Where do you place sleep in your life? For me I have learned to place it at the top of the pile of important things to do. A little over a year ago I really started focussing on sleep as thee most important 8-9 hours of my day. Everything else took a back seat. Boy what a trip it has been. Here’s a few things I’ve observed.
Sleep has 2 shifts or phases. Without fail I always wake up about 1/2 way through my full nights sleep. It’s not always a full 8 hours but I do allow for up to 9 hours and 36 minutes. I usually get up and use the restroom for good measure, make sure I drink a good amount of water and take my systemic enzymes. Always falling back to sleep immediately.
1:36 before sunrise. Through additional research I discovered some who believe that there is what is called a/the creators hour that starts 1 hour and 36 minutes before sunrise. I don’t personally know of any science behind it, but I have noticed that I am much more creative at that time in the morning and flow state is much easier to achieve at that time.
Bedtime…9:36 before sunrise. What I decided to do is put myself in bed at about this time every night. I’m not very precise because it is an ever moving target by about 6 minutes per day. This has been absolute magic for quality of sleep and it always provides for a solid 8 hours of darkness for sleep.
Sun down; fork down. If it were always possible I would only ever eat during daylight hours. When the sun goes down so does my fork, knife and spoon. This allows for your food to clear the stomach before bedtime. It will also allow for supplements you need to take on an empty stomach before bed.
Sleeping on the job. That is our job. On the other hand we have a whole legion of microbial life living in and on our body that have work to do. And they tend towards nocturnal behavior. In other words, they work the night shift. In contrast the human part of us tends toward life under the sun. All those other living things that make up our existence and wellbeing work while we sleep.
Shift work. It would seem that our best work as a human and legion of microbial life is done in shifts. And that when we observe this obediently our overall health and wealth in life is filled to the top and overflowing. Yup, that human aspect of us has a responsibility to the other 99% of the DNA on this body to simply get out of their way and let them to their job, on their shift.
A cocktail for the ageless. As a benefit our night shift, or microbial partners graciously provide us with a bio-chemical cocktail that helps us fall asleep quickly. It’s hard not to notice if you are observant. For years I just blew past all the signs while looking for my second wind. All the while ignoring my bodies cue’s. My feeling is that this is our body’s window for falling asleep that we have ignored since modern electric and artificial lighting. And that once we blow past that bio-chemical cocktails effects our ability to fall asleep is diminished. I’ve come to appreciate it and almost enjoy it.
These are just some of what I have observed I look forward to learning more over the years. I’ve found that my body repairs and heals at a much more advanced rate when I play by these rules. Once I started seeing the benefits of simply sleeping smarter it became much more difficult to find good reasons to stay awake much later than 8 or 9. I am personally convinced that there is magic to be found in a perfected sleep.
