequality in the parenting arrangements between a child’s parents and/or guardians and/or, 3) promotes ongoing and unnecessary conflict between parents and/or guardians which adversely affects the parenting, well-being and rearing of a child.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is most apparent in child-custody disputes and is used most often as a tool to align the child with one of the parents during litigation over custody or control of the child. However, HAP can be present in almost any situation where two or more people involved in a child’s life are at odds with each other over how a child may be raised or influenced by the parties. HAP can be present to some extent even when couples are still living together.
Although Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is often confused with Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), a term coined by Dr. Richard Gardner, HAP and PAS are not the same. HAP refers to the behaviours, actions and decisions of a person, whereas, PAS relates to the psychological condition of the child. In the vast majority of cases HAP is the cause of PAS.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is not limited to the biological parents but also applies to any guardian – grandparents, extended family members, daycare providers and to any other person who may be involved in caring and rearing of a child. In some cases, it may even involve a parent in dispute with the child’s grandparents, sometimes the parent’s very own parent! Any form of interference to a normal, healthy relationship between a child and a person (most often one of the parents) caused by another person or agency having some control or influence over the child, is wrong and ultimately causes emotional and psychological harm to the child. Throughout this document the word “parent” shall be considered synonymous with “guardian”.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting is a very serious and damaging form of abuse and maltreatment that parents and even other family members can engage in. HAP is most often identified in individuals with controlling and bullying personalities or those with mild to severe personality disorders. HAP can be a factor in all types of parenting arrangements including sole maternal custody, sole paternal custody and joint custody. Interestingly, it is sole custodial parents who are most often reported to practice Hostile-Aggressive-Parenting, especially in its most severe form.
In general, parents exhibiting Hostile-Aggressive-Parenting have not succeeded in getting on with their own life and remain, instead, controlled by their negative emotions and continue to exercise power and control over their ex-spouse’s life, their ex-spouse’s parenting and to a large extent, over the children of the relationship as well. HAP parents will blame everyone else except themselves.
High degrees of conflict during custody settlements and litigation are almost sure signs in these affected families. Hostile-aggressive parents are unable to appreciate the needs of their child and in many cases view their child as a possession belonging to them and no other persons have any right to the child, especially not the child’s other parent or other persons that the HAP parent does not like. Hostile-aggressive parents will use the child as a weapon against the other spouse and family members whenever they have the opportunity. A parent engaged in Hostile-Aggressive Parenting will also take comfort in that the community in general will choose not to get involved, probably because they don’t know what to do. Angry and vindictive HAP parents are often able to bring a reign of terror and revenge on to a non-custodial parent and their family, their goal being to get them out of the child’s life or at the very least to severely damage their child’s relationship with the other parent and other parent’s family.
Parental Alienation
A new term has emerged...
Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a collection of behaviors where one parent turns a child against the other parent. So when one parent deprives their child of a healthy relationship with the other parent, the child may experience chronic psychological distress leading to the deterioration of the parental relationship. Since distress can affect physical health, health care professionals must not overlook the possibility that the child has been subjected to abuse by the custodial parent.
The Details
Blocking or inhibiting contact with the children – The custodial parent blocks or discourages contact between children and the other parent. The most heinous word in family law is ‘visitation’. With this word, the non custodial parent and his (or her) children become mutual guests under the oversight of the custodial parent and the courts.
Only a father can imbue certain intangible qualities to his children that a mother cannot. The corollary that a mother can imbue intangible qualities is also true. Children benefit most when their parents work and act together for their children, rather than two biological parents in conflict acting separately. This is the well-known phenomenon of synergism where the sum of the efforts of persons working together is greater than the sum of each person working alone. This is also called teamwork.
Berating the other parent in the presence of children – Comments such as ‘your mother is no-good’ or ‘your father has abandoned us’ are degrading to the child who respect the parent. What the controlling parent is saying to the child is that their feelings toward the other parent are wrong. The controlling parent’s intent is to berate and change the child’s view of the other parent. This conflict between the controlling parent’s demands and what the child knows and believes can lead to later conflicts in the child’s life.
Threatening children with withdrawal of home, love, and support – J. Michael Bone and Michael R. Walsh came up with a simple statement. “My way or the highway.” That says it all. What the controlling parent is saying is that the child must think the way I do, believe as I do, and feel as I do or else! The ‘else’ word is a threat.
Teaching or forcing the child to fear or reject the other parent – The most prevalent tactic is coercion. Through repetition, the controlling parent relates false accounts of abuse by the other parent. When repeated, this deception can become accepted fact that replaces the child’s own true experiences – my way or no way. This tactic is not acceptable. A similar tactic is that the instigator tells a child that they cannot have contact with the innocent parent unless the child admits that he or she abused them. This is a guaranteed losing strategy for the child and the innocent parents. When the child is forced to admit that abuse occurred then the child cannot have further contact. This is called Catch-22, or my way or no way.
Learn to love your children more than you hate your ex!
