I recently learnt something quite extraordinary about unihemispheric sleep, which is the ability to have one half of the brain awake while the other half goes to sleep. Unfortunately, it only applies to birds and aquatic animals like dolphins and whales.
What’s remarkable when birds come together, picture the scene on a telephone line; it’s the bird on the far left and far right that take on the job of being on guard, allowing the rest of the flock to enjoy a full deep, shut eye sleep. The bird on the left keeps its left eye open, with a 180-degree view, maintained by the right hemisphere which remains awake while the left hemisphere sleeps. The bird on the far right has its right eye open, with a 180- degree view, maintained by the left brain which stays awake while the right brain sleeps. Between them they have a 360- degree panoramic view!
You may wonder what happens when they get tired? Nope, they don’t swop out with the birds in the middle. Instead they hop up, turn around- face the opposite direction- and get on with the job!
While humans don’t have the capacity for unihemispheric sleep, we can access deep rest during the day with the practice of Yoga Nidra, which is a sleep like state. Learn more with Dr Andrew Huberman, by clicking on the link below (6 mins).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7e_tjxEwAU&t=260s
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