what’s your relationship to sleep?

 
 

I've subscribed for years to this occasional email from Dadi Jahnki. She's the current leader of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual organization. I loved last week's message from her:

Dear Friend,

Om shanti. Sometimes when we are together, you ask me why I don't seem to get tired when I travel from India or give programs into the evening. Tiredness is a kind of sickness. When we work with honesty and love, everything happens without tiredness. When we know how to take cooperation from others, there is no tiredness. It is not a matter of how long we sleep that determines whether we feel tired. It is waste and negative thoughts and actions that create tiredness. Create positive thoughts and elevated actions and you will take strength from that, and your tiredness will leave you.

Work for money and you will count your hours and your salary. Work for love, and you can work 16 hours a day with happiness and without getting tired. Serving others brings energy. You will then feel your happiness accumulating.

Love,
Dadi Janki

I think a lot of us have a big story around needing sleep. I know what science says about sleep and overall wellness ("eight hours is a must.") But then, science doesn't have quite as much to say about the chemical effects of joy or enthusiasm. Many eastern teachers believe that we are a culture that sleeps too much. Some practicing monks get by on five hours a night. Apparently Einstein slept in four hour increments to just "rest his brain."

Rest is the Great Healer. In fact it's the only time that the body is concentratedly repairing itself. But it's worth considering that, under normal circumstances, perhaps we don't need as much sleep as we've been lead to believe. Happiness over matter.

One thing I know for sure about myself, is that if I'm enthusiastic, I feel fully rested on less sleep. If I'm complaining or stressed, I need more sleep, I crave it. I feel the same way now about sleeping as I did when I was five years old: I'd rather stay up because I just don't want to miss anything. I figure there will be lot's of time to sleep when I die.

How about you?

join the convoposted 19 Feb 09 in: wellness + healing articles   ·   tags:   ·   View Comments

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  • I have never slept much. All my life the people around me, and society in general have tried to make me believe i need to sleep more. I"m almost 60 yrs old and i still stay up all night at least once a week because I get started on something and don't want to go to bed til I finish it.

    I've just found your blog and I love it! I'm subscribing and look forward to reading more from you.
  • SAS
    Hmmm. This is a really good thought, almost obvious -- yet I haven't quite connected the dots on this before. I love this. Thank you!!
  • Since I'm still nursing my 17-month-old 2-3 (ok, sometimes 5) times a night, I'd characterize my relationship with sleep as a flirtation! When I explain to my non-parent friends that I haven't gotten more than 5 straight hours of sleep for over a year, they look appalled!!! I can't say I'm at the top of my game, but I'm not babbling in a corner, either... most of the time! ;)

    I find that my feelings about my "sleep deprivation" vary wildly depending on how I choose to think about it. If I get into a grumpy spiral, I can get a fair ways down the "oh, woe is me, I'm going to get seriously ill" path before I snap out of it. But when I choose to focus on the fabulous cuddles I get all night, and the benefits to my little guy's health, I'm just as energetic as I was when I was single!
  • Vi
    I get irritable when I don't sleep enough. Sleep is very important for my well-being and for the sanity of my husband. It's true that sometimes, I will remain awake for a certain situation or project that I truly care about. But it's unsustainable for me. You can only run on adrenaline for so long before you crash.
  • I experience the same relationship with my sleeping patterns. Lately I've been stressed out and find myself going to bed much earlier than normal but just last week when I was working on something I was passionate about I went to bed at 3am! Thank you for sharing the link to Brahma Kumaris :)
  • I am an on call nurse for a home care agency. I frequently get calls in the night to help families in crisis. It is not hard to get out of bed and go to make that visit when I know I am going to help them when I get there. Not that I don't need to catch up the next day though...
  • I guess I am in a "yes and..." place about this. For me, when I am truly engaged in something with every fiber of my being and passionate, I don't need as much as sleep and the work, task, living, energizes me. AND, I need a loty of sleep. My rhythm is that I rise early and go to be early and when that rhtym gets disrupted for too long,,,I crave that 14 hour sleep that I aced when I was a teenager.
  • Thanks for posting this! I need to read this the next time I start complaining about being tired.
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