Stop removing your child's rights just because you hate the Mother and Stepdad.
Monday, April 08, 2013
Days 6 - 7
Day 6
What do I do know? I slept most of the last 13 hours! I
regrouped. I was refreshed and pain free, a very wonderful thing after a
migraine experience. Today is Saturday and I have the whole weekend to hang
with my kids and enjoy the time we have together. Well, except that it's April and
snowing outside. The joy of living in Canada!
So we did just that. We baked, we watched a matinee on TV,
I coloured and trimmed one daughter's hair and braided the others. We thought
about going out to a movie but couldn't decide on one, so we PPV'ed a comedy,
moved the living room into a theatre, made popcorn and had fun! I did nap 2, 6
and 10 pm that day. My kids are very accommodating, often not even noticing my
20 minute disappearance every four hours. They are protecting my time too,
answering the phone and giving me messages when I wake.
Day 7
I slept solidly from 2 - 6 am and woke refreshed. Before
I started this experiment I absolutely needed 9 hours of sleep at night or I
was tired. I mean falling asleep at dinner tired. Now I am finding 5 -5.5 hours
of sleep is more than adequate and I'm feeling selfish because I feel so good!
I am sleeping a consistent 4-hour core and 2 - 4 nap schedule right now (with
the exception of my migraine days). I am falling asleep within 5 minutes of
laying down and waking easily after an average of 20 minutes for each nap. Today
my naps were at 10 and 2. My youngest son and I were engrossed in a board game
right up until dinner so I skipped my last nap and went to sleep for my core
sleep at 10 instead of 2 am.
Lucid Dreaming
I have yet to not dream during my naps as I am well aware
of my dreams. However, one of the interesting outcomes uberman sleepers have
experienced is lucid dreaming. Lucid dreams are dreams in which one is aware
they are dreaming. I have had experience with lucid dreaming in the past and
would love to explore this further.
When I was a teenager, I experienced horrible nightmares.
At my wits end, I read what I could find on dreams (not much and all having to
do with dream interpretation). Frustrated and angry with not finding any
answers, and desperate to stop these nightmares, I decided to teach myself to be
aware of my dream and change my dreams, I could do this couldn't I? As it was a
consistent nightmare, in that it was the same dream repeated over and over, I
would go in night after night and change it, a little bit at a time. When I was
running and allowing panic to overcome me, I taught myself to push the panic away
and reason my way through. When I couldn't see for the torrents of rain, I
would grab an umbrella or duck under and awning to gain a better perspective.
Eventually the nightmares went away. Since then, I have been highly aware of my
dreams and able to recall them upon waking, or waking myself to escape a nightmare.
The only time this was not the case was when experiencing
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after my caesarean experience with my
firstborn. My nightmares had become so severe that I avoided sleep and I started
to hallucinate while awake. My doctors solution was "to get out more away
from your baby" which I clearly ignored and did the best I could to deal
with it on my own, using the techniques I had learned before. A solid nine
months later I saw my first glimpse of normalcy and I tell you, it was like
seeing heaven. From that point, it improved quickly, and though I will likely
continue to experience some PTSD symptomology as a result of my continued
contact with my abusive ex-husband (we have shared custody of our four
children), it has been completely manageable from a psychological viewpoint.
Days 4 - 5
Day 4
1:00 - 3:00 am: sleep
6:00 am: nap1:20 pm: nap
6:00 pm: nap
11:00 pm - 3:00 am: sleep
Day four was wonderful, I was ready to take the leap to
uberman sleep that night as I was only sleeping 3 hours each night. I have not
been tired this entire experiment and I was excited about the next step! Then a
migraine started to set in that evening, around 9 pm. It started so slowly I
thought it was simply a stiff neck from the busy day I had. I rarely take medication
for any pain. My usual plan is to sleep and let my body restore function. If
that doesn't work, then I turn to homeopathy, then herbs, then drugs, in that
order. So I decided to forgo Uberman naps and get a few hours together. I
stayed up an hour past my usual nap time and slept until I woke, which was four
hours. That is when I realized this wasn't simple neck soreness, I was heading
into migraine land.
Day 5
5:00 am - 6:30 am: sleep
2:00: nap
6:00 - 8:30 pm: sleep
9:30 pm - 7:00 am: sleep
My migraines started 6 1/2 years ago as a result of a very unfortunate incident that caused me extreme stress and though I don't get them very often, they usually last for two days. If I am able to get to my chiropractor early, I can sometimes shorten them to one day. For the migraine pain, I simply have always just slept them off, when possible. The longer I ignore it and don't sleep, the worse it gets. As I highly doubt my chiropractor was awake at 3:00 am, so I opted for sleep. Not wanting to annihilate my polyphasic sleep schedule, I took longer naps, which my body craved. I had meetings in the afternoon so I couldn't continue sleeping but by 6 pm the pain was so severe I was nauseous and it was impossible to keep my eyes open from the pain. I apologized to my family and I crashed, hard. When I woke at 8:30 pm I knew I was on the right track as the pain had lessened. However I knew if I pushed it and tried to stay awake, it would be much worse. So I went back to bed after making sure my kids had brushed their teeth and tucking them in. I crashed again and made myself stay in bed until it was gone. That wasn't hard, as I only woke up twice and was able to go back to sleep fairly well again.
What have I done to my polyphasic sleep schedule?
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 3
10:00 - 2:15 am: sleep
6:15 - 6:35 am: nap with dream, very refreshing
10:00 - 10:20 am: nap
6:30 - 7:20 pm: nap
11:00 - 11:20 pm: nap
1:00 - 3:00 am: sleep
This has been an interesting three days! With all of this extra time, and the incredible lack of fatigue that I have been feeling (I was constantly fatigued before this), I am accomplishing huge chunks of my "to do" list. Problem: I'm running out of things to do. Short of becoming even more annoying to my family because of my new uber-efficiency, I'm spending more time with friends and that has been wonderful!
Yesterday I spent several hours with a good friend who is planning a business startup. I helped walk her through her first steps and what she needed to do, it felt good to share in her excitement, they have a solid idea that is going to take them far. I am so excited for her and her husband! That meant skipping my 2 pm nap but I slept a little longer at 6:30 pm to make up for it. I'm not sure if the extra sleep helped though because I was feeling a bit tired after my 11:00 pm nap so I went to bed a bit early and slept a bit longer at 1:00 am this morning. It is now almost 5 and I feel great!
One of the things I was curious about was my belief that it is during sleep that our bodies repair themselves. If an uberman sleeps only 2 hours, when does your body repair? I have had significantly less sleep than I normally do and yet I feel less fatigue and more refreshed than I have in quite a while. In talking to other polyphasic sleepers, it turns out that we don't actually repair physically during sleep, only our brain needs this.
Another concern I had was, if and how does diet effect sleep? Well in my personal experience, I have found that only eating just before going to sleep makes it more difficult to wake from a nap. Steve Pavlina discussed in his uberman log that it was his vegan diet that contributed greatly to the ease in which he adopted uberman sleep. Although I eat a very healthy diet (processed food almost never enters my body), I do eat meat protein and drink coffee, though never more than two cups a day. I thought a lot about eliminating caffeine from my diet for this experiment, but I wanted to see the effects of my normal diet. Caffeine is a stimulant, however it has never effected my ability to fall asleep in the past so I decided to continue with my 1-2 cups a day. I was right and actually, drinking a cup just before I nap leaves me very refreshed upon waking. So, I have learned that eating shortly after a nap and coffee before a nap are good things. I would love to hear from other polyphasic sleepers as to the effects of diet during your experience!
6:15 - 6:35 am: nap with dream, very refreshing
10:00 - 10:20 am: nap
6:30 - 7:20 pm: nap
11:00 - 11:20 pm: nap
1:00 - 3:00 am: sleep
This has been an interesting three days! With all of this extra time, and the incredible lack of fatigue that I have been feeling (I was constantly fatigued before this), I am accomplishing huge chunks of my "to do" list. Problem: I'm running out of things to do. Short of becoming even more annoying to my family because of my new uber-efficiency, I'm spending more time with friends and that has been wonderful!
Yesterday I spent several hours with a good friend who is planning a business startup. I helped walk her through her first steps and what she needed to do, it felt good to share in her excitement, they have a solid idea that is going to take them far. I am so excited for her and her husband! That meant skipping my 2 pm nap but I slept a little longer at 6:30 pm to make up for it. I'm not sure if the extra sleep helped though because I was feeling a bit tired after my 11:00 pm nap so I went to bed a bit early and slept a bit longer at 1:00 am this morning. It is now almost 5 and I feel great!
One of the things I was curious about was my belief that it is during sleep that our bodies repair themselves. If an uberman sleeps only 2 hours, when does your body repair? I have had significantly less sleep than I normally do and yet I feel less fatigue and more refreshed than I have in quite a while. In talking to other polyphasic sleepers, it turns out that we don't actually repair physically during sleep, only our brain needs this.
Another concern I had was, if and how does diet effect sleep? Well in my personal experience, I have found that only eating just before going to sleep makes it more difficult to wake from a nap. Steve Pavlina discussed in his uberman log that it was his vegan diet that contributed greatly to the ease in which he adopted uberman sleep. Although I eat a very healthy diet (processed food almost never enters my body), I do eat meat protein and drink coffee, though never more than two cups a day. I thought a lot about eliminating caffeine from my diet for this experiment, but I wanted to see the effects of my normal diet. Caffeine is a stimulant, however it has never effected my ability to fall asleep in the past so I decided to continue with my 1-2 cups a day. I was right and actually, drinking a cup just before I nap leaves me very refreshed upon waking. So, I have learned that eating shortly after a nap and coffee before a nap are good things. I would love to hear from other polyphasic sleepers as to the effects of diet during your experience!
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