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
There is truth in the old saying ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise’ and the wealthy is the abundance of energy that you can feel throughout the day.
Love this Mary, thank you for sharing!
Gorgeous blog, self care becomes so simple when we make it about what works for the body and being sensitive to that. It’s a bit of a global trend to override being sensitive and honouring of ourselves related to sleep, with staying up late having the reputation of being ‘cool’ – when it is actually very unsupportive for our health and wellbeing.
I love when there’s no effort in my movements and this is what I feel you experience when honour every moment of your day cycle. Remaining very sensitive is the way to know what comes next and how to do it. Going to sleep having lived this way, completes and allows the resting to be truly restoring.
I love to go to bed early and getting up early so that I can go for a walk especially in springtime when the Birds are singing and the sun is rising, to me this is the best part of the day. God is with the world and all is right for the day.
There is so much wisdom in going to bed early, so that we get a fully-rested before we go into the day, and the beautiful thing is the more we get to bed early, then the less sleep we need as our bodies actually rest fully in those hours between 9pm and 3am as you have shared Laura.
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.
Whenever I went travelling to countries that had limited technology I would always go to bed early because ‘there was nothing to do’ and none of my usual snacks and drinks to prop me up in order to stay up later. Once back in my usual environment I always reverted back to my snacks, drinks, technology and TV and hence later bedtime. We become so accustomed to how things are that we rarely question them. The majority of people stay up past the point of being tired and this to most of us is normal.
‘All hail the body’, seriously we need to get to the point that we honour the body as King because when we do it will literally lead us back to the Kingdom of Heaven and as fluffy and as made up as those words may sound there is not an ounce of fluff in them, they are the pure immutable truth.
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 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.
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.
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.
There is a rhythm that our bodies love that brings harmony and connection, we just have to listen to our bodies to find it.
I am absolutely with you, with regards to the paper round Laura. It was so beautiful to watch mists lift, light transform and day unfold – like an unwrapping or unveiling of a magic gift. How can you watch a stunning sunrise and forget about God? Thank you for sharing your Love and how this appreciation of divinity inspires you to sleep beautifully.
Thank you Laura, giving our-self the space where our daily rhythm is aligning to what our body has always shared is so important to our overall well-being and sleep is an essential part.
“Going to Bed Early” is a wise choice.. and going to bed at whatever time and when the body needs to rest, rejuvenate is equally as wise a choice too.
What a gorgeous way to support ourselves, some nights I work late at work or on community projects I am involved in, what I find is that by that having an early to bed rhythm most nights when I can it really supports those nights when I do need to stay up and stay alert and present.
I’ve noticed this too Sam, if my usual early to bed rhythm is strong, then this supports me to not get wiped out if I have a late night commitment and also when travelling in different time zones. It also makes me cherish the early night ritual even more.
Such a great read Laura! I have always been a night owl…. found it really difficult to get out of bed when I was a kid and to a certain extent still do. I resist going to bed early SO MUCH I can’t believe it!! If I have a reason to get up, I will, because I have to. I used to work long hours in a cafe and would have my alarm go off at 3.30am sometimes in order to be at work for 5am…. I totally managed it because I had to but as soon as I was up and about, I wasn’t tired. Similarly I used to have central London appointments at 6am to avoid traffic and be able to get back to work on time, that again involved 3.30am starts and on those days I noticed I was on it all day, feeling great. So I do have to evidence that getting up early works for me but am having real difficulty choosing it consistently. I love what you say about having “me time” in the morning so you don’t feel like your whole day has been about work and therefore stay up later to have me time, that is very cool.
Sounds like when there is ‘purpose’ you can get it together and it feels good. This is something I have noticed too, when I have an ‘important enough reason’ I’m up and on it bright and early and that focus is present through out – then there are some days that I wake early, but go back to bed for a snuggle as there is no deadline and before I know it 2 hours passed by in a blink!
I am learning to stay with the feelings of what I don’t like and still surrender to it, if something is being absorbed by my body to stay with it and not want to run away from it. When I stay and not need it to change, it clears, such is the wisdom of the body.
I was talking to my colleagues recently and our jobs are quite demanding, everyone was sharing how they go to bed early as a way to support themselves in the job.
When I was in my 20’s I used to look at the time and plan my sleep from there. Weekdays was 10:45pm and weekends – 2am-3am. And I used to push myself based on the timings. These days, i have to appreciate that I don’t clock the time anymore. I allow myself to go to bed when my body tells me – it is a totally different experience and one that is so supportive for me. A total change and so much more loving to my body.
Thank you Laura. A very simple loving free act that does not take much of change for it to become a loving discipline part of your rhythm.
its quite funny to understand that as a child you and your body already knew the rhythm that supported you.
I watched a first aid training video recently where they showed toddlers walking around lifting boxes and they instinctively know how to lift something heavy in a way that absolutely supports their body, they just don’t ‘think’ to compromise it.
What a difference this makes – honouring the body and just playing with sleep and the quality of sleep. I certainly spent some time in my 20’s staying out all night and pushing through – and I would notice how my face would change. I would have a puffy oily face that was not me. My hair would be oily and my voice would go deeper. It was a huge flag that my body was pushing itself. I have not felt that way for years, and I don’t miss it one bit. Now my evenings stop around 9pm, which supports me for the day.
I totally adore going to bed early, all that time I spent watching mindless tv over the years when I could have been in my bed. I now go to bed at the same time as my daughter, we read, most times me to her but sometimes she will read to me. Its is a beautiful time to share as I am always off to work in the mornings before she is awake.
This is really lovely Kev, I’ve observed that many parents want to have ‘me time’ after their kids go to bed, what does that say about the quality of the time in their day with their kids? I’ve also noticed that many parent suffer sleep deprivation and wondered why they don’t just go to bed earlier -I’m sure there are many reasons, but it could be so simple.
I got up super early today, worked hard all day and got lots of things done all staying connected with me. I know for sure I would not be half so active, productive and committed throughout my day if I did not have a steady rhythm of going to bed early- I just would not be able to do it.
I have been going to bed early again recently and I am loving how I feel – so much more with myself. I am also having more baths than showers these days, not only is it very warming as the days are cold now but also it supports me to be more at ease in my body and not go into the drive to get things done.
I love an electric blanket Elaine, I put it on before bed to warm my Pj’s up – super cosy.
I love the commitment to an early bed, that is now so much part of my routine that my whole day is structured to support me to arrive in my room early to wind down for bed – and it really is seeing the whole day as leading into my sleep and either carrying with me all the issues I have accululated or laying myself down ready to really rest.
When I go to bed early I always feel I have more time to prepare myself for sleep and the quality of sleep is entirely different to if I have found things to distract myself with instead of going to bed.
As a child I also loved going to sleep early and remember clearly how horrible it felt when I had to stay up late in a restaurant when all I wanted was to be tucked up in bed.
Such common basic sense that for many might seem child’s play but it rarely is lived! Sometimes the body is wiser than we care to think, much less admit.
I have always enjoyed going to bed early but during most of my life I believed that this meant I was missing out or that I would be seen as rather dull. No longer, I have given myself permission to listen to my body and once again enjoy going to bed early having a deeply restorative sleep and waking early in the morning to start the day.
This is one of my favourite blogs to read – why? because it reminds me of the importance of sleep, getting to bed early and the importance of wind down. Get this right and we have the foundation of a fruitful loving life. Getting sleep time right is going back to basics – basics that we need before we more forward in other way.
Thanks Samantha, we are such a super intelligent species, but seriously, how many of us have got the basics down – sleep, diet and exercise?
Great to read how your attention to detail has supported your whole daytime/bedtime routine that allows you to have beautifully restorative sleep that means you are then fully able to participate in life as soon as you wake up.
What I love about what you have shared Laura is how you have noticed how it infiltrates into your whole day. The impact by honouring and respecting the body has a massive ripple effect and when we start to live like this our acceptance of what were are worth starts to shift. I know that when I bring awareness to all that you have shared and live from what my body is asking I know and feel that I am absolutely worth that honouring and love.
I love that I am more likely to get up at 3 30am these days rather than to go to bed at that time. I used to love going to parties and stay up all night to be with the dawning of the day. Now I do that every day. There is such a lovely energy to the early mornings and like-wise going to bed at 9pm or so means there is a winding down and stilling energy supporting us as we prepare for sleep. A time when our bodies, if we let them, seem to be saying yes, it’s time to rest and recuperate and prepare for another day on the morrow.
I know what you mean about the energy of the evenings and early mornings, just now we are heading into autumn and there is not light for a while, I just put some fairy lights in my bedroom to bring a bit more gentle light to room when I’m winding down and waking up, it feels very gorgeous. I actually just read this article on making a sacred space in your bedroom which made me appreciate those little touches that make such a difference to the feel of the space and how it supports us: https://doctoramelia.com/2017/10/16/sacred-space/
Reading your inspiring blog and some of the comments I feel I am pushing my body in the evening when it already feels tired, I still have ‘important’ things to do, instead of honouring my body and say it is enough for the day and go to sleep in a caring and nurturing way. I do realise now that is no wonder I don’t wake up energized. Great call to feel into and adjusting my rhythm not only of the evening because this is a reflection of how I am with myself during the day.
‘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.’ When we begin our day feeling solid in ourselves it lays the foundation for the rest of our day to flow, which then flows into the next day, and the next day.
I have always loved going to bed early too. I know I used to stay up mostly for others, going out or watching TV. Now I just like observing how my body naturally feels tired and then just simply putting myself to bed. My night time rhythm definitely needs a bit of work as I can still push my body in the evening past when it feels tired, which may be 8pm some nights. It’s learning to honour my body completely rather than looking at the clock.
Thanks Jen, I have been waking up groggy in the mornings and initially wondered about working on my ‘night time rhythm’. But I guess the day time rhythm leads to the night time rhythm, so if we push our bodies in the day, we are likely to push it into the evening. Im bringing it back to basics, for example the way i open my eyes… and close them. Moving my body in a more caring way…. will see how I go…
I know I would not be able to do half the things I do if I did not have an early to bed routine, going to bed early supports me in so many ways.
I have always loved going to bed early but used to struggle waking up in the morning. This used to puzzle me as I felt that I was allowing my body plenty of sleep. It took a while to figure out that going to bed early was great but it was the quality of how I lived my day that determined the quality of my sleep. Once I began to bring a deeper awareness of how I lived and worked during the day and introduced little stop moments quite regularly, as well as unwinding much earlier in the evening than I had been, the quality of my sleep improved and I finally was able to wake up more easily. I love this way of living and my body does too.
Thank you Ingrid, our sleep reveals much if we are willing to be curious…
Going to bed early makes sense and staying up late feels torturous, no matter how hard we might try to convince ourselves that it is otherwise.
Around 2am/3am in our city everything starts to get busy, the police, fire and ambulance services are out likely to busy around these times. Crazy how as members of the public we drain our very own resources by being irresponsible.
Something for all to consider here Samantha, there have been times when I’ve taken early morning strolls through the city I live in and I am really walking through the carnage of the debauchery from the night before. It’s quite a shock to see people in such a state, but also the mess that is left behind on the beach and the streets. You can see how as a society if we were to take responsibility to a great level of personal care for ourselves, our fellow brethren would reap huge benefits.
There is nothing lovelier than taking the time to prepare for bed and going to bed early!
It’s quite shocking how much we can compromise our natural and desired rhythm in favour of fitting in or being part of the ‘normalised’ way of living. i.e drinking, partying, late dinners out etc. It’s obvious that society does not value the body when we look at all the very active and abusive activities that are glorified during the time when our bodies want to naturally regenerate.
So true, there is a natural call from our bodies to sleep when we are tired and get up and work when we are rested. If we make a note of what rhythm is being called from our bodies it usually falls somewhere between 8 and 10pm and waking between 5 and 6am. Since honouring my bodies rhythm I have found I wake earlier at times. I don’t fight it any more because I can feel that my body is rested and ready for the day. It is not a clock-watching exercise, moreover it is about honouring the rhythm of my body.
I love it Leigh, going to bed early is the new normal, anything after 9pm is late ; )
Going to bed at 9pm now is not early it’s become my normal. And the more I look at how I live it’s becoming normal to wake up vital and ready for the day. I love doing my study and writing in the mornings rather than in the evening after work. I had an online work assignment given yesterday to do for today. I tried to do it last night but the pull to go for a walk was greater. I woke up before my alarm, refreshed and got it done with ease before the sun rose.
The thought of going to bed later makes my body hurt – let alone if I actually do it. I love going to bed early in what works for me and my rhythm.
One of the best things I can do for myself is to go to bed early, going to bed earlier my body is able to deal with what I have taken on during the day so I wake up fresh and with joy in my step!
Getting back to my original early to bed early to rise rhythm has been so amazing and if I had my time in this life over again I would never have strayed from it in the first place.
Having a great rhythm in life is just one of the most delicious things in life. I love waking up early too, I love the quietness of the world and how you can get so much done it feels like you’ve already lived a day before the day begins. And I love the nourishing feeling of going to bed early and the feeling of having worked hard and now looking after my body so that it’s ready for the next day.
I love the fact that to work on our sleep problems it is far wiser to look at putting things into our day that are supportive of us instead of just focussing at more sleep. Like you shared how the fact of doing the things like studying, swimming and cooking for the day was more supportive if done in the early morning than sleeping in to gain vitality. I found the same, going to bed early and doing more in the morning is more vitalising than the other way around.
It’s definitely true that what affects our sleep the most is how we apply ourselves in the day, how much we commit in every moment, how much we hold back, how much we love every second – all these things contribute to our sleep and it’s ability to truly regenerate us.
Thank you Laura, this was great to read, it’s a very solid foundational piece on the subject. Sleep affects every part of our day so it makes sense to pay detailed attention to it. You mentioned the word “honouring” in your blog and this is so vital, that we honour ourselves, how we truly feel, and what works for ourselves.
I so enjoy making music in the early morning , and do enjoy the effect when we share with people that we have rehearsals at 5 am ☺
I can imagine a very lovely quality in coming together in the early morning and that would be reflected in the quality of the music too.
I suspect there are many musicians rehearsing at 5am, but not so many after a great night sleep – in the music industry at the moment, it is more likely to be because they have been up all night with a cocktail of stimulants to make it through… and what then would the quality of the music made be?
The quality of our day is reflected in the way we sleep. Therefore we need be with ourselves during the day if want a healing whilst we sleep.
So true Samantha – and that in-turn reveals the day that will follow that sleep — and so the cycle continues, day and night. We are so many opportunities to deepen and explore how our rhythms work best for us.
We have the opportunity to connect and go to bed with the universe each night -it is our choice to feel it or not.
I am writing this a bit later then I usually stay up and I realise I made choices earlier on in the evening that delayed me getting into bed on time. Next time I will be more aware and if that situation comes up again I will excuse myself instead of staying longer then needed in a work meeting.
Gosh… overriding our natural rhythms can really put us out of sorts! But what a difference it makes when we listen to the signals our bodies gives us and follow its advice like going to bed when its tired!
What I love Laura is that the going to bed early was a natural rhythm for you and so was getting up early. So many things we try to force but the best things just happen naturally.
Thank you Liane, pure wisdom and very clearly presenting the immense power of simply sleeping early and that the struggles most experience are so unnecessary – in fact a choice!
When you think about it going to bed early is something we made up. What is early? Rather what does our body need or what support do we need for the day or week ahead. In essence our body communicates when it is tired or what it needs, whilst our minds constantly over rides this in order to experience or do something it wishes. Usually in disregard to the natural order and harmony of our bodies.
Early to bed routine is the bomb! I love having this rhythm in my life, for sure I would not be able to do what I do during the day if it was not for my early to bed early to rise routine.
We can either choose to move in tune with the Universe and its rhythms or we can choose to move against it. The former will instil a sense of harmony within the body and by virtue of this allows the body to be in sync with its natural environment, both internal and external, whereas the latter will invoke more strongly the force of resistance creating tension and thus a great disharmony abounds. This tension is the genesis of disease and it is where we need to look if we are to truly arise out of the great illness we as a humanity suffer.
I have to say Laura, there are very little things that come close to the wondrous feeling of going to bed early!
Going to bed early is probably the single greatest gift we can give our bodies in life… done consistently goes a very long way towards sustaining a truly healthy body.
I am continually learning all the time to listen to what my body is telling me. It is a big sign for me that when I don’t honour going to bed when I feel to, I am usually not really with myself. So can be very exposing, in a good way, to read that about myself and to make other choices.
Amazing how the rhythm with sleep is an entire rhythm with life! There is no off switch so to speak. Just a constant consistency. The body loves consistency and not the ups and downs we are so used to human life being like.
“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.” Beautiful Laura. Listening to our body feels so important and we ignore it at our peril, be it from staying up too late when it says ‘go to bed’, or eating too much when it tells us ‘stop, I have enough food for my stomach to handle’, or those first puffs of a cigarette, which our lungs hate, yet we can push through to the detriment of our lungs. We should all be taught to honour this precious vehicle that we have – after all it’s the only one we’ve got this lifetime.
“My body is always telling me what it likes and what it doesn’t.” My body is telling me right now it is time for me to go to bed – Good night all – Sleep well x
I have loved going to bed early since I was a teenager, but as I grew older I thought I had to stay up late or otherwise I’d be a social pariah! Since realising how great going early to bed is, my levels of energy, clarity and joy in life have skyrocketed.
Being able to go to bed early is one of the sweetest parts of life for me. It is a chance to return to myself, to my tender care and snuggly space where I am cherished and adored – a much needed part of the day.
I really relate with this beautiful sharing of going to bed early and the joy and contentment it brings allowing time and space and a whole lot more in our lives. It is very honouring as you share here and a way of living I had from a child also and have reclaimed in my life again and my natural rythmns and is something I really treasure.
It is only until recently that I have been able to understand the level of responsibility I have in the way that I approach my winding down period with no moments of checking out or the need for a reward at the end of day but a consistency in holding my quality that allows me to rest and regenerate my body as it needs.
I am feeling that I could make my bedroom a clearer place to sleep in. I do have regular de cluttering sessions but now and again it is time for a big re-configure. I feel this will support my sleep time and thus my day time too.
I love this Elaine, making the bedroom a truly sacred space to support a sacred sleep, feels so delightful when you walk into a room even if you made just a few tweaks or cleared a small pocket of clutter.
Having had many years staying up watching the TV or a must see movie and always feeling exhausted the next day, barely managing to get myself together for work, I can now appreciate that it is not natural for me to stay up later or sleep in until late morning on a weekend, and then inevitably feel groggy all day. These days I am early to bed, early to rise and feeling the benefits of my natural rhythm.
Getting to bed at the right time has changed everything for me. I am normally an early to bed person, but noticed I was still staying up beyond where I had already felt tired. Now that I am getting to bed 30 to 45 minutes earlier, I am waking feeling more rested and often before my alarm goes off. My body does have its natural rhythm that I am only just beginning to pay attention to.
I loved reading this blog, it reminded me of when I used to live in the UK. My favourite time of the year was spring and summer because it would become light from 3ish. I used to have one side of the curtain open and the other side closed – yes some would think it was weird but I couldn’t wait to be woken up by the crack of dawn and the tweeting of birds. I used to go for runs but to be up when the rest of the street was asleep was special.
It was completely undone when I had late nights after a late night at the pub. It felt I was no longer part of life and I had missed so much of the day.
I now live in Australia and still miss the early dawns, even during spring and summer, the light does not filter through till much later. I am back into the rhythm of going to bed before 9pm and love getting up at 4ish (I say this as it could be earlier than this time), there is so much that can be done when rising early.
It has become ‘normal’ in so many parts of our life to live in opposition to what supports our bodies. What truly supports our bodies has become more of the unusual behaviour… When I really consider this, I feel that the simple natural parts of life (sleeping, eating, exercise, communicating) are so far from natural that of course it has a negative impact on our health, relationships, wellbeing and more. I really feel we are missing so much support and quality from the basics in life.
Now that I’m not delaying my bed time with distraction like my phone, I find I am waking up naturally without a need for my alarm clock and my sleep feels very restorative. I am also more ready for my days because I have rested properly.
Hi Debra, I have recently been playing with not having my phone or laptop in the bedroom… will see how this goes, but already feels great to not be checking my phone before I lay down and enjoy the gorgeousness of bedtime.
This is a great example of how everything in life changes when we get into a sleep pattern that suits our bodies’ natural circadian rhythm. This shows what an incredible foundation a healthy sleep pattern is, to have a life where you can feel alive and engaged in all you do.
I think we’re all aware of how detrimental lack of sleep can be to our health and when we feel tired it can affect everything about our day in a negative way. So it makes sense that having a brilliant nights sleep can improve everything in our day and have a positive affect on our life. It’s well worth experimenting with this…
I totally agree with you Laura. When I heard Serge Benhayon present about our natural sleep rhythm I embraced this and my body loved it. I remember when I was at college I used to be in bed before everyone else by 10pm, and up early and at college doing work by 8am. I loved it. It was my way of staying on top of things and feeling great. I let this slide after college, but now having embraced it again I can feel it makes total sense, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This blog is a beautiful testimony for how each day can be lived in preparation for what will come next, be it sleep, work, study, family life, or a trip. We can always be working on the quality we are living in right now which will support us for the days still to come.
My body always lets me know when it is time to wind down and go to bed, and not from exhaustion these days.. which is very different from the quality I used to go to bed in.
I have loved – and will continue to do – exploring the quality of my sleep and worry less about quantity.
Quality not Quantity – so true Sarah.
This has been one of the real revolutions in my life… The balance, the rhythm of harmonious living, where I’m not trying to extract more out of life in a dysfunctional way, but rather allowing my body to let me know what I need, how I need to do it, and then, for me to be able to actually listen to it.
I have always loved going to bed early but have often override this to stay up later, now a days my husband and I like to go bed around 9pm though it can be later if we need to finish work. Going early to bed now for me is absolutely vital if I am to be on full form the next day, I can’t afford to waste a day because I override how tired I was the day before. Real success always starts with honouring the body first.
At the age of 13 and 14 when I was no longer being told at what time to go to bed by my parents I experimented and stayed later to about 11pm rather the usual 9pm… this changed how I was at school for the whole year in terms of my ability to concentrate and feel vital. It took me quite a while to work what my natural bed time routine should be, but when I let myself feel it, 9pm really seemed to be the latest I could manage.
I go to bed early now, I say early because I used to go to bed late…12pm (on a week day) was not unheard of and of course I would wake late….and so the cycle continues. I realised that I had this issue where I would ignore my initial feeling of being tired and find a second wind, which in reality was much more about building up nervous energy and being in my head, getting wired to push through, which actually prevented a good nights sleep..Now much more often if I get tired earlier…I go to bed,,,it is more simple, caring and it works, I feel much more fabulous, much more of the time.
“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.” This week I have been paying more attention to what my body needs in the evenings – and going to bed earlier than usual – sometimes 8pm – and my body loves it! My sleep is so much deeper for this and I wake feeling more refreshed than usual.
I appreciate more and more how my body shows me how to take care of it. The more I listen the more I get to hear the whispers, such as letting me know when to rest when to begin to wind down and prepare for sleep. This preparation time for sleep with its many tiny rituals is so supportive to the quality of sleep that I have and how I awake the next morning.
I love waking early I find I can get so much done in the early hours such as emails or paper work that takes me 3 times as longer if I try to do it in the evenings. I find that my body naturally goes into wind down mode around 7pm and my mind is no longer as alert or receptive after this time. To wake early I need to go to bed around 9/9.30 pm so I can totally relate to what you say in your blog Laura.
Like you Laura, I had a very supportive sleep rhythm as a child and teen. When I had sleep overs with friends I would cry if we weren’t asleep by 9pm and sometimes ended up going to sleep in another room away from my friends. I felt anxious if my rhythm was not honoured. This all went out the window in my 20’s with partying and such, but now, it feels so sacred to be rebuilding a rhythm that I know my body appreciates.
Our bodies do tell us what it likes and what it doesn’t, and every day this is an experiment for me. Sometimes I wish life was just a few rules and we stick to it, but that’s not how life works! I know what feels best for me, and I also know it is important to feel what is not the best for me—not because I like to abuse myself, but as a reflection for others to see and feel how different choices affect how I am. The intention to and quality of our choices is just as important as the choices.
Very interesting Adele, so it is ok to make ‘mistakes’ because they are not really mistakes, just opportunities to learn from. If we see things this way, it takes out judgement, harshness, and should ease the constant putting down of our selves when we’re not perfect.
You know, if we are truly willing to make a difference to the rhythm and flow of our day, and the vitality we experience within, it can be as simple as you’ve described so beautifully here Laura… Pick one part of our day – e.g. our preparation for sleep and the time we go to bed, and start there. Everything else, from experience, starts to change from this.
It’s no rocket science or beyond the reach of anyone. As Universal Medicine constantly presents, if we are willing to listen to our own bodies, the answers are all there. Miracles can indeed occur if we ourselves take the steps back towards a loving way of being.
I love the way you put this Victoria, we are our own living experiments, miracles happen with a little curiosity, some honesty and even a bit of playfulness.
When I read of the natural flow of your sleep and waking early as a child Laura, I was already inspired. Reading how this was then lost, and then has since been recovered – with conscious awareness of the choices you are making to listen to your body so intently, is even deeper inspiration. Our bodies do know don’t they – thing is, are we truly willing to listen, and, to feel so lovely and joyful?
For me, it’s a constant process, or unfolding, of learning to respond more deeply to the myriad of cues that my body gives me as to what actually works and what doesn’t, and recognising the wilful determination of a part of me that can still at times, push the boundaries. We are worth so much more, and it is this foundation of love within that actually inspires us to change that which doesn’t serve us (or anyone) whatsoever.
I really enjoyed the lightness of this blog yet the profoundness of how something as simple as sleep can change the quality of our life. Our bodies are always communicating with us, but if we do not get quality sleep we are not as trend to our body and we miss on ‘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.’
Thank you Laura for sharing this. Looking back at my own quality of sleep I used to be unable to fall asleep for at least an hour or two when I lay down for the evening. These days I am gone in five minutes! I used to wake up with horrific leg cramps every single morning and now I don’t! and when I do I know something is out of place in my life rather than it being a constant in my life that I just accepted. I used to talk in my sleep and act as if I was awake – not sleep walking but sitting up and having full blown conversations with someone or something, and now I don’t. I used to always require an alarm to get me up, at one point I remember using metal music for my alarm and now I prefer to wake up whenever my body feels ready to wake and not be so strict on the time as I miss out on the messages my body communicates in it’s chosen wake up time. And the alarm music that I do use now are far more loving that don’t wake me up by attacking my nervous system.
