The Fall Of Sleep

Philosophers have largely ignored sleep, treating it as a useless negativity, mere repose for the body or at best a source for the production of unconscious signs out of the night of the soul.In an extraordinary theoretical investigation written with lyric intensity, The Fall of Sleep puts an end to this neglect by providing a deft yet rigorous philosophy of sleep. What does it mean to fallasleep? Might there exist something like a reasonof sleep, a reason at work in its own form or modality, a modality of being in oneself, of return to oneself, without the waking selfthat distinguishes Ifrom youand from the world? What reason might exist in that absence of ego, appearance, and intention, in an abandon thanks to which one is emptied out into a non-place shared by everyone?Sleep attests to something like an equality of all that exists in the rhythm of the world. With sleep, victory is constantly renewed over the fear of night, an a confidence that we will wake with the return of day, in a return to self, to us--though to a self, an us, that is each day different, unforeseen, without any warning given in advance.To seek anew the meaning stirring in the supposed loss of meaning, of consciousness, and of control that occurs in sleep is not to reclaim some meaning already familiar in philosophy, religion, progressivism, or any other -ism. It is instead to open anew a source that is not the source of a meaning but that makes up the nature proper to meaning, its truth: opening, gushing forth, infinity.This beautiful, profound meditation on sleep is a unique work in the history of phenomenology--a lyrical phenomenology of what can have no phenomenology, since sleep shows itself to the waking observer, the subject of phenomenology, only as disappearance and concealment.

Philosophers have largely ignored sleep, treating it as a useless negativity, mere repose for the body or at best a source for the production of unconscious signs out of the night of the soul. In an extraordinary theoretical investigation written with lyric intensity, The Fall of Sleep puts an end to this neglect by providing a deft yet rigorous philosophy of sleep. What does it mean to "fall" asleep? Might there exist something like a "reason" of sleep, a reason at work in its own form or modality, a modality of being in oneself, of return to oneself, without the waking "self" that distinguishes "I" from "you" and from the world? What reason might exist in that absence of ego, appearance, and intention, in an abandon thanks to which one is emptied out into a non-place shared by everyone? Sleep attests to something like an equality of all that exists in the rhythm of the world. With sleep, victory is constantly renewed over the fear of night, an a confidence that we will wake with the return of day, in a return to self, to us--though to a self, an us, that is each day different, unforeseen, without any warning given in advance. To seek anew the meaning stirring in the supposed loss of meaning, of consciousness, and of control that occurs in sleep is not to reclaim some meaning already familiar in philosophy, religion, progressivism, or any other -ism. It is instead to open anew a source that is not the source of a meaning but that makes up the nature proper to meaning, its truth: opening, gushing forth, infinity. This beautiful, profound meditation on sleep is a unique work in the history of phenomenology--a lyrical phenomenology of what can have no phenomenology, since sleep shows itself to the waking observer, the subject of phenomenology, only as disappearance and concealment.

222 Ways to a Better Night and Brighter Morning Poor sleep can wreak havoc on your waking life, leaving you grumpy and unwell. But when you’re staring at the ceiling, counting sheep, worried that sleep may never come . . . what can you do? Well, Trick Yourself to Sleep—with 222 simple strategies and creative tips, all scientifically backed: Cover up clocks (stop stressing over every restless minute) Eat two kiwis (their folates and antioxidants aid sleep) Stick out your tongue (this releases tension in the jaw) Try a weighted blanket (it’s like giving your nervous system a hug) Make a list (and then set those to-dos aside until tomorrow)! This must-have guide for even the occasional insomniac will help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up your best self.

"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.

The Calm and Cozy Book of Sleep is a down-to-earth guide with expert tips to get you to sleep and stay asleep.

It is sadly true that it is not always easy to fall asleep. This gently amusing, highly effective anthology of soporific dullness has been carefully curated to put readers to sleep as quickly as possible. With a pillowy case wrap, stultifying illustrations, and pages of sheep to count, this giftable godsend for the under-rested features dozens of snoozy short texts, including "The Motion of Sand Dunes," "The Administrative Bureaucracy of the Byzantine Empire," "White Noise: A Technical Explanation," and many dozens more— though good luck reading very far on any one evening. Insomniacs will also appreciate "A Staring Contest with Fifty Cats," "Some Interesting Mathematical Theorems," "The Dullest Entries from Interesting Diaries," and other zzzzzzzz.

The number one cause of insomnia is fear of insomnia. You toss and turn at night, trying to quiet your thoughts enough to fall asleep. Or you wake up hours before your alarm and stare at the ceiling, hoping that this time you'll manage just a little bit more rest before sunrise. Either way, it's actually your fear of not getting enough sleep that's keeping you awake. The only way to finally get a good night's sleep is to retrain your subconscious mind and eliminate that fear. Grace Smith, world-renowned hypnotherapist and author of Close Your Eyes, Get Free, has helped hundreds of people do exactly that. Using the phenomenally successful power of hypnosis, Close Your Eyes, Sleep teaches you to access your subconscious and get your long-needed rest. The first step is learning the tools to block out your anxieties to fall asleep quickly and easily at any time of night. But hypnotherapy can take you farther than that: you'll discover how to proactively attack the causes of sleepless nights, ridding yourself of restlessness altogether and achieving the deep, restorative sleep you deserve.

Now in paperback, The Book of Sleep is a landmark in contemporary Arabic literature. What is sleep? How can this most unproductive of human states--metaphorically called death's shadow or considered the very pinnacle of indolence--be envisioned as action and agency? And what do we become in sleep? What happens to the waking selves we understand ourselves to be? Written in the spring of 2013, as the Egyptian government of President Mohammed Morsi was unraveling in the face of widespread protests, The Book of Sleep is a landmark in contemporary Arabic literature. Drawing on the devices and forms of poetry, philosophical reflection, political analysis, and storytelling, this genre-defying work presents us with an assemblage of fragments that combine and recombine, circling around their central theme but refusing to fall into its gravity. "My concern was not to create a literary product in the conventional sense, but to try and use literature as a methodology for thinking," El Wardany explains. In this volume, sleep shapes sentences and distorts conventions. Its protean instability throws out memoir and memory, dreams and hallucinatory reverie, Sufi fables and capitalist parables, in the quest to shape a question. The Book of Sleep is a generous and generative attempt to reimagine possibility and hope in a world of stifling dualities and constrictions.