Learn From the Victorians: 3 Practices That Might Cure Your Insomnia
It’s three o'clock a.m., and you stare wide-eyed at the ceiling. Should you get up and do something? Lay there and try to fall back asleep? You toss and turn, trying not to think about the big meeting scheduled at nine sharp. Finally, you drift off. Only to be awoken by your beeping alarm minutes later.
Insomnia sucks. And it’s not going away.
According to statistics by the American Sleep Association (ASA) an average of 50 to 70 million American adults deal with a sleep disorder. Among those, 35.3 percent of adults report getting less than seven hours of sleep per night.
While the adult sleep recommendation by the ASA is between seven and nine consecutive hours of sleep per night, this wasn’t always the norm. Pre-Industrial Revolution, the way people slept was very different from today.
How People Slept in the Old Days
Charles Dickens, the great writer and creative genius, was also a raving insomniac. Legend has it that Dickens used to prowl London streets at all times of night, seeking inspiration for his characters because he couldn’t sleep.
Dickens’ habit wasn’t as unusual as it might sound. During the Victorian period, most people enjoyed “two sleeps”. There was the first sleep — which lasted from about sundown until midnight, and then a second sleep, which took place from the early hours of the morning until the sun came up.
Author A. Roger Ekirch wrote a fascinating book about the topic of sleep in previous generations: At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. In it, Ekrich writes about things that contributed to nighttime wakefulness in ancient times. He also discusses what individuals did during those nighttime hours. Spoiler alert: baby-making was on the list.
How the Lightbulb Changed Our Sleep
Before the creation of artificial light, it was difficult to complete tasks after the sun went down. Also, most individuals were exhausted, having worked nearly nonstop since sunup. Retiring shortly after sunset was very likely something our ancestors looked forward to.
“I love to sleep. Do you? Isn’t it great? It really is the best of both worlds. You get to be alive and unconscious.” — Rita Rudner, American comedian
Yet sleeping a full seven to nine hours at a stretch was nearly unheard of back then. Let’s take the life of a maid for instance. Exhausted, she collapses into bed shortly after dark. If it was winter and she lived in England, that meant she’d go to sleep around five or six o’clock pm, perhaps a bit later. But the sun wouldn’t be up until around seven o’clock the next morning.
With her duties, she’d need to be up before daylight to prepare fires and start breakfast chores. But that would still mean an average of 11–12 hours each night of sleeping or at least being in bed. In this instance, it’s easy to see why a first and second sleep would be beneficial.
How Americans Sleep (Or Don’t) Today
It might be the land of the free and home of the brave…but it’s also the land of the exhausted and home of the sleep-deprived. On average, Americans go to bed between 10:35 pm (Colorado), to nearly midnight (NYC). Due to our modern environment and work schedules that require us to be up and out the door early, insomnia poses a significant challenge.
While the idea of two periods of sleep may sound interesting — because who doesn't want to be productive even if it’s 2 a.m., rather than staring at the ceiling — it’s just not feasible today. However, there are potential solutions our ancestors practiced which may help.
Please note: the information provided in this article is for informational purposes only, and does not intend to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Potential Insomnia Cure #1
One popular, though not a very fun method of curing insomnia, is called sleep restriction therapy. Don’t worry. It’s not as awful as it sounds.
Sleep restriction, over time, eliminates insomnia by readjusting the body’s internal clock. Stanford Health Care describes it this way: “This procedure, developed by Arthur Spielman, is designed to eliminate prolonged middle of the night awakenings. It doesn’t aim to restrict actual sleep time but rather to initially restrict the time spent in bed.”
How it works: Let’s say someone usually goes to bed at 10:00 p.m. and gets up at 7:00 a.m. (nine hours). Out of those nine hours though, they’re only sleeping six. The recommendation would be that they not remain in bed longer than seven hours. “This sounds harsh but after a week or so there will be a marked decrease in time spent awake in the middle of the night,” the folks at Stanford Health Care encourage.
You can read more about sleep restriction therapy via a free scientific article by Arthur J. Spielman, “Behavioral Treatments for Sleep Disorders” for more information.
Potential Insomnia Cure #2
Instead of counting sheep why not try spelling “Paradoxical intention”? This strange-sounding phrase could also be called, reverse psychology. Rather than trying to make yourself fall asleep, you try to keep yourself away. Telling yourself, “you’re not sleepy” apparently works for some individuals.
I’ve used this method myself. Lying in bed at 3:00 a.m., I think about the project I least want to work on the next day. My mental conversation goes something like this:
“Oh, ugh. I have to finish the really boring research for the blog post I’m working on for that client. Well. Maybe I could just lay here a few more minutes. If I don’t fall asleep within five, I’ll get up and start on it.”
Five minutes later: Zzzzz.
According to the Society of Clinical Psychology, this practice eliminates the fear of the fear surrounding the thing. So, in the case of insomnia, a person uses cognitive techniques to engage in a feared behavior — in this case, not falling asleep, by trying to force themselves to stay awake.
Potential Insomnia Cure #3
Prayer, meditation, and/or progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) are other options. If you can’t sleep and you’re tossing in turning consider tuning into your breathing, making your breaths slow and deep like ocean waves. Picturing the ocean waves rolling up onto the beach is an added bonus.
Use the time you’re awake to pray or meditate. Create a mental list of all you’re grateful for or all the good things that have happened in the past week.
Try PMR. This effective cure for insomnia is the practice of tensing muscle groups for a few seconds and then relaxing them. WebMD has a great article on how to do this effectively.
If None of That Works…
Tried all of the above and still can’t get to sleep? Try what our ancestors did. Get up and do something else for a little while. Segmented sleep isn’t the best option but sometimes it’s the only option we have. Unless of course, you’d like to try applying your dog’s ear wax to your teeth or shampooing with yellow soap — just a couple of the most bizarre insomnia cures ever invented.
Insomnia sucks, there’s no doubt. But hopefully, with time and practice, you’ll find effective and natural ways to relieve it.
When not experiencing insomnia, I enjoy writing about health and wellness, self-improvement, and professional development. I share personal stories, helpful industry resources, and a little piece of weird trivia in my monthly newsletter. Get it now on my website, www.joychoquette.com where you can also learn more about me and my writing services.
