Too much sleeping this year get you down?

[Pamazon]

I'm posting this to see if anyone else shared the experience that I and a friend (at another camp)had this year. Usually I switch from diurnal to nocturnal at the Man and do really well on 4-5 hours of sleep in the mornings with 1 or 2 nights of more sleep. This year I slept 10-11 hours every night and had an extraordinarily hard time getting out of bed or staying out of bed every night. I felt really cloudy headed and like I had taken a sleeping pill (I hadn't). This type of sleep-behavior is unusual for me. I took really good care of myself - eating wholesome food, staying out of the hottest sun, drinking water religiously, taking electrolytes and vitamins - the gamut of self-care tactics - which should have ensured extra energy - not less. But, I couldn't get out at night and was really puzzled by my lack of energy. Just wondering if anyone had the same perplexing experience.

[redhot]

I seemed to stay up till 2 or 3 am, although one night till about 5.30. It seemed like I needed more sleep this year and had less energy - the heat seemed to get to me a bit more. I managed to lose track of my tin of vitamins but I don't think that made any difference. I remember being able to ride my bicycle all over even in the heat in previous years, was a lot lower energy much of the time this year. There was a day when I really didn't get out till right before sunset...

[Friendly Jen]

this was the first year that I got any normal ammount of sleep. Perhaps it was because it was colder? OR perhaps it was because the event in general was lower energy...seemed that way to me.

[Iago]

someone told me that if your normal sleep cycle is 7-8 hours and you sleep beyond it to say 10 hours, what happens is that you have started a new sleep cycle and will feel like you only had 2 hours of sleep because of the second cycle. could be total bullshit, don't have to believe everyhting you read on this e-playa unless you want to... just an interesting theory..?

[crimbopple]

It was the same for my camp... or several people in my camp. Granted, I had caught a little bug just before getting to bman. (much coughing lasted throughout the week.) However, several healthy others seemed to sleep a whole lot. I tried many times to stay up and not miss anything, but my body just went DOWN. Actually, with eyes closing, or flitting, while in riveting conversation with campmates.

*sigh.

Ultimately, I just chocked it up to an introspective year. I did a whole lot of "internal work" using the old sleepiness. Oh, and I give creedence to the sleep cycle theory. Also, as someone who's interested in astrology, half way through bman Mercury went retrograde. Mercury is the planet of communication. I found that my introspection, and thoughtfulness increased. For someone who is typically ferociously outgoing, esp. at bman, I felt strangely withdrawn. So I just took the cue from the universe and did my internal work instead of going off. All in all, it was VERY REWARDING.

[olivia]

i am usually fairly nocturnal, going to bed at sunrise or just before and waking up in the afternoon.

at burning man i become almost completely bound to the sun. when it goes down, i get sleepy. as soon as it rises, i am ready to go.

i can't do nights at burning man. not only because i'm sleepy, but the bright flashing lights contrasted by complete darkness does something to my head that makes me feel like i'm going to have a seizure. and i don't have epilepsy! very sad - i want to play at night!

[SideSlide]

I honestly have no idea how many hours of sleep I got at the event. The last time I looked at a clock was the day before I got there, and I didn't know what time it was for sure again until I had driven most of the way back home. It seemed that time became irrelevant to me while I was there.

[debkakes]

wheew...thought it was just me. went to sleep one night at 10:30, most usually by midnight or 1 AM totally zonked out, earplugs firmly in place, and up shortly after sunrise. stayed up til dawn only once (was it just re-adjusted me, or was that sunrise Sunday simply phenomenal?). i think that I may have been subconsciously affected by the theme this year, and dipped down deep to reaffirmation through sleepy-time visions. Not that they were profound, but certainly numerous; and who knows what happens in dreams that slip by our memories. An interesting year, this, despite and because of all its strangeness....

[Fluffy Pink]

I definitely got more "normal" sleep this year. I think it was quieter-at least in the middle of town. It seemed like the big Boom Boom clubs really were out on the ends, and that the wattage limits on camps inbetween made a difference. I only had one night on the playa this year where I lay in my tent imagining that the entire city was burning down at that very moment from the level of noise that happening. (In contrast to the past two years where I was sure the whole place was exploding every night.) But then again, maybe it was the *sweet* air bed we brought with us this year that made for better sleep. . .I'll never go back to those cursed thermarests at Burning Man again. It did seem a little lower energy this year. We were often affected by a malady I call "Camp Suck" where you get sucked in to the vortex of your own camp and never make it out to cruise around the playa. Just as you're filling that water bottle and straddling your bike. . .here comes another neighbor with a cold beer and some shit to shoot. 2 hours later you're thinking, "Wasn't I going to go out and see what new art installations are up today?" But we forged better friendships with our campmates, and that's a quality BM experience too.

[Steven bradford]

Camp Suck!

I like it.

I got hit with the sleep thing too, though I didn't much notice it, as I'm not that good of a night person, but it really seemed more pronounced for me this year. Hmm.

[Fuzee]

I had a much lower energy experience this year. It may be because I was involved in a project that took a lot of my time, but when I did wrap up the project every day, I didn't find much at night. I'm more of a day person, and don't go to BM to dance the nights away. At night I expect to be able to explore and find the great art installations. I didn't find those Easter Eggs out on the playa. If this trend continues, I think BM will become more of a community experience than an art/extreme event, like another Rainbow Gathering. Did you notice people starting to say "Welcome home"? Know where that came from?

This is a graph of my experiences with BM

[freia]

This was my first year, but I definitely got a lot more sleep than I'd expected, even more than at home. And I did have a helluva time getting out of bed every morning. Usually got to sleep between 1 & 2AM, & up around 10 or 11. And even then I still felt exhausted, never bright-eyed & bushy-tailed. Then I'd get sleepy in the mid-afternoon heat, dozing off in our gazebo. It did get me down, because I was disappointed in my lack of energy to take advantage of all that Burning Man offered.

What's really strange is that ever since I got back, I've had a hard time getting to bed before 3 or 4AM (and I have a 9-5-ish job). Maybe our bodies are more attuned to natural rhythms of light & dark out there in the boonies. Though if that were totally the case, I'd have gone to bed at dusk & gotten up with the early-birds.

[kyla]

Last year I slept a couple of hours in the early morning and a couple in mid afternoon. This year was different though, I didn't feel sleepy at all until late afternoon, and often had a hard time waking myself up for the crazy old night time! Woke up a few times feeling very disorientated, quite strange.

[Chai Guy]

Glad to hear I'm not alone on this. I usually require very little sleep at BRC or at home. This year I slept a good 8 hours every night. I attribute part of this to just getting older. Next year I'm bringing an alarm clock and taking power naps!

[Jp]

I was definitely more tired this year, but I did have some bronchial inflamation going into the event which a week of dust and smoke didn't help at all. Also last year was my best ever energy year where I hardly slept at all and went out all night every night.

I would say that the event seemed much more mellow overall, not necessarily a good or bad thing, just different.

Jp

[Fencing man]

Wow, I thought I was the only one. Friday night I couldnt stop myself from
conking out at 11pm. Wierd. Maybe it was that Mars influence thing going on.

[jupiterokid]

if you budget your sleeping time correctly, then,MAYBE IDIOTS LIKE ME WONT MISS THE FUCKING BURN!"

theres always next year right
jupiter

[kyla]

I agree completely.. much more mellow, but I think it's just what I needed

[jupiterokid]

its also funny that out of my entire elecintricity theme camp, I'm known as th tweeker of the bunch, well i guess go figure then ?