I wouldn’t say my sleep is perfect as even today I woke up with a leg cramp but looking back at my sleep I have changed how I care for myself massively. Thank you for this opportunity to reflect 🙂
When we listen to what our bodies are telling us like going to bed when we are tired we are setting ourselves up for success when we ignore our body’s needs we are getting ourselves up for failure.
I love going to bed early, but even then if I don’t wind down and go to bed in tension then I still feel tired the next day. Going to bed early, winding down and lovingly preparing for bed makes all the difference in the world for a proper nights sleep!
Building a true rhtym for our bodies is the best medicine we can give to ourselves, this is always changing according to the level of awareness in our bodies and the best thing is that we are not restricted by time anymore but rely on a deep knowing of what our bodies need in order to support us to be more of who we truly are.
It is really lovely going to bed still feeling alive and awake enough to enjoy it. Those first few minutes in bed are a lovely time of day to feel how I am at the end of the day. I also like to feel what is complete and what is yet to complete but not carry the unfinished business into my sleep. When I go to bed too late, none of this happens as I fall asleep too quickly. I feel like I miss out on something important for my health and wellbeing.
The medical world at the moment it constantly looking for ways to make someone less ill and more healthy. For me one of the most simplest thing I or anyone can do is get enough rest, I love going to bed early it makes so much sense.
It’s just so simple isn’t it Samantha, yet so easy to know it and not follow through with it -definately worth experimenting with it as quality of sleep is a game changer.
Thank you Laura for sharing your experience of taking care of yourself in your daily rhythm and how you take more deeper care for your body whilst making choices. I am simply inspired to deepen my care, as by every choose I can choose to grow my self-caring way. Thank you.
This is a great sharing Laura, and one I am sure many will relate to especially when you share on late nights and early mornings! For many years I have been going to bed quite early and I really notice the difference in my energy levels if I am only 1hr. later than usual.
This is true for me too Laura – “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.” I notice that when I do and lie in, I am never feeling truly refreshed and full of joy with what the day brings. My rhythm around bedtime is important and my body lets me know when I am out or have not paid attention.
Oh how the whole world would function so much better if we all had such a good sleep regime, I have always been the same, loved going to bed early and getting up early but also overrode it for a number of years until delightfully coming back to it a number of years ago after hearing Serge speak about the benefits.
Amazing how the introduction of just a small practice/ritual/act that is self-honouring can grow into a supportive daily rhythm. It’s powerful stuff and makes you wonder what life would be like if we continued to add these self-loving practices into our day.
It is possible that if we consistently kept making choices to support ourselves we would start to see the so called normal levels of exhaustion, coffee drunk, depression, anxiety levels, illness and diseases and many other undesirable excepted norms in society, begin to become less normal, and more easy to see the link between lifestyle and a lack of care.
Thank you Laura, as I was reading I was aware I was still carrying pressure from my teen years to stay up late and not to be seen tired through the day. I can feel that these inner pressure conflict with what my body naturally is asking me to do, and that there is no weakness in listening to my body and sleeping or resting at a time that is right for me. Although I now sleep early I feel more open to doing exactly what my body is asking me, even at earlier times. And, I can see I still have some beliefs and ideals around sleep and rest to explore.
I have found that by committing and enjoying a rhythm of preparing gentle for the night and going to bed early results in my waking naturally early in the morning with my energy restored to meet whatever the day brings. I have always enjoyed going to bed when my body is tired but so often forced myself to stay active to fit in with others – and suffered the following day.
The more we listen to our body the more volumes of information are given to us on how to live and the quality that’s on offer. Going to sleep early is such a loving choice to make that leaves one feeling prepared and equipped to live and work with lots of energy and vitality throughout the day.
I recently experimented with going to be bed not so much as an active experiment but as an observation I realised that if I went to bed by a certain time I awoke much earlier and wide awake. Where as half an hour later and still not late by any bodies standard I would sleep another 2 hours and awake by alarm clock. Fascinating stuff.
More and more I am learning that the way that I wind down before I go to sleep determines what quality of sleep that I end up having. Just as we need to teach children to have a quiet period before sleep so too do we need to teach this to ourselves as adults.
I think we could do with treating ourselves like children in many circumstances, Elizabeth, like food, sleep, relationships…
Oh I love this – yes really caring gentle loving nurturing – nothing stopping us really 🙂
“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 would it mean for us to begin to evaluate and understand that how we live, eat and be in life has an impact on our bodies. Would we see a rise in responsibility? I think we would
Developing an honoring relationship with our bodies allows us to develop our awareness, to then be guided to know what is needed to support us and our bodies to live in connection to our Soul. Our bodies are a living vessel that naturally resonate in accordance to the rhythm and cycles of the universe. When we connect to and honor our body’s natural rhythm and cycles we then ourselves are guided to live in harmony with the pulse of the universe as we live in connection to our Soul.
I love the early to bed option that I have chosen. I used to struggle to stay awake to watch TV most nights and also struggle to get up in the morning. Some mornings are still difficult for me, but learning to understand as to why they are is teaching me to be observant and discerning as to what is interfering with the harmony and rhythm that my body actually loves to live by.
Our bodies are always communicating to us how well we listen will always determine our health, wellbeing and vitality levels.
Sleep is an essential part of maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
Although I have equally experienced if I place too much pressure on my sleep to recover, I still wake up not fully recovered.
“My body is always telling me what it likes and what it doesn’t” – yes, ALWAYS, that’s what I need to remember, not only just when it suits me.
“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.” It’s so important I found to honour my body, if I over sleep or go to bed late I feel so awful that it takes me out of my rhythm for days, which has a knock on effect to everything else.
Our body is our one constant through our life, it’s never not with us and so how we treat it in one moment leads onto the next and so it goes. We can’t expect it to rally the next day when it hasn’t slept well, which is why so many of us have to inject it with caffeine in order to get it to do the things that we insist that it does when we’ve treated it so shabbily in the moments leading up to that point.
Loved reading that morning is your favourite time of day, They are amazing when we have gone to bed early or had a quality sleep. Life is inevitably about living in cycles and our whole day has something to offer us. I’m finding the more I am not fixed on times of day being a certain way then I enjoy what is on offer a lot more.
I can concur absolutely Laura, since i have begun eating supper with my children at around 6pm and then heading to bed at 8.30, my energy levels have dramatically improved. As a mother of 3 young children i used to try to eek out time for myself at the end of the day – not only would i find this time unsatisfactory and unfulfilling but equally i felt exhausted in the morning. Beautiful to take time for myself in the morning before the kids are up when i feel energised and well rested – it makes sense.
I don’t have kids Lucinda, but I see so many women and men completely exhausted and literally at the end of their tether with young children, desperately trying to keep their previous rhythm, staying up late to get some ‘me-time’. I agree, it makes much more sense to sleep early and wake early and enjoy time when you’re well rested.
I would say that generally children are more in tune with what their bodies needs than adults so it’s worth taking a leaf out of their book.
“My body is always telling me what it likes and what it doesn’t” This is so true Laura, and the more we develop the relationship with our own bodies the sooner we know when do we need to make adjustments in our lifestyle to truly support and nurture ourselves.
The more sensitive we become to our bodies needs the less bumps along the way…
There are times when I travel early in the mornings in my car and I drive through the city and observe people making their ways home after a night on the town. Usually drunk and bearly dressed when it’s very cold out, their awareness shut down on so many levels. It is amazing what we can put up with and choose not to feel in our bodies.
I was totally disconnected from the importance of sleep rhythms for so much of my life. I am now re embracing a truely supportive way of preparing for bed and loving how I feel from this huge game changer in my life.
If we were to see sleep as an opportunity to heal, then that would shed a whole new light on it…
Thanks for the reminder Raegan, every little part of our day can be self caring and nurturing if we choose…
I really love coming back to read this blog, it is a great reminder of the importance to be self caring and nurturing. To put oneself first, to ensure that your own needs are made clear and honouring them. This then sets you up for the next day to be fully present upon waking and ready for the day.
“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” – this is so true Laura, the completion of our day founds the start and quality of the next day. What i always like to feel is how that quality has differed throughout my working day , for example that fresh zesty feeling at the early morning start, and how this quality has been sustained right up until rest/sleep time… it’s not always the case that freshness is there…i can feel it in my heart beat as i rest/reflect on the day just before sleep time. To be able to actually stop and create the space for such observation is not for compromising and when i do/have gone for a company event and come back late, I really do feel this reduction of spaciousness (of myself) the next day.
I love snuggling up into my bed at night as well, having quality sleep is important to me as I regularly work shift work and the strong rhythm I have built over many years of going to bed early has supported me beautifully to work long shift hours without feeling exhausted.
What a lovely journey of reconnection to, and attending to , the human body, and learning from the innate wisdom that is always there
Going to bed early around 9pm for me is super supportive, my husband and I read a page most nights from Serge Benhayon’s purple books then snuggle down ready for sleep. Having this rhythm greatly supports us during our day.
That’s very sweet Samantha, reminds me of children and a bed time story ; )
I use my Our Cycles App to enter my symptoms, moods and feelings last thing at night and when I wake in the morning. It supports me to feel what went on in the day, how I was and most importantly to appreciate myself and not get caught in the momentum of the day. I just recently started to use it when I wake so I can see how I feel at the beginning of the day, then when I come to the evening I can look back too…
I really enjoy the foundation we can build from finding our own rhythm for going to bed. I love getting into bed early pulling down my doona, drinking tea and writing in my journal. It really does feel amazing when we honour ourselves in this way and it lays a perfect foundation to then wake the next morning too.
This was something I fought for some time, there was a stubbornness inside of me, I wanted my time in the evenings, i wanted to watch my program on tv, all these excuses, instead of going with what I felt, which mostly was, that I was tired. I would push through and then be wide awake again. I have changed that somewhat now, honouring myself more and more, no perfection, but feeling into more about what time is right for me, no rules.
I’m with you Laura, I absolutely love hitting the old sack as early as possible, Im aiming for 8 o’clock tonight if all goes according to plan as I am up with a sparrow’s tomorrow. I have always been a morning person as I grew up on a farm so that was the natural order of things. It wasn’t till I left home that I gradually went to bed later and got up later so itst great to be back in my same old rhythm again.
This is beautiful Laura – it shows us that a natural rhythm like this is actually supporting us to feel more vital, spunky and alive. Now that is worth trying. Beautiful how you have been supported by Serge Benhayon and the crew. As this principal/teaching about sleeping between 9pm and 3am, makes a lot of sense – especially when we take a look at our body and how it feels when it sleeps early and wakes up early. Truly inspirational once known.
I’ve always loved mornings, right from when my Dad would wake us up at the crack of dawn to start some adventure I realised there was a deep stillness both in the world, and in me at this time of the day. These days I’ve set my rhythm to enjoy as much of this time as there is as it is irreplaceable.
Yeah, so true Simon. The stillness of a morning is unlike no other time of the day. It’s sometimes hard to put into words, but there is something that just feels good about that time of the day.
I too love my early mornings Laura, such a beautiful time of day. I feel clear, inspired – a great time to write, work and prepare myself for the rest of the day.
When I feel I am a little ‘off’ and tired, then I often find that putting myself to sleep is one of the best things to do, over and above eating and exercising. It seems that sleep is often more important than food especially when I am super duper tired – if I make myself eat first and then go to bed, it seems to make it harder for me to sleep and rest my body. Of course food and exercise and water are super important for us as well, but there are times when sleep preceeds all these other factors in order to offer myself an opportunity to ‘re-set’ or ‘restart’ myself. I have seen this with children too at times when they have gotten over tired – it is often better then to short cut things and skip the bath/shower and even skip dinner and just get them to bed. The shower and the proper meal can come later after the sleep. The difficulties of showering and feeding an overtired and dramatic toddler only add to the difficulties and make it harder for them hence ‘straight to bed’ can be the best option. Of course it is important for us to reflect on how we allowed things to get so out of rhythm and learn from that to adjust the day and how we are in it so that this does not happen again.
Laura, this is gorgeous what you have shared – very simple, understandable on all levels and very practical! Such simple changes that we can implement for ourselves in the day such as swapping study time for the morning instead of reading till late at night. Putting ourselves just that little bit earlier to bed, not overeating or drinking alcohol so we dont wake up tired etc. Sometimes I also get up early in the morning to make dinner for the evening, that way when I know I come home later I will be coming home to dinner already being made and just needing to be heated up. This is a lovely gift to myself especially if I know I will be having a big or long day. And of course those little things that start our day so beautifully like the walk along the river on the way to work instead of catching the bus, or like I do sometimes if I have heaps of time – take a warm relaxing bath with epsom salts before starting my day. The options and play is endless! Thank you Laura for sharing these moments that we can make happen when our natural rhythm is respected and honoured.
I spent some time living outside in a sunny county on a beach, what I loved was some evening times when the sun would go down we would naturally fall asleep early it just felt so natural to do, to go to bed when the sun did. Sometimes we would fall asleep by an open fire and rise again the next morning when the sun returned.
I also loved the early mornings as a child Laura, especially in the summer when the temperature reached close to 40 degrees celsius for days on end. The coolness of the dawn time held a stillness and freshness that left me in awe of the daily cycle and I knew I was part of something amazingly special that nature offered.
Sleep is such a crucial aspect of our daily cycle and I know the quality of it reflects every aspect of my day.
It’s interesting to consider that our sleep, or more so the quality of our sleep is more important that eating. We play so much focus on eating and diet and even exercise (which are important) but forget that how we sleep is essential to our wellbeing. This includes how we prepare for sleep as well. What I have found interesting to observe in myself is that even through I may go to bed early, I can be quite resistive to looking at how I wind down and prepare myself to sleep. This tells me that sleep is a mighty powerful tool for the wellbeing of our body, in which we know so little about. It must be because why else would I be so resistant to deepening the quality of my winding down and sleep? I have never been resistant to sitting up to watch TV and I know that when I do I am so much more tired the following day. Big difference…
Great Blog Laura, early to bed and early to rise is part of my rhythm also. I love waking up early with the stillness of the day doing my computer work with no rush, taking time to do my other chores. There are times when I let go of my rhythm and life looses its easy fullness. Time to slow down and come back to my body.
Gosh I wished I had honoured myself in this way last night. I woke up this morning feeling exhausted as I didn’t support myself or put my body into a state of rest- now I feel sluggish and behind the ball struggling to get going. Applying a loving discipline is a huge support in life.
Being honest about what is not working and choices that weren’t so great is a great way to make changes that are really loving, so it can be awesome to have these experiences if we’re willing to learn from them. Thanks for sharing MW.
It fascinates me how society has us living at the wrong side of the day when the best, most productive time for our bodies is definitely early morning. But we override our wind-down time before sleep because work is over and the evening is the time to squeeze in everything else. But when we begin to respect the body and honour what it reflects to us about our need for sleep, the truth is felt in the energy and vitality we have when we have experienced getting to bed early and have maximised the possibilities from our early rise the next morning.
Absolutely, don’t let all these little distractions get in the way of surrendering each night…
Great reminder Laura of the deep self care that can come from going to bed early, but not just that, allowing for the wind down and the quality that is done in. There is so much distraction that can take us away from making those choices to deeply self care and nurture ourselves. So it has been a wonderful timely reminder re-reading this blog, as I have been allowing things to creep in, ‘i just need to do this or that, before bed’, or ‘I just need to look up something on the internet’, so distracting myself, not taking myself to bed in an honouring way, so thank you!
“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.” Overriding what we feel is an easy thing to do, but stopping and feeling the wisdom of what my body is communicating changes completely the day to day dynamic I have with myself.
Laura I love your awesome blog. You confirm what I felt as well as my body also told me to go to bed early and I too love the early mornings as you so beautiful describe. It is for me now so much more easier to follow the rhythm of my body than working against it. Before I was often exhausted as I was fighting to stay awake – there was even a moment in a conversation were I fell asleep in the middle of a sentences! This was the moment I knew that I had to change my sleeping habits and I never regretted it.
I love doing these kinds of experiments for myself and always find it interesting how making a supportive change in one part of my day has a knock on effect to the rest of the day. Great sharing thank you 🙂
Thank you Laura I loved reading your blog as I found it very supportive and inspiring. I could feel your rhythm in your writing. It is very clear that to truly support ourselves it is important to listen to what our body is telling us. . . . it is purely an observation without any judgement. All it needs is for us to not override the messages we are getting.
I have recently begun really honouring my sleep and waking rhythms again too and what I am finding is that I am naturally tired and ready for bed often at 7.30 or 8 o’clock. When I actually honour this I find I wake earlier and feel ready for the day. I have found I have so much more space in my morning and often prepare for work, write and take my child for a walk before I begin my working day and I feel amazing. While I am still refining my rhythm and not perfect in it, what I do feel is the way I feel in myself has shifted a lot and I am feeling to bring more care, love and nurturing to all aspects of my life. It’s beautiful to feel the ripple effects of making one simple change to our day and to know that it has an effect and impact not only on self but on the quality of the relationships and connections we have with everyone in our lives.
Our bodies are just so amazing, our barometer of our lived ways. Sure enough if we decide to take things into our own hands and overrule this vast intelligent, wise body our natural rhythms go astray then, we then feel depleted of energy and all manner of things can develop and deplete us further. Much to be said for an early to bed and early to rise gentle, self-nurturing, self-loving routine.
Where I come from, it is considered unusual to go to bed early and to get up early. To do this everyone would wonder if you were sick. One time when I was young, we stayed in a cabin with no TV and just us. We played games and went to bed early. It felt lovely getting up early and walking on the beach. I wished life was like that all the time.
I really notice how much better I feel when I am in this rhythm, and even the occasional late night for some social occasion is much easier to recover from if this supportive rhythm is there, but add a few together and I’m back to sluggish mornings and a day that feels out of control.
This is something I’ve noticed too Amanda, if I have a disturbed night or the odd night where I can’t stick to my early to bed rhythm then I do not feel wiped out and can feel this is because I have such a supportive rhythm generally. But, get in to a habit of not bringing that care to myself each night and I wake up groggy or late which then affects the rest of my day.
I just heard a presentation by someone who works at a sleep clinic who mentioned that if you don’t have the right ‘quality’ of sleep, you could sleep for 24 hours and still wake up exhausted.
This is such a familiar feeling for so many people -to wake up and yet still feel tired, and this effects our daily lives, relationships, work, health and more…
So how do we ensure we get quality sleep? I started experimenting with the way I put myself to bed and it is now expanded to every part of my day…
I have recently recommitted to ensuring that I go to bed early and prepare for this with a relaxed evening with no stimulating activity. It has been amazing to feel how much more space in my entire day this creates.
I am with you on that Michael! going to bed early feels super honouring. I love getting early nights. (especially with you!)
So cute, Samantha!
Having a regular routine of going to bed early and waking early makes a big positive difference to vitality levels, which inturn benefits every aspect of your life
I know how delicious it is to feel when I honour and respond to what my body is asking for, and it is very simple to do that, yet there have been times (quite few of them) when I just fall off from that rhythm and feel like I have ended up in a gutter, and I cannot get back up from it immediately. What I am learning is that there is no success formula and this is an ongoing developing of a relationship, and if there is an image of ‘final product’ I am fooling myself.
I love this blog!! Such a great reminder of the importance of sleep. I have been going to bed earlier this week and it has felt really supportive. Such a simple thing we can do for ourselves yet the benefits are huge and not just for us but all those we interact with.
Such a great blog Laura. I have always been a morning person but still didn’t always honour that in the past. Since becoming a student of the Livingness as presented by Serge Benhayon and learning about my body rhythms, I am very aware of the difference it makes if I stay up past 9pm. I love to walk early of a morning as do many others in my area , and its lovely to breath the fresh air and feel the breeze on my face as I walk. There is plenty of birdlife about then also that I enjoy, plus a few humans and their dog friends.
That sounds very lovely, Roslyn. I recently brought a walk in the woods into my morning, I love being around nature and look forward to making it a little earlier as the days grow longer in the UK…
Aiming for 9 o’clock is a great routine and rhythm to get into. Every morning we go for a walk at 5.30 am. This is one of the most precious moments in my day. I get to walk with me in the absolute calm and peace of the morning which completely sets me up for the day. Going to bed and getting a restful night supports me to do this.
It is really interesting how we as children wake up early naturally and really enjoy getting out without a doubt but that when we get older this wanting to stay in bed longer sneaks in. What is it about our adult life that we are not enjoying that we cannot come out of bed?
Great question Lieke, I love a little snuggle in bed before I get up, but sometimes there is that feeling of ‘I just wanna stay here’… then there are those mornings when you embrace the moment like a child and you’re up and can’t wait to get on with the day.
Great question Lieke! I loved getting out of bed early and literally jumping into the day with all my bubbly joy as a kid. As an adult I have felt the desire to stay in bed a reflection of not loving what we are faced with in the day. Just an escape basically.
I love this Laura – “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.” I can attest to this as well, learning to listen to the body and respond to its messages has really helped me to get into a different rhythm, and one of them being going to bed much earlier, and allowing for ‘winding down’ time too. In the past I would rush to get everything done before bed, and then read for hours in bed until I’d fall asleep. These days it feels so gentle to get the first yawn, realise it’s that time and start the bed time ritual followed by a deep and nourishing sleep. Such a blessing …
I used to stay up sitting on the couch until I couldn’t hold my eyes open anymore then fall gruggly into bed. I was so afraid of not being able to wind down i would make sure I was exhausted before i went to bed. I was running away from alone and winding down time with myself.
Going to be early I used to make a rule, that it was going to make me feel better, so be in bed by this time or that time. It took a long time for me to learn to feel and act on what I was feeling. Not to override that. This has been what really changed as far as going to bed and deepening the connection with myself and relationship with sleep.
Yes so true, it’s not about a fixed time as such, it is about feeling into the body and how it feels isn’t it. And then we get the great feedback the next morning how we wake and how the day then feels as well.
That is beautiful Raegan, rules can be so heavy. I know this week it has become clear to me what ‘rules’ I have placed on myself – rules I have felt I must obey. In my exposure of them I can see them for the lovelessness they are. It’s crazy as these rules often hide behind an image of what I think is ‘good’. When I let go of the image and instead let myself feel I then know what is needed to be done – and there are no ‘rules’ needed.
Thank you Laura. What I noticed in your blog is how you begin to share that how you live in your day affects how you sleep at night. I have brought renewed focus to this in recent days and there is so much more to be aware of than I have chosen to see to this point. Not stoping and taking a break can mean we take that momentum into the rest of our day and night.
Yes me too Lucy, the stops during the day are equally as important as the night time routine before bed. I notice if I don’t take them, I end up a bit ratty and irritable – and then I go for walk etc, however it is much more serving to not even get to that stage but be in tune with our selves so that we can just embed into our rhythm all that is needed for the day to go as smooth as the night, when routines, rituals and rhythm have been incorporated.
I love how ‘me’ time is actually time spent doing anything in my day – whether it be working, walking, eating or time with family. And I agree Laura, sleep is such a great reflection of how we are in our day.
“…me’ time is actually time spent doing anything in my day – whether it be working, walking, eating or time with family.” – I love that too, makes so much sense, as how can we do anything without ‘ me’, without being present ….
I love the feeling of waking up early and feeling the space in the day to get things done rather than sleeping in. The key is in the early bed times and addressing what is preventing me from getting to bed early.
It’s crazy how too much sleep can drain us and too little sleep can exhaust us. It is all about balance and honouring our body. I am also really experiencing if I eat particular foods before bed, they can either stimulate me or make me really tired. I have to be more aware of what I am eating in the evening.
Laura, great to read how your sleep rhythm supports your day, I have found that going to bed early and doing things early in the morning much more supportive than trying to do them in the evening, when I am already a little tired from my day. It is a great way of being to reflect to others too.
I’ve come to realise it’s also a case of my day supports my sleep rhythm, just as my sleep rhythm supports my day -every part is connected.
What I love most about getting to bed early is to be able to rise early and enjoy the stillness in the house and to hear the birds in the morning as the sun rises. That is music for my soul.
Me too, Kelly. That early morning period is just divine, wether home or taking a walk, it feels very precious.
Hi Laura, I often hear people comment on whether they are an early to bed and early to rise morning person or late to bed and late to rise and wondered about this. How have those patterns been set and what is the person’s lifestyle, social life and health like in both these chosen patterns. My body has always dictated my sleep patterns – when I am tired I would always go to bed, it would usually get to 10pm and I could hardly keep my eyes open. Now that I have committed to being in bed by 8.30pm, my health, energy levels and awareness has improved hugely. Early mornings and early night have always felt as the natural way for me. Trust what the body has to communicate and the rhythm will naturally fall into place.
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.’ This is an interesting line for me.
Whilst I am good at waking up early, and having some ‘me time’, I notice that in the evenings when I’m home from work I want ‘check out, me time’. I stopped watching TV before bed about 8 months ago, but I haven’t quite managed to stop looking at my phone until the very last moment….or not be on the net. I’ve swapped one bad habit with another, and I realise the intensity of how much I engage is dependent on how difficult I found my day and hence a feeling that I need a reward for my efforts.
Hi Elodie, I have noticed this with myself too, I often use social media in the evenings which sometimes feels fine, but sometimes I get distracted. So, now I make the last thing I do on my phone before bed, to fill in my ‘our cycles’ app -this is a full moon and period diary, so it means the last thing I do is check in with my body and how I’m feeling, even if I’ve been distracted or had a stressful day, I can take a moment to appreciate what’s happened and support myself. Here is the link:
http://www.ourcyclesapp.com
Laura, I absolutely love your morning ritual of when you were in school. It sounds like heaven!!
I love this bit…”I can feel really groggy from too much sleep” .. I been experience this too, getting drained from too much sleep, crazy.
If I eat too much food I can end up tired instead of gaining energy from it, the same as with sleep. Infact there are many things that can feeling draining like too much exercise or TV… or perhaps it is the quality of these things…
I have found that the sleep part of the day is a great place to start with introducing a self care approach into our lives, by having some bedtime rituals that help us reconnect back to the body after a busy day.
I agree Joanna, I found it very natural to have a morning routine, like exercise, but I have to be more deliberate about my evening ritual for some reason and it feels more important at the end of the days events to be very conscious and caring.
We do not need complicated diet schemes nor read books on health and wellbeing. Our body will tell us what is supportive for us – we only will have to listen.
Getting up and feeling fit for the day – this is the big difference going to bed early has made in my life.
I am having a fever at the moment and my period at the same time and I just love being at home, resting and being with myself. My body is asking for more sleep and yesterday the lights went out at 7 pm. My body is telling me when it needs to sleep and for me sleep is just as important as being out there in the world during the day. Sleep is a surrendering.
