Letter from Lhasa, number 211. (Maas 1998): Power Sleep. The Revolutionary Program that Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance
by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi
Maas, B. J., (with M. L. Wherry, D. J. Axelrod, B. R. Hogan and J. A. Blumin), Power Sleep. The Revolutionary Program that Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance, Villard, New York, NY, USA, 1998.
(Maas 1998).
James B. Maas
Megan L. Wherry
David. J. Axelrod
Barbara R. Hogan
Jennifer A. Blumin
The authors seem to have the myth of night sleep.
According to them, REM sleep is a key factor for peak daytime performance. It begins after 90 to 110 minutes one fell asleep. However, each person is different. In fact, in a concrete case shown in fig. 3.3 at page 35, it begins before 90 minute’s sleeping. REM sleep cyclically repeats, each time for a longer time. In the fig, 3.3’s case, during a 8 hours’ sleep, there are four REMs, from about ten minutes to one hour. Immediately after the last REM sleep, the subject awakes. According to them, during a full eight hour sleep, there are four or five REM sleeps, lasting a total of one half to two hours.
According to them, REM sleep loss is antithetic to success. “(...) REM sleep loss produces serious daytime consequences in terms of your learning, thinking, memory, and performance.” (Maas 1998, p. 29).
I do not know whether it true, however I read that Leonardo Da Vinci slept 15 minutes each hour.
According to them, new information is acquired only when one is awake. While sleeping, information is only reorganized and elaborated.
“Ten hours of sleep is operationally defined as our need because that’s what is often required for optimal performance.” (Maas 1998, p. 44).
“At minimum most people absolutely need to obtain at least sixty to ninety minutes more sleep than they presently get.”
(Maas 1998, p. 61).
Obviously, there are the advices for sleeping more and regularly, from relaxation and respiration techniques to alimentary and fitness ones. Of course, there is the final advice of consulting a sleep specialist. When there is a problem, or pseudo-problem, create a bureaucracy! ...For becoming indispensable and eternal, it will complicate and aggravate the problem, or pseudo-problem!
Research is always useful. To find and to present impressionistic examples of incidents and disasters since [supposed] “sleep deprivation” is always deceptive. Unfortunately, this book is spiced with them.
Maas, B. J., (with M. L. Wherry, D. J. Axelrod, B. R. Hogan and J. A. Blumin), Power Sleep. The Revolutionary Program that Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance, Villard, New York, NY, USA, 1998.
