Summer nap schedule

An experimental study from the 90’s and case study from Alaska

What time is bedtime in the summer? Can you fall asleep with the sun still on the horizon?

Summer, with its beautiful long days, is in full swing. I’ve written a lot about darkness and how it is necessary part of every day… but what about the endless summer days of the extreme latitudes, when the sun never sets? How can you have circadian health in such a climate?

Even where I live in Southern Oregon where the summer nights drop down to only ~8 hours of darkness, summer can feel tiring. It’s hard to fall asleep in the evening—still warm and bright—and then dawn seems to arrive so soon!

In summer sleep is vain; 
I barely close my eyelids when 
‘Tis time to wake again. 
~IRIU

The answer is to nap through the heat of the day. Naps can be short—just 20 minutes or less. Or, naps can be long and more of a second sleep (2-4 hours). And most likely, having an afternoon nap is the most physiologically and traditionally correct response to these extra long days.

This afternoon nap will reduce the a…