Learning to trust our body and be able to accept the what it is saying is huge, I know a few people who when they wake up early go into stress because they are not sure what to do in the early hours of the morning and then categorise it as a sleep issue, There are so many beliefs about what a sleep cycle should be, and yet people sleeping that cycle and still waking up tired and exhausted. All 24 hours are connected, what we do during the day impacts on our sleep.
Early to be early to rise. The joy of feeling fresh, and vital in the mornings and ready to start the day, a total turnaround from my previous way of going to bed late. A joy to read your sharing Laura.
Going to bed early rocks, I completely agree Laura. There is such a difference to my day when I have made it to bed by 9pm the night before. So much more vitality to do everything needed in that day in a beautiful rhythmic way, and with less chances of rushing, stressing out, overeating.
That makes so much sense about the rushing, stressing and over eating.
It’s like a domino effect either way: if you have an early night and wake refreshed and early, then your day just runs so much smoother, if you go to bed late, and wake all weary, not wanting to get out of bed, that carries through the day too… which ever is your daily rhythm, you’re either strengthening the vitality or lessening it.
Thank you Laura the joy of going to bed early and rising early cannot be emphasised more and is transformational in ones life magically bringing appreciation and love to our bodies .
Yes agreed Jane I love that spaciousness that is there in the morning when we get up early, I feel it really set the day up in a loving way if we can be prepared and hurried in the morning.
Lovely to revisit your blog Laura. I too love snuggling up under the duvet around 9pm, it feels such a nurturing thing to do and I always reap the benefits in the morning when I wake up early. It always feels like I have a lot of space around me to get lots done before I go to work.
I have not got my sleep pattern in a way that is truly supporting me. I have every intention of being in bed by 9 but it usually ends up being much later, finding extra things to do. rather than lovingly taking myself to bed. I still wake early but I know my day would flow even more and I would have more vitality if I was able to get to bed each night at around 9.
Recently my rhythm of early nights was thrown out for a few days and the result was……I got sick, felt fatigued and disconnected.
The more I commit to a loving rhythm which supports my body the more amazing I feel throughout the day. Learning to love and support myself is a commitment I make that involves early nights and however tempting it may be to squeeze the goodness out of those twilight hours, I am learning that it comes at a cost to the connection and love I feel for myself and early mornings are now a treat not to be missed!
The appreciation of going to bed early grows on me more and more as does the winding downtime allowing a quality of sleep and true restoration of the body. Life has changed so much with this honouring and the awareness and changes that come to ones livingness from this is beautiful to feel. Looking back there are so many distractions to this in the world and in our heads but the freedom and appreciation of life and the vitality we can have from this way of living beats everything and is the gold to that we all are looking for .
I can relate Tricia, in the past I could use anything to distract me from going to bed, yet I would always wake up feeling groggy, foggy and tired the next day. Especially if I was watching some kind of TV program, for me watching movies and programs at this very delicate time of the day was a recipe for disaster, we absorb more at this time in the evening and lets face most stuff on TV we definitely not want we want in our system before bedtime!
I’ve always loved mornings too Laura and to this day I’m still the first one up in our house, and so have the space to appreciate the stillness, the birds waking up, the light changing – it is indeed precious time. I’m also coming to appreciate that what is offered in the evenings is equally as precious if we listen to our bodies. I know I have been caught up in the need to get everything finished before going to bed instead of listening to my body that is actually tired. I now gently feel into what need completing so It’s not running round in my mind and typically find myself in bed before 9pm most nights, more relaxed and ready to rest. Ready for another glorious morning.
Thank you Michelle I really like what you shared about “coming to appreciate that what is offered in the evenings is equally as precious if we listen to our bodies. I know I have been caught up in the need to get everything finished before going to bed instead of listening to my body that is actually tired. I now gently feel into what needs completing so It’s not running round in my mind”.
This feels very supportive and offers the opportunity to connect to the body, rather than the pressure of the head that I have found often pushes me to race ahead of my body and leaves me feeling exhausted and disconnected.
It is interesting how many people ignore signs of tiredness in their bodies and keep pushing themselves till they collapse into bed. No wonder the coffee industry is doing so well, if people simply listened to their bodies and went to bed earlier the need for coffee would be reduced. Going to bed early is a simple self-care practise that truly supports the body and keeps my energy levels very stable.
Sometimes the answers to our problems are just too simple.
We can all see the effects when a child gets tired (grumpy, emotional, hyper, wanting stimulation), and realise how important it is to ensure they get to bed ‘on time’. At what point does this go out the window as we grow up and why don’t we see the signs of this as being detrimental to us with regard to our health, wellbeing, relationships, work performance, eating habits…?
Having enough care to put our selves to bed in a way that supports us could literally dissolve so many of these issues.
So true Laura – “Having enough care to put ourselves to bed in a way that supports us could literally dissolve so many of these issues.” I remember it always was a ‘treat’ to be allowed to stay up late as a child, one would feel more on an even par with the adult world. And the older one got the longer one was allowed to stay up. I see it with one of my children who is so tired when they are staying up late, yet doing it again and again. And how they get up in the mornings is no reflection as to what they otherwise bring to their days, namely their awesome and joyful selves.
Yeah, I agree Anna. But unfortunately, that’s where we are at for now. If we took coffee away, we’d still have sugar and let’s face it, we are abusing that just as much if not more. But I hear you….the more we can live from our bodies and not our heads, the better our choices would be.
I agree, Laura, I just love getting into bed by 8.30pm as it feels so lovely to be looking after me like this … it gives time to write or read or put cream on my hands and feet and let go of the day I just had. I’ve found that I need to start getting ready for bed by about 7.30 pm as this hour includes getting the next day’s meals and clothes ready, so that in the morning I’m already half way to getting out the door to work, incredibly supportive!
“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 so agree Laura. I love going to bed early and waking up naturally without an alarm – ready for the day ahead. You could say the day begins at 9 pm the previous night.
I like that Sue, I wonder how many people will get an early night if they have something ‘important’ on the next day, yet every other day, they won’t take the same care because it doesn’t ‘matter’ so much.
That would expose that we know going to bed early supports us to be on form the next day, and also that we don’t consider each day as important or precious… interesting!
That’s great Sue,
It feels completely different to consider that the 9pm bedtime is the preparation that is actually the support and marker for the beginning of the new day.
It feels supportive to view it this way…Thank you.
Doing stuff first thing in the morning for me so outweighs doing things in the evening, as my brain doesn’t seem to function that well after 6pm. Well thats my excuse anyway. The whole world could benefit from a good early nights kip, for a start people would be a little less grumpy.
Loved re-reading this blog, Laura. Currently I am away from home and really enjoying going to bed early and getting up early, and feeling the enormous benefit it brings. I feel far more connected with how I feel during the day, and there’s clarity with it. I would definitely like to stay with this when I go home.
I had an experience recently of organising to go see a movie and have dinner with a friend, and it gave me an opportunity to claim for myself that I didn’t want to be out late, that I wanted go to an earlier viewing etc, and not feel silly for claiming that for myself
Yes Rebecca, these days I tell people that I’m an early to bed, early to rise sort of person and ask them if don’t they also find the morning the best part of the day … usually they agree!
When we start to honour our body’s needs then we start to swim against the tide of how most people are choosing to live and this incurs a certain amount of flack but what I have found is that I am so solid in my conviction and dedication to living in a way that honours my body that no amount of flack can persuade me to live otherwise.
Yes Laura, your blog is a confirmation about the changes that I’ve also done in my daily routine. In fact, these changes have been the return to my own natural rhythm. When I first heard about the possibility of going to bed at 9 pm my mind told me that it was a strange option, but when I tried it I was surprised about the easiness in which my body received it. From then, I listen more to my body, because it’s a candid friend that reminds me the precise moment to rest or to wake up. And I’ve recovered enormously my energy in this natural way.
Thanks to you and your blog “Myrrh essentail oil and supporting connection with my wrists” I now have another ritual before going to bed at night that feels really lovely. It is the last thing I do before getting into bed now, massaging my wrists with a mix of esoteric massage cream and a few drops pf myrrh. It feels so lovely and immediately allows me to reconnect to my tenderness and delicateness.
Elaine, that sounds so divine : )
Hi Laura, I loved this quote “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.” I feel it is super important to have this ‘me’ time in the day (regardless what time of the day I have just realised) and it is great how we can experiment with our rhythms. But in actual fact I feel you are presenting the importance and beauty of having a rhythm – knowing your day will be okay by the routine and rhythm you have developed, and knowing what is there to support you for tomorrow and so forth! Ps I too love the early mornings – especially when I am out in nature on my morning walk and the rising sun.
Self-love and self-care just makes so much simple sense. It makes me wonder why with such joy and loveliness felt in the body we often often choose not to make these choices
When I think about all the sleep I wasted watching mindless uneducational television it makes me shudder. Sleep has rapidly become one of my favourite things . Not too much or too little just the right amount for what the body needs and man I do sleep like a baby these days. I go out like a light, sleep like a log and have sweet dreams and wake up ready to rumble.
Super cool Kevin!
Taking the time to be delicate with ourselves is a gift that we can give to ourselves. There is great power in this, but I have found that it takes some time and dedication to turn around old behaviours and perhaps some beliefs as well, that do not support this kind of nurturing relationship.
Laura I love the attention to your body’s rhythms and what supports you for a good night’s sleep. The divine is in the detail.
It is great what you say here about giving it a go “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.”. I have had a similar experience, I felt tired in the day so I started looking at my sleep patterns amongst other things and now, I am refining and developing how I support myself. And I do feel more engaged and less tired in my day. Exploration and experimentation is wonderful, we can make new ‘normals’ in life, it is is great to give new ways of living a go.
Yes indeed Laura our bodies are always telling us what it likes and does not like, it’s simple really ! I was very fortunate that when it was first presented to me that the best time to be sleeping is from 9 PM until 3 AM it was easy for me to slip into this rhythm. I’ve been doing this now for over six years and I can feel the tremendous support that this gives me throughout my day. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome blog Laura and I have also enjoyed reading the comments. It reminded me of the days which lacked clarity, commitment and an unwillingness to engage with others because of the lack of sleep. I too can remember getting sick especially after having a late night and having to get up early next morning to go to work. My mother would pick me up from work and I often would feel cold and feverish. It goes to show that when we dishonour ourselves, our bodies soon lets us know.
I agree Caroline. We demand a lot from our bodies but in turn we often don’t provide it with the support that is needed to carry out what we demand. Says a lot about our relationships with our bodies.
I had a couple of nights recently where I got to sleep later than usual, and it was amazing to feel how when 9pm rolled around my body was ready for bed, and that after these few days I could really feel the difference in my body and energy levels – going to bed in my usual routine is so much better for me than staying up later.
I love going to bed early and most nights I am in bed by 9pm but the unwinding down time I find challenging. Sometimes I can easily delay making supper for my family and therefore our children can get easily over-tired. My relationship with time in the evenings needs to be looked at so there is a rhythm that supports me and my family.
I’m finding now after going to bed on or just before 9pm as the winter months have arrived, my sleep pattern and my body rhythm has changed to going to bed much earlier. I started to resist this at first (an old habit from the past) but realised as my days are busier now my body naturally requires resting time and if that means going to bed an hour earlier to honour that – so be it as, waking up fresh, energised and inspired for the oncoming day is equally as important not just for me but for those I share my day with.
“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.” Thank you Laura, for your blog, how I resinate with your understanding of going to bed early, this is exactly what I have to do and have done all my life. It is only when I ignore my rhythm that I pay the consequences of this fact.
Beautiful Ariana, thank you for sharing what you do to prepare yourself for sleep. This is a great reminder for me to make changes and to be consistent with the changes to support me in my evening rhythm.
Laura I love your awesome blog as I was and still be a person who love it to wake up early too. As you so beautiful describe: “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.” Now the time I am waking up has changed and is a bit earlier – it is now around 2.30am and everybody started to tell me that I have a sleeping problem. Therefore I was glad to listen to Serge Benhayon at a workshop about the beneficial rest for our bodies if wer are sleeping between 9 pm and 3 am. Now I know that I have no sleeping problem – it is only that my body knows exactly what is good for me.
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If it comes up in conversation I keep things general and say I’m an early to bed, early to rise sort of person and am best getting things done in the mornings … saying specifically how early I wake up can freak others out and their reactions can be heavy. I just know I feel so much more vital and surer of myself following my body’s true rhythm, why would I decide to sabotage myself otherwise? And yes, those clear and still mornings are not to be missed!
I have found going to bed early when my body feels like it is time to rest has been a great support for my health and wellbeing, and the more I have committed to honour my body the more work I am able to do and enjoy it at the same time.
This feels wonderful to go tho bed early. I had some days of adding up boxes in my bedroom waiting to be unpacked and paperwork that needed to be done. But I could not spend enough attention for the completion of this work because there was no time for it, that was played out in my head. But today I begun with some steps to tidy up some stuff and cleaning the desk from papers, not totally everything, but it changed the momentum of the disregard. The moment I had taken responsibility and not winching about it, that changed the energy of it all, knowing I am not perfect, but the how I tread myself in this, with respect and loving care – that makes the difference.
Just in making the commitment to yourself of going to bed at 9pm, is such an awesome place to start in introducing self care and self love to our body. Gradually, once the body’s rhythms have adjusted, it really is lovely to wake up before the alarm clock rings… the body really does love you back for the love and care you attend to it.
I agree Johanne,
I used to be a night owl, and now I wake up most mornings without an alarm ready to greet the sun. It’s so beautiful, still and very supportive for me to have time for myself before the children wake up.
“the body really does love you back for the love and care you attend to it” Johanne these words hold so much gold, they are simple and make such common sense – it also shows how crazy we are to not love and care for ourselves when it should be our most natural way of being.
The early to rise part of it for me is as important as the early to bed part as this morning I woke up at 1.30am feeling great, I then decided this was far too early and rested and dozed till 3am by which time I felt drained and very unenthusiastic about getting up. I could have put that extra time to good use preparing for the weeks work but I suppose it doesn’t matter as long as I learn my lesson.
I can really relate to this Kevin this has happened a few times, when I do get up early it’s amazing as I don’t feel tired, in fact I have more energy than if I was to get up a few hours later. Honouring the body and what it is telling us is an amazing thing to do at any time of the day.
I have spent many years of my life going to bed late and waking up still feeling exhausted…”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 learning to do things a different way, and since going to bed earlier I am often wake up feeling really lovely and energised. I can recommend early nights and getting up early, the morning is a precious time of day.
Laura I love how you have made your evening more about preparing for the next day. It has such a lovely feel to it to complete the day I have just had and then know that how I take myself to bed will set the foundation for the next day. A great reminder thank you.
In my practice I regularly see teenagers that are going out on the weekends. remembering how I used to feel when I went out at that age I often ask them how they feel in the hours before they leave for the bar or club. Their experiences are without fail the same as mine: we all felt a dip around 8 pm and then felt we did not want to go out anymore. We would then start to drink or watch tv to override this feeling and by 10 pm we would feel a ‘second wind; and were all ready to go. To me this shows how we have a very strong rhythm in our body that is the same for all of us, we have just learned to override it as the way we built society is not supporting a lifestyle with early nights.
When I was young I did not like to go to bed early and as a teenager I was sure I was an ‘evening person” and I have lived a big part of my life that way. In my twenties and thirties I always said I did my best work after 10 pm at night! However I also remember that when I was young I was doing parts of my homework in the early morning as I felt I learned better at that time. Looking back I realise that going to bed late was because of the distractions I was seeking at the end of my day because in the day I had not been fully myself. And so I created the illusion that this was my natural rhythm. Not until I was stopped by a severe illness did I stop long enough to feel my true rhythm from my body and learn that going to bed early was the rhythm that my body was asking for all along.
It was really good fun reading this article. There was an absolute naturalness to the way you described your childhood experiences of early bed, then the struggle in the middle bit when trying to conform to social expectation, followed now by the return to natural. So what stood out for me is the exhaustion that comes from fighting what is our natural rhythm. Letting go and being open to being guided by our bodies is exquisite simplicity.
‘My body is always telling me what it likes and what it doesn’t.’ This statement sums up everything you have expressed in this blog Laura! The fact that we have to learn to listen to it, says a lot for how far we have moved from truly honouring our bodies; it’s an arrogance really that we have taken it so much for granted and forced ourselves to go against it’s natural rhythm!
Going to bed early was something I fought for quite some time, it was like even though I knew the benefits, it was like I had this pattern of not really honouring myself so i’d allow myself to always do things in the evenings, even when I felt tired. It was like I would feel how tired I was, but ignore it and just get on with what I needed to do around the house or work. But over time, I have changed that habit, I began to listen to myself more, when I felt tired, to listen to my body and go to bed early. It was amazing the difference I felt in myself the next day when I would honour this. It truly has changed how I feel about myself and how I enter my day.
Yep, I am just now sitting in my bed at 7pm, with a face mask on for a bit of extra, listening to a beautiful cd and writing here the comments with all that space that I have made for it. Taking care of me this way feels powerful.
The last day i went earlier to be, but yesterday i realized that a old pattern of mine. If i am not responsible to care for myself during the day than i used going to be early as a way to check out and not to deal any longer with the day. The way i bring myself to bed has a huge impact on the quality i wake up. Great to nominate that pattern!
Through the teachings of Serge Benhayon, I am discovering that rhythm is super important and the quality of our sleep directly determines the quality and enjoyment of our day, this has transformed my life.
As I connect more deeply to myself, staying present with my body during the day, the need to reward myself by staying up late or eating foods that are a treat becomes less and less. The old way of being staying up late and going to party’s was driven by feeling an emptiness inside of me and trying to fill this from the outside.
I find the same Laura, if I’m tied in the morning and sleep in, and not honor the time when my body felt to get up, I feel groggy and more tied than if I had got up earlier, or bodies have an innate rhythm that’s worth listening to and adhering to.
Its interesting that we apply certain rules and principles for our children and we see that feeding them earlier and helping them wind down and having an early night greatly supports them, but often don’t apply those deeply supportive rhythms and principles to our own precious bodies as adults.
Great read Laura like you I always had to be in bed early and could never understand how people stayed up to 12pm 1am during the week and function! I also would suffer if I went out and binged drank which was most weekends. Awful how it is normal to over ride our bodies natural need for sleep – quality sleep – not sure how this became so normalised. Though the heavy reliance on caffeine speaks for it self as to the cost on the body !
An interesting exposure of the madness of our current human condition. We make choices that exhaust us then reach for further stimulants to ‘drive on through’. It feels like we are all waiting to hit a brick wall before we will actually sit down, dazed for a second, and consider our predicament and responsibility. Our bodies are resilient but not accepting of endless abuse and nor should they be. I have come to respect that as I choose to listen, my body ‘talks’ louder – not an oversensitivity but a re-awakenening of a communication channel that is my wisest guide.
Beautiful to read Laura. It’s really so simple to want to honour and nurture our bodies, but we have to put things into place in order for it to become a reality in our day to day lives. Going to bed early is a classic way to set a rhythm for the body that supports us throughout our day and rejuvenates us during sleep.
Yes and in the very distant past I found also, that the long ‘lie ins’ did in fact not restore or result in deep nourishing rest, but each hour longer in bed made it even harder to feel the impulse to get up, leaving myself then lethargic and without the energy that I thought I would have by making up for late nights with long lie-ins. I must say – all this stopped when my children were born, as from then on it was ‘ mum I am awake so you must be up too.’ 🙂
What is not often talked of is the responsibility we actually have of going to bed in such a way that truly honours and supports us. It is most definitely not wise and responsible for others if we get up the next day and are tired from not having a true rest the previous night.
Wise words Joshua! I smiled when I read them because on the whole to talk about responsibility in relation to getting a good night’s rest, would be to most people (me included a few years ago) not understood or taken seriously – by choice! Our bodies were the means by which we followed along, drove ourselves and competed in life! I appreciate my body and how related I am to it now! This relationship is the most significant one I have!
I have been allowing myself to wind down from my day and going to bed early, which as definitely been a big part of my self care, but what I am finding is if the quality is not true gentleness, tenderness and honouring then I awake up tired and my body Is still carry this tiredness. So what I am now working on is the quality of my movements, to support my self deeper.
Yes, I can say I have found that also Amita. If true quality hasn’t been my choice before bed, I do notice I feel tired when I wake up, as there is a huge difference between going to bed early from a doing, to lovingly preparing myself for sleep so that my body can reflect that chosen quality in the morning and into my day.
This is inspirational for me, Amita. I think I need to be more aware of the quality of my wind down. It can become a habit to go to bed early rather than a loving rhythm. Thank you.
There is so much wisdom to going to bed early. It seems we all felt this as children even if we resisted it. I know I did not sleep early for a long time. I wonder where this arrogance came from. When did I decide that the wisdom of my body did not apply to me? I know I loved camping because there was more chance of sleeping when it was dark and waking early, there was no television distraction and there was no pull to do another project late at night.
Crazy that I love this and sometimes have trouble mastering it when I am at home.
Who is the master of my rhythm?
I loved this piece as your growing up memories of going to bed could have been mine. I have always loved going to bed early and when I ignored this once older and trying to fit in with going out and being social I suffered a lot. It looks like from the comments lots of others love the early to bed and early to rise motto as well.
I really enjoyed re-reading this blog Laura, because of the quality of innocence that comes through which I think represents what we naturally had as children. We were able to feel life and what felt good or not so good for us, before we started to take on all of life’s influences and distractions.
I was put to bed early as a child and resented what I saw as control – consequently I stayed up as late as I could, for years and years. I thought going to bed early was so uncool (left over from my childhood rebellion).
Enter Universal Medicine, the idea of living in a rhythm (and parenthood at 30) and I can honestly say that changing my sleeping habits – and winding down at the end of the day – have made the most profound difference to my vitality, productivity and enjoyment of the day.
Yes Helen it has had the most profound impact on my general well being too.
I remember being little, around 6 or 7 years old and loved being in bed at 7.30pm, this was religious and something I would get quite upset about if there was loud music or other disturbances from my parents at this important time. I honoured my rhythm but found that others did not understand it’s importance like I did. I also remember knowing that adults should be in bed at 9pm, not sure if someone told me this, but I knew it. Some kids at school would say their parents slept after 12 am and that that was cool, where as I prided myself on my parents being tucked up by 9pm. I love remembering the wisdom of little me!
Whether I like it or not my body is on wind down from 8pm until I’m horizontal in bed. I have no problem going to bed early or sleeping we throughout the night, but lately I’ve been struggling with waking up in the morning to start my day. Reading your blog Laura and the comments of others I can see the patterns I’m in to end my day are not geared in a way that will support my next cycle. Even though I am winding down physically there is still excess food before bed and not entering repose by letting go of the day. It feels great to observe this and know that I can change the quality of how I am going to bed to ensure vitality for the next day.
After reading your blog in the morning Laura i remembered your blog in the evening and focused to go to bed earlier and will continue choosing to. Great!
I agree Janinaelisa. It is amazing what a huge difference it makes.
With so many people, I would dare say the vast majority in the western world at least, that have abused the wealth within which we have been born into and the beautiful bodies we’re bestowed with – one has to ask what the heck is going on that ignoring absolutely and completely the body’s signs is such common place with hard core partying? “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’m all for having fun and I’m learning these days that what was always more fun than a big night out, is the enjoyment of the whole next day and the day after that and so-on and so-forth. The body is a marker of truth and it requires such simple nourishment like sleep and good food, for it to be your own best friend rather than a sore, throbbing, expensive to up-keep mess. Thanks Laura for your sharing on this.
It’s amazing how the day is set on a very different course when you are well rested and have been to bed early – rising early to get the benefit of the clarity you are now afforded and bringing that to each and every other moment.
I agree Lee. When we are in rhythm with sleep, it supports us to be in rhythm with everything else.
I love the early hours, the peace, clarity and for some reason I find it really easy to focus and stay on task with what needs doing. I surprise myself at times on just how much I get done before most people would consider the day has even started.
Yes truly lovely Lee, I love the feeling of the moment of waking up and feeling this deep rest I have just had, and the stillness in the early morning hours in turn then allows for a clear start to the day, and to take this with us throughout the day is a true blessing – and all from just going to bed early, at a time when the body clearly lets us know it’s time.
Yes I agree Lee, it is amazing the difference in our day when we go to bed early. Not only am I more focussed and vital in my day, but by getting up early I can prepare myself for the day.
Choosing not to watch TV in the evening and instead consciously allowing space for winding down, calming the mind and preparing the body for an early sleep has been stabilising and very healing for me.
I also love going to bed early and getting up early. I very regularly go to bed at about 8:30pm and get up at 3:00am, sometimes even earlier. I have a walk at around 5:30am every day. The early morning hours have a very special and precious quality and I absolutely thrive on this beautiful loving rhythm I have established. Humongous thanks to Serge Benhayon for the inspiration!
There is something very special about the early morning hours, where you have not quite engaged with the larger world as such but able to be more with myself and with a quality of tenderness.
‘ 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.’ I feel this is demonstrating a level of self care and responsibility that most of us do not live. Very inspiring.
Wow that does sound very yummy Ariana. I feel inspired to deepen my daily commitment to bedtime.
When I do not honour my body when it is tired, and I have a lie in to catch up, I feel awful the next day, my quality of sleep is poor, it really takes me out of balance. It is so important for me to honour myself when I am tired and not ignore it.
Going to bed when we are feeling tired is such an honouring for our bodies. I notice on days when I’ve been travelling I can get tired so whenever it’s possible, when I arrive home I ask my husband to help the children go to bed so I can toddle off to bed myself. I feel so much better the next morning rather than if I had pushed myself and ignored how I was feeling the night before, which is what I used to do.
“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.”
This is an important aspect to focus on Laura understanding that the quality we go to bed determines the quality we will feel the next day. Something to focus on for me as i still tend to override and do to much in the evening before going to bed.
I love this Ariana – “The way I prepare for bed is a foundation for my next day forward.” This puts it in a nutshell and we can fully see and feel the result of that the next day.
The end of the day is a great reflector of how we have been travelling during our day and it is so very lovely, knowing that in that moment of reflection, I can simply breathe and feel my true self again for a while and then move into my sleep cycle with much more loving attention and care which sets my sleep up beautifully.
Since reading your blog a few days ago Laura, I have been trying out going to bed an hour earlier. It has been amazing to realise that all those things I tried to squeeze in at night were unnecessary and making me feel exhausted. By going to bed earlier, I have actually made up time the next day by waking up earlier and having more time to do the things that are needed. Moreover, I feel much more clear to do them so they take half the time. Thank you for the inspiration here Laura.
