I love going to bed early, I always have. As a kid I’d go to bed early and I’d get up really early, – it’s just naturally what I did.
Even when I was in my early teens I did this. I would always be up before 6 am to do my paper round. What I really loved was that it was quiet, no one else was around apart from the birds, a little wildlife and the sun coming up – it was a really precious time. In the summer time I would be up out of bed extra early, by 5 am, and after my paper round I’d go for a swim at the open air swimming pool before cycling to school and just about getting to the class register in time… it felt great.
What didn’t feel good was when I used to have to wait for my dad to pick me up from my grandma’s house in the evenings. Often he would work late till 10 pm or later, and I would be dog tired, trying to stay awake, wishing I could go to bed. This would make it a struggle to get up the next day and I would be like a zombie in the mornings and it felt awful. I would rarely speak to anyone in this state.
When I progressed into my later teens and life became about going out in the evenings and drinking, clubbing and taking drugs, I really suffered. Often I would go straight to work in a restaurant that morning (without going to bed at all) and my dad would have to meet me with my work uniform at the train station.
When these sorts of weekends happened and I had ignored my sleep rhythm completely, I would usually get sick. Often I would suffer from tonsillitis, or I would feel completely wiped out and needing to stay in bed for a few days, feeling feverish and depleted. This happened regularly, as during this time I rarely listened to my body at all.
I still don’t like the feeling of being really knackered when I go to bed. Even if I lie in the next day, I don’t feel as energised as when I have an early night. In fact, if I doze on or fall asleep again, I can feel really groggy from too much sleep or not having the right quality of sleep.
It’s like I’m not honouring my body when I’m ready to wake up and start the day. This is the same as not honouring what I’m feeling when I’m tired and ready to go to sleep.
About 7 years ago, I heard Serge Benhayon present at a Universal Medicine workshop that our bodies get the most beneficial rest when sleeping between 9 pm and 3 am. So I decided to try it.
At the time I was working full time 9 am to 6 pm, commuting 3 hours each day, and studying. I would get home around 7.30 pm, have supper, and would try to read or do homework afterwards, but of course I was too tired. I began setting my alarm for about 5 am, and actually did my reading and assignments in bed. Sometimes I would go for a swim before work and for the first time ever, I would make myself a healthy and delicious breakfast before I left the house, rather than rushing out the door and grabbing a snack at the train station. Suddenly, mornings were my absolute favourite time of the day again:
I was allowing myself the time to do various tasks without rushing and I even enjoyed my commute, as there was time to walk along the river instead of catching a bus.
Now I go to bed between 9 and 10 pm, sometimes earlier. I love going to bed early, getting into bed and snuggling, writing in my diary, drinking herbal tea and massaging cream into my hands. I love waking early and I get so much done in that time, whether it’s writing, cooking, studying, exercise, massage … If I tried to do these things in the evening after working all day, I know I would be feeling too tired to enjoy them in the same way.
In the evenings I can come home and start winding down from my day, knowing any other tasks I have to do can be done when I wake up bright as a button the next morning. I don’t feel the need to stay up late after a day at work to have ‘me’ time, as I have already had this before work.
It feels natural to me and makes so much sense to go to bed early when I begin feeling tired in the evening, rather than staying up late and actually waking up still feeling tired before a new day ahead. I’m still refining this rhythm and my sleep, as sometimes I might eat too much in the evening, slob out, or eat something sweet, and consequently I struggle to get up in the morning, so I’m beginning to notice more how I am and what I’m doing at the end of my day to ensure I feel great when I wake.
What’s interesting is that the same principle also plays out throughout the day. I notice if I eat too much at lunchtime or don’t take a break from my desk, I can get sleepy or unfocussed. What started off as just experimenting with going to bed a little earlier and doing homework in the morning instead of the evening, has developed into a rhythm that supports me throughout my whole day.
My body is always telling me what it likes and what it doesn’t. I am learning to listen and honour this and take more care of myself. Winding down from my day and going to bed early has certainly been a big part of the way I now self-care.
With thanks to Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine practitioners and the student body who are a constant support and inspiration to me.
By Laura Hoy, Essential Oil Consultant, Company Manager, Brighton, UK
Further Reading:
Sleep – Time To Restore And Refresh
Sleep
Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
916 Comments
It is so self-loving and caring to wind down at the end of the day and tenderly look after ourselves. I love lighting incense, washing my face, lighting a candle and also massaging cream onto my hands but I can also feel how much more I can bring to this evening ritual in order to support me more ❤️
I find these days that I cannot stay in bed after 5am. If I want the restful hours it needs to be in the evening, not from lying in in the morning.
Going to bed early supports us to connect to our soul during the day, it is also super helpful when we retire early to give our body optimum healing and rejuvenation.
When we follow and honour what our body needs life becomes super simple.
This great to read Laura, and may I add that feeling complete at the end of the day adds to our ability to go into deep repose-full sleep.
