Throw everything out of your mind…read a little, sleep. The world will still be here when you wake up, and there’ll still be everything left to do. ~James Baldwin
A recent sleep study (Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2023) suggests that while humans do not actually hibernate, we do need more sleep during the colder months, ideally an additional 1-2 hours than during summer. The study measured REM, the deep, dream-state sleep directly affected by our circadian clock. Basically, when there is less available light, human brains produce more melatonin, which makes us drowsy and sets us up for longer states of dreaming sleep.
File this long, expensive research study under duh. Of course we do. All animals winter to some degree or another, and humans are animals. Even for those who grapple with getting good, sound sleep, wintering is necessary. Seasonality is ubiquitous, despite our encultured drive to fuss and flurry on all cylinders at every moment of every day.
Except during Twixmas, the week between Christmas and New Years. From the old English word betwixt, meaning between, Twixmas is a calendar zone-out zone, a peaceful interlude to breathe and absorb the frenetic holiday past before hurtling into the New Year, New You insanity. It’s a time when many businesses slow down or close completely, giving their employees a much-needed break.
It’s snerdle season, baby. Snerdle is an 18th century English word meaning to wrap up cozily in bed and hold off the day a little longer.
Yes, please. I am a Master Snerdler. I can build a hibernacle (that’s a place where one hibernates) worthy of Frank Llyod Wright. Start with a bed. Add a heated mattress pad and soft sheets. Several layers of fuzzy blankets to add or subtract as needed. Socks. A minimum of two books, because you might want to switch it up during the day. Sudoku or a crossword book. A TV nearby to Netflix comfort movies (I suggest The Greatest Showman, Forrest Gump, The Breakfast Club, Almost Famous, the Pitch Perfect Trilogy, Mamma Mia, and Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again). Snacks, both sweet and salty (a charcuterie board works nicely). Start with coffee or tea and gradually switch over to bourbon or wine. If you’re quiet enough, both the dog and the cat will snerdle you. I have a whole yoga sequence intended to be performed in the bed so you don’t get too sore.
When I grow tired of lying horizontal, I can always wander downstairs to read on the couch by the fire (luckily my husband finds tending a fire relaxing). There is a jigsaw puzzle to work, a guitar to be strummed, a pizza just waiting for us to call it in.
Go to bed early, sleep as late as you want. Rinse and repeat for several days.
Notice anything missing? A good snerdle is ruined by your phone. Mindfulness scrolling is draining, not restorative.
While I still see my private therapy clients this week, I canceled group classes and arranged my calendar so that I’m only working 4 hours a day, giving me plenty of snerdle time.
See you guys in 2024. Happy snerdling!