Lovely to read Simone, very inspiring how you have made that choice and already feel the difference and the impact your choice has. This inspires me as well, as I am waking up earlier now than I used to and my mind kicks in saying no way, I am not getting up this early, but clearly my body knows best so I might as well listen to it and just get up….and have more time in the mornings for the things I have and like to do.
This is such a lovely blog, Laura. I have always been an early bird too and always struggled to stay up late. I would get past 9:30/10pm and start to feel a bit delirious! I remember my partying days when friends would suggest heading out at 10/11pm.. I would groan and wonder if I could even stay awake til then! I would need to drink red bull or coffee to keep myself awake. Honouring my natural sleep cycle feels so much better for my body!
I can so relate to this Brooke and have lots of memories of sneaking off to my bed as soon as I could. I was really good at doing a runner from parties.
Haha, me too, always very happy to go to bed as soon as possible.
This is definitely something that is very honouring, it can at times be a challenge, depending on how you have set up your evenings, and making the self loving choice to change those habits. But there are such amazing benefits to making those choices. I can really feel the difference when I go to bed late, how I wake up, how I am the rest of the day. When you can feel this, it really does make it easier to make the changes necessary to build a loving bed routine.
I agree Raegan the times I go to bed later because I want to squeeze another thing into the day or want some more time just for me checked out in front of the Tv always seems to end up with feeling not as refreshed the next day.
As a growing teenager I always went to bed at 9 pm or just after. When I started to experiment and stay up later because I could and no one was telling me when to go to bed I would often stay up to 10.30 pm or 11 pm. I found this really affected the way I felt the following day at school and I found I couldn’t concentrate as well as I did before. After a whole year of doing this I made the choice to go back to bed at 9 pm and it made a huge difference… and I felt back on track!
Bed is a sacred place. But I have abused it by over-staying its welcome. The fact that sleep is not just something we do, but has a very specific purpose as presented by Serge Benhayon has changed my relationship with it. I know it is a fact because I have felt it in my body as many of us have when we stay up late or sleep too much or not enough. It is a form of digesting our experiences of the day. If we live love, it is nutrition absorbed into our life. If we don’t live love, it is discarded like food waste – except much cleaner… most of the time.
What a great line Jinya: “Bed is a sacred place. But I have abused it by over-staying its welcome.” Sleeping longer than needed is very draining and exhausting.
I read your comment yesterday Jinya and i got a deeper understanding of your line “Bed is a sacred place”. If we honor ourselves and bring ourselves to bed in this quality than we can get an understanding the true power of sleep and its healing quality as Serge Benhayon has presented.
I love going to bed early too, always have. There was a period in my life when I didn’t go to bed early, and I felt tired, sluggish and disregarding of my self. I’m back in my rhythm, more or less, and I simply love mornings, – like you Laura, ~~ thanks for sharing a loving, inspirational blog.
Laura I love how you describe your early mornings as a child and how you have returned to them as an adult. The absolute honouring of our body and following the cycles of life are a completely natural way of supporting our health and wellbeing.
If I remember my childhood I went to bed between 7 and 8 pm and got up around 4 am. I did all the work for school in the morning in order to have the afternoon off. However I loved reading and before going to bed I always was reading and taken by the stories I read about. Today I realize how beautiful it is to just go to bed, and be with me and enjoy the company with myself, connecting with the innate stillness in me and then go to sleep.
Love this sharing Laura and all the comments that follow. Smiling as I remember as a child being told to go to bed early brought about lots of moans and groans (and a lot of dark circles around my eyes) and now as an adult the joy of an early night and an early rising to greet another day. Most of the time with sparkly eyes.
I loved reading how mornings became your favourite part of the day again – I know for many (myself once included), this is usually the part of the day where we can struggle the most and say it’s just because it’s ‘too early’. I feel you’ve shown that by adjusting your rhythm and routine, it is not the morning that is to blame but how we have been living prior to this. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I can so relate to what you share, Laura. It has always felt natural for me to go to bed early and wake up refreshed and vital in the morning. Whenever I have not honoured this I feel awful and am not very nice to be around. So when and how I go to bed affects not only me but everyone around me too!
Thanks Laura. Our bodies do know and they have a very natural rhythm and cycle as all of life does.. and they do let us know what supports them when we listen. I remember when I was travelling across the desert and camping out, how naturally the body adjusted to natures daily cycles.
It can be easy to get lost in the outer distractions in our life when we do not have steady rhythms with ourselves.
Thank you Laura. Yet another brilliant testimony to the good effects of early to bed, early to rise. I am so naturally conditioned to going to bed early these days, and waking up early, and like you I really enjoy the mornings. What I do need to further refine however is how I wind down in the evening. Often I am still on high alert as I am always checking social media or on the internet in bed until the very last moment before I shut my eyes. I know this doesn’t serve me at all, because I wake up not feeling the vitality I would like to be feeling.
Its the best feeling getting yourself prepared for bed after a full day of being productive and taking the time to wind down and doing your evening routine. Then just having that time to stop and feel how your body is and if you are of in your head with thoughts or steadily being with yourself. Each night is an awesome opportunity to reflect back on the day and how it has been and how you feel. Still and connected or not.
I know quite a few people that even though they are tired will not go to bed early and fight to stay up which inevitably leaves them to feel even more knackered in the week. It is great what you share about leaving things that you don’t get done and go to bed early so they can be done in the morning. This makes complete sense as we would feel more refreshed in the morning. I did get into a rhythm doing this but it has fallen by the wayside a bit and something I need to get back on track with as I know I feel so much better and clearer in my body when I do this.
Sleep just seems like something really important, not to be taken for granted. And I am learning more and more how to put myself to bed with the utmost care, lovingly and with a dedication to begin again the next day for another twirl with the sun.
I feel the same way Laura Hoy, sleeping in the next day is not at all comparable to the quality sleep I have when I go to bed early. However 2-3 nights a week I have a late shift and need to work until 8pm, so I don’t quite manage to be in bed by my usual bed time. I then need a day afterwards where I go to bed really early to make up for it. That works, but I couldn’t do it every night.
I’ve always loved mornings Laura, and like you Laura, with a loving bedtime rhythm they’re now my favourite time of day. Waking early, gives me space to do what needs to be done, gently and without rush and supports me throughout the rest of the day. Learning that less is more has been a revelation: the less hours I sleep the more energised I am.
It makes sense to go to bed early, I am still working on it to get a steadiness with it. Sometimes I still write emails or go onto Facebook before bed. The tuning point was for me when I felt to be worth it myself to go to bed early and leave the undone list till the next day. Now I am winding down and nurture with rituals sitting in my bed with a warm water bottle and hand cream. This morning my day already started with a lovely bath and time spend taking care of my body and going to bed early makes this day complete in this momentum. I have my good night sleep to rise full awake and building from an amazing momentum.
Like yourself Monica I am still working on my consistency with my bedtime rhythm. I am often not in until early evening and tend to check my emails and Facebook which is such a trap for me. I also have begun to let go of the need to check in and to leave things for the morning. Instead I now wind down reading one of Serge Benhayon’s books before settling and my quality of sleep is so noticeably improved, which supports me throughout the day.
Indeed the quality with which I spend my evenings before sleeptime definitely seems to affect the quality of sleep I have and how refreshed I am the next morning. MMmmm maybe a direct cause and effect relationship here.
The absolute honour of our body and ourselves by going to bed in time in a loving way is the surrender to the cycles we adhere to in the universe. The flow that comes from that is effortless and supporting us all day.
Sleeping properly and truly resting is a real gift for our body and not honouring this is really not loving for ourselves and our very essence . It is no wonder sleeping disorders, tiredness and exhaustion is such an epidemic in the world. Truly honouring our tiredness and changing the way we live constantly working on this really does make a difference and honouring our early (Normal ) bed time and early rising and the space and energy we can create in our life is simply wonderful. thank you Laura for all you share here I love it too.
Listening to what my body tells me – going to bed when I feel tired and getting up when I wake up – is so simple and yet it is so profound. Now I feel energised, whilst before, when trying to force my ideal picture of a sleeping rhythm onto my body, I always felt tired and at least a little exhausted.
Lovely that you can now truly appreciate what you felt as a child regarding sleep. One of the many benefits for me of going to bed early is that I’m awake early and able to walk as the sun is rising listening to the birds in full voice.
There is no greater time of day to appreciate the beauty and stillness of life than early in the morning.
Totally agree Adam…It’s like you have the whole world to yourself, and the productivity in that time is immeasurable …for me anyhow.
Yes me too Elodie – all of a sudden there is ‘space’ instead of time issues, and how cool is that!
I agree Adam, and for me it took some time to turn my body clock around and I now adore the early mornings – it is magical and exquisitely still and I relish in the many many sunrises I get to witness as part of my normal day.
Feels amazing! I know that many people can’t go that path of going to bed early to rise early mornings, but I can recommend to give a try. The body feels very awake and able to deal much better with all the stress of life.
I love the stillness too at that time of day. Being up early is completely enriching.
“It’s like I’m not honouring my body when I’m ready to wake up and start the day”. I love how there’s no right or wrong here just a relationship we build with our body and how it is feeling. In this way, it feels like you have returned Laura to the effortless vitality and joyful abundance you knew as a child. Beautiful to read, and inspiring.
I love going to bed early and have enjoyed getting back into the rhythm I knew and lived as a child. There is joy in allowing the body to deeply rest after a full day of fun and there is joy in being ready for the next day to come. I still find myself fighting this and will even intentionally eat something or overeat to avoid surrendering to what my body joyfully knows is coming my way. It’s like I think I am going to miss out which is like it was when I overrode my natural going to bed time and chose to go out and party with my friends in my late teens and early to mid 20’s. I woke up one day and realised I enjoy my days too much to waste them getting over not honouring my body’s natural rhythms … There had to be another way … Thank God I found Universal Medicine to confirm what I already knew and felt but could not find anywhere else but in me!
When I made the commitment to go to bed earlier a few years ago, it really changed my life! I found I was much more able to work and that I was more there and not always looking for the distractions of what to eat. Over a long period of time it also enabled me to become less emotional and tearful – all from going to bed at the same earlier time every night! I only heard that our bodies have a natural circadian rhythm recently and from what I have experienced this makes absolute sense. My body tells me very clearly at the same time EVERY night when it’s had enough and that it’s time for bed.
I had to smile, when I read your blog, because I was exactly the same when I was younger- I never wanted to feel tired next day and did even almost rejected a birthdaygift to go to a concert from my favorite singer at that time, because I didn´t want to feel tired the day after. There was this natural nurturing, which I came back to 8 years ago, when I met Serge Benhayon. I knew it all along, just had a little break of it when I was a teeneager and in my early twens. 😉
Yes I agree, we just had a time out and now returning back to our natural being.
I agree – I used to try and stay up late with my mum, but about half an hour after my usual bed time I couldn’t keep my eyes open – I was tired and there is no point resisting that. I luckily met Serge before my teenage years, and so never strayed too far from my natural sleep rhythm.
That’s awesome Rebecca! Some might say it is a right of passage to go through a whole period in your life of disregarding your body and ‘letting loose’, but in my opinion it feels like a huge waste of time. So many bad habits to then break later on. What a blessing you met a role model earlier in life to remind you to trust your own instincts.
It sort of makes sense does it not why so many young people have to drink so much alcohol or take drugs just so they can extend the night’s activities and escapes. We are naturally made to follow the cycles of night and day yet we seek to over-ride it for the sake of entertainment or stimulation.
A great reminder of how precious and velvety those early hours of the morning are, of their stillness and the great harmony that is so very real and palpable.
Stillness is present throughout all of the day, it is just human life that makes it seem busy.
So we basically just have to listen to and adhere to what our body constantly communicates with us and the health and wellbeing we are all looking for will naturally come to us.
How great it is to read someone else’s joy of early to bed early to rise. I love waking up with the bird songs.
Laura I loved your description of your early mornings as a child and your re-discovery of them as an adult. I can relate – I too loved that time of day when young and have loved reconnecting with it in later years. The nightclub-to-work routine is one I have done as well, with exactly the same consequences, down to the tonsillitis. Long -term, this kind of abuse added up to the thyroid condition I manifested a few years ago, after a couple of decades of over-riding my body. What you are presenting here is a foundational aspect of our health that deserves our absolute attention.
I have always felt that going to bed early is more natural for us but would override this and stay up as long as possible watching the TV, slumped in the chair and finally giving in and walking like a zombie to my bed feeling exhausted and grumpy. Then when I first heard the wisdom of why and how our sleep is so important for us I knew it was true but still felt like I was missing out on something – usually a TV show. I have come to learn however the benefits of getting a good nights sleep is far more valuable than any TV show.
Laura it’s easy to feel that you have had a clear relationship with your body from a young age and even as a teenager you were not only able to feel your body but to adhere to it as well. And that is the absolute key, to first hear what the body is saying and then to do as it asks.
It is simply amazing the benefits or going to bed early. It shows us how we lived that day by the quality of our sleep that gives us an indication on what we need to look at and the great start of a new day. The body is always there to provide us with answers even if we don’t know the question to ask.
Exactly and all we have to do is look out for the answers or messages and take notice of them, paying attention in all we do to the reflection the body then offers, and make appropriate changes if so required.
I can relate to everything you have shared here Laura. Es
Emails how amazing it feels when I wake up in the morning after honouring my body at bedtime.
I recall when I was in my 20’s staying up all night to 3/4 am in the morning then sleeping till about midday. I used to feel so awful and quite depressed – it was not a loving way to be living. I now work shift work and sometimes will go to bed as early as 7.30pm if I have missed a night’s sleep and can wake up very early refreshed and not affected by losing a night’s sleep. What supports me to do my shift work where often I am working 4-6 nights a months is having a very strong rhythm of going to bed early, it absolutely works and I cope better in my job now than I did 20 years ago with this consistency. What Serge Benhayon presents around our sleep rhythms is simple, life changing and truly works.
Sleep isn’t just something we crash into at the end of a hectic day – our day and our night are one – our day prepares us for a restorative night’s sleep and our sleep prepares us for the day ahead. With the two in a beautiful rhythm, we can live in harmony day in, day out.
Yes Carmel; to understand that how I have lived my day will affect the quality of my sleep, which will set me up for the next day is a continuous cycle. This was a complete revelation to me, as often we divorce our sleeping habits to just the nighttime. To know the two are inextricably linked has made me pay attention to the quality I am in during the day. As you say, “With the two in a beautiful rhythm, we can live in harmony day in, day out.”
Well said Carmel, it is a continuous cycle that we can choose to flow with and in doing so we work with the universe not against it.
Thank you Laura, your sharing is a reminder of the natural harmonious rhythms of our body and cycles.
Coming back to what you already had lived once and therefore knew to be true for you is very confirming and deeply satisfying and the strength and beauty that comes with being true to oneself is deeply felt in your words.
I was never one for early nights – my Mum reminds me that even at age 2 I used to jump on the bed at 11pm saying ‘party time’! However, after recently discovering the power of early nights, I am aware of how late nights were contributing to me living in a haze of exhaustion. I never felt truly awake when I got up in the morning and felt quite cloudy all day. Early nights – just going to sleep when my body feels ready – has shown me that I don’t have to be exhausted all the time and literally collapse into bed at the end of the day. I can go to bed when I feel it is time, well before I am exhausted and this allows me to wake up in the same quality I went to sleep in. A great article Laura. Thank you.
Today when I was babysitting I put the little one down for a nap – I made sure that they where warm and snuggled up and cared for as we got ready, and they slept for some time. I realised I don’t do the same thing for myself when I go to sleep, don’t take the same level of care. Nor do most people, and we don’t take time out to rest when we are tired, even though we encourage children to do so.
This is a great point Rebecca. When our children are babies we would never miss an opportunity to nurture them completely and to our absolute potential, yet somewhere along the line we ease off on this loving care as we grow older, to the point where most people treat themselves with utmost disregard rather than care. It is non-sensical really, for beneath the skin we are the same person, worthy of the same level of commitment.
Great realisation Rebecca it is about returning to that level of care and nurturing because we are, even when we are older, as precious and tender as a baby. And our bodies love this loving care, it confirms our being.
Rereading your blog today Laura I could appreciate how much my own sleep routine has changed and how lovely it now is. Getting up early allows so much space to my morning, nothing is ever rushed yet I get lots done. Even my drive into work feels part of that gentle rhythm and is unaffected by the busy traffic around me.
My sleep routine has also change significantly, since beginning to explore the way of the livingness. From find it hard to fall asleep and waking up groggy and tired – to going to be with a sense of fulfilment and waking ready for the next day…
As I continue to self care, listen to my body and wind down towards sleep, I have began to remember the feelings that I experienced as a child. It has been quite lovely to catch this feeling as it takes me back to the days when I felt connected as a young child. The memory of a feeling is all encompassing and in the body and very different to a head memory.
I could not survive living with the sleeping patterns I used to have. I can relate to that ‘knackered’ feeling after pushing myself with work, socialising and study to the Nth degree. This just cannot be anymore, as my bed is all too inviting, and feeling anything other than amazing I know is a disservice to all. I love going to bed early and waking early, it too has revolutionised my life. Thank you Laura!
I am a shift worker and when I first heard about the benefits of going to bed early I wasn’t convinced that it would work so I did an experiment over a two week period and found that not only did I get tired at around 8 pm but so too did my colleagues who were working with me. This was the time that the chocolate/biscuits etc came out as people felt the drop in their energy levels and craved something sweet. It slowly dawned on me that what our bodies wanted was sleep and not sugar!
This is a lovely sharing Laura and I could feel your enjoyment of your mornings as a child and now again as an adult. I was always terrible at sleeping and really tried to avoid it a lot in my teenage years quite often staying awake all weekend and, therefore, have never had a very nurturing sleep pattern and wake up very easily to the slightest noise but since I too have begun a rhythm of being in bed by 9.30 i’m finding the quality of my sleep has improved greatly and because of this i’m waking earlier and am more rested and feeling more equipped for the day ahead. Appreciating the early mornings has been a huge turnaround for me.
What I notice reading this blog is how just having one or two early nights can make so much difference! If we ponder making this a loving rhythm every night, what could this become in terms of quality of life?
It seems when you get up early that there is so much space! Some mornings I naturally wake very early and am so joyful at the space I now have to read, or cook, or do whatever I feel (no appointments that early!)
When I first heard Serge Benhayon say that sleeping and rising early could create a supportive rhythm I was so relieved! For years I had wanted to go to bed early, but had felt like such a loser that I forced myself to stay up. Now I joyfully sleep early each night, and LOVE how easy it is to rise early.
Ha ha Heather, you’re so right, going to bed early raises eyebrows and is considered extremely nerdy! Imagine living in a country where it’s the cultural norm to start going out to eat at 10pm – that would be the end of me. I’m very happy being a nerd.
I agree Heather, I have never been one for late nights, and as I got older and went into my teen years it was seen as weird to go to bed before midnight, but luckily I had the support of Universal Medicine to do what I feel to do, rather than what Im told or pressured to do. And what I found was that many people came to respect my ability to go to bed early, often saying they would like to, but that they just couldn’t seem to get to sleep any earlier. When we listen to our own rhythm it helps to create a confidence in your own feelings.
Like you Laura understanding the importance of quality sleep came when I attended Universal Medicine and the presentations from Serge Benhayon. I can not deny the difference from even going to be an hour later and how this will effect how I feel the next day. Also I have become even more aware of the different foods and how much I eat in the evening and the impact that this has on the quality of sleep and how I feel when I wake.
Laura, I love the photo at the start of this article, it feels so nurturing and caring, this is the feeling that I have in the evenings before I go to bed, lovingly preparing myself for sleep and in the mornings when I have time for myself to gently get ready for the day, I love these times, they are truly gorgeous and make such a difference to my days.
Thanks, Laura. A beautiful reminder that if we care for our bodies and create a steady rhythm, it feeds us back big time during the day and supports us to be more.
Thank you Laura for sharing your experience of returning to your natural rhythm of going to bed early and how you are constantly refining how you self-care by listening to your body. For me this is still very much a work in progress. I love the expansiveness of getting up early and have recently been focussing on how I wind down when I come home from work so that the quality I go to sleep in is much calmer but I find I can still get caught up at work and not take a proper break and that has an impact on my whole rhythm which I have not been fully appreciating. I feel inspired to deepen my level of self-care to include my whole day.
I can also remember in my twenties feeling really edgy and grumpy on the weekends after staying up late the night before, even if I slept in till lunchtime. On the days when I honoured when my body felt tired and went to bed earlier, I would wake up earlier and feel much more energised and productive on the weekends. It did not seem to matter how much sleep I had but when I went to bed and woke up. I would often feel the pressure of time when I woke up at lunchtime because it would seem like the day was almost over before it began! These days I am up early on weekends and it feels great to have the full day to catch up on all those things that there isn’t time to do during the week.
Yes, and how much time do we waste when we’re out of rhythm in this way? I have to say large chunks of my life disappeared indulging in late nights. Today my productivity and usefulness to society has increased enormously, simply by changing my routine.
Great blog Laura and you reminded me of how I was when I was in my teens and early twenties and how I struggled with staying up late at parties and gigs, as I used to play in a band in London then and late nights and after parties were the norm. I remember getting teased by my mates because I would often fall asleep or doze in a corner at a party, especially after a beer or three! I would frequently fall asleep on the train home and miss my stop. My body was obviously telling me that to be awake at that hour was not natural for it. However I was over-riding this natural rhythm to fit in and do what everyone else was doing at that time. In more recent times I have also been experimenting with going to bed early and it definitely feels more like my body’s natural rhythm and I now have so much energy in my day as a result.
Laura, like you I had early mornings and early nights in my childhood and I enjoyed it. Also now I came back to this rythm and it supports me in the way that I usually feel more energised, as with a late night rythm.
Early to bed, early to rise…
My body says yes as does the smile in my eyes 🙂
Love that! Mine too.
I love going to bed early now and waking up early. Before attending Universal Medicine courses and presentations I used to find it extremely difficult to get out of bed. I would feel awful even after 8-9 hours of sleep and only barely functioning throughout the day. I was just simply exhausted. By choosing to listen and honouring my body with sleep time and with food, this completely changed everything. I now, wake up feeling vital, energised and joyful. I am feeling more myself, alive and embracing life with purpose and clarity. It’s an incredible turnaround due to making loving choices and choosing to honour my natural rhythm.
Sleep – so many points here Laura. I also really love the early starts too with the silence and stillness that that time brings. Throughout the years I have enjoyed waking earlier and have found a natural evening time for my body to go to sleep by so that those early starts are fresh, and I’m not tired during the working day. The clarity at that morning time is also hugely beneficial. Getting to know what your body needs during its cycle, age, health, and also according to how you are living life at the time is important and different for every person i.e. there is no ‘rule’. Sometimes I find I need extra sleep one day and or may take a nap later in the day if need be, or need less sleep. Honouring the body in this way as part of your unique rhythm is all part of nurturing.
There is a definite wisdom in the body that knows when it is time to rest. I spent many many many nights up late fighting that wisdom, trying to change the facts and convince myself that I was fine when I stayed up late and crammed my morning into as little time as I possibly could before running out the door to work.
The difference between then and now is pretty remarkable. I’m usually in bed between 9-10 and up at around 5 sometimes earlier, sometimes a bit later. But it is really noticeable what effect my pre-bedtime activity will have on my sleep and my ability to wake in the morning. I’m having fun learning to refine what works and discovering what makes me feel great!
My young Children are usually in bed between 6 and 7 pm and this week they were up till 9pm. My young boy struggled with this greatly, and even more so the following day. Actually watching him, he has taken a few days to recover. I am recognising that this has the same affect on me, taking a few days to recover.
Like you Laura, I used to love early to bed and early to rise as a child – the smell and freshness of the cool morning air, and the stillness, and then the birds waking and chirping – it was always a joyful feeling to start the day with. And then along the way life became ‘busy’ and staying up late to get everything done was the solution, and even though I felt more exhausted for doing this, it never occurred to me to leave all those ‘things to do’ of an evening, go to bed early, and do them in the morning instead! It wasnt until Serge Benhayon and Natalie Benhayon presented the possibility of going to bed by 9pm and rising early that everything changed – that drained and exhausted feeling is no longer a part of my world. I will have times when my body is physically tired after a days work but it isn’t depleted. Early to bed and early to rise has brought back that joy and love of life that was there when I was young.
“Winding down from my day and going to bed early has certainly been a big part of the way I now self-care.” – Yes Laura me too and since going to bed when the body tells me to, I sleep really well and wake up early and refreshed with no alarm necessary. And what I also have found is, I don’t need a midday nap anymore. Feels awesome.
Going to bed early and waking up early is a true pampering we can gift to the body—with only amazing after effects. The self-love we build in the foundation of our lives, is a foundation we build in every aspect of life—including finances and work. So going to bed early actually allows us to do better work.
This is for sure Adele, I find that I have a much more productive day if I have gone to be early the night before.
Very true Sue. Our bodies are marker of truth through we can be guided to know what is needed to support us to live with the vitality that we are designed to naturally live.
I am absolutely a fan of simplicity, and going to bed early and waking up early as well as your blog Laura just feels beautifully simple, and there is so much wisdom in this simplicity.
It feels very honoring to go to bed early and I love waking up early, having given myself the permission to honor how my body feels and having the support of the body when it is nurtured and cared for, is what keeps my commitment to go to bed early, despite being in a city that only begins their night at 9pm. I do not feel like I am missing out on life or that I am an alien in my city, because honoring my choices as well as other people’s choices, is a constant learning and deepening of relationship I have with myself and with the 7 billion individuals around me, and this builds on the foundation in having a relationship with thet whole world.
There is much deep appreciation for the wisdom of the body that is shared with us all the time. Very naturally I started going to bed at 9pm a few years ago before hearing Serge Benhayon and Natalie Benhayon present about sleep and winding down time, as it just felt natural to, and the body has naturally made this choice for me that I chose to honor. And Laura, as you have shared in your experiences, it is so worth it to build this foundation.
“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.’ This is a beautiful way to look at this early to bed, early to rise rhythm. I’ve been going to bed by 9pm and rising early but have been so focused on fitting everything in of a morning that I haven’t taken the time to appreciate and enjoy it! There have been moments of being aware of the stillness and quiet, and smelling the fresh cool morning air, but you have reminded me to appreciate more this ‘me’ time. I also tend to leave the wind down of an evening to the last 15mins or so rather than starting wind down much earlier when my body is actually telling me to go to bed…so thank you Laura for the reminders and the inspiration. It is very inspiring to read how your morning rhythm has followed throughout your whole day.
I was walking to work extra early and really enjoying the quiet and the birds so I really connected with this in the blog Laura it reminded me of walks with my brother on his paper round! I love going to bed early and although I always have, in the past I wouldn’t have thought about winding down before bed and would probably of rushed around doing many things and then tired thrown myself into bed. Winding down gently at the end of the day and preparing my body for sleep just the way I would do for my children in the past is so much lovelier.
Laura – it is just magic how the body responds to us truly resting – truly stopping and allowing ourselves the time to sleep and rest deeply.
As you share here – it is not about sleeping for a long amount of time per se – but rather about the quality in which we sleep and the time we sleep.
Since going to bed earlier – I have noticed a profound difference in how i am during the day – and the energy levels I have – but I have also noticed a difference in how well I sleep , the dreams I have and how gently I put myself to sleep.
I always loved to get up really early but going to bed early I just discovered (and now love) a few years ago, also inspired by Serge Benhayon’s presentations. I usually hung out with friends or in pubs till late drinking and smoking. Yet I would often get up early anyway because I loved the early hours of the day when the rest of the world was still sleeping. It gave me space to do something ‘only for me’ or connect with nature being outside. Only caffeine and other stimulants got me going through the day and alcohol in the evening usually stimulated me rather than making me tired.
Now I don’t drink or smoke anymore since years ago and love going to bed early. I am not numbed out anymore and feel that my body is tired, since being up very early. I still enjoy the early time in the morning but don’t waste time in the evening anymore with distracting myself and numbing out in front of the TV or drinking in pubs and having meaningless small talk. It is very yummy snuggling into bed early and not feeling dead tired.
I have always prefered going to bed when it gets dark and waking up early to the sound of the birds singing. I am hopeless late at night, grumpy and things just don’t work out but early in the morning I amaze myself with how much I can actually get done. For me, if I do have a late night, I always feel like I have a hangover even though I don’t drink anymore. My body just really feels exhausted when I don’t honour my natural rhythm.
I had friends who used to make fun of me in the past but have now tried going to bed earlier and changing their rhythm and it works for them too. Definitely worth a try.
Really letting go of today and all the events and people and things we do and then winding down our bodies to completely stop and get STILL to finally sleep… now that feels magical and makes a lot of sense.
Then when we wake earlier, refreshed and not dragging yesterday through to today we can begin with a spaciousness and clarity in our bodies that we deserve.
This way we align with nature and all the cycles of life.
“Winding down from my day and going to bed early has certainly been a big part of the way I now self-care.” By following this I have found that what Serge Benahyon shared that our day begins not when we rise but in fact when we go to bed so true. How I prepare myself for, and how I am feeling before, going to bed has such a profound affect on how I am the next day.
I love having discovered the wonderful benefits of being in bed before 9pm, usually reading one of Serge Benhayon’s purple books for a short amount of time before turning off the light to drift off to sleep. As for getting up early in the morning this is the most precious time of the day for me with time to appreciate the early morning sounds, like the kookaburras and in the distance I hear a rooster crowing and being up early I also get to see the glorious early morning skies. And there is none of that last minute rush to leave for work in the mornings which is a great way to start my working day.
Thank you Laura for your insight into going to bed early. It appears to me that not going to bed early not only affects one day , but rather all the days of our week. By ignoring our bodies signals for sleep we spend the rest of the week playing catch up, this shows us how important a rhythm is to our bodies wellbeing.
I used to be a ‘night owl’ – working and playing late into the night and still managing to be at work for 9.00 am, whenever possible lie in late into the morning and never enjoying early mornings. To maintain my lifestyle I was fuelled by sugar, caffeine, carbohydrates and alcohol. However, since going to be bed and rising early for the last nine years I have let go of all those substances and my energy and vitality is so much greater. AND I now adore the early morning. As you say, Laura, it is ‘a really precious time’.
Yes Jonathan, my past life was very similar to yours, I went to bed very late and I was always tired. Lately I realized how important it is for me to go for a walk in the morning – to enjoy the stillness, my body is asking for fresh air and for movement. That is just awesome to start the day with.
As a child I loved the magic of the stillness in the mornings, so I can absolutely relate to your experience of and how you felt growing up. This was true for me also as was how my body ‘screamed’ at me with discomfort when I stayed up late and overrode the messages that it was time to go to bed and rest. Through the presentations of Universal Medicine I also have been inspired to explore my relationship with my body and the messages it sends me. I have also discovered that – ‘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.’ – this is so true. Honoring this relationship with my body has allowed me to develop, which continues to be refined, a foundation that truly supports me to live with vitality.
I also love the quiet and still mornings and have done since I was young. I didn’t like sleeping in at all…I felt like I was missing the best part of the day. There’s something about the stillness that supports or sets me up for the day…I loved it then and appreciate it even more now
Absolutely true Sara Harris, the stillness and getting up early creates space, and in this — space to prepare which also helps with anxiousness from not being prepared, and therefore in a rush. Days are great markers of the previous nights sleep ritual, and night time sleep like a seer of the day.
Agree Sara, I grew up feeling the exact same thing, and when I slept in I felt I had missed the glory of the day.
I so agree Sara, same with me! I absolutely love the stillness and quiet in the mornings. I find it almost sacred, just before dawn, I love to go walking before it is actually daylight. It is great contemplative time, to be with myself and work through things. This is all possible by honouring my going to bed time, it isn’t perfect each night, so flexible due to life’s challenges and pleasantries also. It does feel very supportive to be this way.
Yes, it is certainly a gorgeous experience to be up early in the morning… the stillness before the burst of a new day is quite an intimate moment
I share that feeling Sara, the early mornings are truly amazing in the stillness at the start of a new day. I love the changing light as the sun comes up and the feeling of the beginning of a fresh cycle.
I have always known and felt the morning stillness for being since childhood an early riser. What I did not know was the importance of the bedtime ritual to prepare myself for a restorative sleep and waking up refreshed and joyful at the prospect of living another day.
Those words were very familiar to me Sara as a teenager, when I’d still be in bed at 9am, my dad talking to my bedroom door; “you’ve missed the best part of the day!” I had chosen the late to bed rhythm for many years, but now, most definitely like you, appreciate that wonderful time in the early mornings I can give myself.
Not only is there the stillness before the world (people) awakes to its business. Since childhood I have always enjoyed the promise, the potential of the early morning, the birds being the first to chirping that they can´t wait for the day to unfold or like a child bursting outside the door to discover the world.
Hi Alex, yes who needs xmas and a pretend santa clause to get up out bed early! When we live who we are during the day our waking morning is that of joy, purpose and potential.
What you have shared Alex, brings beautiful memories back and support me to appreciate those moments.
Sleeping in was always a strange experience for me. I would always reach a point where my body was so irritable, that I just had to get up. We are so not meant to lie around and sleep all day. There is much in the quality of those early mornings that is a reflection for us to ponder.
Hello Laura Hoy, and my parents were big on the ‘early to bed early to rise’ routine when I was young. We always had a bed time depending on our age that was constantly adhered too, 8.30pm was the latest. When I moved out on my own I played around with this time and the results weren’t great. I’m back to a 9pm at the latest bedtime, not because of any other reason but I love how it feels to wake up after going to sleep at this time. I worked shift work for nearly a decade and for me it’s lovely to go to bed at this time. I find how I am the next day is directly affected by the quality of my sleep. Thank you Laura.
I love this blog Laura. My life has a lot more flow and ease when I go to bed before 9pm. I naturally wake up around 4am and I love it when it’s earlier.
The big point here is, when you say you have developed a rhythm that supports you. This is key seems to be to allow yourself time to set it up as a way of living. It may not be what you would consider normal, but there can be a whole new normal just waiting and far less grumpy in the morning.
Absolutely Joel there is a difference between what is considered normal by society and what is natural for our bodies. Developing a rhythm that supports us means listening to and being aware of our natural way of being and living which our bodies can communicate to us very clearly. There are many things in the world today that are considered ‘normal’ because perhaps the majority do them in this way but they do not always stand up to the test of asking the body what is natural for it.
I really enjoyed reading your experience from young to now Laura. It shows how as children we naturally know the right rhythm for our bodies and yet life is set up that as we age we must change this, work late, party late, watch TV late. I remember as a child observing how all the adults got to stay up late and I actually thought it meant you were cool if you could stay up….boy did I have it wrong. Great that you found Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and are now back on track. I love also what you shared about this now going into your entire daily rhythm. Very inspiring.
The things that babies really love are rhythms and rituals. The thing children and adults really love too are rhythms and rituals. We are all in rhythmic ritualistic patterns all the time, and even late nights and creating chaos can be a ritual. What I love about your blog Laura, you’re the focus on bringing love, nurturing and self-honouring to our rhythms and rituals, bringing a focus to our natural rhythms as dictated by our inner-hearts and bodies. Just lovely!
My children naturally have a rhythm that is early to bed and early to rise. It feels great to be in sync with this rhythm myself as an adult and be up early in the mornings so that I can spend more time with them before school/work etc. Especially on the weekends it works really well to be up and about with them and making the most of our time together.
This is gorgeous Andrew, when a whole family has a similar sleep rhythm everything flows more smoothly and like you say there is much more space and time created for you all to spend that quality time together. It is amazing how having similar sleeping routines can really help to confirm the love as a family you all share together.
Being made to go to bed early can feel like punishment for a child, they may feel that they are missing out on life. For others it is a chance to escape into fantasy with a book or to have fantasy dreams where life is very different from reality. I meet tired parents who stay up late to enjoy ‘child-free’ time and then moan because they are woken up early the next morning by their wide-awake children. Sleep time at either end of the day then becomes a battle ground and yet when a whole family enjoys early bed times with a gentle wind down it can create a beautiful atmosphere of harmony.
We place a lot of importance and study on the length of sleep that is appropriate for people, but very little focus on the hours that we go to sleep. When I was a young boy, it was natural to go to bed early, and wake up early full of energy. As we get older, we get better at ignoring the messages in our body that are telling us we are tired, and so we learn how to push on into the night – then wonder why we are tired the next morning. Of course, even then, we find we have a solution that does not require us to listen to our body. We have coffee, sugar, stimulants to help us ride through the day, and suddenly there we find ourselves in a cycle that is completely against what our body was naturally communicating to us when we were young.
True Adam. We find ways to cope with our constant choices to over-ride the body…and then further choices to sustain this.
And what I have found is the quality of sleep is important. In the past I have slept for over 8 hours but still woken up feeling tired. As I have deepened my connection with myself throughout my day then the quality of my sleep has improved, I no longer wake up several times throughout the night, but mainly sleep through quite solidly. I sleep less hours but feel much more refreshed.
Me too Donna before coming to Universal Medicine presentations I would often wake up every night feeling a little anxious, wanting to get back to sleep but just couldn’t, through adjusting how I live during the day and looking at what was making me anxious this hardly ever happens anymore. I love that I can now sleep solidly through the night for me this was a little miracle!.
Yes, there is an honesty to our choices when we are young: we feel, we respond – if our body feels tired, we lie down – anywhere! Then as adults we find ways to avoid and over-ride our bodies messages, and as you say bring in ways to maintain our ill choices, and consequently life gets complicated.
There is such simplicity in honouring what our bodies are telling us.
I know, this is so true Adam. So many of us have chosen to override what our body is telling us. The messages from our body becomes louder when we ignore them but then we often use stimulants to numb that too. This can be a vicious cycle of abuse to our body that can cause illness and disease if we choose to ignore the signs. When we start listening to our body and honouring its natural rhythm, this can assist us in preventing exhaustion, stress and other health problems.
I agree Adam…and to take it one step further, if one were to look at the ‘QUALITY’ of sleep, then the amount of hours is not so important as the level of surrender in the body makes all the difference. 6hrs of quality surrender versus 10hrs of restlessness – the former always wins hands down for me. Esoteric Yoga has shown me the power of this because the body can actually shut down, the nervous system can shut down and the body can truly rest and repair and wake up afresh.
It would be amazing for someone to do a study on early to bed and early to rise, and see how this impacts on the need for stimulants like coffee, sugar etc. The results may be very surprising.
It’s a great point Adam and something that is not acknowledged, that is the quality of our sleep being influenced by how we live our day and then preparing for sleep. I remember being so tired when I went to bed, mainly because I was already asleep on the lounge, that I would literally drag myself to bed. No preparation their at all and then because I felt tired I would need the caffeine and the sugar during the day just to get through. Like you I remember love going to bed early and getting up early. I just know that this was something that supported me during my day.
A beautiful reminder about sleep rhythms Laura thank you. The body does tell us loud and clear what best suits us, I used to be a late to bed person and hated having to get up early in the morning. Now I go to bed earlier and get up early naturally and find I have so much more energy. I feel it is true that lying in bed resisting getting up can actually be quite exhausting, as others have also mentioned in the comments.
One of the keys to be able to go to bed early and to get up early is to go to bed when tired. Many times in the past I was too tired to want to go to bed and too unfulfilled during the day. It was as if there was something missing at the end of the day and I wanted to ‘enjoy’ myself by watching TV or some other means, not noticing that that would make me even more tired.
Once I had purpose in life it was actually easy to go to bed early – there is so much more to do and it is easier to do it in the morning. Much easier and with much better quality.
Hello Christoph Schnelle and I agree. No clock watching but using it as a guide. As you say, “One of the keys to be able to go to bed early and to get up early is to go to bed when tired. ” Just listening to this simple part and not overriding it will already make a huge difference. I also agree about the mornings and for me it is a much clearer time for me to do things. I have always enjoyed the crispness of the mornings and fresh starts to my day. We at times think the days are separate when in fact they are closely linked, the way you finish one directly effects the start to the other and the same the other way. Thank you Christoph.
Yes feeling the purpose we have in life can definitely wipe out the need to delay bedtime.
I used to always be a bit of late owl, falling asleep on the sofa, going to bed late and waking up struggling the next day. Now that I consistently go to bed before 9 and avoid stimulating foods or drinks throughout the day it’s amazing to feel what I feel every single morning and how this supports me into my day. The first thing i feel in the morning is the exquisite space and stillness where everything is quiet, still sleeping, quietly waking. I’m in a harmonious flow with nature with no pushing and during this time whatever it is I choose to do, I do it in this very still quality. This then stays with me as my foundation, what I’ve started off with, as I launch into the rest of the day. I would now never live any other way.
Katerina I love the feeling of stillness in my body in the morning also.
Its like I am being held by God.
It is my platform from which to begin the day and all that it offers.
That’s beautiful Kathryn, “Its like I am being held by God.” I can feel the preciousness of the stillness of the mornings and it is like being held by God. There is an expansiveness, openness and grace to this time of day.
What has really stuck with me that I heard Serge Benhayon present once was that our day begins when we go to bed at night, not when we get up in the morning. The quality in which we go to bed in, which is the quality in which we have lived our day is the start of the new day ahead when we wake up. Knowing this has called a deeper level of responsibility for me with how I live my day so I am not going to bed at night expecting any raciness that I have lived throughout my day to disappear but know that I am taking that quality with me to bed and it will affect my sleep and affect how I feel the next day.
Hi Laura, great blog – I’ve also been noticing how the way that I am during the day and before I go to bed, totally effects the quality of sleep that I have and how I feel when I wake up in the morning. Missing my morning exercise and working through lunch instead of taking a break are both things that are guaranteed to leave me feeling flat and extra-tired by the end of the day but it’s a different tiredness, not a “wow I’m so ready for an early night” tired, but more a heaviness and a feeling like I need something to “make it better”. This is when I can easily opt for eating more than I actually need or zoning out in front of a tv show till way past my normal bed time which ironically guarantees that I wake up feeling crappy and this cycle is then easy to repeat. It’s interesting to note that the heaviness I feel is actually because I’ve missed opportunities in my day to take care of myself (exercise, taking a lunch break, etc) and I find the easiest way to press the reset button is to make a conscious decision to have an early night.
I loved reading the lovely rhythm you had when you were a child it felt gorgeous and how this is returning back to your life. This is one area in my life that I know needs some real tlc especially winding down to sleep. Thank you for sharing.
I love the early mornings too, Laura. I usually walk the dog about 5.15am (am up at 3am) and it is a gorgeous time of the day- the birds are starting to sing and it is usually very still. Nature’s perfection.
Sounds lovely Anne!, Here in England the mornings are usually really crisp and I love going out for a walk first thing when the stars are still out and everything is so still and fresh.
Laura, it’s been great to refine this rhythm for myself also. lt isn’t always easy but l feel the instant benefits when l do. The stillness and harmony of the morning is precious to be part of. It always feels so sacred.
Laura as someone that would always stay up late, never able to get to sleep as I felt restless and angry about the world I’ve seen an incredible difference in going to bed early, having a quality in my day that allows me to rest and in turn waking up early the next day. Not only has the support been incredible, as many of the ways of being you spoke about are similar to how I lived with no sleep and parties, but there is so much more space in which to complete things. I used to feel I ran out of time each day yet with an early start the rushing is now but an occasional experience i’ve not taken care of myself for the proceeding days. How incredible that one aspect of life going to bed early, sleep and waking up early has on everything else. Relationships, work, conversations, focus etc..
Thank you for your blog Laura – I have also been working on the times I retire to bed and get up in the morning and am inspired by your blog. You can feel how accepting and allowing you are of your own natural rhythm and how this simple approach of listening to our bodies can reveal what is truly supportive for us. Lovely.
I absolutely love going to bed early. It feels very natural to me, however I did struggle with it for some years, feeling that I was missing out on life if I went to bed too early. Now my days feel so much longer. I get up early and have time to prepare myself for the day and even get some work done. Its a great rhythm to be in and it works for me in so many ways.
I love going to bed early now. I have my morning rhythm that just sets me up for the day. If I don’t have a good sleep, it gives me the opportunity to look at what I did in the day before and why… this is a continuous process to keep making adjustments. As you had said Laura, I can also state that going to bed early is a solid part of something I had never heard of or had any concept of a few years ago… self-care.
I am appreciating going to bed more early than I used to and waking earlier in the morning. The morning has a quality of stillness that is deeply supportive and it allows me to make space for what I need to do for myself. It is part of my foundation that supports how I feel for the rest of the day.
The joy you have with your sleeping rhythm inspires me to listen more to my body. You remind me to forever refine my rhythms and not simply stick to a routine that once worked well but may not be exactly what is supporting me best today. There is always more to be honoured and appreciated, more detail to what the body needs, more sensitivity with how I feel and self-care.
Now that I’ve experienced the amazing benefits of consistently going to bed early and waking up in the early morning hours, there’s no way I would trade this — a solid nurturing sleep rhythm sets us up for a solid and focussed day full of vitality.
A lovely and inspiring blog to read Laura. The way you explain your rhythm of early to bed and the benefits it brings shows how this routine/rhythm has enormous benefit to health, wellness and vitality to be engaged in life.
Beautiful blog Laura. I can really relate, I never liked going to bed very late but with everyone around me doing this I thought there was something wrong with me! I have also been inspired and confirmed by the presentations of Serge Benhayon, that it may be our natural rhythm to go to bed early and wake up early. It simply makes a lot of sense and I deeply enjoy going to bed on time, as I always felt like having to work so hard staying awake at the late evenings.
This is beautiful shared Laura and to read that you already knew from young that going to be early brings you a joy in life that is so completely different from staying up late is inspiring me. That shows to me that we know but we are only not inspired to follow that impuls that we naturally have. Since some years I have also adjusted my sleeping pattern to going to bed early and waking up early and I truly enjoy doing that. Especially the mornings are sometimes so exquisite in how I can feel the preciousness life actually is to me. I do not want to miss out on these moments of my day anymore and therefor inspire myself in deepening and refine my daily rhythms that form the foundation of all that I am in this life.
Yes, i totally agree. I love going to bed early, mostly before 9 pm and getting up 5 am. I feel refreshed in the mornings and love the stillness around me. it is very nurturing and sets my day.
Laura, I really enjoyed reading your blog and feeling your unfolding and learning as you expressed what it is like now for you to re-visit your own body-rhythms of your childhood. Springs to mind something I observed when I was out shopping recently, on my way to the ATM, and passing an Asian food shop where one staff was doing the final clean up, and that was almost closed for the day, (this was a Sunday), the time was about 4.00 p.m. and noticed two of the staff, one female, one male out cold sitting on two of the chairs in the outside dining area, heads lying face down on the bare table, and arms spread across – in the deepest of sleeps. I wondered if they had heard of ‘spleen time’ and self-nurturing. They had obviously heard of ‘listening to the body’ – for they had stopped where they dropped, or is that the other way around, dropped where they stopped!
There is no better feeling then to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and so ready to start the day. This only comes with the decision to go to bed early. A simple choice that show the benefits instantly.
Thank you for your blog Laura. There is so much in what you’ve written, as you’ve not just written about the act of going to bed early, but you’ve spoken about rhythms and how you have developed one that supports you during the day. What you are showing us here is that that is no switch off point because it’s night and day. What we do and how we do whatever we’re doing in the evenings affects the quality of our sleep, which will in turn affect how we wake up, how we feel and the day ahead and then the cycle continues. Well Done for taking the steps to interrupt the disruptive cycle that you were in Laura and for sharing that with the world.
Some absolute common sense principles you’re presenting here, Laura in relation to how to live life to maintain true vitality. Particularly how it’s ridiculous that when we’re tired we stay up late to get things done instead of throwing in the towel, getting real rest when we need it and then waking up refreshed and ready to do the tasks that are outstanding with and in a renewed and invigorated body.
Yes there is no doubt going to bed early is the way to roll if you want to be in rhythm with the cycles on the earth, the tides and of the moon; in short if you want to move in harmony with nature. 9pm is definitely the way to go as this has been scientifically proven otherwise we are batting against our true nature causing all sorts of disharmony in the body.
Committing to the rhythm of going to bed early and rising early reveals so much to refine about how I live my day. It allows me to constantly expand my awareness.
Being a night owl was the perfect way to not live my potential because I always felt behind. It is a great gift to know the beauty and magic of the rhythm of rising early.
It is such a precious time in the very early morning. I have completely shifted my daily rhythm from being a night owl to an early riser and I deeply appreciate myself for this. I have gradually brought my waking time earlier and earlier to allow myself the space to feel and be with me in the stillness of the morning. And this is everyday, no different for Sundays! I work on the projects I am committed to, check and respond to emails and this is my foundation for living a full day with presence.
along with walking every morning going to bed early has to have had the most significant honouring of my body and its natural rhythms.
I loved reading the process you have gone through feeling into what does and doesn’t support you. Going to bed early and getting up early makes complete sense to me rather than fighting through tiredness to stay up, for honouring your body and its rhythm is deeply supportive and feels very nurturing to embrace.
In establishing a going to bed early and waking up early rhythm in each day, I have discovered that I am actually learning about commitment and consistency, which in turn is having a very far reaching and profound affect on all areas of my life.
I just love winding down, taking it slow in evenings & going to bed early & as a result waking up early feeling so wonderful & fresh in my body. Reading your blog reminded me on when I dont go to bed when my body is indicating I am tired, I find it hard to fall asleep, in fact it takes longer & next morning I feel quite tired even if I slept for same or longer amount of time. So going to bed early & also when your body needs to sure makes sense.
Good point pinkylight – letting the body lead the way into bed seems more sensible than looking at the watch…
So beautifully written Laura. Your ability to capture and feel the beauty in the day is so wonderful. I feel an ease and a grace that your allowing yourself to have with your time. I am also truly loving and appreciating my morning times as well and feel that by the end of the day if I am needing to do some more things that I am allowing myself to do them in the morning when I get up and I know that I will. A little while a go I use to be living in a way where I would ‘forget’ those things that needed to be done but the more I deepen my self care and deepen my love for myself (going to bed early is defiantly apart of this) I am remembering and also enjoying doing all the things that are needed in my life to have a beautiful life. Work commitments, computer commitments the whole hog. Its a wonderful process to be unravelling.
It is well known that when we run our bodies ragged we get sick then we expect the Doctor to take care of it without making changes to do things differently to ensure we don’t get sick.
I loved reading about your morning routine as a teenager. It felt like such a full way to start the day, with some exercise, outdoor time and work. It feels like the perfect balance of work and play and a recipe for contentment. I have also experimented with when and how I put myself to sleep. It’s not so much about the time that I go to bed, but responding to my body and what it needs to wind down. I notice a distinct difference in my energy levels if I go to bed when I felt to, not after ‘just finishing up’ a few things which can stretch out to an extra hour or more.
“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” Thank you Laura listening to our bodies is such a simply thing we can do and yet it has such a huge and profound impact on our lives when we do.
Winding down and going to bed early is such a loving thing I can do for myself and seeing as it is nearly bed time now – night night all!
Reading your memories of childhood brought back my own, very similar ones – waking up around 5am and reading for an hour or so before anyone else stirred, then when I was 12 also, starting a paper round too. I was magic being up at that time of the day. In the winter when it was still dark, I loved seeing the signs of people waking from their beds – lights coming on here and there until most had joined me in the day. The rest of my childhood mirrors yours – teenage years staying up late, drinking etc. then struggling to wake up pretty much every day. I am so grateful for the inspiration offered to me from Serge Benhayon who is the most vital, productive, joyful person I know and who also honours an early to bed rhythm. My body heaved a huge sigh of relief when I stopped trying to stay up late just because I thought I should, and now, when I am able to I adore going to bed by 9pm.
Laura what you have shared is so simple but at the same time absolute gold. I used to live in a pattern of staying up late to get some me time after mothering all day. In now feel true me time is listening to my body and lovingly putting myself when I feel to. Sometimes that’s as early as 7.30 pm which I would never have imagined doing before I learnt to connect to true self care and self love from the teachings of Universal Medicine.
I have always loved going to bed early and getting up early. As you mention Laura, mornings are not only a very productive time, they are also a time when everything is quiet except for the birds so I always find the serenity beautifully invigorating and help create a great start to my day.
What you have shared here Laura is so similar to how I lived – farm life was ‘early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” as my Dad would say – I recall waking early in joyful anticipation of the day – eager to walk out into the quiet countryside and greet the often red sunrises – then it all went awry in the teen years and I seemed to forget how awesome early mornings are – they certainly do set the pace/tone of the whole day – currently computer time has been claiming this new day time, but I am now going out to walk when I feel the pull in my body because as Liane says -the key to not pushing the’ me’ to the side in order to ‘get the job done’ is to honour these innate rhythms.
Over the years I have noticed that my body loves a consistent rhythm and without this rhythm my days would feel all over the place. There are many rhythms within my day…my sleep, my work, when I eat, my exercise etc that all support my day. What I have been unfolding in recent years is the quality of my movement in these rhythms as this has made a huge difference to my day. Bringing a gentle and tender presence to all that I do, mind and body as one, has been a game changer.
‘Bringing a gentle and tender presence to all that I do, mind and body as one, has been a game changer.’ Beautiful reminder thank you Marika that supports the building of a loving rhythm.
Thank you for this gorgeous blog Laura. I had a smile on my face when reading it, especially the joyful parts you shared around how you felt and acted when you were younger.
I too have always enjoyed sleep and going to bed early. I can also relate to how my rhythm was completely out out in my later teens and early 20’s when I stayed up late to go out.
Now I honour my natural rhythm of sleep early and wake early- my body thanks me every day.
Laura, I love what you have shared here. It’s so inspiring how you chose to listen to your body, very naturally, from an early age. It reminds me of waking up early in the morning as a child so bright and alive, like the whole world was full of magic, each day a new adventure. By really listening to our bodies we do not need to lose this as we get older, as beyond our body we never truly age, that innocence and wonder is always there. By making self-loving choices and supporting our connection to ourselves life will never be a drag again!
I really enjoyed what you shared Laura as I could so relate to the fact that if I stay up late I too feel so tired and not with myself the next day. Just lately I’ve noticed the earlier I go to bed honouring how tired I feel that naturally I am waking earlier without the need for an alarm. It reminded me of the fact that growing up I never had an alarm as I was able to set my internal alarm clock and naturally would wake up early in the morning. It is lovely to feel when I honour how my body feels that my natural rhythm reveals itself again and I rise earlier. It just goes to show that the body knows the truth.
Jade I can relate to the same, if I stay up later when I am tired, the next day I am not with myself and possibly cranky. If I go to bed early, I awake refreshed with my body waking me up without an alarm. The beauty is our body knows the truth, when we honour our body, our body reveals its natural rhythm to us.
Laura, this is key, “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.” This makes so much common sense to me, and I certainly find that this is how it works out for me too. When I was young I too loved to go to bed early. I never was one who liked to be up very late, but for many years, I stayed up until 10 or 11 pm, to fit in with other members of the family, watching the telly or whatever else was going on. But then, yes, I was tired the next morning, and yet I had really had hours of sleep. Now I find I am invariably asleep before 9 pm, and even when I wake very early, say 2.30 or 3 am, and maybe rest for another hour or two some mornings, I feel really refreshed and ready for the day ahead. I am always up by 5 am at the latest, sometimes 3.30, yet I no longer find that I need a little nap in the afternoon that I used to require at times before I started going to bed early. That sleep period between 9 pm and 3 am is so key to a truly restful night.
A beautiful blog Laura that is so very inspiring. I have been working shifts for the past 3 years and have found it pretty challenging to bring consistency of rhythm into this inconsistent routine but what I know supports me more than anything else is the quality of the way in which I put myself to bed. If I have had a busy day at work and am working late, sometimes the most supportive thing for me is to sit quietly for a while when I get home and maybe have a herbal tea, rather than put myself straight to bed because it’s so late. I’ve discovered that if I do the latter, I will still be racy, thoughts rushing through my head and although I fall asleep because of being tired, I wake up with pretty much the same thoughts and feeling exhausted. Allowing ourselves to wind down from our day is such an important part of having a great night’s sleep and so even if it is not possible to go to bed early, we can still choose the quality in which we will sleep.
I found that too, Lucy. It works much better for me to have a cup of tea and do all the bed preparatory things as brushing my teeth, cleaning my face and taking my contacts out, super present and tender than to run to bed straight away. After traveling I need some time to wind down. And experimenting what are the details in the rhythm for each of us is important.
Going to bed early has supported me to bring consistency into my days – the rhythm you choose at the start of your day is literally the path you follow for the rest of it. Sleep and rest are the start of your day and so I find that getting ready for my sleep is as important as getting up early and choosing a quality I want to be in. What do I want to do today becomes about me expressing in full, connecting, being more open, loving myself more …rather than getting through jobs.
Yes Lee, I have found the same, it is how I put myself to bed that dictates the following day.
I love this, Lee – “the rhythm you choose at the start of your day is literally the path you follow for the rest of it.” So true, and it is inspiring to hear you and others ensuring that the quality you go to bed in supports you the next day. Makes a lot of sense!
Its a great insight that when we wake feeling refreshed and positive, it does last the day. The other day I was woken by a phone call and jumped out of bed in a rush to meet someone. The shock stayed around all day. It seems we aren’t at times aware of just how sensitive our body is to a restful sleep, and a nurturing way of waking and getting up.
Great point Heather – how we get up each day sets the scene for our whole day!
There is such a delicateness in you and the way you write Laura, thank you.
Agreed Sarah, you can feel it in every word. Exquisite!
‘Early to bed, early to rise’ and the spaciousness that brings to my day is not ever worth giving up for to go to bed late. Sleep is as important to me as being truly awake, in fact without honouring that loving time for myself, waking becomes one of being half asleep. Yet, and as you point out Laura, throughout my waking hours if I do not also honour my body in the way I carry it, feed it, and communicate with it, those choices will be felt upon waking the following day. Refining my cycles by deepening my self care is nourishment like no other.
It never ceases to amaze me how these choices made one day can not be put to sleep or bed at the end of our day…we will, as you say, wake up to them the next day too. Understanding that we cannot wipe the slate clean at the end of the day, and that our bodies continue to process day and night, is key in taking ultimate care and responsibility of ones self and ones choices.
Great comment Giselle – well said. I love how you say ‘throughout my waking hours if I do not also honour my body in the way I carry it, feed it, and communicate with it, those choices will be felt upon waking the following day. Refining my cycles by deepening my self care is nourishment like no other.’ so very true. I am discovering how our bodies are indeed a gift through which, by honoring more and more, we can deepen the quality of love we can live with.
Thanks for sharing how you came to and continue to support your rhythm through sleep. I am listening more and more to how choices during the day effect the quality of my sleep. I also used to think that I could go to bed as late as I wanted and then sleep off the fact that I had ignored my body to its exhaustion. Now if I fall back into old patterns of choosing to sleep in or dose through repeat alarms then I also feel groggy and unrested. I remember when I first started listening to my body feeling tired and listened to all that yawning around 8.30- 9 pm. Usually that was when I would go for sugar or TV to wake myself up so it was a revelation to learn that my body was asking for bed.
Thank you Laura. I loved reading about the observations you have made, especially the fact that staying in bed when it is time to get up can be just as draining as staying up late when it is time to go to sleep. I have known this for a long time and yet I have still struggled to get out of bed many mornings. I find that when I do get out of bed within 5 or 10 minutes of waking I feel groggy at first but then feel great after 15 minutes or so. You have inspired me to do some of my own ‘sleeping experiments’ so that I can keep refining my own sleep rhythm.
I agree Leonne, and well said. Sometimes staying in bed for more time than we need really can create the same ‘groggy’ feeling as not having enough sleep… It’s crazy how sensitive our bodies are and how they know exactly the right time for us to wake up.
Hello Susie and Leonne and I agree. It shows how we need to listen to our bodies but first work on being able to listen and knowing their quality. At times it is as you say but also at times we need to sleep more and that 5 or 10 minutes can be gold for us. It’s not a one size fits all approach, but more a moment by moment approach that doesn’t carry past experiences with it to influence the way things should be done. We need to connect, listen and be brave enough to follow what we feel next.
Great point Raymond, it is about truly listening to your body in every moment. For instance when I have my period I might need some more sleep. Listening to my body but also alligning to my cycle makes up a sleep rhytm that supports me througout my day.
Leonne, I like you honesty – indeed there is always a next level to explore and to re-claim. It is amazing what a change of our sleeping patterns can bring. It is an ongoing refining and always more to explore not only with our sleeping but also with our nutrition and way of treating our selves and our body.
I love going to bed early too, Laura. It seems the natural thing to do. I have also noticed that the quality of my day affects the quality of my sleep and this is why it is so important to be aware of how we are during the day as everything we do will make a difference. Getting up early in the mornings is lovely, it is a chance to build a foundation for the day ahead when we feel fresh and unencumbered by too many thoughts going around in our heads! It is important for me to stay in a rhythm and if I have a day when I have been less than loving I find my sleep is disrupted and it is then difficult to come back to the rhythm again. Winding down for bed therefore has no beginning or no end as everything we do affects our sleep patterns.
‘the quality of my day affects the quality of my sleep and this is why it is so important to be aware of how we are during the day as everything we do will make a difference’
This is so true Sandra, our day affects our night and our night affects our day – this pays tribute to the teachings of Serge Benhayon and the ancient wisdom that life is indeed spherical by nature.
Great point you shared Laura that overriding our body’s message that it is time to get up, is exactly like overriding our body’s message that it is time to go to bed. Both are moments when we ignore our body’s innate wisdom communicating with us.
I love it when you hear something that correlates with your own experience; it just confirms what you already know. There is definitely something special about winding down in the evenings and being asleep by 9 pm, its like I am in rhythm with the planets. For me an extra hour in the morning is not as refreshing as an hour in the early evening sleep. thank you Laura.
That has been my observation too Bernard. Getting to bed one hour earlier is worth so much more than an extra hour in the morning. Staying in bed later seems to start me off on the wrong foot and there is a feeling of not quite being in the right rhythm. It’s like dancing off the beat. When I go to bed at the time that feels right for me, I wake feeling refreshed and there is a sense of the day flowing and being in rhythm with it.
Beautifully expressed Bernard!
I would have to agree Bernard. The extra time in the morning never makes up for the later evening the night before. It is a trick that keeps us in this cycle until we make more loving choices for ourselves.
Laura, I love how you have described your bed and sleeping time experiences. Absolutely not imposing nor ‘I know it better and will tell you’. What a beautiful inspiration for all to try it out. And yes, it does not matter what you do in the evenings if you are to tired you cannot enjoy it. And as Liane mentioned there is a certain rhythm you start with your day which can support you through it.
” 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.” That is exactly the quality that is brought by doing them in the morning. It’s silent, it’s fresh and it’s very peaceful in the mornings. The rush of the day is not influencing the beauty of the day these hours. That is for sure a reason to enjoy going to bed early! Lovely blog, Laura!
I used to always sleep early when I was growing up. It was just what we did, and it was natural. It was also common sense to listen to the body. I once stayed up late with friends and hated feeling how tired and dishonouring it felt on the body not to mention the lack of vitality the next day when I woke. It felt awful, so it just made sense to honour the body and go to bed earlier. Yet in contrast as adults most tend to override these feelings with sugar, stimulants and basically control the body to suit them.
It is great that you have come back to what your body naturally knew when younger. It is odd how as babies and children the importance of our sleep pattern is accepted but then when we become teenagers and adults it given very little if any attention. I know for me that this resulted in feeling exhausted most of the time and having to find ways usual food or a drama or dress to stimulate myself to carry on the day. Thank goodness I now have a handle on sleep patterns and listening to my body.
Great sharing Laura, I also came to totally enjoy my early bed time after having gone to bed always super late and never feeling fresh and vital in the morning. I also can very much relate to the late weekends out. I always suffered and would have love to go to sleep, but the social pressure and the belief that this is what life is about was so much stronger that I would use any kind of stimulants to get me going. On Friday nights after work I would drink rum and coca cola to not fall asleep and stimulate my nervous system with electronic music, getting ready for the first line of recreational drugs, just to keep my body in motion. I always said that cocaine for me was just a better strong coffee. I really needed to push my body to be able to keep up. When I got off the hook of believing that this in life I could stop this all in a split second as it all fell a part when i was not held anymore by this belief system and ideals I had about my lifestyle. I enjoyed snuggling into bed early and no alcohol, coffee, coca cola or drugs were anymore needed. Very awesome and the vitality I have today is just amazing.
You have said something that has really stuck out to me Rachel, “to always keep my body in motion”. All over the world we are in motion and driving our bodies to complete tasks and achieve things, but we don’t spend enough time in stillness, there is no balance in our expression. This may be what makes us so sick! I certainly know a day for me where I spend not enough time with stillness in my expression then I feel unbalanced and uneven and like I am ‘missing something’.
I love how you have listened to your body and its natural rhythms and made loving choices about things that affect your sleep. Like you, I have found that how I am at the end of the day and what I choose to do in the evening, can have a huge impact on the quality of my sleep.
The joy of going to bed early spreads throughout the whole day, as the movement of the day unfolds on the foundation of my sleep.
The way we wake spreads through the day too, and in that foundation supports us to make loving choices like drinking water instead of caffeine laden drinks, for the foundation is one of nurturing rather than disregard.
I love going to bed early as well, and as a child I loved it to. It feels so natural. I love stepping into my bed, now with my hot water bottle, like you having some time with myself, putting on my eye pillow, and really surrender to the night and sleep. For me the night is just as important as the day.
I love reading this blog Laura, as it communicates so warm and light, how it feels to just honor a natural rhythm for the body that then supports us in everything we do – including vitality and joy…
I’ve certainly gone looking for that me time at the end of the day but it just doesn’t work, the evening is the time to wind down and get to bed early, then the next day can offer so much more. I never used to like going to bed late and getting up late would feel like the day had been completely wasted. I now enjoy that early morning time when a lot can get done with a very clear mind. Thanks for sharing your experiences Laura.
I totally agree with what you have shared – I love the feeling of getting up early and having completed so much of my day before it has really gotten started – its like putting my best foot forward. Your blog has inspired me to come back more to my natural rhythm as it is so supportive, thank you
Going to bed early is one of those simple pleasures we can take for granted at times, took some discipline to start with for me, but the mornings now have never shone so bright.
Being awake early feels amazing – you are so right, it’s a much more productive time of day than after work in the evening. However you also are spot on, that waking up early is no fun unless you have prepared for this the night before.
I love the way your going-to-bed-early experiment turned into a lovely rediscovery of what is, and always was, your body’s natural rhythm. An on-going experiment that’s leading you to bring an awareness to the complete 24hour day, Mmmm feels gorgeously self-loving and nurturing.
Thank you Laura. Wanting to tick things off my list often keeps me up later than my body wants to be and despite enjoying going to bed early, I’m having to learn the lesson over and over not to push myself beyond what my body wants.
This is a great sharing Laura and I’m sure that many people would be able to recognise themselves in this. I know I certainly do.
1. Laura I too feel the benefits of rising early, and having a spacious start to my day. It is a far cry from my previous way, which consisted of very late nights because if I went to bed before I was exhausted I would toss and turn. As a result my mornings were awful; I’d awake groggy and reluctant to face the day without about 3 strong coffees and just make it to work on time and then need another coffee to get started there. I justified this by saying I was a night person, and never connected my poor sleep to the food I was eating … I too now love going to bed when I am tired and getting up early.
Like you Laura , I very much love going to bed early. I always have, and yet at one stage I used to force myself to stay to all hours because , well , just because – that seems the thing that most people did. How silly was that?!! – saying no to a natural cycle that my body loved. So now I unashamedly take myself to bed early, and the benefits in my daily living have been hugely felt. It feels very loving to myself and beautiful balances me to give me so much more energy in my day .
It’s so true Jenny that is does not make sense to dis-honor the natural cycles of our bodies. Imagine the havoc that would come from the moon choosing to stay up longer or ‘all night’… I am realising more and more that there is no difference as every part of a cycle is super important for the whole cycle to continue in harmony. Only we often choose to override the natural cycles we, and our bodies are part of, which are there to simply offer us the opportunity to live in rhythm with our vitality and well-being. And when we do choose to honor this, as you say, it allows us to be more of who we are throughout the day.
A beautiful sharing Laura…the joy of your morning rhythm – of when you were young and again now – is a delight to read. Going to bed early is such a simple thing to do and is so supportive in many areas of our lives.
I loved reading your blog Laura, it felt like I was reading excerpts from your diary. ‘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.’ This clearly demonstrates how one simple choice can make a world of difference.
Laura, your blog shows that there is a way of living that supports us to be vital. Thanks to the teachings of Serge Benhayon I too have discovered that this way of living really works.
I feel we all know that going to bed early is a winner when it comes to how we will feel the next day. It’s quite common for someone to say they will have an early night when they have an important event or big day the next day. So it makes sense to me to do this every day, as every day is as important as any other.
So true Laura Hoy, When we go to bed early and get up early there is more time to do things in the morning, and it feels better doing them than struggling to do them t night.
What great practical tips to take home.
We are constantly experimenting with everything in life that will best support us.
If life is a constant refinement how could we ever go into autopilot.
Yes Luke I agree. We are a living science and there is so much to explore of the wonders we are and are a part of. The predetermined course of ‘autopilot’ simply does not allow this discovery and development too unfold, as this can only come through the navigation of our connection to our truth within.
I was always an insomniac and self proclaimed ‘ night owl’. Myself too, after hearing Serge Benhayon present on the spleen rhythm and supportive sleep times started to put myself to bed early and arise early. I found it life changing. I dearly love the time in the morning as my ‘me’ time, to do all that needs to be done and not rush into the day.
I so enjoyed reading this experience written with such exquisite sweetness – how could one now not want to even try going to bed early?
Something I love about going to be early is that the time I wake up the next morning is exactly when I need to. If I appreciate that I have woken up at the perfect time, then the whole morning feels spacious.
I have found that how I am during the day has an impact on my wind down time in the evening, the more wound up I am the less likely I am to wind myself down and care for myself in such a way that supports a better nights sleep. That and it’s like there is that precious few hours between 9pm and 3am that my body knows as sleep time because if I am on an evening shift where I finish at 9pm (with an hours travel back home) from 7:30pm onwards my body automatically starts going into slow down mode. Sleeping in past 4/4:30am I am more likely to feel groggy and more tried as well which has proved that it’s not the amount of hours that is vital but when and the quality of such. The body knows when it’s time to be active and when it is time to sleep.
I agree that early bed times are great because you wake with the birds and early mornings are a beautiful time of day. When I was running my own business, I would occasionally be up to 3am finishing a handout for a course – always left everything to he last minute instead of planning and doing everything well ahead of time. This meant everything was done with anxiousness, nervous energy, which was draining. I go to bed much earlier now, but still occasionally work later than 9pm and then end up sleeping over the next day to catch up. Having a regular sleeping pattern really helps – I don’t know how nurses and shift workers manage, but taking good care of our bodies includes making sire we get a good quality of sleep.
Yes I love that getting up early in the morning feeling – equally as going to bed early and snuggling down in the warmth. When this flow is disturbed just by one later night it makes such a difference to how I am all the next day. The sensitivities within the body are on high alert to be more gentle and keep that ‘feeling’ ‘listening’ connection going otherwise this is when I can get caught out with going into the ‘doing’ of life and push through my bodies natural rhythms because of the tiredness.
Lovely sharing Laura thank you.
Like you Laura I have always loved going to bed early and getting up early and having that special time in the early morning hours to work and prepare myself for the day. If I miss this I do notice there is often a change in the quality of my day. I also find with this routine that at 58 I have very steady energy that takes me through the day, I do not dip and seldom feel tired unless I have not listened to my body somewhere along the line. I am often quite amazed at my level of energy but know that it comes from working with my body more and more.
It makes sense that if we attend to our daily cycle our nighttime will take care of itself in the same quality. By bringing extra focus to the end and beginning of the day and then some in between we can gradually find more focus throughout the day. Not in a hard or striving way but in a caring and loving way towards ourselves and thus those with whom we have contact.
That is awesome Laura, I also have experimented lots with sleep. I find the more I allow my body to wind down int he evening, the better I sleep and so wake up feeling more refreshed. I used to stay up late, watching movies, going out but would always wake up feeling rubbish and just about get myself out of bed. I love time I have in the mornings now, I find I can get so much done, and do not start the day rushing as I used to and is so common!
Laura there have been periods in my life too where I naturally fell into and an early to bed early to rise rhythm. I have always felt happier and more energised when I do this. When I heard Serge Benhayon present about sleep rhythms back in 2007 I instantly adopted this rhythm again. I absolutely love my early nights. My quality of sleep is so much better and the way I feel the next day is so much more vital.
Looking back at those times when I naturally fell into an early to bed early to rise rhythm, I always got so much more done and felt so much better in myself. It goes to show it’s more productive and supportive to go to bed early, and start again fresh in the morning rather than stay up late and try to get things done.
It has taken me a while and lots of experimenting, but I have finally learned that listening to the wisdom of my body, and understanding and working with its natural rhythms and cycles offers me a body that is vital and energised, whereas working against these cycles and ignoring the wisdom just leaves me exhausted and often sick. Not only does it make so much sense to live in rhythm of early to bed and early to rise, I have also grown to love it.
“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.” Beginning the day with a commitment, joy and tenderness to oneself paves the way for what follows. I have a lovely morning routine with myself now, and on the occasion that I do not get to wake up and begin my day with myself in this way, I notice a marked difference, and I do miss the deep connection I have implemented in this time. What I do is nothing super special, but it feels and supports me no end, because of the way in which I do it.
Thank you for sharing Laura – this is awesome. I totally relate to a lot of what you’ve shared, in particular how much of a difference it makes when I go to bed after over eating, eating something sweet or having a late night on my morning tired-levels and vitality. Over the past month or so I’ve been working on getting to bed earlier, because I found in the mornings I just could not get up – I was so exhausted even though I was only going to bed at around 9.45/10pm… And the difference just 45 minutes makes to my sleep – I toss and turn much less – and how fresh I feel the next morning is huge!
I love what you have shared here. If we work it out according to a clock we are making it a mental exercise. It is only through listening to the communication from our bodies that we get a sense of what our natural rhythm is, when it needs a little more sleep and when it enjoys a little less.
I really enjoyed reading this article Laura, i can so relate to what you have written, I also love going to bed early, and love getting up early, this is my favourite time of day, i feel energised, clear and i love to have a long shower, getting dressed really gently and then catching up on emails and cooking food for the day, it feels so lovely having this quiet time before everyone else wakes up, it feels like this time is for me, it is a lovely, steady start to the day.
Yes Laura, when I allow my body to lead the way – it allows me to feel all the wisdom that is available. Your beautiful blog inspires me to do some further refining to my morning and evening routines as I can feel how they are constantly evolving and requiring a new level of commitment. As you have said when we begin our day with space to do what we need to do to support us for the day our days has a natural flow and expansiveness.
That’s the key to a healthy and vital life Susan, the constant reflection on and refinement on how we are living and the choices we are making – all done by listening to our bodies.
Great blog Laura, me too I find it a lot easier to go to bed early. I have been doing so for the last six years unless I was working a late evening. Mornings are usually a lot easier with no need for an alarm clock. I usually feel tired if I over eat during the day too.
Thank you for sharing Laura, I can relate to always being an early bird along with my father who would get up really early and we would sit and enjoy the quiet of the day before my mother and siblings got up. Then like you my rhythm changed when I started work and going out to the local night clubs, but it never felt right and I always struggled the next day. Since returning to my early to bed rhythm I am finding I have a lot more energy during the day and I don’t start the day with a rush or being late – in fact I’m in work 30 minutes earlier than my colleagues, ready and all set up to start work. What I have noticed is that if I react to situations during the day my quality of sleep is fitful and I don’t feel as bright the next day – this shows me that there is so much we can learn from our sleep rhythm.
Thank you Laura for a great blog.
In our family, we all got up early and I remember early mornings as a child and that feeling of preciousness of witnessing the beginning of a brand new day and the divine smells of nature when I opened the shutters. I remember, when I was a university student in Paris waking up extra early and doing my studies at 4.00 – my room mate would do hers late into the night when I was sleeping. This early-to-bed-early-to-rise rhythm has never left me even when peer pressure dictated me otherwise. This is a rhythm that truly supports our body and our health and it has certainly supported me through life.
Going to bed early is pinnacle to how the following day unfolds. If I go to bed too late then I am tired the next day and all the things I had planned to do in the early morning don’t happen as I feel sluggish and tired and my eyes feel heavy. I now have a natural rhythm of waking up at 4am and I love this time, it is me time, when I can get so much done without the rush and urgency that can sometimes happen later in the day.
What I find interesting is when I am feeling tired but my head tells me there are all these things to do before I can go to bed, a lot of which can be done the next day. A lot of the time they are there as a distraction, to get in the way of me choosing to go to bed, and other times there is some validity in them. I am learning to really discern where these thoughts come from and whether they are truly supportive or not.
Yes isn’t it interesting Robyn – how these ‘thoughts’ try to trip us up and not let us follow what we feel. Reminds me of the ‘thought-monsters’ again – those little beasties – we need to just send them packing …
I whole-heartedly agree Laura. Since being introduced to the concept by Serge Benhayon that the body’s natural sleep pattern is to go to bed about 9.00pm and to rise early and after trying it, I have found it so supportive to my way of living and I now, too, adore it. Life feels so much fuller and less stressful.
“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”.
This is really inspiring to read Laura; I love the way you have come full circle, honouring what you knew and felt to be true as a child.
I absolutely love going to bed early and getting up early too. I also love the still quiet mornings and enjoy this time to quietly get things done. It offers spaciousness to my whole day and I feel less pressured as a result, which means when I get home I am able to wind down more easily in the evening for a good sleep, ready to start the whole cycle again.
Waking up naturally and going gently into my day, with space to prepare myself as I feel to, is a really precious time and supports me in the rest of my day.
It makes me think of the stereotypical morning rush that is many peoples normal routine, at one point in my life I was already stressed and exhausted by the time I made it to work at 9am -if I wasn’t late that is… then you have to get your self back together as the day goes by… not supportive at all.
When my kids were little, their natural rhythm was to wake up early as I think is the case with every child on the planet. Similarly to you Laura, I remember early mornings as a child myself (and also slightly rarer occasions as a teenager) when early morning starts would welcome me to a different quality in nature, a sense of space when the world was quiet and everything is super still. Yet when I was handed the reins myself, staying up late was the cool thing to do… and then as an adult it would just get stretched trying to fit more in… even if that was just staying up late watching some rubbish on TV. The changes I have made in the last 10 years have brought that back for me, and it is a precious gift that I love dearly each and every day – a gift that has much to do with the presentations by Serge and Natalie Benhayon.
It is interesting that we are so naturally connected and responsive to our bodies and what they are telling us when we are young, and then somewhere along the way we start to believe that staying up late is ‘just what people do’, its the ‘cool thing to do’ etc, and our bodies suffer for it. Even though, as you say Simon, we know and appreciate the stillness and quiet, we still choose to over-ride our bodies wisdom with the arrogance of our mind.
I very much agree the early morning hours are a very magical time. This already is reason for me enough to go to bed early so I am able to be up again early to experience these early hours without rushing or feeling tired.
So true Esther, I love the hours in the early morning, so still and pristine! And I really miss them when I sleep too long in the morning.
Laura, what you have described is so important to the quality of my life. I so enjoy refining sleep and how it impacts on my vitality. My family have always said I obsess about it – but now I know why it has been so important to me – because it underpins our health. My issue for years has been anxiety and how this knocks the quality of my sleep as I take it to bed with me – if I’m disturbed in the night I can’t get back to sleep easily. Partners and children have been at the tail end of a grumpy wife/mum – so my responsibility is to ease my anxiety. Sleep is so yummy – it’s warm and snuggly and feels like the world is giving us a huge big hug. I love the sleep/repose time. Thank you for expanding on all of this. 🙂
What a great sharing Laura about early bed and early rising and I really relate to this also . As a child and throughout most of my life I always went to bed early and woke brightly at 5 am automatically. What a joy it was to start the day when all was quiet and still with the whole day ahead of me. Later bed times when going out and also when over tired was always not supporting and my next day or days were a struggle. The joy of returning to early beds and supportive rhythms and life style speaks for itself with a vitality and sparkle in life and all it offers us. Meeting Serge Benhayon presenting this and much more has simply allowed me to reclaim all I knew inside and know it to be true.
I came to realise again lately that going to bed early, and then having lots of time in the morning to do all that is needed is supporting me so much in my everyday life. It brings a natural rhythm full of joy, and an ability to be feeling clear.
Yea I get that too Benkt – especially that abilty to feel clear and uncluttered.
So supportive to keep the rhythms you have described Laura, it’s the only way I have discovered that not only supports me to feel so focused and connected in the body, it also enables me to work long days and over a prolonged period, without my body feeling drained and exhausted.
I agree Merrilee, although my body is getting older, my energy levels are greater and so much steadier than they were when I was younger. I can sustain full and long days over a prolonged period without tiredness. It quite amazes me really, and I put it down to my rhythms, which can always be refined of course but provide a great foundation.
Yes me too Josephine, I find that as well, and am often still amazed at what I am able to accomplish in a day and not feeling this exhaustion anymore that I used to feel when I had no loving and nurturing rhythm in place.
I have always been adorning person myself, growing up on a farm it was alway up with a sparrows and down with a lark. I overrode this for about twenty five years. Even if I wasn’t out I would watch mindless Tv thinking I’d be missing something if I went to bed early. Now I’m back in my true sleep rhythm and life is good as going to bed before 9pm really suits me.
Thank you for sharing this Laura. I also have always enjoyed getting up early in the morning and struggled to stay awake at night but felt I was missing out or being boring if I went to bed early because it wasn’t what everyone else did. When I stopped trying to ‘fit in’ and developed a sleep rhythm that felt right for me my early mornings are fun again. I am not missing out on anything as I have ‘me’ time all day.
Laura I too have been working on my rhythm and been playing with my sleep times. I am finding the earlier I go to bed the fresher I feel, when I awake. I love to be in bed by 8-8.30pm, which does not always happen. If I go to bed close to 9pm or later I feel a lot more tired. When I am in bed early the next morning I can wake early feeling refreshed and energised, if I stay in bed and indulge when my body is saying I should be awake, I feel groggy for the rest on my day. Our body knows how much sleep we need and when, honouring that is so important, is what I am learning.
Yes, I can relate to what you write Amita, for me the same times work really well. And as you share, I have tried to sleep longer in the morning whenever I feel sluggish and heavy on waking, but it does not work for me either. I much rather get up and gently move my body and then make sure I take better care of myself that night before I go to bed.
I put this early to bed early to rise theory to the test years ago when I was working and studying full-time. I would up at 3:30am and study for a couple of hours before heading to the beach for a walk before my shift started at 7:00am. I would generally finish work around 4:00pm, go home wind down and go to bed early depending on how tired I felt. It worked really well as I found it much easier to focus early in the morning that after a day’s work.. It did take a lot of discipline to maintain this rhythm consistently.
Very interesting Abby – so many students who are taking courses or degrees, or attending University do the polar opposite of what you just shared; stay up late, study hard at night, live out of rhythm and end up totally exhausted.. I’d love to see a study done of students who went to bed early, woke up and did some work in the mornings as well as not cramming everything in last minute, to see if there was much change to their quality of living, mental health and general health.
I agree Susie, it would be great to study the way we study. This is exactly what confirmed how supportive it is for me to sleep and wake early as in the evenings after working full time I just felt too tired to read. I know some people say it suits them to be working late at night but I wonder if this is the adrenals kicking in which would not have a great affect on the body, especially long term?
Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Laura. I agree with you. Going to bed early feels so supportive and makes such a difference to the quality in which I live my day. I really connected to your expression: ‘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 be early has certainly been a big part of the way I now self-care.’ This simple commitment to self-love supports us all as we choose to be consciously present in our busy activities. I really felt the joy when you choose to honour you and the stillness that brings to your day.
“…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.” Thankyou Laura, this is a great way to look at and understand the unending cycle through which we move and that we move in. The quality of the next revolution is determined by the quality of the previous one. In this way we begin to iron out the creases and kinks that get in the way of a smooth revolution. When we are able to do this, exhaustion disappears, for we are not fighting the natural spin of the Earth and going against the current. We allow ourselves to move and be moved by love and by virtue of this, we are able to move in harmony with the each other, the cycles in nature and thus the rest of the cosmos and the rhythm of God that moves it all to be so.
Liane, I love how you bring in the universe and our connection to the natural rhythms and order that exist within it of which we are a part. You bring in the grandness and how every choice no matter how small, either confirms and takes us with the natural spin, the rhythm of God and thus harmonises and expands us or we feel the tension of going against what is naturally flowing and always available to connect with if we are still enough.
I can so relate to what you share here Liane…”When we are able to do this, exhaustion disappears, for we are not fighting the natural spin of the Earth and going against the current.” When young we seem to naturally follow these cycles – our body tells us its tired, so we lie down where-ever we are, and yet as adults we complicate life by over-riding our bodies wisdom with the arrogance of our minds, and consequently end up fighting our bodies natural rhythm and resisting the natural flow of life. I loved early to bed, early to rise as a child, and it was only as an adult that exhaustion insidiously crept in…staying up late to ‘get things done’, waking depleted, pushing through the day and evening again to get things done, going to bed late and waking more exhausted – a constant battle with life, and then blaming the world for my exhaustion and not so joyful life! Since making the choice to go to bed by 9pm, sometimes earlier, and rising early, exhaustion has gone, I no longer feel depleted, there is a flow to my day and to my life… everything gets done in the natural flow of life and there is a simplicity to living.
My body feels lighter in having read your comment Liane, there is nothing for me to fight as every particle or cell in my body aligns to the cycles of the Universe and so it knows what is needed at the end of the day, I am learning to listen to it much more lovingly and attentively.
Thank you Liane, it’s great to look at our bodies this way, as either in rhythm with everything or against it. I’m sure we’ve all felt those times when we’re just in the flow, and everything happens with ease. It’s very illuminating to connect that feeling of exhaustion with being out of rhythm, that it is a fight against our natural way which leaves us depleted wether it’s the things we chose to eat, the way we chose to sleep, or even the way we move. Everything affects us, and in turn all those around us…
Laura, I love how you experimented with what you had heard presented by Serge Benhayon and had your own experience that supports you greatly. I know inside and out how much my body loves to go to sleep early but for a while now I have been pushing myself later and later at night to get things done. Except the quality in how I get things completed is very much lacking, as I’m so tired. And I find when I’m tired I go for food more to pep me up, where as in truth I need to just go to bed. Thanks for this invaluable reminder!
Well said Aimee, love it. We can only know what feels true to us and our body once we’ve tried it out and experimented with it – it’s no use agreeing with presentations or teachings if you do not feel that what’s being said rings true. That’s why I love how Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present – they strongly encourage you to take things into your own hands and never nod away without feeling if it’s true for you.
So true Susie. One of universal medicines greatest teachings is to give power back to our bodies. We get told so much that does not make sense by those in authority and we override and dismiss what we feel as someone else more studied must know better. The greatest truth is in someone’s body and not from their head and what a piece of paper tells them.
What I have found is when we make the ‘me’ time at the start of the day, then our whole day and the way that it then plays, becomes infused with this quality. If this time has been used to honour our innate rhythms, then this rhythm is what we allow to carry us throughout our day. This for me has been the key to not pushing the ‘me’ to the side in order to ‘get the job done’ and nor does it allow a boundary to worm its way in between what is ‘work’ and what is ‘play’ – it is all one endless cycle in which to bring ‘the all of us’ into the all that we do.
Liane I love how you bring that there is really no difference between ‘work’ and ‘play’ and that in truth it is one endless cycle. This is something I am only just discovering and as I do it is totally opening up the way I view the world.
I so agree Samantha, for me in fact work is play and sometimes play is hard work, because when I loose myself in ‘doing’ life I forget how to be with myself, have fun and be playful.
That is why we have so many stimulants and distractions, because even when we have ‘me’ time, we don’t really want to spend it with ourselves, because we feel so awful after everything we have loaded into our bodies during the day.
I love this Liane and Samantha, separating work from play is almost like trying to separate our legs from our arms. Each is needed to make the whole function, if one is not the whole cannot.
Yes Liane I have found this important as well, not setting boundaries in the day for ‘work’ ‘play’ etc because this is restricting. The truly rewarding thing about life is bringing all of us to everything we do, as we discover so much. Life is indeed an endless cycle and we just choose the quality in which we live. With this can come great understanding of ourselves, the world and the magic of God.
‘Me time’ has been a big thing for me which I can still feel plays a part in my choices during my time at home. I can feel very clearly now how this is a possessive, individual choice which excludes everyone else – a retreat from the world. I absolutely love what you say here Liane – I can feel how deeply supportive for not only ourselves, but everyone if “we make the ‘me’ time at the start of the day, then our whole day and the way that it then plays, becomes infused with this quality” for what can be more supportive for myself and the whole than bringing all of ‘me’ into every single part of our day.
This is gorgeous Lucy, preparing ourselves to be gorgeous for the world each day…
So true Liane. ‘Me time’ becomes a way of being throughout the day rather than a separate piece of time or part of the day. This takes away the pressure to find that special time or the temptation to let it slip in favour of getting things done.
This boundary you speak of Liane between work and play is something I still struggle with. When I compartmentalise life I make one thing good, like me time, and other things not so good, like work. I like your description of starting the day honouring your rhythm, then the rest of the day is about bringing all of you to the task at hand, regardless of what it is.
I completely agree with you Liane, ‘If this time has been used to honour our innate rhythms, then this rhythm is what we allow to carry us throughout our day.’ I find this ‘me’ time in the morning very supportive, it feels like it is the foundation for my day, I feel solid, calm and steady in my day, if for some reason I have not had this lovely, calm ‘me’ time in the morning then i can feel that it disrupts my day and that I feel wobbly, less calm and less present.
This has been my experience too, Liane. The quality at the start of the day influences the whole day and what I do for me in that time is equally important as the other things I do.
I have a different experience. The early morning is when I have the clarity to work and I usually get a few hours of work in before I leave for work! The evenings, or right before bed are when the ‘me’ time happens with a natural flow. I’m working on honouring that time for myself more and committing to it instead of pushing it aside. But whether we do this at the beginning of the day or the end of the day it is having it in our rhythm that is important.
I love how you say “…it is all one endless cycle in which to bring ‘the all of us’ into the all that we do.” So true and these rhythms fully support us with this.
This is indeed an important distinction to make – that compartmentalising life between work and play and believing we can bring a particular quality to each is a false notion and belies the fact that life is ‘one endless cycle in which to bring ‘the all of us’ into the all that we do.’ The quality we live is with us at every moment of the day – be that in our sleep or our waking hours. It definitely pays to consider our quality at all times and in all aspects of life.
So true Lianne, thank you for sharing this lovely reminder about work and play being the one cycle.I am also inspired by your repose rhythm Laura, thank you. Truely. Nurturing.
I love what you share here, Liane. Starting a day with ‘me time’ which inevitably prepares me for whatever next is there for me to do – makes absolute sense, which then would prepare me for a quality of sleep to get me up the next day ready to start all over again.
Great point Liane! It makes such a difference to start the day with ‘me’ and then take me into the day, instead of running around loosing myself in the process and then feeling I need to make up for that at night, because I somehow miss myself and therefore feel I missed out on life.
I love what you’ve said here Liane. Such a simple concept, to do all that is needed for ourelves first, in the morning, and then take all that we are, out to work, or wherever we may be with carrying with us, a steadiness that can be felt by whomever come into contact with. Why would anyone want to resist that?! Sounds amazing to me…I just need to choose it as my way of life.
Ahahah, what an expression Liane I have to look in my dictionary to find out what “a boundary to worm” is . . . as I knew it I had to laugh because it is such a good expression to describe it. I love it to bring all of me into the all that I do because it is they way I got more fun otherwise it could end up in hard work what tasted not so good.
Thank you, Laura your sharing sheds a lot of light on the rhythms we develop to assist our life or not. I have found it so good to go to bed early, read one of Serge Benhayon’s books and then gently go to sleep. I am waking in the very early hours of the morning which gives me plenty of time and space to have done nearly half a day’s work before breakfast. Rarely do I get tired and I feel a real purpose in my life from the rhythms that I have developed.
Yes Susan I am also loving the ‘wee small hours of the morning’ the stillness is so nurturing, and the work completed easily is a result. However i have tried to do the same work in the evening and it was painful… Nothing came to me, thus it took twice as long.
I absolutely love what you have shared Laura as listening to our bodies and their natural rhythm makes so much sense! What a contrast our days can be when we run ourselves tired or revitalised and what an impact this has on everything we do and every relationship we have. There is something very profound and precious about taking ones body to sleep and to deeply rest at an hour of the day that supports the way one will live the following day and each day thereafter.
I agree Cherise, listening to our bodies is key to developing a loving and harmonious rhythm. I also find if I push myself in the day, get caught up in what I am doing then if I do not let myself let this go in the evening I end up sleeping in an agitated way and usually have dreams processing/going over what I did in the day and so do not wake up feeling very refreshed! I have found going for a walk after a busy day at work helps to let the day go and take me out of some of the whirlwind of thoughts I can find myself swept up in!
Thanks Laura, great blog I can relate to some of your experience and have run myself down and into a wall trying to keep up with others who are on the ‘party wheel’. It was not fun when so exhausted I could not function the next day. Now with greater awareness of simple steps to health and loving care for myself – it is lovely to go to bed by about 9pm and then ‘carpe diem’ – seize the day from usually a very early and refreshing time. Love it! So lovely to be able to meet and observe others from a refreshed point of view – instead of being under a cloud.
Great point Andrew, “So lovely to be able to meet and observe others from a refreshed point of view – instead of being under a cloud.” So true, It really does effect how we see and feel about everything if we are tired or exhausted. I know for myself when I’m tired I feel like I don’t want to deal with the bigger stuff, yet when I am taking care of myself and going to bed early, the so called bigger stuff doesn’t feel big at all.
Well said. It is difficult to observe life without reacting or taking things on if we are tired, agitated and without clarity. When we are tired, we are far less equipped to live our day.
Very well said Deborah, when we are tired we are less equipped to deal with life. Today exhaustion has been labelled an epidemic and is co-morbid with so many illnesses and diseases. I wonder how much we could cut this rate down if we all just simply took responsibility for our sleep, eating and exercise. We are so accustomed to be offered quick fixes that we forget the true power to change comes from within.
So true Aimee, when we are tired and grumpy we create a life that is so much harder for ourselves causing struggle throughout the day. Everything seems much bigger than what it really is and we can get overwhelmed by it all. I am hardly ever grumpy now from feeling tired which not only do I appreciate but those around me do too!
Spot on, living from under a cloud of tiredness and fatigue is not much fun at all and makes us feel very dull, it takes the enjoyment out of everything.
When I read the line “instead of being under a cloud” I remembered how it was to be tired all the time. Nowadays when I’m tired it is because I need to rest, then after a short rest I carry on refreshed. It is slightly different to the constant haze and cloud of a rhythm that does not support me and where I was constantly tired. A short rest in this scenario does very little.
All true Nikki. I find I can also get tired when I hold back and don’t do what is there to be done. No where in the world do we yet study the fact that we get exhausted due to holding back and not living who we truly are. This is a science serge benhayon brought through many years ago and one that makes perfect sense to the out of control rates of exhaustion related illnesses. The student body is living proof that we are capable of so much more.
Yes I found that too – when I do feel tired a short rest is very nurturing and after I am truly energised. Mostly when I need a rest like that is when I have not paid attention the night before and have been out of rhythm a little. The fact that I need a rest reminds me of that and even though I give myself that rest and then can carry on with whatever I am doing, it’s the body telling me to check in and stay aware.
I feel both your strength and delicateness, and this is just beautiful. Thank you, Laura. I really get that about not getting up when the body is ready. Sometimes I wake up much earlier than I anticipated and my mind goes ‘I can’t have been rested. I need a few more hours’ and I am learning to let the body lead the way and be surprised at how it responds when it’s deeply honoured.
Allowing the body to lead the way can be challenging at times. I am still coming to terms with the fact that our body is so wise. My head seems to think that it has it all covered… but it doesn’t. When I listen to my body it always works out and in the most supportive, in all ways, for everyone. There is just a pride or arrogance in me that thinks it knows better… but it doesn’t.
For me it feels like a real letting go of control and trusting my body and this is something I am still learning as I develop a deeper relationship with my body.
Oh dear yes!! Letting go of control – my biggest hurdle in life to date. I am an early sleeper and early riser, but there is absolutely a level of control that has me ‘perform’ in this way. I am naturally tired early and enjoy waking up early, but the moment something gets in the way of my plan to be in bed by a certain time, I have difficulty accepting it, and allowing it to just be, and consequently get exhasuted from being worked up about a tiny blip in the old system.
Old habits die hard, but I’m certainly working on them.
We do think we know better in our minds but listening to our bodies brings about real intelligence. Letting go of control and learning to surrender to my body I do find challenging at times but I know it is the only way to be at ease with myself and have a flow in my day.
Yes Fumiyo I too have discovered my body is waking earlier too and I question if I have had enough sleep. When in fact the body already knows the answer and no questions are needed as the body has spoken. Our bodies are true leaders of health and what will support us everyday.
I can relate to this. If I wake earlier than my alarm and then go back to sleep, thinking that I need more, I often miss my alarm and sleep in and wake feeling tired due to the disruption to the quality of sleep. Our body knows best, we just have to trust it.
I know that feeling too! “Surely I can’t get up now” but it’s amazing when I do how the day feels more supported, less rushed, more open and spacious. This leaves me feeling energised during the day so I get less tired. It’s the push, rush, striving to get things done which is the killer. More space = more time = less exhaustion!
So true Rachael. There are so many things we get told about the body that don’t make sense. Including coffee and alcohol can be good for us. All coming from individuals who want this to be true. There really is no greater scientist than our own bodies. Whether we need three hours of sleep or eight it is our body that will let us know if it is true or not and not a scientist or doctor behind a desk who does not know his/her own body.
Yes Monica, I feel so much more alert when I wake up and another great bonus for me is I no longer need coffee to wake me up. The natural sleep rhythm I now have means I wake feeling refreshed and not needing a caffeine fix to get me going.
I can remember that! waking up and first thing I would think about is a coffee or a cigarette! Oh how times have changed I now wake up so refreshed and raring to go, no more groggy mornings thank God!
I’ve experienced the same Fumiyo and Monica, waking much earlier than my normal time I have 2 choices – to “let the body lead the way” and begin my day, or go back to sleep, the latter invariably leaving me more tired when I wake again.
I agree with all of these comments, my body often wakes up before my alarm, but I go into my head and think its too early, i often then sleep in longer than my alarm and as a result i feel like im trying to catch up the rest of the day and so feel rushed and that I haven’t had this precious time for me in the morning, i feel so much much more vital and calm and steady if i wake early and have this spaciousness in the morning.
So true Hannah. We can let the body lead the way or allow or thoughts to dictate. We have an erroneous belief that we need more sleep to renergise when in truth there is no greater energiser than purpose.
This is a thing I have had to let go of as well Fumiyo and trust the body knows when it has had enough sleep. Recently I have been going to bed by 9pm and waking at 2-2.30 and feeling energised which carries over throughout the day. I put this down to the deep nurturing and rhythm I am offering my body now before going to sleep and on waking.
True, this is such a trick we play on ourselves. Whenever i ignore my body, i end up paying for it in one way or another.
So true Deborah, whenever we abuse our bodies in any way, shape or form, we have to pay the consequences for it as there is no getting away with it.
Getting up very early or not getting up very early – I do it by feel. If I lie in bed and don’t feel any need for sleep I simply get up. If I am not sure and I lie down and instantly fall asleep, I assume that it was better to sleep a little longer but it seems quite elastic how much sleep I need. Also if I have a purpose for waking up early I am much more likely to do so.
I don’t feel I can apply and good rules, just do what feels right at any given morning and see where that goes.
Love your way Christoph. Whenever I go into what I ‘should’ do or when I ‘should’ be waking up, I then sleep feeling anxious and don’t sleep soundly. This is something I am working on Monday to Friday when I use an alarm to wake up as I’m worried I may sleep through. Majority of the time I wake up before my alarm anyway.
Most days I do not set an alarm. I am learning to trust that when I do wake up I have had enough sleep. If the day before has not been my usual day eg.yesterday I went to a funeral, then I can wake up earlier than what I would normally. I then feel into what supports me. This morning I fell back to skeep and when I woke an hour later I felt to check in with my body to how it was feeling. What I am learning most is not to indulge in lying in bed especially if I have woken up earlier than my usual time.
Beautiful Laura. I too used to go to bed early all the time when I was younger and as I got into my later teens it was staying up late on social media! lol. I too have found so much benefit in going to bed earlier and have felt that love return, the joy of getting up early, the magic of rhythm in my days and having a solid and consistent feeling of ‘me’. Honouring our sleeping rhythm is an important part of how we are on a whole and interesting to read how you described some things which you have found can affect your sleep.
Everything effects everything, because everything is energy, and everything is because of energy – a teaching of the Ageless Wisdom as presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. Therefore whether we listen to our body or not has an impact… and I am only just scratching the surface on how profound listening to my body actually is.
Harrison, I absolutely agree “honouring our sleeping rhythm is an important part of how we are on a whole”. It is so natural for us really, to go to bed early and get up and start the day early. It is what our forefathers did for generations before electricity became available. They lived by the rhythm of the seasons. When we live as so many of us now do, going to bed at all sorts of late hours, and then sleeping in late in the morning, and rushing to be ready to go to work, sometimes foregoing breakfast, it takes such a toll on our bodies and on our health.
Yes Harrison, whereas my mornings in the past would be rushed, tired with me feeling groggy and grumpy, now they are such a sweet beautiful part of the day. To look out at the stars in the stillness of the early morning and then go about writing or whatever it is we feel to in that previous time is the most amazing way to start the day — every day.
The same Katerina, my mornings from late nights were always rushed that put me into a cycle of agitation or anxiousness about the day ahead — and now to feel truly fresh and rejuvenated at the start of the day from early nights feels gorgeous in the body and also has a really productive sense to everything too…because there is energy and a vitality too.
Awesome study into the benefits of early to bed early to rise Laura Hoy! Our bodies know what supports the cycles and cycles within cycles within them! Thank you
What a great blog Laura! There were so many things I could connect to from my own experience and so many great things for me to be reminded of.. in particular, how I love the quiet and stillness of the early mornings (a great time to connect to and appreciate nature 🙂 ), but mostly how I love going to bed early and how when I listen to my body, this becomes a natural, simple, supportive choice that honours me!
Angela, I too appreciate the quiet and stillness of early in the morning… if only I would have experimented with going to bed early when my children were younger instead of staying up until 11pm or later trying to get all the housework done. It was such a viscous cycle of being exhausted during the day and not feeling I could keep up with everything, and then staying up later. Going to bed early and rising early feels so natural.
Like you both say Aimee and Angela – I feel this too, it is such a joy to go to bed early, feeling that natural tiredness and going into a restful sleep not from exhaustion but from just allowing the body to replenish itself. I never really stayed up late when the children were small, as they were in bed by 7 pm most of the times, however I did feel tired every morning and wanted to lay in when they wanted to be up and about, so I now know my bedtime was definitely too late in those days…
Yes I too feel it would have been so good to understand the cycle of exhaustion earlier and to have really embraced the sacredness of that time with me and the healing it offered the whole family as a result of my dedication to it. If I knew then what I know now…oh the many years of working on replenishing my stores! Sleep deprivation was simply my normal and coping with exhaustion my day to day. I am in deep appreciation of what I know know and have lived in my body to heal the self abuse, simply by brining more attention to this area of my routine. Credit has to go to my first ever retreat with Universal Medicine where I first had the opportunity to truly let myself feel the importance of my bedtime routine.
Like you say Angela, there is a real gift in the blog of being reminded how it was, and encouraged to really enjoy the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ idiom.
I agree Angela, ” this becomes a ….supportive choice ‘.
Yes Angela, the quiet stillness of the morning before the busyness of the day is really exquisite. It’s like nature and especially the birds own this time of day and make the most of it with joyful exuberance, I feel blessed just to witness it.
I agree with you both, the early hours of the morning are super special and very precious to me now; and the early morning sky is always different, no matter how often I have looked at it – one gorgeous canvass after another.
I agree – there is exquisite stillness in the morning, a crisp freshness to the air and deep joy to behold in harmony and rhythm with nature.
This crispness for me Deborah, is in the morning’s precious silence where I feel at-one and very still. It is so beneficial to experience this before the day gets started as it sets you up..the mornings being the foundation to the coming day. ‘Start as we mean to go on’ as the saying goes.
There is so much to appreciate in these early mornings like the sounds of birds, the amazing colour in the sky as the sun rises, the stillness in the air and the clear crisp smell in the air also. It’s a whole body experience of appreciation.
Going to bed early now comes so natural to me too. There is no resistance; I simply know it’s time to go to bed and my body loves it. Committing to bed early has been one of the most beneficial things I have done and I certainly wouldn’t go back to staying up later than 9pm.
It is such a joy isn’t it Angela, and the knock on effects are un-ending, where as the knock on effects of staying up beyond what our body wants is detrimental to our health, especially if you consider what it does over many years/decades and how the body then copes in such a depleted state. I can easily see the connection with anxiety, stress, overwhelm, depression, and the need for stimulation, sugar, drama, and all because the body doesn’t get time to rest and regenerate.
Yes Laura I love going to bed early and taking a lovely hot tea to bed and massaging cream into my hands. Its a lovely way to wind down and just be with me.
I’ve got to give this massaging my hands thing a go in the evenings… not necessarily what I would naturally think of, but sounds like a lovely way to wind down and relax before … zzzz.
and so too is putting cream on our feet at night, before bed – I Love It.
Yep, my bed time routine includes a foot massage with coconut oil. My feet love it.
I love your comment Simon, a big smile came out so I wanted to reply. It’s funny I have the same ritual every night; it is absolutely how I go off to sleep. It’s not something I’ve ever shared with anyone, but have very much enjoyed the common sharing in this blog. You have now opened up a new dimension with this – why wouldn’t a man appreciate the same loving nurturing care and consideration for their hands as they prepare for sleep. Awesome, thank you for bringing equality to the sharing and enjoy discovering the cream you really like, this is half the fun.
One of the last things I do at night before bed is to thoroughly wash my hands, dry them and massage cream into them. This is something I saw my mother do every night also when I was growing up. It is a lovely way to end the day and takes care of our very hard working hands.
I am now thinking how my mother has always done this hand washing and creaming ritual too Robyn and when I feel her doing this it is very lovely. It is a moment of connecting with, nurturing and honouring ourselves before sleep and it really makes a difference.
This feels amazing to nurture our hands and connect with ourselves in this way and for this to be a part of our natural rhythm before sleep. Thank you ladies for sharing.
Yes, it is a lovely and nurturing thing to do last thing at night, massage cream into our hands as a way of appreciating everything they have done for us throughout the day. I also love to massage rose oil just under my collar bones as this feels beautiful too and sends me to sleep with the aroma of roses.
That’s beautiful Josephine, inspired to try this out myself as I just love scent as I go off to sleep, it’s one of my rituals too except I spray pillow mist and breath in the scent whilst a lit incense burns away…
that feels lovely Josephine I may add that to my ritual 🙂 I have found massaging my feet or creaming my body before bed is the last step of returning back inwards so I can lay down and go to sleep with me, connect in and with my body.
It is very beautiful to read the women’s nurturing preparations before sleep. It has reminded me to get back into massaging my hands – thank you.
Yes, going to bed early has transformed my life for the better. I get so much more done and have so much more fun doing it, it is hard to believe.
Such a gorgeous time to be with myself, and wind down for a soulful sleep.
Mmm… Sometimes we underestimate how profound our sleep is, and we can just treat it as ‘something we do’ at the end of our day, rather than a sacred time of connection with ourselves.
That’s exactly it Kylie Connors, regarding sleep as something other than ‘just function’, but in fact a sacred time of connection.. because we hold ourselves as this too (sacred). If we are dealing with sleep as pure function, then is this how we are holding ourselves, living and working too?! – functional and therefore downgrading sleep to the very same basic-ness instead of the greatness that this time offers.
More and more I am feeling in my body the relationship sleep has to my whole day. It is not just an outlet to ‘recover’ from being tired that day, but rather a way to actually continue a pattern of deep rest. If I chose to get caught up or stressed that day, my sleep is not as full and I am tired the next day, If I express that day, don’t overthink things, stay with me in what I do; then my sleep feels like a confirmation of how I have been living – I naturally am pulled to sleep earlier and I wake up feeling revitalised. Sleep is such an important part of our patterns but there is much to explore on how we use it – do we use it to recover and fix being tired, or do we use it to confirm how we are living and rejuvenate our bodies?
I had not considered it like this Zofia or Kylie. I knew sleep was an amazing opportunity to reconnect, I would even say I have a dedication to my preparation to when I go to sleep but reading yours and other comments I am so inspired to develop this and include my hands and feet as an honouring of the work they have done. To really prepare my body for the profound sacred connection and healing I am about to get in my sleep.
Yes going to bed early to just have time with yourself before sleep is an absolutely gorgeous and honour feeling.
I like this. Whilst I got to bed early, I’m not so great at winding down before I go to bed. I often work until bedtime and have showered previously. Tonight I might try a cup of tea and a hand massage.
That sounds lovely Nikki – I always have a cup of tea before bedtime and I find it really settles me and is deeply stilling. Might add the hand massage too now that you mention it…
Dear Laura,
Thank you for sharing your experience of going to bed early and how in so doing it is supporting you through your day. The care that my body is now calling for is becoming deeper and more refined. I don’t always listen yet, but as you say, I feel the effects, either tired or heavy when I don’t. By you sharing here it has highlighted for me a couple of points, how and what I eat, and reconnecting to the changes in how my body feels from this. Supporting me to commit to the refining my body is calling for. Thank you.
These are words that I can definitely relate to Leigh; “The care that my body is now calling for is becoming deeper and more refined.” It is as if, the more care we give it the more we realise there is to give, and the more we listen to it the more there is to hear.
I also love this Ingrid: “The care that my body is now calling for is becoming deeper and more refined.” It really speaks to me as I am finding the same, and I also find that when my body speaks to me I tend to speak back to it too, confirming what I have heard with the appropriate action – most of the time…
Yes agreed, it is about constantly refining our rhythms. There is never an end point and I can’t help feeling that when I look for the end point, sometimes desperately, I am looking to tick a box on myself, to move on. What I have found is that way of ‘moving on’ when applied to my rhythm squashes real magic happening.
Yes, the more we refine our rhythms, the more loudly our body speaks when we make a choice contrary to that.
Totally Kate Chorley, i have found this too.. and it’s repecting, appreicating and honouring this that is evolves us.
Leigh reading you comment has invited me to consider deeper something I’ve been aware of for a while. That is I sleep better when I eat a considerable period of time before bed. The old belief and habit about dinner being the main meal of the day is out dated for my body. But letting go of the concept in my head is another story, literally!
“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.”- I totally agree with you Laura- I too am learning to listen to my body more and going to bed early definitely makes a big difference to how I wake up in the morning- I feel so much more refreshed and reenergised.
Our bodies do know what is best for us if we just listen.
Liked this comment Loretta, learning to listen to my body again, It seemed for quite sometime I thought or should I say I wanted my body to be speaking another language so I didn’t have to listen but no it defiantly is loud and clear these days
I liked this line too Loretta, and as with you – going to bed early definitely makes a big difference!
absolutely Zofia, it is a huge game changer when we change form imposing our wants and needs onto our body and listen and honour to what our body is teling us.
Thanks for high-lighting this Loretta, it is key that the going to bed early (or what ever times suits you) comes from listening to when the body is ready and what supports it, as it could easily become a rule, or a ‘should do’ thing that comes from the head, rather than a loving thing to do for yourself.
“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.”
Isn’t it amazing how we let what’s true for us be overridden by the fear of apparently missing out or of wanting to fit in or to be apparently validated in some way … we’ve all done it and we all know it doesn’t work – it just makes us feel awful, not only physically but also emotionally and psychologically because in truth we know what we are actually doing to ourselves. We are so blessed that Serge Benhayon calls this out, not by thunderous disapproval but by example and simple presentation in workshops.
This is very true, Marion, when we go to bed just as some others are starting their evening’s social life, and get up just as they are going to bed – I know which life I prefer. Late nights leave me feeling groggy and dis-organised, but I somehow forget, just as we forget that we promised we’d never drink again, and the behaviour continues. The more we feel the consequences of our choice, the easier it becomes to choose more healthy options, but if we are too numb to feel anything, that makes the change harder.
Marian you raise some brilliant points here about what we will do to fit in. This is something that we can fall blindly into. It seems crazy when we are intelligent species that we would disregard our bodies in anyway, but it is because the missing ingredient of self-Love is absent. The more self-loving choices and honesty that we bring, the more the balance tips and self-Love becomes the more predominant way, rather than disregard. Something I am certainly still learning.
True Shevon. Self love is the ingredient that shapes all of our choices… And without it, I had no choice, but only my unconscious choice to be unloving.
Wouldn’t it be amazing and so supportive for teenagers to have the understanding of the benefits of sleeping early and rising early. And how not listening to our body has a roll- on affect in other areas of our lives. This would have supported me greatly to have this knowing around my late teens and early twenties.
Absolutely Johanna, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing and so supportive for teenagers to have the understanding of the benefits of sleeping early and rising early.’ This is something that is not taught or discussed at all and yet would be such an incredible support,currently going to bed late as a teenager, staying up partying and drinking is the ‘normal’ way and so this is what teenagers end up doing because they do not what to be seen as boring and so if the benefits were talked about with teenagers this may confirm what they feel in their bodies and it thus offers support to choose another way.
This would be amazing for teenagers to have this understanding Johanna, what a great school project to give pupils that would be. This could be a great project for much younger children too, why wait until they are teenagers for them to come to the understanding of how vital it is to honour our body in every way.
Yes Johannao8.smith, it would be great to have this understanding of the benefits going to bed early makes in our lives presented to us at an early age but especially in our teenage years. This would have supported me too, just to have the confirmation because I remember feeling very confused because although I felt dreadful after one late night, it seemed that going out partying and having late nights was the thing to do.
This is a great point Joanna, because although I was having late nights partying, I’m sure there are many young people having late nights studying, and feeling just as terrible, in fact possibly even more so, because of the stress and pressure on them.
To get an early night is such a simple thing but recognising the affects of not doing so and the continued affect of not doing so, is very important.
I agree with you Marian, as I remember starting work and all of a sudden it’s as though my personality changed and I saw myself as boring and started going to night clubs and pubs during the week and barely managing to make it to work the next day, and in those days I worked in the Civil Service which was very proper and respectful (had an image to up hold) – so for me it was like living two lives. Respectful and straight laced during the day and staying up late partying at night and for me this totally went against everything I knew to be true, but I was drawn to the excitement and wanted to fit in with friends.
Yes Julie Matson, it’s fed to us all, if we allow it. And we can be easy pray when we want to fit in and ‘be normal’. As a result bad sleep and exhaustion are ‘very normal’ for a majority of people these days. Do we really want to be a part in this ‘normal’, or do we want to choose to start to listen to and honour our bodies? I know what I rather do now.
Yes Marian I felt the same when i read this section – the fear of missing out becomes greater than listening to our bodies and what we know we need for ourselves.
I am more than happy to not fit in any more. As I have gotten older I really don’t think my body could do it even if I wanted to. Either it is speaking more loudly to me about going to bed early or I am much better at honouring what is true for it. Either way late nights and all nights are no longer an option and they are not even missed.
I absolutely agree with what you share here Sally, late nights are no longer an option and definitely not missed, more like I cherish the early nights as Laura described in her blog.
Yes, I cherish early nights as well, I love my bedtime whether it be 7pm, 8pm or 9pm. When I feel to go to bed of an evening I do and pulling back the sheets and sliding into bed has to be one of my favourite things.
Yes Marian, I am forever grateful to Serge Benhayon for exposing how we are living and how it affects us, in all its simplicity and so easily to understand. The changes have been amazing in my life, and I’m sure have been a lifesaver.
The presentations and teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine have also in my life made a huge impact as to how I conduct myself with myself and others, and how I live now in my body and my surroundings. And my rhythm and routine at bedtime is an all important part of that too.
Yes Marian, it is amazing what we do to override the body. I really suffered too; one late night partying and it took me days to recover. I remember that I often wondered how people could go out partying two nights on the run, I simply couldn’t do it. It feels so good to have left those days behind and go to bed at a time that is true to me.
Yes I am with you on this Caroline, I now love the fact I am in bed usually by 9 on a weekend night all warm and tucked up!
It was over 10 years that I did this to myself to different degrees.
Some people do this for their entire lives, living in a consistent way that does not give the body time to rest and recover and with knock on effects of feeding it with stimulation, whether that be emotional, from sugar, TV, alcohol, drugs etc… Truly consider the effects of not going to bed when we actually first feel tired, and you can begin to see the impact on our health and wellbeing.
We all know and knew how important sleep is for babies, yet somewhere along the line we make sleep less important in favour of life – stimulation, busyness, distraction etc. The rhythm of sleep needs to be an experimentation for everyone, to live what you have discovered and feel the difference.
Interesting point that you have raised Suzanne because in my experience there are so many babies with ‘sleep issues’ nowadays. There are many places that are now solely offering sleep training and support for babies. Is this an indication that we have lost the connection to our own rhythm of sleep and therefore cannot support our children with it?
Yes Robyn I agree with you. I work with Mothers and babies and sleep deprivation for both parties is a real problem. What I have noticed is the mothers of today are busy, anxious, have high expectations and so their rhythm throughout the day is completely out of wack and which the babies are very sensitive too. So at the end of the day you have a baby that is over stimulated waking up numerous times over night. The interesting thing is that if a mother is calm and so in her natural rhythm she has a calm baby and both sleep beautifully.
That’s very interesting feedback from both ladies who know something of babies and mothers – babies with ‘sleep issues’ are more often than not the babies of mothers who do too much. Makes sense given the two are closely bonded. Healthy mother, healthy child…
All these comments are really interesting about observing a correlation between a mother’s relationship with herself and her sleep rhythms and her babies. I don’t feel it’s a pattern that is confined just to babies – I know I am introducing a loving rhythm that is different to that of my family’s and it’s a long time since I was a baby!
What an amazing revelation for mothers to hear Anne. The anxious running around and pressures of the expectations on the mother not only affects her own wellbeing and sleep, but that of her baby. We have been accustomed with the belief that it is just luck whether our baby is restless or not. And this reflection can be a great empowering moment.
Yes it can be very empowering Golnaz, yet mothers need help to not beat themselves up with this being another thing that makes them a bad mother! From personal experience, and I cannot speak for all but I am sure my experience is that of many others, I overdid the day in order to be an amazing mum, to do everything for my kids, home, husband, friends family. What was missing was the priority of me and that is what mothers need support with. To understand all of the ideals and beliefs around mothering so that the choice to place ourselves at the top of the list is natural and is the most valuable gift to all others. I have noticed that mothers will do anything to support their children, and this is often where the first conversation and the most honesty can come in…if we say ‘let’s make this about you’ they won’t come to the table/workshop/talk. We are just too conditioned as a society to think this is selfish.
It’s true the energy we carry affects those around us. I know that when I am steady and calm, someone I work with is also steady and calm. My steadiness is supported by going to bed as early as I can and because of the nature of my work is usually 10.30 latest.
What you share here Anne makes so much sense and has been my experience over the years of how the energy the mum is in has a strong impact on her baby, ‘The interesting thing is that if a mother is calm and so in her natural rhythm she has a calm baby and both sleep beautifully.’
It makes so much sense what you experience with mothers and babies Anne, mothers today in western society have so many roles to play, multi tasking, often working and running at high levels of stress, and are even referred to as “super mums”, its not surprising their babies would feel the stress and have issues with sleep.
5. That is interesting Anne. In general my babies were not all night sleepers, especially the first child, and I was very nervous, anxious and increasingly overtired. The baby’s behaviour reflected my own, only I saw it the other way round, ie that I was exhausted because she didn’t settle easily. This same daughter is a new mum and she has a very settled baby. She says that when she is deeply connected to herself the baby sleeps much deeper.
That’s very interesting Anne Hart. As …”everything is energy and everything is because of energy”… (Serge Benhayon) – this really makes sense to me. Babies are little bundles of extraordinary energy, and they feel everything, so it seems natural that they would align to their mothers state of being, I don’t know why we haven’t truly considered this before!
Anne your comment makes so much sense to me regarding mother and babies. It is amazing that I have never twigged to this before, but there you go, I have opened to this now. Thank you.
Anne that makes so much sense. Mums and Dads could do with hearing about these simple and practical truths. I once saw a woman who was running late for her next appointment and her baby was restless, crying and clearly disturbed because her Mother was running late. When I realised that the baby was sensing that the Mother was late, and therefore out of her natural rhythm, it was a real eye opener to see how much we really do affect each other.
This makes perfect sense Anne. I wish I had someone share this wisdom with me when I was a new mum. Even now, adhering to my natural rhythm banishes anxiety from my day and has a wonderful knock on effect on the people I come into contact with. If parents model this, children will naturally be impulsed to find their rhythm and live in a way, guided by their parents, that harmoniously fits in with family life. We forget the huge influence and impact we have on others and children will copy what we do much more than follow what we say.
This would certainly save a lot of money for our health services; if this common sense was shared for public benefit and those that live supportive sleep rhythms shared what they know and live with others who are in need, the numbers with this condition could easily decline.
Anne I was one of those mother’s who suffered from sleep deprivation after my first child was born. I was highly anxious and so was she. She now is a mother and her child is joyful and relaxed and sleeps well – a reflection of how the mother lives. She has learned that when her rhythmn is disturbed the baby’s behaviour reflects this, and makes adjustments. I’m in awe how simple it can be.
That is disturbing to hear Robyn. When baby born in an out-of-rhythym household it is only natural that it will be hard for them to establish their own.
I would definietly say this is due to an indication that we have lost the connection to our own rhythm of sleep, nurturing, self-love and self-care.
This is really interesting Robyn, I have never heard of ‘sleep training’ for babies. The world reflects everything back to us, so yes you could be right, maybe this is reflecting back our lack of connection to our own rhythm of sleep, what a responsibility it becomes then, to teach our children, by example to not repeat the same patterns that are not in line with the natural rhythm of their body.
This is indeed very interesting what you say Robyn, as I know how many adults who just accept having very limited or a lack of quality sleep, is it possible that the babies mirror that back to the adults in their lives? If the parents are restless and cannot settle within themselves to then surrender to a deep sleep, are constantly in motion on the inside (with racing thoughts, or full of sugar or coffee for example, which keep the body racy) and then take that into their sleep-time, their bodies and it’s organs keep running fast on the inside, even when lying down and not moving. This doesn’t allow for any true stillness or any true refreshing rest-full sleep. I feel that the baby can feel that raciness and may take that on, as I feel this would be quite unsettling for the baby when their parents feel so unsettled.
I agree Robyn and experienced it myself. After the birth of my third child I had trouble finding back my rhythm. It then became a struggle with my daughter also waking up every two or three hours. But when I just started to go to bed around 9 pm again and out of bed early consistently she began to sleep more hours too. Now she wakes up once in the night and then again in the early morning and sometimes she sleeps all the way through till the early morning.
Yes Suzanne, this is something I have noticed and questioned too of late. Why honour sleep so much for children and so much less so for us as teenagers and adults.
Exactly – I remember it too how important it was for my children to be in bed early and then I would stay up late for the ‘me’ time… and if they woke up early in the morning I would be not ready to get up, feeling tired and not rejuvenated. Their rhythm was so nourishing for them. I am glad that through the presentations of Serge Benhayon and the Way of the Livingness I have fond back to this very beautiful and stilling rhythm of earl y to bed and early up.
It makes sense that the entire family should go to bed at the same time, and get up at the same time doesn’t it Karina. But I know what you mean about having ‘me’ time when they have gone to bed! Maybe if we were in our true rhythm we would nurture ourselves to the extent that we allowed ourselves ‘me’ time during the day so we would then be content with going to bed early and getting up early, and once we were in our true rhythm we would then have MORE time for ourselves AND our children.
Great point Michelle. A simple thing like honouring our sleep rhythm as adults would reduce our caffeine, sugar and television intake I’m sure.
Why the difference when we all need to rejuvenate and reboot in order to support ourselves for the end day.
That is such a good point Suzanne – it doesn’t make any sense at all that we make sleep less important when we grow up. If anything, we should value it more.
An interesting point Suzanne. We do honour children’s sleep yet somehow tend to let ours go as we grow up.
For me I can completely feel the benefits of going to bed early. I have more quality in the way I am and also I seem to be able to do more in my day by honouring my body’s rhythm.
This is so true Suzanne . A babies rhythm is based around sleeping and eating – it makes no sense why we would let go of the dedication to sleep just because of age or the fact that our rhythm changes.
Absolutely – no head kicking in to override what is felt, known and needed.
I agree Suzanne, its such a good experiment to do with yourself, just to see if it makes a difference – for what have you got to lose, with so much to gain!
Absolutely. I tend to do little experiments with how things feel for me and my body- to see what is supportive and what is not. Our body holds all the science we will ever need. It is just up to us to connect with it or not.
‘Our body holds all the science we will ever need.’ Perfect. Yes, we can be our own researcher, lab and experiment, sharing our results for all to see, not hidden in journals accessed by a privileged few.
Yes Johanna08.smith, our body lets us know if we are open to listening; when I used to stay up late, trying to watch that movie, I would fall asleep on the lazy chair around 9pm, then wake much later, having missed the movie, and having missed out on quality sleep, connected within myself. Instead my body had just shut down, trying to tell me that my sleep at that time would have been more important than any movie will ever be.
Making little daily adjustments to see what feels right or not is a great science for living with love.
Very good point Suzanne. We can be almost obsessed with babies and their sleep yet show very little regard for our own. At what point in life do we make that change and stop honouring the importance of sleep? It is actually crazy when it impacts our day so heavily to not been hugely concerned with our sleep patterns.
Quite young, I think. Children will often pester their parents to let them stay up past their bedtimes, and I know I did on occasion. There’s definitely an excitement and a glamour there; a wanting to push the boundaries into a space they perceive as more exotic and adult, as if something far more interesting takes place after their usual bedtime. Yes, the spirit loves excitement! All the more reason to model a sober approach to the end of the day – it might get your kids into bed at an appropriate time.
Great point Victoria. Encouraging children to go to bed earlier is more powerful in our actions not just in our words.
Yes I agree nb. My children are in bed and sleeping by 8pm but my feeling is this is too late for them. Talking with them in that sleep is very important for us if we want to function at our best and looking at our approach to getting ourselves into bed is either supporting or not is a start but to actually put this into practice is what makes all the difference.
…and it’s really interesting that we have developed an ‘adult lifestyle’ that revolves around late nights, restaurants and clubs etc… Wouldn’t it be a different story if all our socialising was done in the early mornings- that would certainly show a different side of everyone!
I agree very much Kylie, it would actually be amazing to feel that. For sure that the quality of energy during the night would expand and so during the day. From this vitality I guess we enjoy ourselves and life much more and from this foundation we then connect and spend time with others. Like you shared Kylie : that would show a different side of everyone!
Yes Kylie it would be a breath of fresh air to be socialising in the morning. When we ourselves live from this quality of rhythm then that sets a foundation for not only our day but can also inspire another. A win, win on all fronts.
This would be great, however I know lots of my family and friends who not make it to many social events initially as their body clocks are wired to late nights and sleeping in.
I was in Vietnam a few years ago and went for some early morning walks on the beach, to my surprise I found that all the locals were up and going for a dip in the sea as the sun was rising and whilst it was cool and calm. They would do exercises together whilst chatting and the men even gave their skin an exfoliating treatment in the sand. Then they all left to begin their working day -way before any sign of the tourists. turning up. The early mornings really are a precious time of day, where ever you are in the world.
I’ve experienced this in other places too, where the morning is a sacred time to do one’s exercises, write, and basically take care of all the things we need to take care of, before the day starts.
That would suit me down to the ground, especially if there was no alcohol involved. I love going to bed now the minute I feel tired and sometimes that has been as early as 7 o’clock and when I tell people that they look at me as if I am mad but if I have been up since 2.30am it is like I am going to bed at ten or eleven anyway if you get my drift.
What you have said Nikki has reminded me that I thought me time was staying up late’. I even remember the treat and relief of having a Sherry at 6 pm after bathing my very active son getting him ready for bed.
It wasn’t until I heard a presentation by Serge Benhayon a few years ago that I truly understood the value of going to bed early! Laura’s article confirms the wisdom and my body agrees. No longer do I need alcohol to prop up an exhausted body. Early to bed and early to rise my Mother used to say – wise words!
I know it’s crazy! Our parents work so hard to establish a rhythm for us and the first thing we do when we get out of home is disregard our sleep altogether! I am endlessly grateful that one of the things Natalie Benhayon established early on was rhythm rhythm rhythm! And that started with sleep. It turned my whole life around.
Very true Suzanne. And a baby is very honest about when it is tired…yet we learn to over-ride this in favour of distraction and stimulation. It’s no wonder that so many are addicted to sugar and coffee…everyone is exhausted!
I like what you share Suzanne, being our own science experiment and exploring what works, without following any ‘should do’s’. Life certainly becomes more simplistic and natural when we place equal importance on our own sleep. Imagine how a baby would feel if it was going to bed late and at different times each day, we are no different and my life has changed remarkably from the days when I would miss a night’s sleep or stay up late. This is a brilliant blog.
Well said Suzanne… there’s almost a stigma attached with going to bed early as an adult. There is an idea that there are ‘all these things to do’ before going to bed… but in my experience this rarely involves much more than watching TV – and it’s staying up for the sake of staying up!
I agree Brooke, from my experience the staying up late at night mostly involved socialising or later in life sitting up watching mindless television. Now that I have established a sleep rhythm that works for me it seems ridiculous that I ever thought my body would function with the spasmodic sleep I allowed myself!
I agree Brooke, that is my experience too. And then in the morning the question……..what did I actually watch on TV last night?? How relevant was it to me and my life? Absolutely not relevant at all, but it robbed me of that quality of sleep that then leads to the next day not living in my fullness; a vicious, very depleting cycle has begun.
Yes Brooke, I used to stay up simply because it was the ‘adult thing’ to do or simply for not being called unsociable, despite my body crying for sleep. Nowadays I give myself permission to go to bed when I feel tired.
Yes, that sounds very familiar Brooke, people are staying up and not doing much of any value because they are knackered… then waking up knackered… and accepting that as a normal way of life to sleep for 7 hours and yet still be tired?
It is interesting what you say Suzanne, about experimenting for ourselves. I have never heard anyone say that they felt great after going to bed late, and no matter how much they try to ‘catch up’ they still feel tired. However, I have heard people say that when they go to bed early and get up early they DO feel great, and it is surprising how little sleep they need. Maybe we don’t want to go to bed early because we feel there was something missing from the day and we stay up to see if we can fill the emptiness that we are feeling inside, which leaves us feeling incomplete. I love to go to bed early, it just feels so natural to me, and I feel more alive and vital than ever, and I am beginning to build a rhythm which is super important to support me with my sleep patterns.
Suzanne great point you make, it’s crazy how we make sleep less important in life and fill it with distraction, busyness and stimulation. I know for many years I was so exhausted as I would have less sleep to fit everything in, to keep up with social life at the expense of my body. Now I come first and I honour my sleep, I love going to bed early and waking up refreshed.
Yes what a great point Suzanne, “we make sleep less important in favour of life”, we forget that sleep is the basis upon which we begin our day. Our sleep determines our day – to a certain extent – so if our sleep rhythms are so out of whack, what are our days like? I don’t feel we are living our full potential here as a humanity – in what can be lived from a good night’s sleep on a daily basis. Because I definitely know the difference between waking up feeling re-energised and ready to go, and what sort of day this leads to, vs, dreading waking up, feeling depleted and a ‘struggle’ to get up, and what a mess this day can be.
Absolutely well said Suzanne, we seem to know these things, yet we do not honor this , not even the tinniest bit. What feels important is the adventure we all can have with sleeping times, so that whatever we choose actually supports us not numb us, or make us feel tired. I love how this gives us all an opportunity to build a more loving rhythm in our lives.