A good point and reminder Greg. I am asking myself how often do I go to bed feeling complete? This doesn’t mean everything is done or that I have tick boxes but instead a completeness within me.
We have just moved and we now have a spacious bedroom which is just gorgeous, my husband and I say no to work conversations or lap tops or phones in bed it is our sacred space.
Creating a space to deepen our ability to get a great nights rest and wake re-freshened and ready to commit to a full and productive day is so important.
I used to feel refreshed and alive with my 9 pm to 3/4 am sleep. But lately, I’ve noticed that it’s more 9 to 5/6 and I am dragging myself out of bed and it’s not fun. So last few nights I’ve gone to bed at 8.30 and naturally woke up at 4 once again! Not tired or groggy but just needing a little extra in the evening. It’s not the when I sleep that I care about but the how does it make me feel on waking that determines when I sleep.
Great point Leigh, our bodies respond to going to bed early in so many ways as you have shared, and adjusting to how we feel in our day is a great way to set our sleep barometer.
I too love going to bed early, my body so appreciates this time, ‘My body is always telling me what it likes and what it doesn’t. I am learning to listen and honour this and take more care of myself. Winding down from my day and going to bed early has certainly been a big part of the way I now self-care.’
Early mornings are a rather magical time of day. This morning, at the end of November, the moon and stars are shining brightly welcoming the day and the Sun will gradually lighten the sky.
I love the early mornings. It is also the best time to drive I find. Not necessarily because no one or very few are on the road but more so because there is a stiller quality of settledness around which is often not there in the rest of the day with the drive and rush of the city.
Yes, when I am feeling really tired I go to bed extra early and it feels so rejuvenating, I wake up feeling alive and ready for the day.
My grandmother used to say that the sleep hour before midnight counted double. There is much wisdom that we have let go of, a wisdom that seeks of our natural ways of being. I experience for myself that if I go to be one hour later I need almost two hours of extra sleep to wake up feeling rested. Maybe we should pay more attention to the sayings of the past.
I find going to sleep an extra hour early is more rejuvenating than having an extra hour sleep in the morning.
I had a conversation about sleep rhythms last night on about the fact that the majority of people have bought into he creation of ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ people. I used to believe I was an evening person even though as a child I always felt to sleep early and did my home work early morning before school rather then at night. I had thought or rather imposed on my body a rhythm that suited me best because of my working and social engagements. And so I would still get tired and feel to prepare for bed around 8.30 pm but with the help of snack, coffee or alcohol get my set ‘over’ this feeling to then have my ‘second wind’. Little did I understand at that time that this second wind was induced by engaging my nervous and hormonal systems in effect exhausting myself deeply. There’s a natural rhythm for our bodies to follow and it feels amazing if we allow ourselves to be with this.
Honouring what feels true for our bodies is a constantly evolving process but I have recently noticed that I am being more loving with myself within that and not beating myself up when I find myself going to bed later than I had planned. I am so much more productive in the mornings but can still sabotage myself with the choices I make the evening before but the more open I am to the messages my body is giving me the more my body appreciates it.
I think it’s awesome how by being more aware of refining your rhythm/ the way you lived in one area of life (bedtime) this then rippled out into supporting you to be more aware of how you live in your whole day.
I too find the mornings the most productive part of the day and love waking up before the sun. I don’t want to be working/cleaning/gym in the evening as after 8pm my body goes into sleep mode.
When we work with the natural rhythms of our bodies we can get so much done, we really can but when we push against those rhythms then everything becomes a hard slog and that’s what life is for so many, one long hard slog with the odd moments of relief found in the pub, in a plate of dinner, in the telly, at the gym or in a joint. If we didn’t push up against life’s natural rhythms then we might not need the relief we so desperately crave.
So much happens in our sleep that prepares us for the day ahead, its so important that we are respectful for the learning that is on offer.
This is true, sleep is incredibly powerful and rejuvenating.
There is a beautiful and deeply honoring rhythm to going to bed and waking up early. As you have shared it is one that was naturally lived when I was a child and I relished being up early before the birds. I now can reflect that I enjoyed this so much as it was the stillness of the morning that offered the opportunity for me to feel my presence, appreciate and confirm who I am in essence, my connection to Soul and the Divinity of my being. The more we honor the call from our body the more we will honor the cycles we are naturally and intrinsically part of, that which support us to live the power of who we naturally are in essence.
‘Even if I lie in the next day, I don’t feel as energised as when I have an early night. In fact, if I doze on or fall asleep again, I can feel really groggy from too much sleep or not having the right quality of sleep.’ I know this feeling well of waking up exhausted because the quality of sleep has not been great and then sleeping through my alarm to wake up without the space I need to prepare for my day, on the back foot and feeling tired. From this place I invariably set myself up to be in a state of rushing or feeling behind the whole day and then wonder why I need stimulatants to keep me going at the end of the day when my body is exhausted. Addressing the exhaustion first so that I have the energy and space to put myself to bed lovingly makes such a huge difference.
