Episode guide
Hibernation: The Science of Slowing Down
A hibernating animal turns itself down like a lamp: heartbeat, breath, and hunger all dimmed for winter. This episode is a lesson from the world's best resters.
The science, gently
- A hibernating ground squirrel's heart can slow from hundreds of beats a minute to just a few.
- Bears live all winter on stored fat, and some do not eat or drink for months.
- Hibernation is not ordinary sleep; it is a deeper energy-saving state called torpor.
Wonder together
- If you could hibernate, what would you want to wake up to?
- What does your body do in winter that it skips in summer?
- How slow do you think your breath can comfortably go?
Tonight's calm-down
Dim yourself like a lamp on a dial: soften your jaw, then your shoulders, then your hands, then your breath, each one a notch lower. You do not need winter's slowness, just tonight's.