The truth about sleep
E-book, Czech
The truth about sleep
Find your inner hunter and gatherer and sleep sweetly again
Roughly a third of our lives are spent in bed, but for millions of us it's not time we sleep. We try to get eight hours of sleep a day, but stress, ubiquitous electronic devices, or coffee drunk at 4 p.m. make sure we just lie around and can't fall asleep.
As sleep therapist Merijn van de Laar, who has extensive experience with insomnia himself, explains, we are neither the first nor the last. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when sabre-toothed tigers were the biggest threat to humans at night, night vigil was crucial to the tribe's survival. Research shows that certain sleep patterns even conferred an evolutionary advantage on our ancestors. We can be inspired by them to sleep healthier too. We may be different from prehistoric humans in many modern conveniences, but if we understand how our brains evolved, we can more easily chart a course for a better night's sleep.
Merijn van de Laar draws on the findings of modern sleep science, archaeological research and studies of natural peoples whose living conditions are similar to those experienced by our ancestors. His book, The Truth About Sleep, answers all sorts of questions and demolishes some firmly rooted myths. The result is a surprising and easy-to-understand guide to how we can think about sleep in a new way - with respect to our nature.
In this book you will find advice on how to achieve quality sleep using natural ways that cost almost nothing but are very effective.
For example:
How to limit the influences of modern life that cut us off from our instincts.
How to free yourself from exaggerated demands for perfect sleep, such as the myth of the eight-hour sleep.
How to mitigate the devastating effects of a bad night's sleep on our bodies.
How to lessen the impact of nightmares.
How to combine the use of stimulants with refreshing sleep.
They wrote about the book:
Thanks to the book The Truth About Sleep, my sleep has really transformed over the past two weeks - for a person suffering from chronic insomnia, this is truly revolutionary! This book is the first one that really helped me understand what my role would be from an evolutionary perspective and what "chemistry" causes me to sleep differently than other people. I really appreciate the combination of anthropology and history.
- Summer Sayre, Goodreads
This scientific approach turns all my previous supposed knowledge about sleep on its head. I very much welcome that the book sets the record straight on various popular myths that are based on tradition rather than evidence. Her most important message is that, unless we suffer from a serious condition such as sleep apnoea, we all need to get more rest and worry less about sleeping. Everyone should read this book!
- Andrea Wenge, Goodreads
In his manual, psychologist van de Laar explains how the quality of sleep can be improved by recreating the living conditions of ancient hunters and gatherers. He offers often surprising advice - for example, that by limiting the amount of time spent in bed each night, insomnia sufferers can get better sleep by increasing their sleep pressure, and fall asleep faster after going to bed. For anyone who has ever had to resort to counting sheep, the book will be a balm.
- Paul Sebes, Publishers Weekly
Merijn van de Laar
Merijn van de Laar is a psychologist, behavioural therapist and sleep expert. He studied biological psychology at Maastricht University, where he still works today. During his doctoral studies, he has been working on the topic of sleep and the treatment of insomnia. He also gained experience during his time at the Sleep Medicine Centre, where he treated patients suffering from insomnia, parasomnias and delayed sleep phase syndrome.
Specifications
Basic
Format & type of protection
Škárova 809/16, Brno - Královo Pole, 61200 Česká republika, +420 734 871 857, jota.cz [email protected]
Specifications can be changed without notice. Images are for illustrative purposes only.