The more in tune I am with my body, the more I know when is the best time for me to do things, this could be when to eat, when to exercise, when to express and when to sleep, my body gives me clear signals if I honour them life becomes so much more simple.
I too have experienced this Sam and the more I honor the communication, the wisdom from my body with all aspects of my everyday living, including sleep, the more I find life is lived in a far greater rhythm, flow and power.
I find that too, it’s amazing the wisdom we can connect with through being more aware of our body and I also find it’s something that can be continually refined…
Developing a supportive sleep rhythm is foundational to good health and vitality.
When we truly listen to our bodies we understand that there is no way it likes late nights in front of the tele, the mind may trick us but the body is crying for gentle wind down and sleep.
By preparing for bed early, giving myself that space to wind down and support my body means that I wake up more refreshed and supported for the day ahead. When I keep going to the last minute before getting into bed, I find I wake up in the same nervous tension I went to sleep in and feel quite tired and lethargic the next day.
I occasionally still find myself wanting to go back to sleep when I wake up, what I consider to be too early, but when I do the drugged-up state I wake up in the second time always has me annoyed with myself that I didn’t get up at the earlier hour after all. I am coming to see clearly that if I am in a rhythm of early to bed waking up early comes naturally, with the exception of when I am unwell and my body is asking for more sleep. I now am coming to love the early mornings after so many years of rejecting the stillness and the space they are offering. It is a very reflective start to my day.
I love this article and it makes me realise how joyful it feels going to bed early and waking up early, my body loves this rythum. I feel cared for, ready for the day and vital when I stay in this rythum. If I go to bed late I feel tired, grumpy and like I just want to catch up on sleep, rather than ready for the day.
Yes it is a lovely confirmation of the loving choices that we can make to support ourselves throughout the day.
Laura, I can very much relate to enjoying going to bed early. I love this and this feels very natural for me to do so, if I stay up late my body gets tense and my eyes get sore and I find it hard to focus – clear signs to me that my body does not want to be awake.
I have found that when I do not honour my early to bed early to rise rhythm, I feel completely out of sorts and life becomes an uphill struggle.
It is simply a conversation with our bodies, not a rule. Yet, when we honour the blessing of this conversation, the body breaths again and we find we are able to concentrate, to have fun, to be ordered and, well, be ourselves. I am a complete convert to going to bed when my body tells me it is tired as I have found myself coming back to the wisdom of my body that was waiting patiently for my self destructive ‘rebellion’ to be over!!!
I know I would not be able to work the long hours I do and feel so energetic if it was not for going to bed early.
Going to bed early is medicine for entire being.
Simply said ignoring our sleep rhythm means life becomes all the more so harder.
Ignoring our sleep rhythm is taxing on our bodies. It’s like making them walk up an escalator that’s going down, hard yakka.
A few weeks ago I was doing exams, and whilst revising there were times when I got very tired and wanted to fall asleep at the desk. I practiced taking myself off for a short nap when I felt really tired, and it actually made a huge difference to my revision, focus and ability to pay attention to what I was doing, as well as my wellbeing during the exams.
It sounds like you are really utilising that inspirational and beautiful time of the day – the morning. So many of us do not wake to enjoy the space it offers, it is a great way to ponder, feel energised, to work, exercise etc and I find with a family it offers me the space to complete tasks and projects that I would not otherwise be able to.
I too love early to bed early to rise, and this is what I do most of the time, I find sometimes if I do computer work say after 7.30 at night I can find it hard to for my mind to settle down or fall off to sleep easily. I realise my wind down time is a very important part of being able to have a reposeful night’s sleep.
Recently I had a big interview and I know one of the reasons I didn’t nail it on the day was the night before I didn’t get to bed when my body needed to – so much can be said for going to bed when the body truly needs to.
For years I would force myself to stay up late because my partner wanted to watch the TV and I had this belief that I had to also or I would be missing out on something, and in addition to that I was also addicted to the TV. What I found was that I would naturally fall asleep in my chair and then grumpily go upstairs without saying goodnight around about ten o’clock. So the quality of my sleep was racy, and I would wake up exhausted. When I started to go to bed early, there was a transition period, but on the whole, I could feel the benefit straight away, and it reminded me of how I was as a child whereby we would be in bed by seven, asleep by eight and up with the sunrise in the morning.
What I am observing is that when I eat sugar I then am not able to sleep well and then I am more irritable and reactive the next day.
This is the perfect picture for this blog, the ladies smile and obvious contentment reminds me of how I feel when I go to bed early, relaxed, wound down and content with my day.
LOL, that’s exactly how I was last night, I now have a pot of cream for my feet, one for my wrists by my bedside – it feels so much better to take a moment to feel how me and my body is at the end of the day – rather than just crashing and getting my head to the pillow asap.
Being content in what is offered in the day and knowing that who you are is enough and appreciating this is the quality we can sleep and support the body with when we commence a new day.
Going to bed early is the most delightful and supportive choice that I’ve ever made after working with Universal Medicine.