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How to Sleep Like a Caveman
Ancient Wisdom for a Better Night's Rest
Read by: Joe Eyre
Author: Merijn van de Laar
At a Glance
Published: 16th January 2025
Digital Audiobook
$41.99
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Sleep has hardly changed since Paleolithic humans snoozed soundly in their caves. While sabre-toothed tigers were their biggest night-time worry, today it's stress and social media that keep us awake, but the solutions are the same, and sleep therapist Dr Merijn van de Laar offers understanding and advice to have you sleeping better within weeks.
How to get a better night's sleep in 3 weeks:
- Don't believe everything you read or hear about sleep
- Let go of the 8-hour rule
- Use the simple sleep diary in the back of this book to record your sleep pattern over 3 weeks
- Discover your personal sleep needs
- Examine your attitude towards lying awake at night
- Shorter total bed times might be better
- Focus on the reason for lying awake rather than on the reason for not sleeping
- Reduce stress
- Keep regular bedtimes
- Follow the rules of nature
- Respect your personal circadian rhythm
- Don't tempt the night-time ghosts
Human sleep as we know it today evolved hundreds of thousands years ago, to suit a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. It's not always compatible with our modern lives, but remains an essential function, vital for our health, well-being and daytime functioning. In this groundbreaking new book, Dr Merijn van de Laar investigates the origins of sleep based on archaeological findings and anthropological studies in contemporary hunter-gatherers, looking at the major discrepancies between our primordial bodily needs and our current sleep-inhibiting behaviour.
Cave dwellers lived in balance with the forces of nature. They had adapted perfectly to environmental influences such as light, temperature and seasonal variations. The way they ate and moved during the day must have had a positive effect on sleep quality. We need to look to their example, and adjust our eating, exercise, light, temperature and, last but not least: our expectations towards sleep. By taking on board the ancient wisdom of our ancestors, we will improve the quality of our sleep, the way our bodies were designed to do it.
Dr. Merijn van de Laar's How to Sleep Like a Caveman is a best-in-class exploration of the intersection of psychology, medicine, and evolutionary science. This non-fiction book offers practical self-help strategies for stress and fitness management, all aimed at improving sleep quality.
For fans of Dr. Guy Meadows (The Sleep Book)
HarperCollins 2025
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ISBN: 9780008717643
ISBN-10: 0008717648
Published: 16th January 2025
Format: Digital Audiobook
Language: English
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Duration: 07:37.46
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This product is categorised by
- Non-FictionFamily & HealthCoping with / Advice about Personal, Social & Health TopicsCoping with / Advice about Illness & Specific Health Conditions
- Non-FictionMedicineOther Branches of MedicineTherapy & TherapeuticsSleep Disorders & Therapy
- Non-FictionPsychologyStates of Consciousness
- Non-FictionMind, Body, SpiritDreams & their Interpretation
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesHuman BiologyEarly Man
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesLife Sciences in GeneralNeurosciences
- Non-FictionSelf-Help, Personal Development & Practical AdvicePopular Psychology
- Non-FictionFamily & Health