Merijn-van-de-laar
Merijn van de Laar

How to Sleep Like a Caveman: Ancient Wisdom for a Better Night’s Rest

Merijn van de Laar

Tuesday, 1 April 2025

2:00pm

1 hour

Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre

£8 - £15

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Sleep psychologist Dr Merijn van de Laar says sleep has barely changed since neolithic humans tossed and turned with worries about sabre-toothed tigers and offers solutions to get you sleeping better within three weeks.

Van de Laar says human sleep evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago to suit a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and remains essential for health and wellbeing. He looks at the origins of sleep and at the discrepancies between the needs of our primordial bodies and modern sleep-inhibiting behaviour. Van de Laar says cave dwellers lived in balance with nature and had adapted perfectly to light, temperature and seasonal variations. We need to look to their example and adjust eating, exercise, light, temperature and our expectations towards sleep.

Van de Laar worked for years as a sleep scientist and sleep therapist and is deputy head of the family medicine programme at Maastricht University. He is a frequent guest on TV and radio.

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The Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the UK Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Cervantes Institute, London The Cervantes Institute, London Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Business College Where learning meets opportunity: education partners of the festival Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Critchleys Accountants to the festival Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Ian and Carol Sellars David Isaac Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Pusey House Brasenose College Brasenose College founded in 1512 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine