by Anne Malatt, Australia
“Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care.” (William Shakespeare, Macbeth)
I have always struggled with sleep.
Ever since I was very young, I remember not wanting to go to sleep, having trouble falling asleep, waking during the night and not being able to go back to sleep, and waking in the morning feeling more tired than I was the night before. I used to stay up late, trying to avoid sleep. When I was in my teens, I began drinking to try and help me sleep, which only made the problem worse. I tried everything, and nothing helped (except chamomile tea, which left a strange taste in my mouth).
One day, in desperation, I decided to take the advice of a good friend and go to bed early. It was a revelation! I woke the next morning after a sound sleep, feeling rested and vital and looking forward to the day.
Knowing this, why do I still struggle with sleep?
I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day.
If I live a day in anxiousness, pushing myself, driving myself to complete tasks, that energy is still in my body (and my head) when I go to sleep.
If I come home from work late, and still have to make dinner, eat dinner, clean up afterwards and let my dinner digest, I am not ready to go to bed early.
If I eat too much food, I cannot sleep for a few hours.
If I do not feel complete about my day, I take it to bed with me.
I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.
The quality of my sleep is a reflection of the way I have lived the day.
The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before.
The quality I wake up in is the quality I take to the next day.
Knowing this, sleep is everything.
So, if sleep matters so much, how do I do it?
The first thing I have learned is to understand how important sleep is and to make a commitment to going to sleep in the quality I would like – in gentleness, in love.
To do this I need to live my day in full, to feel complete when my work day is done, and to wind down in the quality I would like to go to sleep in.
The winding down rhythm at the end of the day is all important.
For me, it means finishing work at 5pm, feeling that my day is complete.
It means leaving work at work, and coming home in a way that allows me to bring home me, and only me.
It means preparing and eating food that nourishes and supports me, without overeating.
It means spending the evening resting and playing, without over-stimulation.
It means allowing enough time to get ready for bed in the evening, as I do to get ready for the day in the morning.
Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.
My understanding of this has been inspired by Natalie Benhayon, who is a living example of the truth of this work.
The Truth about Universal Medicine 
Sleep is essential, as is the quality we choose to go to sleep in, ‘The first thing I have learned is to understand how important sleep is and to make a commitment to going to sleep in the quality I would like – in gentleness, in love.’
Appreciating the lived day with every learning I have in it allows me to let go during the night and surrender to the next bit of life. Everything is effortlessly revised, adjusted and/or rectified from the vastness of what I am and where I come from, to keep growing and unfolding afresh into my next new day.
Appreciating sleep, and how we prepare and allow ourselves to sleep, ‘Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.’
The rhythm of day and night, motion and repose are all part of the cycle of the one day.
I did this just the other day ‘If I come home from work late, and still have to make dinner, eat dinner, clean up afterwards and let my dinner digest, I am not ready to go to bed early.’ and while eating asked myself did I really need dinner and on reflection reading this I am thinking what if I went to bed and then got up and had lovely breakfast instead? This is showing me that being set in ways is not supportive.
This is gorgeous “Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care.” (William Shakespeare, Macbeth)’
It’s very clear to see when we prepare for something, we perform better at it or have a smoother experience. Sleep is no different to any other part of life.
Right now I can feel I am pushing it, my body wants to sleep and my mind is making excuses! My bed awaits! Love all that you have written here Anne. Great revelations.
“It means leaving work at work, and coming home in a way that allows me to bring home me, and only me.” I can relate to that not just for work, but for my day in general. We can accumulate lots of reactions and carry things around with us from the day, instead of maintaining our connection to ourselves.
I emerge from a long sleep after travelling interstate and with it being a long day, my body was exhausted. The timing of this blog couldn’t have come at a better time than now.
Everything you have shared Anne makes absolute sense especially, ‘ the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day’ and ‘If I live the day in anxiousness, pushing myself, driving myself to complete tasks, that energy is still in my body (and my head) when I go to sleep’. All the other points are just as important, for me these two seem to be the ones that need refining at this stage of life.
A further refinement is the ‘wind down’. I have observed, even if I read one text message or an email near to bed time, my body is stimulated, and my sleep is violated.
There is much to ponder on here, sleep isn’t just becoming unconscious and horizontal, it is where every cell in our bodies rejuvenate and regenerate. So what are we doing to assist it?
Thanks for your comment Sushila, and in particular “sleep isn’t just becoming unconscious and horizontal, it is where every cell in our bodies rejuvenate and regenerate. So what are we doing to assist it?”. Sleep is a vital part of our health and wellbeing, it definitely deserves a detailed inquiry.
I get a sense that we spend our day expecting that sleep will fix it all for us in the end no matter what – whether that’s physical or emotional and don’t really consider how we bring ourselves into completion.
Spending the whole day preparing for bed. I really love that, but wow, what a responsibility because by the time you got to bed you would have to be honest about the quality you had lived your day in. I can feel stinking thinking joining me in bed already!!!!
If we looked at the analogy of a car, and the oil needed replacing, what is the point if the same old oil was poured back in. No wonder the car won’t function, so it is a no wonder our bodies don’t want to function 24 hours and propping it up with stimulants, isn’t the answer either.
We really need to observe in the responsibility of how we live.
I’ve always struggled with sleeping, there were times when I only slept by getting so tired I collapsed! There’s something so precious about taking myself to bed and to sleep. Could it be for me something that I have felt I didn’t deserve?
I am currently fascinated by sleep because I can feel if I have a deep nights sleep how rejuvenating it is for my body. I know there is a balance to be had between how I am during the day to how I will sleep at night. The less reactive I am during the day the deeper the sleep I have because I am not carrying any unresolved issues of the day to bed with me.
That is very important if we wish to have a really deep sleep, ‘not carrying any unresolved issues of the day to bed with me.’
“I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day”. This is my experience too. I know that if I have a day where I put my whole self into whatever is going on and prepare for bed when and how I need to, my sleep is sound and restful. If not my mind can tick over or I can delay going to sleep to try to make up for the feeling of incompleteness.
I can see from your comment Fiona that when I hold myself back, especially by not saying what I feel to, then there is not a sense of completion at night because I didn’t honour myself, more like an unsettled feeling of loose ends and missed opportunities to be myself in full.
‘preparing for sleep takes the whole day’ and that captures the fact that our whole day is a never ending cycle with one thing feeding into the next and sleep is no exception.
How we live in every moment affects the next moment, and the next cycle, it is all a never ending cycle.
I’m beginning to realise that we have reduced the hours of sleeping to something we have to do, I have heard some people say it is a waste of valuable time, that life is too short for sleeping. But if we sleep in a way that rejuvenates our bodies then we do not need that much sleep. It is because we go to sleep with so much of the unresolved day racing around in our bodies in the way of nervous energy that the body actually cannot replenish itself. If we cannot deeply sleep with all that nervous energy coursing through our bodies is it then any wonder we wake up tired?
Absolutely. It is in our interest to build a way of living that supports a way of resting deeply as we sleep so it actually holds the same level of usefulness or importance as our waking day.
Everything is interconnected, sleep and living and each reflects each other, so the quality we bring to one impacts the other.
Sleep is a movement that is part of our overall daily patterns. Understanding our troubles require us to stop treating it in isolation and being willing to see how the rest of our movements impact on our sleep.
There is a beautiful science to sleep that supports us to understand what is on offer every night through this cycle when we approach this part of the day. Our sleep is our time of repose where not only our bodies can deeply heal, restore and rejuvenate from the day of living but also the opportunity is on offer to deepen our connection to our Soul, to the multidimensionality that we are in essence, so that our body and being is ready to live the day again with greater presence and purpose of bringing the full potential of who we are to life.
From this marker of truth, we are left to feel that we make our days by the energy we live, and so this is felt and is completely transparent by the quality of the way we sleep. So simple! Yet great to face, even when uncomfortable, it always teaches us something.
There is something quite magical about falling asleep and that moment of spaciousness. I remember being so fascinated by that time as a child that I would struggle to surrender to it because I was almost afraid I would not be able to come back. Now I can feel that feeling is with me when I wake as well if I am willing to still myself enough to feel it.
It is the quality we sleep in not the time we sleep, so allowing our bodies to go into a deep repose and surrender to that Loving rhythm will expand into our day, then that day will reflect on our sleep.
This is very true what comes after is always based on what came before.
And that foundation builds a momentum we can carry into our next life thus understanding True Responsibility.
How crucial is sleep to everything we do, and how crucial is everything we do to have a good night sleep – it’s a cycle. We can make it a torturous one – where we are constantly exhausted, or a beautiful one where we are rejuvenated and more vital every morning.
Yes Viktoria so wisely said – is it yet another beautiful cycle that offers us the opportunity to deepen our relationship with our body (and its purpose) and our connection to Soul, our multidimensionality and our relationship with God so that we maximise our Livingness to be the reflection of who we are in essence. As you say we either can resist it or surrender to being all that we are through the cycles we are inescapably part of, and held in by virtue of the fact that we are in essence all Sons of God.
“It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.” How we prepare to go to sleep prepares us for the day that is to follow.
Yes very wisely said Viktoria and expanded upon Carola as the cycles and rhythms of life are there to support us to connect to our multi-dimensionality if only surrender into and flow with them.
Everything is a cycle, we do not just leave things behind; which highlights the importance of responsibility.
Very very true. One of my role models is Natalie Benhayon. Seeing simply a young woman of my age living in a way that is truly caring of herself and others..without fuss or pretending, just simply seeing how she moves, in the tone of her voice (warm and full in her voice) etc. This has showed me that there is a way out of the prison of not being myself and careless way of living. There is a way of living with love and care with myself and all others.
I am aware that the quality of how I complete my day and go to sleep sets me up for the next day – but what I am still disregarding is the wind down in the evening as I am often still ticking boxes on my list of things to do….
True, and so it goes on and on,’I am aware that the quality of how I complete my day and go to sleep sets me up for the next day’.
The depth of what is in store here is HUGE. We are able to sense that sleep is a quality of movements set by how we live night and day. This makes life and our rhythms even more revelatory if we look at energy first.. Knowing that either two energies exists / one of fire (our never-ending love) and the prana (which is the obstruction of this fire). We need a whole different observation scale in life. And this is where the Way of The Livingness comes in very handy. Supporting us with the exact tools needed for us to observe in a world where everything is energy.
In my experience I have difficulty sleeping when I am too tired to fall asleep or when a lot needs to be cleared in the night. Thankfully even the clearing is much simpler than in the past – waking up several times and going back to sleep.
I used to have trouble sleeping if I ate a big meal too close to my bedtime, listening to our body and honouring its many messages is so supportive.
Sleep is precious for our body and being deserve a daily deep rest/surrender to go deeper. Sleep is supporting of our whole rhythm — day and night.
Sleep is very precious for our body, we cannot survive without it; and the quality of our sleep affects our next day.
To embrace the function of sleep in full we have to understand that we are not just only a human body but more so a spirit and a soul. The spirit and the soul do not need any sleep, but it is the human body that needs to rejuvenate every night in this cycle of day and night. That is because it belongs more to the universe then how we live in it in our daily lives with it and the night, allows it to reconnect in full with the source it is from.
The cycle of day and night, waking and sleeping is one whole cycle, with the way we put ourselves to bed influencing how we wake up and how we wake up and live our day affects how we sleep the next night, it is all one continuous movement of motion and repose, the quality of each flowing into the next and so and so on.
Everything is connected, one big cycle, ‘The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before.’
This has been great to read Anne, so many points that are valuable to support sleep. Generally sleep advice is to do with the bedroom environment, diet and nighttime, not the way we live our whole day. It wasn’t til I was reading your blog that I realised I have been carrying work into my wind down, thank you.
‘bring ourselves to sleep with love’ What a lovely phrase. Recently I have been bringing more care to my night time ritual so that I have everything prepared before I go to the bathroom, the lighting is low, and blankets are folded back ready for my return, the eye pillows await me as does my journal and my trusted friend, one of Serge Benhayon’s purple books. I sometimes light a candle or incense. The phone is on airplane mode and the alarm, if necessary, is set. It’s lovely to come back in to a room that has been prepared like this and I feel so much appreciation. It is a joy to climb up and in and to feel the covers lightly caressing my body.
I have observed that eating too late at night, I need more sleep and wake tired the next morning as all of my energy has gone on digestion during the night instead of recharging.
How we live our day affects the quality of our sleep, ‘I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.’
What a great blog sharing the importance of the cyclical nature of our day and night and how they each affect the other. Everything matters. Not just what we do but how we do what we do.
Yes, and it leaves its imprints and after effects for hours or even longer.
I love coming back to this blog, and all that is shared on sleep. Sleep is not really a topic many people discuss, its just something you do at the end of the day…. But sleep is important as highlighted in this blog, as the quality of our sleep and whether we’ve had enough sleep impacts how we are the next day.
The quality of our sleep is super important, ‘Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.’
So many are sleep-deprived in todays’ societies. Exhaustion has become a major plague – witness the exponential growth of coffee shops in towns. People cant function without their morning coffee. People put off going to sleep – their repose – by watching TV until late then wonder why they find waking in the morning so difficult. A wind down time is important – for adults as well as children. Parents know their children can’t sleep if wired from the day – adults are no different.
I was just thinking about this, sleep, and I recently heard someone saying how important is was for him to feel complete before going to sleep, and not expect sleep to do it for us, and it makes sense, to first be in a state that feels complete and then the sleep will take it from there.
Oh I love that, thank you for sharing it. It makes such sense to complete our day and not expect our sleep to do it for us, it also brings us to much more personal responsibility.
I love this blog Anne, and all you share in your understanding of the subject of sleep. A must read for anyone, because the importance of sleep is widely underestimated, and in showing the bigger picture, we can see that sleep or lack of sleep impacts our every day quality of life and how we relate and interact with others.
What a beautiful and inspiring blog Anne. This sentence alone is something most people have to digest: “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” Imagine more people would live life like this – I am sure the world would be a different place to stay.
The world does need to know this, many people struggle with sleep, ‘“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.”
So many of us resist sleep and the repose it offers us. Do we prepare for sleep as well as we prepare for our day?.
So many of us resist sleep and the repose it offers us. Do we prepare for sleep as well as we prepare for our day ?
Beauty-full Anne – a simple reminder of our values that support us deeply day in and out. A gorgeous reminder of what I got to do!
From some time to now I’m learning to rest in my body before rest in my bed. This means don’t go to bed with my unresolved issues and with the anxiousness for resting well fed by the beliefs about sleeping, which left me more exhausted even. Developing a loving ritual before sleep and going to bed early is deeply supporting me to rest like a baby. I appreciate so much the quality in that I’m living today after working with Universal Medicine which allows me to be more present, joyful and tender with myself night and day.
Deeply resting is a mode unto itself – we can’t expect it to work by approaching it in the same active way we live our day. But as you beautifully show Anne our ability to access true repose is defined by not our quality of bed or pillow but the energy we’ve chosen to align to throughout the day.
To be able to relate our sleep with how we live during the day is a great step forward as much as it is to relate our quality during the day back to how we rest.
Sleep is so important to me and because of this I can procrastinate being with myself and surrendering at the end of the day. I know a surrendered loving sleep can restore harmony, revitalise and bring me greater awareness. Why fight it? Because there’s a part of me that likes the world to be a struggle, because when it is I get so caught up in just getting through the day, I don’t have to feel the amazingness I would otherwise bring to the world, and bring it!
We humans fight so much in life, mostly ourselves. When we stop the fight and let go of control, protection, and the push and the drive for our bodies to keep doing more and more, clarity shines forth where we make more loving and supportive choices for our bodies, including looking at our sleeping patterns to ensure a good night sleep which is our foundation for the next day.
This is a great example for me to ponder, because I am a person who can resist sleep…I can feel how I have used that behaviour to not feel, to numb, to feel tired so I do not put into action what is needed…we can sabotage ourselves in all sorts of ways. It is worth us looking at what we choose that prevents us from shining.
So true Anne, how we sleep is a good indicator of how we live our day.
In reading this I can see how sleep is such an important part of one’s full commitment to life, which is essentially a commitment to the quality of one’s movements through life.
Each point you make is worth deep consideration Anne and all take a while to work with in daily life. I am now for example much more consciously completing my day and not starting tomorrow already today by way of thinking about everything that needs done then. To feel complete in the day is a very beautiful and restful way of being.
Wow Anne with what you have shared it is very clear that we are more in the doing than in resting our body. Perhaps this is one reason why sleeping problems are so rapidly on the way up!
Anne, these are all great and very relatable examples of how we as spirits ‘ride the out-breath of God’ and in so doing create an endless cycle of excess motion so we can exist contrary to the greater flow of life we are a part of and naturally fall in rhythm with when we are not fighting it.
Beautifully said. Like a wayward wild horse who doesn’t want to know the exquisiteness of obedience and harmony. I’m feeling the consequences of excess motion and how my recklessness is wrecking my life.
This is great for me to read, as I have been finding lately that I have been staying up late to get work finished, rather than getting up early and that I am not taking the time to prepare myself to rest. From reading this I can feel how much of a difference it would make to the quality I wake up in, if I took more care putting myself to sleep.
What Anne has shared here makes so much sense. I can feel so strongly how when I bring my work home with me and have held back expressing myself in any way, it directly affects my sleep in a negative way. But when I take the time and provide space to wind down, do my gentle exercises before bed and other rituals consistently, I sleep like a baby and wake up ready to go!
An empowering revelation that is revealing to us that we can live more than we are currently living and that it starts by such simple changes (movements). To dare and go there and break cycles, start new flows in life that hold a different quality of energy and that supports you. Coming back to the ancient knowing of what cycles are all about and claiming that love and truth to be part of your life – by your own free will!
So true – for me, it is not always possible to go to bed early, but how I prepare myself before going to bed, how I spend my day, especially whether I have held back my expression or not, makes a huge difference in the quality of sleep, and how I would feel the next day.
It’s amazing to realise how the quality in which we live one moment is the quality that leads us to live the next. In that, the quality that we live is a reflection of the energy we have chosen to align to, or let move us, which is something that we have the will to change at any given moment. Bringing awareness to the quality in which I go or prepare to sleep has been a huge support in developing a deeper connection to my body and being, and being able to sustain this presence more and more throughout my day.
Sleep is so very precious, and when it is taken in as part of the waking day, that day becomes precious too.
It makes absolute sense that we cannot seperate sleep from any other part of our day. Many times I have felt more tired after nights full of stressful dreams, feeling as though my nervous system is working twice as hard while I’m out to it. Sleep is not the same as true nurturing and restorative rest and there is no way to fake it.
It’s so true Leonne – sleep is as equally important as breathing, as is how we live every moment of our day. Bringing awareness of the quality of how I go to sleep has brought greater depth to the quality of presences in my living day, in which the opportunity to continue to deepen, refine and adjust is a beautiful journey of discovering and confirming what supports best to for me to live the real me.
“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” Realising this changes one’s whole approach to life.
“Sleep does so much for us if we but allow it.” this is so true, and how do we allow this one might ask? by merely treating sleep not as something we just do because we are exhausted, but as something that is sacred as in truth it regenerates and prepares us for the quality of life and volume we are capable of having access for the next day, to gain more connection to that which is divine within us all.
And approaching sleep as part of our day works like a dream.
You explain so beautifully Anne, how the rhythm of the day impacts on the quality of our sleep and that is the quality of the next day. It is so worth it to nurture ourselves in this way.
Given how important sleep is and how it is such a major problem for so many in our world it makes me wonder why such simple common wisdom of sleep that you share here Anne is not being applied by many more. It is not that we do not know this but that we do not choose to live it’s way.
That’s it Joshua, we all know an early night makes a huge difference to the way we feel when we wake the next day but we choose to fight it. We start fighting our sleep from a young age wanting to stay up late and continue to override our tiredness as adults. When we listen to our bodies and honour the messages we receive we naturally start to change our rhythm.
many people feel out they miss out on social time or me time when they go to bed early and I am finding that a lot of activities in my community do not start until 8 or 8.30 pm. So we all keep rolling with the ball until enough people have enough love and care for themselves to say no longer and we can change this unnatural rhythm around.
Even before I came across Universal Medicine if I was feeling out of sorts, I naturally knew that an early night would do me the world of good, allowing my body time to catch up with itself, and through Universal Medicine I have learnt that regularly going to bed early has vast health benefits as it gives my body a regular rhythm to heal itself, without me putting it under stress by staying up late.
‘I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day’. This changes our whole approach to sleep as its quality is not just something that ‘happens’ at the end of the day but is a product of the quality of our entire day.
I used to struggle with sleep. These days I enjoy going to bed – and early too. I have much more respect for sleep than I once did, because I now understand how different I feel the next day after a really good sleep. And much of this is built on a more loving relationship with myself, one that is self-caring and nurturing, one that accepts more responsibility for who I am in the world and with others. Sleep is part of the foundation of who I am going to be in my day and when this foundation is lovingly in place, life is more vital and joy-full. It may appear dull to some, but my experience is that the opposite is true.
‘I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.’ I like this seemingly turning things upside down Anne and with putting it like this it gives both parts of the 24 hour cycle we live in the same importance, it is a given that it all is just one day over and over again.
Anne, this blog needs to go to all ‘sleep clinics’ and surely provides the answer to all those out there who struggle with sleeping and for those sleeping has become a challenge.
Well said Rachel and your comment is making me wonder if sleep clinics just record the physical quality of a person’s sleep or do they take it further and actually educate on how important the quality of your preparation is prior to sleep and the quality and care in how you actually live your day to day life and the fact that your general health and well-being plays a huge part in the equation too.
For years I went to bed around 11pm, probably sometimes 12am. I didn’t have an issue with sleep as such, but would often toss and turn for some time before eventually falling asleep. About 8 years ago, I experimented with going to bed early, and whilst it took some time to adjust, I’ve never looked back. I find in general, providing I’m not killing myself during the day, I sleep much deeper and need less hours. It’s made a huge difference to my life.
Interesting article to read when out of bed after only 4 hours sleep unable to go back to sleep! I’ve had a week of not much sleep and what has been interesting is my response to my perceived lack of sleep. On a day like today where I’ve been awake since 12.30am, not that it happens that often, but when it does I usually tell myself I’ll be tired and struggle through the day. I set myself up so that I move in this way and sure enough the day is a struggle. But this week I’ve just decided to roll with it. My body is not actually that tired and for some reason I’m waking up extremely early. If I stay with myself during the day and rest when needed, my day can be quite lovely rather than living out a struggle.
It is such a great understanding of sleep Anne. I love the way you describe it takes all day to prepare for sleep bit also the quality of our sleep also affects our next day. It becomes obvious what rolling on roller coaster it is for people with poor sleep, but we look in the wrong place for the answers. Instead of looking at our sleep patterns, we need to look at our day patterns.
So beautiful Anne – your words lay out the truth like a cosy blanket for us to rest, and what you present about our responsibility is like a supportive cushion for our head. The only thing missing from this bedroom scene, is to me, the mattress of the simple fact, that we are designed to live and rest holding everyone in this world with an open heart. We are each, way more valuable and precious than any amount of diamonds and pearls. We are the real riches we should dream of in this world.
Every detail our our daily living effects how we will prepare for sleep and then how we will wake to start a new day. Our bodies hold a natural rhythm and from this rhythm we can refine how early we feel to go to bed and what food’s to eat, even how we dress or walk. Moving in a way that supports us to be vital holds us in good stead to live a life of joy, ease and great health and how we wind down to sleep is a big part of that.
It’s beautiful to revisit this again and feel just how supported we are by our bodies and the cycles we are intrinsically part of to explore, discover and learn how to master living in connection to our love, our essence, so we can live who we are in full through our every day… and night. Thank you Anne.
I had always looked at sleep as time out. As a part of your life that was wasted. I remember a stat coming out at one point that was similar to we sleep nearly a third of our entire life and I remember thinking what a waste. In other words while I new sleep was necessary I was hassled by it and would constantly try and fight it. I remember when I was young having a similar feeling. No matter how I felt I would always try and stay up later and this carried over into my adult life. Now sleep to me is a crucial part of my day, crucial in the sense that it not only mirrors what happens when I am awake but they are both in relationship with each other. In other words while we physically may close our eyes nothing else closes and in fact in some ways we possibly need to take more care when we are asleep because you have part of you shut down while part of you is still running. It’s great to talk about sleep and even better to sleep restfully and deeply.
It does make a difference when we prepare in the morning for our day compared to not preparing, so it makes sense to do the same with our sleep. I have certainly felt the benefits of having a ‘wind down’ time before I go to bed. I sleep deeper and quicker (it used to take hours for me to fall asleep, now it’s eyes closed and gone) and most days now I wake up earlier and more refreshed – this never happened when I did not prepare for my sleep. And when I sleep better I live better which shows to me how they are connected.
I love my sleep and being a shift worker I often work through the night and would feel very tired and grumpy after these work shifts. But like you Anne I have been discovering a lot about sleep and breaking down some beliefs around this and have also found it is not about how much sleep I get. it’s the quality of my sleep that counts, learning to apply these simple principles you have outlined here truly support us to enjoy more restful and quality sleep.
I am still very much learning with this one ‘I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.
The quality of my sleep is a reflection of the way I have lived the day.’
‘If I eat too much food, I cannot sleep for a few hours.’ I find if I eat late I wake up feeling more sluggish than if I eat earlier, especially if I have overeaten too.
It’s the quality I live in my day which determines the quality of my sleep, if I eat foods or drink drinks that stimulate me and live disconnected from my movements / body then this is the quality I take to bed with me and it is understandable that I may struggle to sleep. On the other hand if I am present with my movements and avoid foods which I know stimulate then surrendering to sleep is a joy.
A friend recently said to me how supportive she finds it to go to bed early and I have realised that in order for me to achieve this I need to be prepared in my day so that what is needed is complete leaving space for me to unwind properly for sleep.
Last night I put to the test my friends advice, instead of racing around and getting all of my chores done just before going to bed, I made a conscious decision to leave them until the morning. I took myself to bed an hour earlier than usual and although I struggled to get to sleep, I woke up much earlier and feeling more vibrant than I had the day before.
Sleep is part of our cycle, a cycle that gets repeated and repeated, so it’s quite peculiar how when we know certain choices impact our sleep negatively that we should continue to repeat them again and again. I’m exploring my sleep patterns at the moment and starting to look at what I use to stimulate me throughout my day and into the evening which then impacts on my ability to go straight to sleep.
Sleep has always been my friend and while I struggled with it for a fair few years when I was unwell, I know as I did when I was younger sleep fairly well. I guess when we sleep we think everything shuts down but a lot of our body is still going and so we need energy to sleep. In that way it would be important what you go to sleep in, in that go to bed thinking about the day or the tomorrow and your sleep will be pretty full. I never really placed an importance on sleep as it was just something you did and after all you were asleep what does it matter. But now I can see another part of the importance of sleep that takes it well beyond a mere process.
Thank you Anne. I’ve often complained about lack of sleep but Your blog reminds me that this is really a way of avoiding looking at the way I am living.
Sleep is a daily reminder (right in our faces) that the quality of your movements affects what comes next. This is as valid regarding the day relative to the night as the night relative to the following day.
Working in a health food shop has me seeing a train of people who have difficulties with sleep purchasing all kinds of remedies to bring it on or to keep them asleep so it really is a problem many suffer from. I love this quote . . . “Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care.” (William Shakespeare, Macbeth) and I love your sharing. Preparing for sleep is great advice for how can we possibly, after having a million things running through our mind, expect to suddenly on demand turn off and go to sleep?
I spent a little while fixated on getting to bed early while missing all the other components to a good night’s sleep, so I didn’t really feel much difference. An early night is great, but so much of a good night’s sleep is about the quality I go to sleep in, and how I’ve been in the day. The more present I am in my day, and less reactive and emotional, the more energy I have, the steadier I feel, and the better night’s sleep I get.
I know what you mean Bryony. I was fixated on getting to sleep early last night and rather than focus on the quality of my movements I rushed to get everything done so that I could be in bed early and then proceeded to lie in bed awake unable to let go of my day with thoughts racing round at a million miles an hour.
Sleep is a precious gift that allows the body to restore itself ready for a new day ahead. Thank you Anne for all that you offer to us about sleep, I have lately been making my bed in the morning with tender loving care , and when I get into bed each night I feel a sense of being wrapped up in my love.
I find sleep fascinating, lately I have been getting too much of it and I swear its making my more tried, I think the model that we have been sold about sleep is much like the out dated food pyramid model. The best way to be vital and get the most out of the sleep you have is to feel things for yourself and in your body, this article has so many great tips of how to get the most out of bedtime, love it!
Great point Sarah I feel you are definitely on to something!
Yes Sarah, I feel I have an internal battle between what my head is telling me, i.e. You need a good 8 hours sleep and what my body is telling me, which is it’s leaving me feeling more tired and groggy when I ignore these messages. The tussle is interesting as it goes against everything I have been told or read on getting enough sleep and I know that waking feeling refreshed makes a huge difference to my day so I resist what my body tells me in the belief I’m going to be left feeling tired and yet here I am, having not listened and feeling quite groggy.
Your article here alone gives us enough information on sleep and how to care for this period of our day.
“I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day” This is a great lesson to learn that we have as much responsibility for the way we sleep as in the way we live each day; it is all one and the same part of the cycle.
It is incredible how much we as a society overlook the power of sleep, and how greatly the quality in which we sleep determines the quality in which we awaken, rise and move through the following day. Since realising this being aware of how I sleep is a vital part of my well-being routine, and if I don’t pay attention to honoring this equally important part of my day through winding down, reflecting, being thankful, appreciating and nurturing my body for carrying me through the day, I certainly feel it the following day. The more we honor ourselves throughout the day, sleep included, the more of ourselves we can bring to everyday.
You could have called this the science of sleep. There is far more to it then putting our heads on a pillow and closing our eyes. It is one life, in this all we do contributes to the next movement.
So very true Anne, I have long observed that children who don’t establish a good sleep rhythm of early to bed (which almost always means… early to rise), are less healthy, vital, mentally clear, focussed, even-tempered and joyful. It is hard to be any of those things when the body is lethargic and overloaded.
Preparing for sleep takes the whole day – I completely agree. And a good night’s sleep feels like a great session – my body feels totally surrendered and ready for the next day and I feel more able to understand and appreciate what was offered in my dream.
My work does not allow me to be home early enough to enjoy an evening dinner with the family and a long winding down time before sleep now, and so it is all the more important to live my day with even more awareness in love than before, being even more gentle to myself than before, being more firm in standing by my own love than before to go to bed full of this love and understanding to myself, to still enjoy the immense benefits of sleep.
I ate some food that I don’t normally eat and let an emotional issue run last night and then I had dreams that I was very active in and I woke up feeling drained. Almost like I had run a marathon. It was good to read this, this morning to refine my choices throughout the day and what I will choose tonight so that I have a rejuvenating sleep.
I have never had trouble sleeping but have come to understand why I can sleep for 8 hours and still wake up feeling tired. The practical things you have mentioned in your blog Anne have made the world of difference to the quality of my sleep. Now I make sure I dont go to bed with unresolved issues buzzing around in my head and I don’t eat heavy foods for dinner as this makes me wake feeling sluggish the next day. As a result of these simple things I now actually need less sleep and wake feeling rested and ready for my day.
I love this line…”Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.” Sleep is essential and even if we sleep well always looking at day and our rhythms will continue to deepen the quality of our sleep and the quality of what we bring during the day.
Over the last few years I have began to truly understand that that preparing to sleep takes the whole day, our quality in our movements for the whole day impacts our quality of sleep. As I have become more aware and have changed my movement, my sleep is more restful and I am less tired when I awake. Still working on deepening the quality of my sleep.
Anne, Your personal experiences with the profound changes in your sleep pattern, reveal how super important it is to have a winding down rhythm in place at the end of the day. This is then beautifully supportive for the quality we can bring to the following morning.
How inspiring this blog is – a simple foundation to true wellbeing – thank you!
Anne – What great practical steps you bring to address ill-sleeping patterns and thus introducing the beginning of change to a deep quality of rest and rejuvenation to the body and feeling clear and ready for the next day.
We can’t maintain our day at a fast pace and then literally skid into bed and expect quality sleep… our body first needs to wind down.
Suse thats so true, I remember a few years ago, I was just living like that, fully in fast pace and then thinking if I just stopped an hour or so before, my body would settle down, how wrong I was. My brain never stopped and my body was just exhausted.
There’s a big difference between what we’d deem a ‘good’ night’s sleep – sometimes it can seem as though we’re sleeping well, but actually the body is exhausted and basically shuts down to not take anything else on. When we’re not racing around in the day, and go to bed in that state of even-ness, the body gets to rejuvenate itself at night and we wake up actually feeling refreshed. It’s a totally different sensation.
Yesterday I worked a late shift, normally the morning after I am completely dead. But I had to get up and out the door for 6:30am. Last night I didn’t feel so drained as I used to, and this morning, yes I am very tired but not a zombie. Something about how I am while doing a late shift has changed the quality of my sleep and how I then wake up. Seeing my day as a learning first comes to me as if I go to bed with unmet expectations that doesn’t support me to surrender to sleep.
Anne you are presenting gold for people who are struggling with sleep – “The quality of my sleep is a reflection of the way I have lived the day.” That is something most of the people are not aware of. It means that we are responsible for the quality of our sleep and that is something some of us has to swallow.
Considering how we are in our day contributes to our sleep brings an enormous amount of responsibility which can mean we would rather have the quick fixes than the true lasting change. I remember when I got honest I wanted to sleep for days – and I mean days! That is not very practical with young kids so there was an element of having to be really tender with myself as I undid some of my normal go-to behaviour with stimulants.
This is such a clear summary as to how the quality of our daily way of life impacts on the way we sleep, and then how the quality of our sleep impacts on how we feel the next day; simply a continuous 24 hour cycle, one in which the quality every single minute is as important as the next.
No amount of sleeping pills can ever make up for taking the responsibility to live an honouring and self loving quality during the day. One is expensive in the long run, the other may be challenging but so rewarding to commit to in full.
This is something I have learned much about and also been deeply inspired by, Anne – particularly through the presentations of Natalie Benhayon and Serge Benhayon. If we but choose one part of our daily rhythm to focus on – the quality of our sleep being a fabulous example – we cannot but be alerted to the whole cycle of each day, and made more aware of what’s going on for us in this.
Thing is, are we really willing to see so much? It can be very exposing of where we actually sabotage ourselves… and yet so deeply enriching when we choose another way.
I find that I am more aware of what impacts on my quality of sleep. If I take on stuff from the day then my sleep is erratic and restless as I have gone to bed still carrying the day instead of going to bed to rest. When I am more open, less invested and express more of myself during the day – I can then settle in the evenings and my body is more surrendered.
I have found the most precious gift we can give ourselves is to go to bed early.
The way in which we live in each moment leads on into the next, and with that we always have the choice to re-imprint if we feel ‘off’ or deepen how we are living if it feels on track.
I have found that unless I appreciate myself then it is hard to live ‘on track’ as it allows my mind to be consumed with self doubt and criticism. Appreciation is like a glue that sticks together those good moments which we simply do not use often enough.
“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” Brilliantly expressed Anne. I also love how you allow yourself enough time to get ready for bed as you do to get ready in the morning. That’s awesome inspiration for me.
We, as a society, have ended up in a vicious cycle of exhaustion and overdrive stimulated by coffee, sugar and other stimulants. People cannot sleep during the night as their nervous system cannot calm down and they wake up tired which leads them to reach for more stimulation. At one point we need to stop and take responsibility to care for our exhausted body and give it the rest, it and we so deserve.
What was in our body during the day does not disappear just because it is time to rest. We rest with it. Resting is a movement. We move with and in sync with that which have said yes to during the day. It makes too much sense. The quietness of night though is a very revealing time of the extent to which how we live helps us settle in our body or not and the impact that this has on us. So, trouble to sleep? Change your movements during the day so you are settle in your body!!
Thank you Anne for your sharing on sleep. I find that some nights I am quite restless in my sleep, talking and throwing myself around, when this happens I make a point of looking at what my day has been like and how I have wound down or what I may have eaten or watched on TV.
I completely agree that sleep is a reflection of our 24 hour way of living. Any disharmony shows up in our sleep but can affect us in different ways. In my case, if I allow myself to become anxious or stressed, I still sleep well at night (although the quality is less rejuvenating) but I sleep for longer and also fall asleep at all sorts of other times during the day!
I can relate to what you write Nicola and I love how Anne has expressed it in her blog: “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” If we live this attitude everything we do matters and counts towards our well-being and therefore what we can bring to humanity.
Thank you Anne. Lately I have noticed that I’m constantly dreaming about work or problems that seem to need solving- it’s exhausting! You remind me that my sleep is a reflection of my day and this shows me how to address the cycle I am in.
After just waking up from a not so restful sleep and feeling my body is in some anxiousness and nervousness I know this is something for me to very much look at within my life, so it is perfect for me to read this right now. What you have shared is very true ‘I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live during the day’ and this is something I have learnt and understood through Universal Medicine but something I am very much still learning from and needing to change. How we live, move and our choices etc are a living momentum that carry through to each moment including our night so if we are stressed, busy, anxious, or feel our day is not complete then basically this is what we sleep with! Hence being tired the next morning and so the cycle continues until we change how we live within our day. I have also experience this as well if I overeat at night I have a really restless night. In the world how many of us wind down in the evening, leaving work behind and knowing that all is complete! I would say very few which could be one of the main reasons the world feels so restless not restful!
A great article to read Anne I love the winding down time in the evening feeling into what my day has been and gently putting myself to bed in preparation for the next day. I really love this line, “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.”
This makes perfect sense to me Anne, as there are times when I have plenty of sleep but will then wake up tired, so thank you for sharing your insights into our sleep patterns and that there is more to consider when we prepare ourselves for a restful and deeply nurturing sleep.
The more I learn about sleep the more I appreciate its benefits and how as you say it is a reflection of how I live my day. I heard Serge Benhayon once describe sleep as ‘sacred’ and I agree – sleep is a time of sacredness, a time of surrender and of repose and since I learned to treat it with the respect it deserves, my life has changed accordingly. Time for bed!
With the realisation that to “come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day”, I knew without any doubt that it was time to make changes in my life. And from choosing to live a more loving and present way during the day I now sleep more restfully than I used to. There are nights when I struggle to go to sleep and when I look back at how I was living during that day I can always see why sleep was eluding me, but instead of beating myself up I then make the choice to bring that awareness to the next day.
I used to think of sleep as the end of the day, often a very welcome and needed end at that. Natalie Benhayon presented that for her going to bed is actually the start of the next day, for the quality in which we go to bed is the one we will wake up in. This makes so much sense to me and has inspired me to live this rhythm for myself.
A wise friend said to me a few years ago that ‘sleep is sacred’ and since then I have transformed my relationship with sleep. I used to wrestle with sleep and find it would take me a long time to ‘drop off’ once in bed. But, through a change in understanding – similar to Anne, this is rarely the case any more and I am usually asleep within a few minutes of my head being on the pillow. I agree that how we live our day and how we approach it affects the quality of our sleep deeply – and hence the ongoing cycles that follow. How we feel and the quality of our energy reveals much to us if we are willing to ‘read’ it. My life is certainly richer for doing so.
Anne,
There have been periods in my life where I couldn’t sleep for worry. I can remember being so exhausted in each instance that at some point I would make the choice to stop the worry, that if the worse thought I had happened, then I would deal with it when it did. Immediately, everytime, I slept soundly. Little did I know then just how powerful my choice was to stop the pattern I was in and to some how know that I could face anything that came to me.
I like the practicality of this article, its interesting to know the quality of our choices during the day determine the quality of sleep we will have. One big constant cycle and the quality determined by choices.
Brilliant Anne, I love the simple wisdom that you share. It is Stillness we run from and the excess motion we use to do so, is what keeps us so awake. Stillness is a quality of the Soul. It is the movement of breathing in, before the motion that comes with breathing out. If we live in perpetual motion (out-breath) not only will we ‘hyperventilate’, we will exhaust ourselves in the process and fill our bodies with an imbalance of energy that will not let us surrender when the night falls and repose is upon us.
Read more on Stillness here: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-stillness.html
I can relate to this. I’ve been going to bed early and waking up early for years, and I was amazed at the difference. What I’ve noticed over time though is that nothing stands still, so what worked for me many years ago in terms of how I went to sleep etc, no longer does. What I mean is that there is always an opportunity to bring the level of self care to another level. At the moment I’m on a bit of a food/sugar bandwagon and I’m noticing how much that is affecting how much sleep I need. It’s dragging me down, and I’m sleeping up to 3 hours more than I need as my body works overtime to process the types of food. I know this mainly because I’ve experimented with it. It’s pretty cool to observe.
Such a worthwhile blog to reread. What stood out for me this time around is that it takes the whole day to prepare for sleep. This one sentence is really worth pondering on deeply…what does it mean? What effect would it have on my life? One of the things that I can feel is the way that I have lived and still do in part, is that I live in segments and sleep is one of those segments, like it is separate from everything else during the day. But really it’s not, for everything during the day, how I have been, what I have taken on and how I have expressed, will all come with me as I prepare for sleep and then when I sleep.
Allowing ourselves to wind down a couple of hours before we actually get into bed is the natural end of the cycle we call a day. It makes perfect sense that this would effect the quality of our sleep and yet many people are so unaware of this. As I work in a health food shop, and so many want to buy a ‘quick fix’ to their sleep problems, when I suggest this simple approach they love it.
Amazing how ‘asleep’ most of us are regarding the profound impact that quality sleep has on our daily lives. Awesome blog Anne which is a confirmation of the truth held in the quote by Benjamin Franklin ‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’.
I love this blog Anne and I am realising more and more that when we don’t appreciate ourselves and leave the previous day’s experiences unresolved we take that to bed with us and like a hangover drag it into the next day with us. How can this not accumulate.
A great blog to read about sleep, Anne, it is a topic that is talked about a lot. When we learn that our sleep is affected by how we are in the day brings a greater understanding and importance to being aware of our day. I know consistency and rhythm in my day play a huge part in how well I sleep and the quality of sleep I will have.
Sleep is massively important and it is one of the hot topics at work each morning. I didn’t sleep well, I couldn’t get to sleep, I went to sleep too late, I couldn’t get out of bed, I’m so tired and how my gonna get through the day? What is interesting though when it’s discussed further most are going to bed at midnight or in the early hours of the morning and expecting to feel vital and ready for the next day. I know well that that doesn’t work, when my children were young I would stay up late craving some time for myself and time to do what I wanted to do. The next day I would feel absolutely exhausted and get easily frustrated. Now I love going to sleep early and waking up early. I don’t always choose it but when I do it supports me and my day flows and I’m not tired.
Beautiful Anne – this is huge. This shows us that there is no end to life, a day, a month , year of years.. That the day is the same as the night and that it all is in relation to each other and influenced by how we choose to live. This makes total sense, and brings us back to our responsibility – that is to make sure that we care; care about ourselves and about people and making choices from there.
“It means allowing enough time to get ready for bed in the evening, as I do to get ready for the day in the morning.” Wow….I leave so much time in the morning to get ready for the day but in terms of prepping for my sleep, that needs much work. And I realise I have all day really 🙂 Thank you Anne.
Such a great reminder. Thank you for sharing so openly. I love how you broke it down and gave simply examples how you chose in your day and how this affects your sleep.
I recently noticed that it is quite normal for most people to wake up tired and need a coffee. And this is not questioned. … But after a good night sleep we should be awake and lively – should we not? So to question, why we are tired after sleeping is not just worth doing, it is a responsibility we have. Coffee or other stimulants are not a solution – just making it worse, and postpone ‘dealing with it’. But what do we do? We are pleased for the next version of a latte macchiato ‘to go’ with our special flavour – and so we try to sweeten our way of denying our misery. …not as clever as we may think we are, are we at the end.
Going to bed early really does make a huge difference to the quality of our life. I have had a spell of going to bed late and have begun to feel how ragged this makes me feel. It is a false economy to think one can get more done by staying up late. We may get more done but what quality are we doing it in? We may think we are doing OK but an underlying tiredness begins to show itself. I have found myself more distracted, bumping into things and forgetting things. Having an extra hour at the beginning of the day works so much better.
This is such a great blog offering pearls of great wisdom and honouring of sleep and its importance and understanding.”I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” It is our livingness that counts in every moment that is our sleeps reflection to us and our foundation always. A Beautiful sharing and so supportive to reflect on.
What you have shared here Anne is very helpful and makes a lot of sense. I have learnt that if I get too anxious at work about a situation which was playing out, often my sleep will be disrupted in the night and the first thing on waking will be the situation, or I will be dreaming of it – then it is no wonder I wake up tired and feel as tired as I did when I lay down.
I notice how the quality of our sleep is governed by the willingness of us to surrender to our inner truth – what we are feeling deep within to be truth in our essence. When we get attached, hooked and pulled into things in the day and not let those go the quality of sleep is enormously impacted.
A very timely read for me. I have been noticing how I end up going to bed late these past weeks. Yes, there are work commitment and things that need to be taken care of – which would inevitably have affect on when I go to bed and sometimes edge on and push, but I can feel there’s more to it – how I have allowed that to be more extreme than it needs to be – and I totally agree with you that ‘preparing for sleep takes the whole day’.
Great to come back to this great blog, Anne, a great reminder of the fact that the whole way we live our day is what sets us up for the sleep that we have when we put our head on the pillow. It certainly pays to take your great list of suggestions to assist a good sleep into account, and practice them daily. And when we live our every day in that pattern then we build a body that is fit and ready every morning for all that has to be faced and dealt with during that next day. Going to bed early, for me, is the key. I now love to snuggle up in bed before 9 pm. I am usually well asleep by that time of night.
I have learnt with sleep that my sleep depends on how my day has been but then my day can depend on how my sleep has been! But there is always a moment to start the cycle and I have come to see it is just this – “It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.” Which comes back to what we choose in every moment matters. Thank you Anne for the reminder of not sabotaging my sleep.
Sleep is so much more than conking out and turning our back on the world for a few hours – you describe its deeper meaning and the continuum it is a part of really well – and it makes perfect sense.
“I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day.” I can definitely see how this is the case. No doubt we have all experienced the nights where our mind keeps running and we keeping thinking about a certain situation or a think we have to do. Doesn’t make the sleep very peaceful.
The best bedtime story I’ve ever read! Thank you Anne. I am going to put myself to bed shortly and it feels delicious to know I can choose to tuck myself in with gentleness and love.
Such a great blog Anne, the steps you have taken to improve the quality of your sleep is very inspiring and supportive for anyone who has any sleeping difficulties. Sometimes I wake up after 7-8 hours sleep still feeling tired and at first I think that doesn’t make sense but when I become more honest and look at the choices I made in last 24 hours that may have affected the quality of my sleep – it definitely becomes a lot clearer.
I don’t think we yet know how powerful sleep really is and what it’s potential is for us or maybe we do and we fight against it at every turn. For if we allowed it to be what it is, we would need to change everything about how we live. I need to take note of this myself.
Me too Jennifer. I can also see that when we improve the quality of our sleep it allows us to live our lives in a vital, full and rich way. When we sabotage the quality of our sleep we sabotage the quality of our health and relationships too.
I reckon insomnia is a very common problem because if we look at how most people live, it is often with a push, a drive and raciness. So, what you’ve shared here is a huge support for us to understand how we live, move, work and express during our day affects our sleep. The gentler and loving we are during our day it makes so much sense that our sleep will also reflect this.
It’s so true Anne. All that we have lived during the day including all that remains unresolved from that day goes to bed with us at night. And if our body is already running behind from the stress and tension of what was previously unresolved and accumulated from previous days then it is impossible to get the quality of sleep that our body requires because it is trying to clear the back log so to speak. It’s a vicious circle, but to break this pattern requires all day commitment.
I have been feeling lately that how I wake up is as you’ve shared, it highlights to me how I slept and thus how I lived the day before. But repeatedly now I have woken up with leg cramps and chosen to give myself a hard time for this end result that is the start of my new day which doesn’t help at all. And I wonder now – if this were being experienced by a child how would I approach the situation? rather than be harsh on whats already an unpleasant feeling in the body, simply making matters worse what can be done to understand what is repeatedly occurring to achieve these repeated results. I feel the answer lies in a deeper connection with the body – if the end result is simply our bodies shouting at us then what are the quieter messages throughout the day?
Thanks for sharing Leigh. I can be quite harsh on myself for waking up groggy and sore. It is worth exploring how I would support a child through the same situation so I can bring the same level of care and understanding to myself.
Sleep is certainly very important Anne I agree. What you’ve shared is amazing, I haven’t considered that it takes a whole day to prepare for quality sleep at night. It makes sense really because everything we choose in our day affects how the quality of energy we go to bed in.
Feeling the importance of your words here Anne as they reflect so clearly the fact that our relationship with sleep reflects our relationship with self and the quality we choose to bring to our day.
It is beautiful to read the awarenesses you have come to and the incredible difference they have made to the quality of your life when applied. Sharing these will be an enormous support to many and an absolute blessing to those suffering from sleeplessness.
This is gold, especially with the rising sleeplessness most are experiencing. It is actually very simple to get a good nights sleep, we just have to live more responsibly during our day
It was great to re-read this blog. What I have realised is that I am not finishing work at a set time and therefore am not completing my day. With this still going on the quality of my day is not complete so some days I am feeling very tired. I am going to look at setting a finish time and then know my day is complete to support me in my sleep rhythm.
Great to re-read your words Anne and to know that our sleep so reflects the quality of the way we have lived in the day. If we struggle with sleep the first place to start is to look at how we have been living the day before and from there we have the opportunity to make another choice.
‘I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day’. This is a wonderful revelation for us all Anne that beautifully illustrates how our day cannot be compartmentalised into separate parts because in truth it is all one day, and so no part can ever be considered more important than another. Then with this awareness, we also realise that that one day then flows into the next and then the next, so in effect our present day is always built on the quality of our yesterday and that quality most definitely is influenced by how we are sleeping.
Sleep as well as vitality are such valuable ‘commodities’ that we cannot purchase and we take for granted until we loose them. What you share here Anne is very empowering, because it shows us what we can do to support the body to have a good nights rest and wake up vital and refreshed and that it is up to us and our choices.
Going to be early was for me quite a trial and I had to face the fact that I was feeling empty and the day did not feel complete so I would stay up using food or tv to try to complete it. Of course this left me feeling very tired the next day and sustained the same cycle of existing rather than living joyfully. With the support of Universal Medicine I was able to make simple choices in my day to wind down and be able to sleep early and then the lovely improvement of quality of life Anne expresses began to work for me. The point is it did not happen all at once but eventually I realised how normal it was to go to bed early feeling complete, cosy and snuggly and wake up feeling refreshed.
I am still learning the importance of ritual and rhythm in my sleep routine. Since going to bed early and not pushing or rushing myself at the end of the day is so important. Since I have been taking the time to prepare my bed when I make it of a morning and taking care of the details such as gently straightening all the covers and remaking my bed I have slept wonderfully well, therefore I am very much aware of what has gone on in my day now and what difference that makes to the quality of my sleep.
There is nothing better than to wake up early naturally, refreshed and ready to gently begin the day without the need to rush. This has occurred since I have become aware of the way I am with myself before I go to bed, and by choosing to go to bed early, not waiting until I am so tired it becomes an effort to get myself there. In fact if I do go to bed without staying in that lovely rhythm, part of which is allowing myself enough time to gently slow down and then end up going to bed later, I find it difficult to get to sleep, the quality of my sleep is effected and in turn that effects the beginning and maybe even the whole of the next day. From my own experience I totally agree Anne “The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before”.
“One day, in desperation, I decided to take the advice of a good friend and go to bed early. It was a revelation! I woke the next morning after a sound sleep, feeling rested and vital and looking forward to the day.” I used to try and keep myself awake til it was an appropriate time to go to bed. Now I go the moment I feel that wave of sleep coming and when I do I’m always pleasantly surprised and my choice confirmed by the quality of sleep I experience and how rested I feel whereas if I push past this that’s when the restless night’s sleep occurs.
I have hardly ever had any problem falling asleep, in fact I have used sleep as my hiding place. I would just stay in bed keep going back to sleep until something inside me could no longer bear feeling like getting rotten from its core in the holding back. I did it when I didn’t want to go to school/work trying to convince myself that I was not well, or the world was not worth getting up for; or even on my days off telling myself that all I needed was a sleep-in. I can feel how this was creating a cycle of self-abuse as I would eventually get out of bed either feeling totally grumpy because I could tell from the way my body was feeling that it was not the right thing to do, and/or in order to compensate that feeling I would go into excess of motions. I noticed that this pattern resurfacing again lately, so I will take your advice today and make sure that I would go to bed early, and prepare myself for that.
I had never seen and been aware of the importance of sleep until I came across Universal Medicine. In my one to one sessions and my attendance at workshops, presentations and a Universal Medicine retreat, I have understood the power of sleep much more. As a result I have adjusted my own sleep pattern and I have to say that I am aware of a noticeable difference in my energy levels and I am able to output much more work effortlessly.
I love reading this blog Anne – your recipe for a great night’s sleep is very inspiring, especially this line ‘The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before.’ – A beautiful and simple reminder thank you.
A beautiful blog Anne. “Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.” I so agree. I love my sleep. Changing my daily rhythms has enabled me to now have a really good uninterrupted sleep of 6 or 7 hours and I wake naturally – gorgeous.
I know, I love that feeling of waking naturally; without an alarm clock sueq2012.
Thank you Anne. I love being reminded that the quality of my sleep is a result of every choice I make. So often I have looked to sleep to ‘fix everything’ stay up late sleep in to ‘feel better’ etc. I feel like laughing at how duped I have been! Time and time again I could feel this ‘sleep in’ approach does not work and yet I have persisted with it right up until now! Awesome to feel.
This is great Anne. There is a lot of focus given to the sleep itself when we cannot sleep as though there is something wrong with us and sleep but rarely do we consider that it is just a reflection of how we live the day. It makes absolute sense and perhaps is too exposing for many to consider when lying wide awake struggling to get to sleep.
“If I live a day in anxiousness, pushing myself, driving myself to complete tasks, that energy is still in my body (and my head) when I go to sleep.” This is so true for a long while I was going to bed earlier, but my body was still showing tiredness and I could not understand. But during a session, it was brought to my awareness that it could be in the way I expected myself to complete tasks and that anxiousness was still driving my body. As soon as I acknowledged this and started my day knowing it was already complete, my body felt different and I was not experiencing that same tiredness again.
It’s so supportive to re-read this. I often struggle getting to sleep or sleep for far too long. I can feel my weariness to surrendering of a night because I know what energies are not me that I’ve let into my body during the day or evening and I want to stay up vigilant so they do not trash my body while I’m not there. I’m really appreciating the importance of being with me throughout the day so I don’t leave gaps for undesirables (so to speak) to enter and really stay with myself through a bedtime routine. Often as a child I didn’t like to sleep as I wanted to stay on guard until the morning when it felt safe. Writing this I realise I still carry these same fears and it’s about being a loving parent to myself, being with my every movement as I lovingly put myself to bed.
“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” This is a beautiful understanding of the continuous cycle we live in and how we live each day affects our sleep and then how our sleep affects our day.
I love the ‘nowhere to hide’ message about sleep here, Anne. It’s a great reminder of the fact that we’re living in a cycle that doesn’t conveniently end and get magically erased when our lids finally close, but instead continues on in the momentum we fell asleep in, only to be there ready to carry on in the same vein once we wake up. A great wake-up call – literally – on the responsibility we have to ourselves for how we’re living our lives and therefore sleeping our lives.
Thank you Anne. There is nothing better than a good night’s sleep. I’ve been going to bed early for a few years now and LOVE it. I really enjoy my wind down time and the rituals that I do before bed like cleaning my kitchen plug hole with bleach, brushing my teeth and face, cleaning my toilet and cleaning my shoes. The best is washing my face as I ALWAYS find that I just relax back into my body and let go when I do. Must be something in our faces that is connected to the rest of our body 😊
Anne, I love the commitment you bring to sleep. I see how reckless I am with sleep and how I can live rhythms that disturb. I grew up thinking sleep was a waste of time but now I know it is the foundation of the day and requires a respect and consideration equal to all aspects of my day.
Anne I love this “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” Until I met Universal Medicine sleep was something I did at the end of the day, necessary and unavoidable, to recharge the batteries for the full day ahead. Although I went to bed relatively early there was never any thought or feeling about the quality of my sleep. I was aware of waking up bright or not so bright in the mornings but never pondered as to why this was. These days I give sleep the importance it deserves, recognising its place in the life cycle in preparation for the day ahead.
I love what is expressed here Anne, and that is that the quality of our sleep is not limited to the time we are actually in bed with our eyes shut, but connected to the quality we live every day.
Very well said Angela. This shows that everything is connected, how we are in one aspect of our live affects the next, it works like cycles. The way we live affects every aspect of our life, our relationships, our work and pretty much everything. Our choice to choose the quality we live in affects us as well as others.
I used to think that I was a ‘good sleeper’, i.e. that I could fall off to sleep easily, that I didn’t wake up during the night, therefore, that constituted I clearly had a rested sleep. But i really didn’t have any idea, I wasn’t aware of the quality I was sleeping in or any of the points you have raised in your blog Anne. It has been understanding there is so much more to sleep, so absolutely loved how you have expressed the importance of living our day in full, how we prepare for sleep and how we wake, that cycle is exactly that, a cycle, not starts and ends.
Great point reagankcairney – not just that we sleep well but is the quality of that sleep there and if it’s not then the check list that Anne has put together is a loving way to bring the quality back in.
Sleep as you describe it, Anne, makes your daily life a healing modality.
What a powerful piece Anne, thanks so much. I love especially your expression: “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” It is so true, whatever we do or don’t do, it affects the quality of our sleep. Thanks for your inspirations about sleep.
You are so right Anne- preparing for sleep is the key and it starts at the beginning of the day. I find it so much easier to get up early now if I have prepared for sleep in a loving way.
There is so much for us to learn about sleep and not take a “good nights sleep” for granted, I never realised the depth of sleeping disorders it’s huge and Anne has just given us a great piece to share with the world.
Great point Jaime. There is so much for us to learn about sleep. All of our choices are having an impact on the quality of our sleep. This is such an ongoing education we are receiving from our body, our sleep and how everything is affecting everything.
This is such an important subject to discuss as so many people have sleep issues that they just accept as normal. For me I used to sleep longer hours than I do now but always woke dragging myself out of bed taking ages to wake up. I too have learnt it’s the quality of our sleep that is key not the quantity and I love this reminder Anne -‘The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before.’
Thank you Anne for this piece. It was a very important reminder to me today about the very foundation of our day/night cycle. Sleep and its problems are a global health issue! Your blog would be helpful for many, I feel.
‘I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day’ – this is exposing and offers so much in approaching the way I live, work and am in my day. Thanks Anne – there is much to ponder here.
Super confirming, Anne. Thank you.
Beautifully expressed Anne and a wprk in progress for me.
The quality that I take to bed with me has an impact on the quality of my sleep and then how I feel when I wake up the next morning. How I live each day affects how I wake up for the next day. A simple and loving choice for us to make. Thank you Anne for writing about how we sleep.
There is so much clarity and wisdom in this blog on the subject of sleep. The way in which sleep is presented as a continuation of the day that has been lived, as well as a preparation for the day that is to follow, would seem quite revolutionary to many, I feel. I picked up one area of development for myself in Anne’s preparation for sleep cycle: “t means allowing enough time to get ready for bed in the evening, as I do to get ready for the day in the morning.” I know I spend way more time getting ready in the morning than I do preparing for sleep, which tells me that I am not affording sleep an equal value to the value I place on the day. This is an anti evolutionary perspective of which I was unaware until now: thank you, Anne, for highlighting this.
Dear Anne, thank you for reminding me of all of that. As I often eat too late and too much in the evening I then can`t sleep, need more sleep and wake up still full and tired. I feel in this moment that sleeping is not just resting, it’s much more and a very important part of our life that often gets hardly any attention. It’s being fully in and with the body and can be a clearing and healing process, but also an empty, lying in bed for some hours without any nurturing of the body if we do not bring an adequate quality to our sleep.
Sleep is so important, it’s part of the natural rhythms and cycles of all life. By honouring these rhythms we begin to naturally connect and flow with the pulse of our natural world and the greater universe. The sun gently rises and sets in the beauty and splendour of its full glory every day. “It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.”
So beautifully said, Barbara: how the sleep rhythm allows us to “connect and flow with the pulse of our natural world and the greater universe.” Bringing ourselves to sleep with love…I look around me and see that sleep appears to be the most resisted part of our day. We overstimulate, overeat, refuse to engage in a rhythm, drink or drug ourselves especially at night. What is behind this compulsion to resist the rhythm of rest, nurturing and stillness?
Why are so reluctant to feel and honour the rhythm of sleep?
Awesome Barbara, the way you have explained the importance of sleep is amazing. It inspires us to appreciate the gracefulness, honouring and deeply loving cycles that sleep offers us. When we embrace sleep and our cycles like the way that nature naturally does with easy, going into repose and motion without resistance but in its full beauty and grace, the flow is simply glorious. When we make the same choice to not resist, we too shine in the same glorious way.
Sleep is such a struggle for so many and the cause of the struggle such a mystery. What you’ve shared here Anne is gorgeous because it exposes the complication we bring to the sleep routine and the fact that it is actually very simple to get a good night sleep, if you are prepared to be honest about the choices you are making during the day.
I agree katemaroney1. Previously I would not have linked how I live my day to the quality of my sleep. The other very important fact for me to have a restful sleep is to have a routine that helps me wind down and prepare for my sleep gently and lovingly.
There is no escaping the fact we live in a cycle and that the quality of the day affects the quality of our sleep and vice versa. There is such a deep level of responsibility to live in this way that is can be scary for some and an absolute revelation for those that choose it.
Yes Joel, well said. This blog clearly points out that we all live in a cycle. One choice will affects the next and it highlights that our responsibility to make loving choices is the only way to live in harmony with our body, rhythm, cycles, people and every aspect of our life.
I love coming back to this blog it reminds me how important it is to to attend to the details of how I am sleeping – it is great feedback for how I have been living. Lately it seems that so many people I have been speaking to have been struggling with sleep and this seems to create an awful dread of not being able to sleep, I have always fallen asleep easily but sometimes feel like I have woken up with a hangover or less rested than when I went to bed. I have discovered this happens when I have eaten a food that my body doesn’t like, particularly sweet things.
I feel blessed that I usually sleep well, but when I got disturbed at night in the past, it would ruin my sleep and I would feel crap the next morning. What I realised was that I would react to being disturbed, that would make it harder to get back to sleep and the energy of that reaction would remain in my body as I went back to an unsettled sleep. Fortunately, over time I have learned not to react and just go back to sleep. If the disturbance is persisting and it usually does, I put in some earplugs and go back to a restful sleep. Good on me.
Mark I also used to be disturbed and then react and not get back to a settled sleep because of my reaction long after the disturbance was gone. I realise is I was reacting to was the reflection of others I believed who were not caring about my sleep when I was the one who hadn’t brought due care to my quality of sleep. Wearing ear plugs is part of the care I bring myself.
“Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.”
I love this quote Anne. Very powerful to understand what support we have through our sleeping time if we build a loving and supportive sleep rhythm. Supporting to be and live who we truly are.
It’s timely to read your blog Anne. Last night, I ended up working on something until past 9pm which is really rare for me. I was exhausted, but pushed through as an application needed to be done for first thing this morning. I didn’t honour my body and its usual wind down period and as a result I didn’t sleep well last night. Reading your blog is a great reminder to me, the importance of the wind down time in the evenings and I know that I won’t put myself in that situation again.
I find the same Donna, especially being on the computer at the end of the day. It takes the rhythm of the whole day and even how I live the previous day to ensure I do not end up squeezed to complete something that can’t wait and on the computer at the end of the day. I have also found this influences my sleep, the next day and so on – awesome however to have been given this understanding by Universal Medicine and explored in blogs like this.
I have found that i have a wind down time when I come home. I don’t eat much food. I try not to do anything that is too stimulating. Light a candle and burn incense and take myself to bed with a herbal tea. Its such a lovely way to wind down from the day. Thank you Anne.
A really great blog Anne reminding us how the quality of our sleep is not just about getting to bed early. I best put myself to sleep now!
Exposing the things that keep us from getting a great sleep is awesome Anne.
Restful sleep is so important , and it definitely relates to how we have been during the day especially the end of the day. I had also struggled with going to bed early and had liked to burn the midnight candle, but cherish the early to bed early to rise lifestyle these days for all its benefits.
We support sleep and sleep supports us. What you write makes total sense Anne and takes commitment to yourself. So once again sleep is about love.
Yes, I agree Amanda, sleep is about love and pretty much everything is about love. If we choose to make life about love everything just flows and expands.
“We support sleep and sleep supports us”. What a beautiful way to describe the cycle and rhythm of sleep Amanda – and in fact to describe the quality of the way we live… “We support the quality of the way we live and the quality of the way we live supports us.”
“We support sleep and sleep supports us” – beautifully said, Amanda. Sleep is definitely not a dumping ground where we throw in an exhausted body and somehow expect it to be magically recovered the next day.
Anne this is a good point you raise that, ‘If I do not feel complete about my day, I take it to bed with me’. It’s true we take everything from our day to bed with us. Your blog is a good demonstration of the importance of winding down at night and leaving the tension of the day behind so you can go to bed with you and not the effects of your day.
I used to live in the bush with no electricity and was very much in touch with the cycle of night and day. It made sense to go to bed early and get up at dawn, as without power it was harder to extend the day’s busyness into the night. I love rising at or before dawn as it feels to me that there is a natural rising energy that somehow draws me forth into the day and then there is a natural withdrawing into the night. Natalie has inspired many of us to be more aware of this natural cycle and to see that how we live in the day affects how we sleep and how we sleep at night affects how we live the next day. If we put a stop to the momentum of busyness we are more likely to enjoy each moment in our day and then we will also be more likely to have a refreshing sleep.
Sleep is one of the basic foundations of our livingness, going to bed early and being in a calm and relaxed state prior to going to bed will impact on the quality of sleep you have and this in turn will affect the quality of the next day.
Same for me kevmchardy I tend to need less sleep these days than I have ever in my entire life and am able to wake fresh and ready for the new day at what I would have previously called ‘ungodly hours’ in the morning. Now I know these hours to be quite Godly. It is certainly the result of all the changes I have made in my life inspired by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine
I now love and cherish sleep like never before, I tend to have less of it these days but the quality is superb. Not watching television or doing anything thing stimulating but rather gently winding down is the major ones for me and also having the evening meal as early as possible.
I have made similar changes too kevmchardy, eating earlier, not watching stimulating television, and taking a gentle walk if I’ve been working in the day. When we prepare children for sleep, we bathe them in warm water, sit down with them, have a warm drink and some quiet time together. We can have great quality of nights sleep when we have great quality of days.
To learn that sleep is equally important as being awake was a ‘wake up’ for me. Before learning and developing rhythms in my day to support my sleep rhythm, it was home after a long day to a big meal and total distraction of tv and a late night. The start of the next day was always a struggle and needed a coffee to kick-start myself. Once I got over the crazy ideal that going to bed early was only for old people everything changed. Like you Anne, the inspiration from Natalie Benhayon was integral in changing everything about sleep and how rhythms determine everything.
Powerful line this one – “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day”. That offers us readers whole new way of looking at sleep. That it is not some random event that takes place when we get into bed….it is much more connected than we think to so much that happens during the day.
I just highlighted this same line Sarah – “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day”. – and have forwarded this great blog to one of my teenage sons…and to myself for a regular re-read and reminder.
That is beautiful Anne, it is by your article that I feel again how important every moment in the day is and how we take this to our next day and next day. I like what you shared here: I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.
Thank you.
I am also finding Danna Elmalah that it is important to pay attention to the day by the moments that add up to make the whole day, otherwise I too find the day runs into the evening, sleep, next day and so on. Breaking it down slightly, when I don’t deal with what is there to be dealt with in the day as it arrives- whether it be something that needs to be felt, said and or done this then leaves the day incomplete. When I don’t complete in the moment Anne’s realisation to complete the day at least before sleep by being accountable to the wind down period and connecting before sleep is worth experimenting with.
Your blog reminded me of the depth of the importancy of sleep. And how we are being looked after during our sleep if we go to sleep having looked after ourselves. What this blog revealed for me is how I used exhaustion as an excuse not to feel. Even though I’m much much better than ever before I still don’t fully take responsible for the cycle day and night that you’ve so beautifully described. And in chosing that I feel less which allows me to not take the full responsibility that I could take. Thank you.
I love the simplicity and I love what you say here. And I can relate to so much, a great example of the things we can explore in our lives that actually affect the way we sleep.
And I shall say good night and thank you Anne.
Anne I love the way you have shown how everything in our day knits together and how our day affects our sleep and our sleep affects our day.
“I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day.”- Anne this is so true. Thank you for sharing and reminding me in practical everyday terms what this means.
Thank you Anne for your sharing . Sleep definitely is one thing that most people have some issues with in life. If I have been depressed for awhile in the past I have had a tough time relaxing and letting go peacefully into sleep. I thank you for reminding me that the way I live my day and finish my day is all important.
I appreciate the accent of this blog focussing on so many aspects of preparing for sleep. It made a lot of sense and was also very inspiring.
Sleep was a solution for me.
I drunk too much, ate too much, looked at too much TV, made unloving choices through my day, was hard with me and others, did hold back in true expression, did hold back in appreciation – and then I went to bed and thought: “I leave it all behind now, tomorrow is another day”. But it isn’t! I carry all my choices and their consequences with me till I am cleared. So I can use sleep to be busy with the last day choices, with clearing and processing – or I can go as clear and completed as possible to bed and see what is happening then.
One behaviour is holding me in the state I am (or making it worse) and the other behaviour supports a change, an evolving, a going on.
My feeling is that we are made to evolve and with all that working against it (to stay where we are) we get tired and leached out. Then we are longing for a recovering and looking for holidays, ‘me-time’ and a good sleep – but all will not work as long we mis-use sleep or whatever to hold us back.
Lots to feel in your great comment here Sandra – this line stands out: “I went to bed and thought: “I leave it all behind now, tomorrow is another day”. But it isn’t! I carry all my choices and their consequences with me” – you offer us a broader perspective on the quality of sleep we choose and why, and what might be possible with loving dedication to quality.
Thank you Anne, for bringing such awareness and understanding to our much coveted ‘sleep’. As you say, how we are in our day feeds our sleep and how we are in our sleep feeds our next day. All beautifully spherical.
‘Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.’ It is so simple, but a great reminder for me to have the presence of mind to do this consistently each and every day. Thank you.
Wonderful to read about the care you have given to your sleep cycle Anne, and how the waking and sleeping cycle are connected and by taking care of each one the other is also taken care of. I love the way you have broken it all down as it’s helped me examine how my day affects my night.
Going to sleep in gentleness and love, like putting a small child to bed. I am going to practise this tonight – thanks for the reminder.
Sleep is an important part of our life allowing our body to deeply rest…how deeply we rest is connected to how deeply we have been with ourselves during the day – as you so beautifully share here Anne. I used to go to bed late and wake up feeling hungover even though I’d had no alcohol – I would start the day exhausted! Once I made the consistent choice to go to bed early (before 9pm) my energy levels increased, and when I started to look at how I was in my day, my life completely changed. Now I can be up at 4am ready to start my day, feeling well rested and vital, and there is a flow and an ease that follows throughout my day. “It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.” “…to bring ourselves to sleep with love…” how gorgeous is that!
Yes I found this too that how I am in my whole day will determine how my sleep is and also that how my sleep was affects how I feel in my day. It is all related!
Indeed Lieke, it is one big cycle consisting of cycles each of whom offers us the chance to constantly evolve step by step,
“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day”. This sentence says it all, absolutely gorgeous!
Sleep is such a marker for how we are living and we really need to appreciate what our body is telling us. So simple, yet very profound. I know when I am sleeping well I feel the harmony of how I am living.
Thank you this is exactly what I have been feeling lately – that it comes down to every choice, and that the past nor the future is left behind, it is with us right now: “The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before.” WOW. I feel it is time to be more consciously aware of my quality. Thank you.
Everything we do during our day has a knock on effect for the next and that includes our sleep. Quality is the game changer to living a life full of love and that is a truly supportive way to be.
I agree Kelly, the big light bulb for me was definitely a focus on the quality of presence that I carry throughout the day. I also struggled with getting to sleep and can now pin point what I am doing on the days that that is an issue but on all other days, where I focus on my quality, sleep comes with out a struggle.
So, when we focus on our quality of presence throughout our day, not only is it not a struggle with our sleep but everything else becomes natural and things just seem to flow with ease. This is key really, to focus on, ‘the quality of presence’ throughout our day, everyday.
Very true Chan Ly, there are so many compartment we put our lives into; eating, exercising, sleeping, working, but they all affect each other and require the same level of presence.
Great blog, every part of the day and the way we live has an effect on our sleep. And only we can choose differently, in feeling what is needed.
This is a great comment ‘Preparing for sleep takes the whole day’. We sleep according to how our day has been, and that’s reflected to us when we put our heads down for sleeping. it’s so great to have that understanding because if there are any sleep problems, we know to look in the day for the issue to sort it. The quality of sleep is as variable as the quality of our days.
Sleep makes or breaks my day. I love your sentence:
“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.”
I experience this as well. Every detail matters, not just being in bed in time, but the quality of every single action and choice I made during the day. The more I am present in my body, the easier it is to make loving preparatory choices all day. Which results in a different quality of sleep and thus a different quality of the following day.
Good sleep is a most underrated quality to attain, it must be underrated as we very seldom put much effort into our sleep. I often just turn up at my bed, slump in and expect or rather hope that the sleep will give me the rest that means I wake fresh. This rarely happens and I have started to see the need to address how I live my day and how I wind down and prepare for sleep to prepare for the next day.
Oh so true Anne. I find l just can’t get enough of it ever. There needs to be a change to my rhythm regarding sleep and your blog is most informative with aspects that need to be looked into and incorporated. Even now as I write I feel I’ve had a big day and feel exhausted. Main thing for me is quality of day lived and embracing consistency. Thank you.
A great reminder Anne, I have never had difficulty in sleeping, but there is a vast difference I experience between a truly nurturing sleep and one where I just collapse and wake up still feeling tired. Last night I came home late, ate something I didn’t need and went to bed, this morning I am feeling the effects. Lately I have been feeling how acutely important it is to walk with myself through each day, all day, eating as I did last night before bed was a self abandonment that only took a few moments but I am paying the price. The quality of my sleep is a great way to confirm or expose how I am living each day, thank you for this article.
Sleep can teach us so much, especially when you have a good run and then all of a sudden you have difficulty in sleeping and then tracing back how you have been living during the previous days is very revealing.
Sleep is the mirror reflecting what we have been up to during the day. Every costume we put on and everything we try to be will be reflected to us at night. I love the support that this reflection offers.
An inspiring read Anne – this is certainly an inspirational piece to read for all those sleep deprived people out there. Of which there are many. The one main thing that I do each evening is to have that special ‘winding down time’ at the end of the day which you mention – I can do many things but if that is not the main ingredient my sleep is not so healing.
Anne I loved your sharing how you prepare for sleep. It is so so true how we are in our day affects how we are when we go to bed. Preparing the whole day for our sleep, leaving work at work and knowing the day is complete, resting and playing and not stimulating when we are at home, preparing healthy and nourishing meals, creating a rhythm for going to bed. These are all wonderful tips, that can really support in preparing for bed and a good night sleep. Thank you for sharing.
Woah – imagine if this was taught in schools! It is one of the most informative pieces of advice I have read. I too always knew the importance of sleep – having suffered extreme exhaustion most of my life, getting my sleep was vital. I have been cranky with kids waking me in the night, partners moving or snoring and disturbing me – the anxiety I hold in my body around sleep is enormous and it stems from deep down understanding how it underpins the foundation of the quality of my vitality in my whole life. However, it is my responsibility to live in a way in the day that allows this quality sleep to occur and not to kick out or blame it on the kids or partner!
Being aware of the quality you take yourself to bed in not only assists with how you sleep, it’s also an integral part of how your day plays out the following day. Amazing!
As I am sitting here reading your blog, I can feel the roll-on effects of a late night, meaning a tired body & me overriding it to get up and do what needs to be done, as well as the craving of sugar to give me energy.
Most of us underestimate just how important sleep is, I know I did. However, I have learned how a good night’s sleep prepares me for the next day. I have much more energy, and I don’t need Sugar or caffeine to perk me up. And my body loves me for it.
I have struggled with waking at night for a few years and tried many things to help me sleep, the most affective thing I have found that works is expression. Speaking up when I need to say something, and staying present with the actions and activities in the day and not thinking about something else.
Interesting comment Thomas – in that if you or anyone for that matter doesn’t express what’s there to be said, it obviously has an effect on the body, that then disturbs sleep. This is undeniable in myself too.
This is a great point Thomas, I know that unexpressed energy can sometimes cause my legs to twitch, or I’ll have a turbulent dream or restless sleep.
Sleep is absolutely a reflection of the way I’ve lived my day too. Particularly the last few hours of the day – where yesterday I tried to fit-lots-in, I ended-up with a stimulated body, slight nervous energy and a million things running through my head. I know better, but get caught-out sometimes, with the mentality of ‘do it now, or it won’t get done’. Just another belief to soon fall by the way-side!
I enjoyed re-reading this Anne. Revealing that how we live our day determines the quality of our sleep.
Anne this is a great blog on sleep and how the way we live our day affects our sleep. A big one for me is ‘If I do not feel complete about my day, I take it to bed with me.’ This causes me anxiety which leads to a restless sleep and waking feeling exhausted. It’s about me learning to draw the line and know that I will not get through everything on my to-do list. I like how you describe leaving work at a fixed time and leaving work at work, making sure you bring just you home.
I know that I won’t always do the things in a day that I intend, but since I’ve let go of the ‘need to do’ list its become much easier. These things still get done, but not always in the order I expected.
I used to be driven by the ‘To Do’ list and I seemed to always make it far bigger than what I could achieve in the day so there was never a sense of completion. But now, like you Catherine, I don’t plan but just have a sense of what is needed to be done and it seems to flow in a natural order.
I sometimes allow myself to watch a movie, later in the evening that I know is suitable for my wind-down period. Generally I cannot look at screens or do computer work after 7:30pm if I’m to be asleep by around 9pm. What’s underneath that, is me trying to get something I didn’t live or give to myself during the day. Seeking an external source of fulfilment.
That’s a very good point Oliver: “trying to get something I didn’t live or give to myself during the day”. I also have the tendency to watch tv or do computer work just before going to bed and it does not feel good at all. It is like I am avoiding the feeling, avoiding my awareness about how my day was, how the choices I made/lived are leaving me. With that I am also avoiding a reflection throughout I could develop. Pondering on that I found that I often want a change in my life, like better sleep – but am not willing to bring/be that change. Especially when it has to do with taking full responsibility about my life, what happens to me and every choice I made – like it always is. AND I found that I am also avoiding to appreciate me, for what I am and what I’ve done. When I really and truly appreciate me, what I am and able to bring/offer to the word – I put nothing in-between me and my service. No tv, no food, no issue, no doubt.
If it would not be so sad we could call it funny: we are longing for appreciation so much but are not willing to give it to us. Why? Maybe it is because what you mentioned Doug: it will bring a huge change.
Great points you have made here Sandra. Sleep is not a problem with me but I still need to give myself some time to revise my day. I seem not to be able to fit this into my day at the moment even though I know how complete it makes me feel. I will make the time as you have inspired me to write again in my journal before I go to sleep.
It sure is crazy, Sandra, we are ‘seeking an external source of fulfilment’ as Oliver says, yet ‘avoiding appreciating me‘. What would happen if we truly appreciated ourselves? Perhaps we would see how amazing we are? But then could we live that and take responsibility for every choice that is not in line with that?
Thank you Sandra, I am only just discovering that appreciating myself and what I bring is a necessary and true antidote to the criticisms and judgements that are so easy to fall into every single minute of the day… appreciation brings a huge confirmation of the truth of who we are, and when we remember this, then there is no emptiness or need to fulfil, or distract from, no desire for recognition from another, and no drive to be something more… just the responsibility to keep unfolding more of who we truly are.
I can definitely relate to that Oliver, I can remember specific times when I would live my day with the mentality of it’s okay because I will just watch a movie later, I tolerated myself not enjoying the moment because I knew I could go home and checkout watching something later. Much more recently however I have been finding far more enjoyment in living life with a consistency of fun
Sleep is such a vital part of our lives, if we do not get enough or the true quality of sleep our body needs, it effects everything in our lives. Our entire body gets effected from physical, mental and emotional state. Having a true understanding about sleep from the Universal medicine Presentations was a true eye opener. When you get to understand how important it is that the quality you sleep in, supports the quality of sleep you have. And how important it is in the quality we live each moment, is the quality we take to sleep. It makes it easier to honour our sleep and go to bed early to support the body.
Sleep plays such an important role in one’s life and I love it, how you share all your experiences with sleep Anne.
It’s great, as you say alexander1207, to be aware of the ‘important role’ of sleep for we often tend to think of sleep as something that gets in the way of doing rather than as an essential part of the day that provides a balance to the doing and brings quality to it.
Nothing feels better than waking naturally, before the sun rises, feeling completely awake and vital and joyful, looking forward to nothing in particular! And you’re right, it’s not just because I had my 8 hours sleep or went to bed early, it was because I lived the entire day before and the one before that and the one before that… in a way that was gentle and loving on my body and mind that allowed me to be able to take myself to bed in the first instance.
‘I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.’ I love this Anne, your blog is simple and wise. Going to bed early has changed my way of sleeping from struggle to nurturing myself, l now love going to bed early. I always had the idea I would miss out by going to bed early and I never completed the day. To look at going to sleep as an important part of the 24 hours cycle of one day has changed my whole perspective of life. Thanks to Natalie Benhayon who has inspired me to change my day and night rhythm.
Thank you for all your sleeping tips Anne, I have found the same to be true. Having a good sleep is a big deal…it can either leave you feeling refreshed and ready for the day or tired, dull and grumpy.
“I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” Anne this line really struck a chord with me. It does go to show that the way we are with ourselves in every moment is reflected back to us. So it makes it vitally important to allow ourselves the time and care to prepare for our sleep and the way we are during the day to have a restful sleep at the end of the day. Just another beautiful part of our own self care routine.
Beautiful Anne, even when we know clearly what is good for us, and helpful to our sleep, we often still live in the opposite way. Crazy really, but it shows that there is constant tension with us, between what is true and what is not. When we live in a way that honours what is right, it fosters an easiness in everything we do – and all of this feeds back into our sleep. So true then as you say “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day”.
I have heard it said that to work on getting a better nights sleep focus on the way we live in the day because if things are left incomplete, or we have not fully supported and held ourselves in the day we will feel that that night in how we sleep
Holding ourselves regardless of what might have happened and finishing the day in a loving and appreciative way will make an incredible difference, as this will be the quality in which we wake up and can start into the new morning.
Well said Michael
This is lovely Michael. Holding ourselves in loving appreciation at the end of the day and not bringing unresolved feelings to bed with us. This is very practical and loving. You have inspired me to bring this to my nighttime routine.
Beautiful Michael, I love what you have written. Starting the new day with that quality of love to share, with ourselves and everyone can help the world to know they too can be that love.
Beautiful Michael. This would make a positive difference after a challenging day rather than go into behaviours that take may us further away from our inner connection, e.g. overeating
I so agree, Michael: to appreciate oneself and one’s quality at the end of the day, irrespective of what has occurred during the day, because we all have ‘those days’ from time to time, would allow one to drop into this natural rhythm with ease. Endlessly replaying the day on a a continuous feedback loop, engaging in re writes of how it could have, or might have, happened, criticising oneself for the part in the drama, all of these are the thieves of sleep and deep rest. They simply roll over the same energy into the next day for an action replay. Bringing self appreciation at the end of the day, in spite of this, is like a healing balm with which the sleep rhythm can work while we are at rest.
This is so true Joshua. I have observed when someone is highly anxious and reactive towards others they often express they have problems sleeping. So, what happens is that they take the anxiousness and reactions with them to sleep because that’s what was occupying them during their day.
Its true. We often think that sleep is sleep and is unaffected by the day when in fact it is very very dependant of how we live in the day. We just take it for granted that it is the way it is when it could be much better
Every word of this blog I relate to. My sleeping problems date back to the age of 7. My family experienced a crisis in this year and my sleep was forever affected. I recall my desperate father giving me whiskey one night to make me sleep. It did not help at all, and thankfully tasted so revolting that it did not set me on a path of alcoholism. In later years I started taking a heavy painkiller with a relaxant to get to sleep. Again I was blessed to not become addicted. I took valerian for a while. But my typical strategy was like yours, sit up later and later to get so tired that I would easily sleep. My pattern was bizarre; I was exhausted all day and hit my energetic peak at around 9pm.
When I started to go to bed early I would lie in bed restless and agitated staring at the ceiling, until I started to get the whole point that the way I was feeling in bed was a mirror to the day. Aha! There was the key. Now I am a good sleeper…a great sleeper. Not because I am perfect but because when I have the occasional “bad” night I do a check on the day or two or three before that bad night. There will be something there to look at, something that has thrown me a bit and so I can deal with it. The days of tablet induced sleep are over for which I am thankful. Written in appreciation of Natalie Benhayon – great sleep educator.
Your earlier experiences of sleep and trying to get to sleep very much mirror my own. It is so true about going to bed early and this has been a gentle reminder of how to look after myself more so that I don’t feel depleted after waking in the morning.
It feels we live in a world where we are doing our best to avoid sleep and where we think it is not important. We have created 24/7 societies where our focus is to do as much as possible with little to no sleep. In fact, we are quite arrogant when it comes to sleep. For me sleep is very important and I honor it every day.
Sleep is something that every living being has to do, animals, plants and humans sleep. Preparing for sleep, winding down after a day of activity is beneficial to a solid nights sleep.Thank you Anne for expressing the benefits of preparing for sleep.
Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. Great sharing- yes that is absolutely true! And it is very interesting to check why we sabotage our sleep so often. For me even the tiniest things do affect my sleep and being more aware about everything now I can totally agree- sleep is everything.
Such a beautiful blog Anne, as sleep is an integral part of our lives as it sets us up for the following day – and in that the rest of our lives. I can feel in my own body that I am not offering myself a sufficiently loving wind down at the end of the day and feel inspired to begin anew. Thank you.
I enjoyed re-reading your blog Anne. For me, what is standing out as being very significant is holding in mind the responsibility and power of setting ourselves up through our sleep so that we can ‘bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day’.
Simple wisdom Anne, and so powerful with all the awareness you share. The quality we live our day in is the body we lay down to rest at night.
Simply beautiful Anne and I particularly like the point you make about allowing enough time to prepare for bed as we do when we start our day.
Agree, sleep isn’t the 30 minutes you lay in and try to go to sleep. But every moment to the point we lay in bed and close our eyes
This is such a powerful sharing Anne that relays not only the importance of sleep but also the rhythms we live in our day in supporting ourselves to sleep well. Such a simple yet profound sharing that supports so many.
I am a recent convertee to the total benefits of sleep.
It was really beautiful to read your blog on sleep and feel the inspiration and understanding you pass on through your expression.
Anne you raise much an important topic here. I have always loved my sleep but never consider the quality of it. To me as long as I got to sleep for a long time preferably with a sleep in, I thought I was all good. It has been so revealing to me to consider the way I live during the day impacts the quality of my sleep.
This understanding has completely changed my sleep and continues to be refined according to how I feel when I wake up each day.
What a joy to read about what you have discovered about sleep, especially how our day goes influences our sleep and how we sleep influences our day and so on. Everything you say about sleep I have experienced too, so I am joyed Anne that you have written about it and posted it here for everyone to read. I was at a conference today and one speaker quoted a statistic that 30% of people suffer insomnia, so this post is full of tips that I say are priceless. The tremendous healing and restoration that is possible when we sleep seems to be forgotten these days, or at least is under rated. The popular and most likely modern catch cry ‘I’ll sleep when I am dead’ has not done a lot for the common sense value of sleep and looking after ourselves. Give me quality sleep any day, without, I am the living dead.
Thank you for your awesome and practical blog on sleep Anne, getting a good night’s sleep is a work in progress for me. One of the missing ingredients has been to take myself to bed with love, thank you for sharing this.
Dear Anne thank you for this blog. Sleep is so important but we are not taught how to have quality, restorative sleep – how great would it be if this was a subject in school. The presentations of Universal Medicine have supported me to understand the sleep cycle and to improve the quality of my sleep.
So the moment we wake up, we are already choosing the quality of our sleep for that night – it’s totally up to us.
Wow Vicky , then the quality of every moment lived leads us to the quality of our future to be lived.
Thank you, Anne, for a simple and clear blog with “checklist” for good night sleep.
I learn more and more each time from Natalie Benhayon’s presentations and keep putting things into practice, but it is always another – deeper- level of understanding, and refining the rhythm of living during a day and night.
I’ve noticed too Anne that how I wake up is very much linked to how I go to bed. I like how you explained that your wind down was like how you get ready in the mornings..not many people would see it this way.
Me too Emily, how I wake up is very linked to how I go to bed, and how I go to bed is very linked to how my day has been. It is clear from Anne’s blog that we have a natural rhythm that we can flow with and the quality of one activity leads to the next. How important is it to always be aware of our energetic quality in all that we do.
Great point at the end Mary-Louise- always be aware of our energetic quality in all that we do.
Thanks Anne for a great reminder of just how supportive sleep is for us, and that its quality is determined by our daily rhythm.
Anne I agree sleep can do so much for us. I find it a great marker for how I have lived my day. Thank you for sharing the importance of this activity we all do.
Thanks Anne, your comment – ‘I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day.’ lets us know we have a choice and asks that we take responsibility for how we live. After much observation I am starting to find a balance that is loving and supportive of me. Whilst there is still some fine tuning to go I appreciate knowing that it is how I live and the choices I make that build the quality of all that I do, including the quality of sleep.
I never saw the importance in the quality of sleep I received, until I attended workshops by Natalie Benhayon and Universal Medicine, but it all makes so much sense. Every aspect of my daily life has an impact on how I will, or will not, sleep of a night. At first it sounded extreme and difficult to accept, but now if I have unresolved issues from work my sleep suffers and I wake up feeling really exhausted, especially if it is an issue that has been going on for some time.
Is it any wonder sleep disorders are increasing and hard to treat – looking at our daily living is definitely the way to go.
Thank you Anne and Julie, I agree and great point ‘is it any wonder sleep disorders are increasing and hard to treat – looking at our daily living is definitely the way to go.’ Sleep problems for the students of the Livingness are a thing of the past, thanks to the presentations of Natalie Benhayon. Maybe in the simplicity of this way of living as presented in this blog is a truth that can be studied for the benefit of humanity.
Thank you Anne, in the past I would religiously count the number of hours of sleep I had had in order to fee refreshed when I woke (but I never did). Since attending the presentations of Universal Medicine I now appreciate that it is so much more than the number of hours that make a difference, it is about about everything that happened before I went to sleep too that matters.
Love this Anne, I will take myself to bed from now in the quality I would like: “The first thing I have learned is to understand how important sleep is and to make a commitment to going to sleep in the quality I would like – in gentleness, in love.” It is just a choice.
Wonderful blog Anne. I agree with all you have written. Sleep has such a restorative impact on our bodies but sadly sleep problems are often viewed in a very linear way without consideration of the whole picture, especially the way the person has lived the preceding day.
I have been inspired by what has been presented by Natalie Benhayon at a Universal Medicine workshop, in which I understood that the next day starts the evening before, with the winding down period and then sleep itself – and it makes so much sense and builds a great foundation for the following morning and the whole day.
Great blog Anne, which inspires me to refine my rhythm to go to bed.
What I have come to learn from my body is how much impact what I eat has on the quality of my sleep and how and when I wake up in the morning. Sugar has a particularly big impact on me, if I eat too much I find my sleep is very restless and busy with weird dreams and I tend to wake up groggy and much later.
I love how you describe your preparation for sleep, starting with how you are during the day. So often we do not consider what we do during the day having impact on our sleep.
Dear Anne,
Sleep is something that I can do with ease, occasionally I will have restless nights, but they are few and far between. What was occurring for me though was restless legs on going to bed. I have come to understand that this for me was because of the way I was living my day, allowing anxiousness to run my body. By steadily dealing with the anxiousness and also changing my evening routine, I am now going to bed and my body is still. I sleep well and feel more refreshed at the start of the next day. How we live our day really does matter.
Reading this comment Leigh shed some light on restless legs syndrome. When the legs are being used restlessly all day that restless carries on into the night. Far from being a curse, they are in fact a blessing, showing the way we have been walking, each and every day.
Very true Rachel,
I have been in conversations recently where people are having trouble sleeping. Not necessarily because they have restless legs, but more because their whole body is restless. Many speak of having difficulty in winding down after their day. There is definitely much to be explored and discussed here in relation to how we are being in our days and how this impacts on our sleep patterns.
At times there seems nothing worse than having difficulties falling asleep and the harder I try the more I wind myself up and fret that I will be tired in the morning. So these days I really value the quality of my sleep and it is a great indicator of how I have been living my day time if my sleep pattern changes. Great topic Anne.
What you offer here is golden Ann and perfect timing for me to re-read as I so needed this reminder, lately because I have been more busy then usual I have been going to bed with out much of a wind down and this has directly impacted how I am the following day. Thank you for the inspiration for me to stop and re-imprint this with a gentle and loving way.
This is really great, Anne, thank you. Indeed, the quality of our sleep rests during the day when we are awake!
Anne. this is such a helpful sleep “checklist ” for me and a beautiful reminder that our sleep is a reflection of how we are living and the rhythm we are living in!
Thanks Anne, your words are so clear and so full of the truth of how we all need to live… so that we may sleep… and sleep, so that we may live.
Having a good day equals having a good night – essentially cycling around and around.
Awesome blog of simplicity Anne, and it made me reflect about my entire days with your words and realisation that: “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day”. So often we like to compartmentalise between the two, but as you say they are the same, so our sleep is our day, and our day is our night. Both a reflection, or reflecting the quality of each other. Makes complete sense, and worth a deeper consideration.
I love this line too Zofia about how preparing sleep takes the whole day. A lot of the time I race to finish everything before the end of the day, cramming it all in before screeching to a halt and throwing myself into bed, only to lie there wide awake. When I make more space in the evenings by paying attention to what I’m doing and slowing down a bit, the quality of my sleep is so much deeper. I feel more alive and energised and less out of it the next day. I love how this connection gets stronger and deeper the more I put as much time into preparing myself for sleep as I do to prepare myself for the day.
I love your simple description of what makes a good sleep. And I realize that actually the way we live and sleep is all connected, that sleep is a true rest when everything in the day before is complete.
Yes, the whole day is setting up the quality of the sleep to come. We use to think in departments and plan the day in divided pieces whereas it is an all intertwined circle living itself forth again and again and again.
This such a nurturing article. A line that rings out for me is “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” So if I take responsibility all day in the way I live in preparation for sleep then my body is able to take responsibility to prepare me while I sleep at night for the day.
Mary, beautiful what you have written here, thank you. If we care deeply for our body, our body is then able to do what it naturally needs to do as we sleep. Bringing us into each day with a readiness to live our love.
That is a very wise comment on a very wise and supporting blog, thank you Anne and Mary. This blog reminded me that sleep is an active activity and how I live during the day acts out in my sleep.
I often had difficulty sleeping as a teen and early 20s. I was as surprised as you how much winding down, preparing to sleep and going to bed early helped me sleep with ease.
I have found having a routine before going to bed helps set me up for a good nights sleep. I have stopped using my computer and phone before going to bed, because I noticed how it kept me very alert, long after I had put my head on the pillow.
I had always known that sleep was an important part of our day, but until recently I hadn’t considered it a separate activity that needed to be nurtured, and it makes sense to focus and take care preparing for it.
Absolutely agree nicolesjardin, sleep for me was what I just did, because of getting tired, but I have also come to the understanding that sleep is my time when I restore and prepare for the next day, and it has become a very nurturing activity, not just this check out and fall asleep thing. I always thought sleep was a waste of time and now I love it.
Every cell in my body response to your blog saying: “Yeah, she’s right – that’s what I need” 🙂
Anne reading your blog put a lovely warm smile on my face. Sleep is another supportive step in our daily rhythm and it can really show us how we lived our day with such simple loving honesty. Thank you.
What amazing points to consider when it comes to one of the world’s great issues, there is much here to reflect upon. Thanks Anne.
I agree, Tonisteenson. I rarely struggled with sleep – I absolutely loved how it fixed me up every day but I went through the same experience as Anne. Going to bed early made a huge difference.
Yes christophschnelle, everything turned around for me when I started to go to bed early. I would usually feel tired at around 9pm, but would push myself to stay up, feeling that I was missing out on more of the evening. Now I go to sleep when I’m tired.
‘Allowing enough time to get ready for bed in the evening, as I do to get ready for the day in the morning.’ – This is something I had forgotten and brushed aside. I have a ritual every night and I love it but the time spent for each thing is much more quicker in the night to the morning. So this is a great reminder for me and something I will be playing with tonight.
Thank you Anne, I too have struggled with quality sleep and appreciate what you have shared. ‘Waking in the morning feeling more tired than I was the night before’ is a ghastly feeling and a vicious circle that I feel encourages behaviours such as craving stress, emotional dramas and eating foods that do not support and nourish your body during daylight hours just to help you survive the day. This I find actually feeds this cycle of constant sleep deprivation so the merry go round goes around and around.
‘Spending the day’ preparing for sleep – I love that reflection, it changes everything around the beliefs and ideals regarding the importance and place ‘sleep’ has in our lives. The way ‘Sleep’ is approached, is the foundation to loving self and taking responsibility in that. Great sharing Anne.
I find your story a great reflection on this subject of sleep. Thank you Anne. It makes great logic that the quality of our sleep is in the quality of our living. And allow the planing for sleep within the process. I too have made this change and am better for it. I have more quality energy, I function better and with out reactions. I sleep soundly and wake up with inspiration hours before daylight.
Thank you for sharing your relationship to sleep. I never had big trouble in falling asleep or didn’t want to sleep but I realized how I avoided for a long time to be connected with me before I fell asleep or got ready to sleep. Knowing that actually the `going to bed` is the new beginning of the next day I knew there has to be a change to have a solid loving rhythm. And I can share it is mindblowing! More selflove, appreciation and connection to my body brought me to this.
Lovely Anne thank you so much for your detailed information about a good sleep rhythm. Your sentences: “The quality of my sleep is a reflection of the way I have lived the day” was for me the clue to have a deeper sleep. Now I am finding that most of the people I meet are not aware of this fact either. How can it be that we do not learn such an important lesson from our parents or at school???
I agree, sleep is reflecting how we live the day – here we can start to make loving changes…and yes going to bed a little bit earlier or winding down consciously makes a huge difference.
Before I understood sleep as a part of the rhythm that defined the day ahead, and was defined by the day spent, sleep was somewhere I escaped to. Developing a rhythm around the sleep to ensure its quality, therefore the quality of the waking hours makes so much sense for us to live each day in our fullness.
Beautiful blog Anne. There is so much to discover about our sleep, more than putting our head down on the pillow and closing our eyes. What you have offered here is the understanding that how we live affects how we sleep as well as the already understood how we sleep affects how we live. Thank you.
I’m continually learning about my sleep cycle, and this valuable blog has contributed more for me to ponder on. I have recently been going to sleep half and hour earlier and my quality of sleep is so much better just from this one simple change, and I’m waking with more energy.
This Is a great reminder of how our day and our night reflect each other. As you say “sleep does so much for us if we but allow it”
I’ve come to realise that sleep is so incredibly important to my whole healthy approach to life. I recently had a rare late night till midnight and I was unable to recover for several days. The ripple effect was huge. I ate foods I normally don’t, I didn’t commit to my work day as usual and many other things changed. A good night’s sleep is an integral part of making loving choices for ones self.
I simply love this blog. There is so much truth in it!! I had trouble sleeping for almost ten years and I truly know what you were referring to. This went on until I started cutting down a huge momentum that did not allow me to switch to the energy of repose. I also learned all you learned and incorporated it into my life. Now, I have a very clear routine to put myself to sleep that I apply consistently. The change is not less than miraculous. There is no night now that I go to bed in fear that I will/may not sleep (like in the past). I go to bed in the absolute certainty that I will and I do, every night. For me the issue now is to keep refining its quality and with it my livingness.
It’s a beautiful revelation when you realise that preparing for sleep, for the daily restoration and clearing that is needed for our bodies to be vital for our next day of living, has already begun when you wake up. Thank you Anne for this great reflection and reminder of an equally important part of our day.
This is so simple and so lovely Anne, ‘The first thing I have learned is to understand how important sleep is and to make a commitment to going to sleep in the quality I would like – in gentleness, in love.’
Thank you Anne, I loved your story you set out very simply and clearly all the ways we can support ourselves . It is all a continuing cycle and everything we do affects everything, and nothing is ever done in isolation.
I have never had trouble sleeping and yet am understanding more and more how quality of sleep, is everything for my day and quality of my day, is everything for my sleep, as Anne has shared here. This is a beautiful way of understanding choosing of cycles that feed harmony back into our bodies and our being.
I love the simplicity of your article Anne. It’s a great reminder of the importance of sleep, but also the responsibility we have, through our daily activities, on the quality of sleep we have.
Sleep and winding down 101–definitely should be a course in our text books at school. Without this course, how can students truly support themselves in the huge pressures they face and subsequently the even more intense pressures when they enter the work force? Thank you for your inspiring blog Anne, it just inspired me to answer my own question.
I read your blog this morning Anne and it has been so lovely to feel this with me throughout the day… I will sleep well tonight, because I have chosen today to love and care for myself, to share this with others and to enjoy being me. Goodnight. 🙂
I keep coming back to this blog – the simplicity of it is supporting me to deeply connect to the importance of my day and sleep cycle.
Ahhh mysterious sleep – I too have had similar revelations to you Anne with sleep. Spending time at the Universal Medicine retreats (for me in Vietnam) have been life-changing with Natalie Benhayon’s presentations on sleep. I now have so many great tools to assist me in looking at how I sleep, and if I don’t sleep well, why that might be. All of what you have shared here I can relate to.
“It means allowing enough time to get ready for bed in the evening, as I do to get ready for the day in the morning.” while I was reading this I felt how important a rhythm is in our lives. For my personally I take enough time for being with myself in my morning routine that is there, I cannot say this from my evening routine most of the times and I can feel this every morning when I wake up. So thank you Anne to highlight the importance of the quality of our sleep in the 24 hours cycle.
“Preparing for sleep takes a whole day”. This asks us to look at sleep and our day in a completely different way. Thank you!
“The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before.” I love the simplicity with which this line presents all of our rhythms in life – from the 24 hour day cycle, to the 365 day cycle in which the earth returns to its same starting point in its endless orbit around the sun – so each day/year is not a progression from the last, rather a return to see what has changed for us in that time frame.
The 24 hour cycle of our day is 24 hours continuously cycling around, our bodies are in this cycle perpetually – for this entire life. It is often the case that we are taught that the sleep period within the cycle is the fixer mode, the crash out phase, the stop when you have run too hard or fast for a period of cycles perhaps. What Anne is presenting is so beautiful to consider – each part of the cycle is important and precious and needs to be honoured in order that the next phase of the cycle builds on the quality before and it – the quality keeps cycling around too. How different would we all feel if we approached our sleep time with such care and precision?
The 24 hour cycle of our day is just that, 24 hours continuously cycling around and our bodies are in this cycle perpetually – for this entire life. Considering the way we are brought up – it is often the case that we are taught that the sleep period within the cycle is the fixer mode, the crash out phase, the stop when you have run too hard or fast for a period of cycles perhaps. What Anne is presenting is so beautiful to consider – each part of the cycle is important and precious and needs to be honoured in order that the next phase of the cycle builds on the quality before it – and the quality keeps cycling around too. How different would we all feel if we approached our sleep time with such care and precision?
Thank you for this blog Anne. Sleep really is the centre piece of health and Wellbeing. As I develop and connect to a truly loving and supportive rhythm, sleep is indeed the foundation of my day. I love the cycle that you describe that our day and night are so interconnected and influenced by one another. The choices we make in any one moment indeed effect the next moment and on and on it goes.
I used to live by the rule of needing 8 hours sleep a day to be ‘rested’. It did not matter when I went to sleep (although my tendency was always early) only that I got 8 hours. If I knew that 8 hours would not be possible I began to get anxious about being too tired the next day, how would I cope etc. I was forever clock watching and counting hours. After being presented the simple facts about sleep that you have listed above Anne, I decided to try letting go of the length of time I slept and focus on the quality. What I found was a game changer for me. I still go to bed early now but so many other aspects come into play before my head is on the pillow. How I have lived my day and how my wind down rhythm has been are all important. Now if I only get 6 hours sleep on one night I do not wake up tired, nor am I anxious or worried about how I might cope or function during the day. I feel just as rested as if I had slept longer.
Thanks Anne. A truly inspiring, revelatory and educational blog that puts sleep firmly where it has to be – at the heart of how we live, each day and every day.
Dear Anne, what you have expressed in your blog has reiterated what I already know about sleep but not always put into practice. I have learnt from my own experience that the quality of my day leads to the quality of my sleep. The more I am with myself, lovingly, during the day, the better I sleep and I am starting to enjoy going to bed and being with me and taking the time in the evening to wind down, in fact, you could say that the wind down actually starts in the morning and carries on during the day and deepens in the evening. It really does make a difference! Thank you.
Anne this is so cool! You have expressed your relationship with sleep so simply that everyone can relate and understand the utter importance of what sleep really is. Thank you for offering your revelations, they make so much sense.
So beautifully expressed Anne, everyone knows that a good nights sleep is restorative – how many of us have this every night? It is a work in progress for me – learning to gently wind down after work is still one area that requires great care and dedication as I can sometimes be kept spinning in the nervous energy of the day. On these days my sleep is disrupted and not restorative or restful and it takes a lot more effort to complete my next day – as if a cycle then starts which will not truly support. But on the days where I take care of myself throughout the day and wind down lovingly I awake refreshed and ready to shine my light into the world.
A great example of the things we can explore in our lives that actually affect the way we sleep. Thank you Anne.
Anne I love the way you write. I have always loved going to bed early and I sleep well when I go to bed when my body needs me to. One night this week that was 7:30pm as I was so tired. I woke up the next day feeling refreshed and ready for my day. I have learnt that if I push on and stay up after my body is ready for bed I too have a restless nights sleep or wake up groggy.
Sally, good to be reminded that there are no rules, and that what works perfectly at one time may not at another. If on some days we need to go to bed at 7.30pm, nothing is gained by ignoring this fact, in fact there is much to be lost, decent sleep and feeling refreshed the next day!
Sleep really does do so much for us and I love what you have shared here. For me, I really notice how life is so much harder to cope with, if I do not sleep well.
I only say cope because usually I enjoy and love each day, and wake up feeling great and ready to move… but if I wake feeling tired, or that it’s going to be a hard day to cope with… I no longer just think I had a bad nights sleep. I now know to look back further than that, and to take responsibility for how I chose my yesterday which led me to feel how I am today.
In the last couple of years I have been going to bed early and I would say it has helped enormously with how I am in my day. However now I am finding that, like this blog shares, it is not only when I sleep but how I am before I sleep. Sleep is not just about the number of hours one is asleep for but the quality of sleep as well.
Thank you Anne. I can relate to so much you have shared about sleep. I too find it particularly helpful to go to bed early. I used to believe the quantity of sleep was the key thing but now I know, if I am in bed early – usually by 9 pm, I actually need less sleep. As you correctly say, this is not an isolated event but part of the rhythm of my days – but getting great quality sleep is a great start.
For me what stood out today was that Anne finishes her work at 5pm. I have recently been working up to bedtime sometimes. This is a great reminder for me to allow myself more short stops in the day. I have never worked so much on the computer and know that I need to look after myself much more because of this. I am very slow with some things and need to be a lot more truly accepting of myself in this area. Allowing more care over how I have my meals too. Great Anne , thank you for the inspiration.
I have also struggled with sleep over the years, I have also not wanted to sleep or felt an anxiety about going to bed and feeling that I may not have a good nights sleep. I used to call myself a ‘night owl’ because I stayed up late and got up very late in the morning, even on the days that I needed to go to work. I now do go to bed earlier and do get up earlier and do feel better for it, without a doubt. However, I do some times struggle with it at times and I think this quote maybe part of the reason,”The first thing I have learned is to understand how important sleep is and to make a commitment to going to sleep in the quality I would like – in gentleness, in love.” I do not always make time or commit to the quality in which I go to sleep, something very special to share with the world…it is important to do so because it establishes how we wake in the morning, I can felt the difference when I do made this simple and supportive choice.
I agree it is so very important to share with the world. I was just talking with a friend the other day about how it amazes me that there is such a pull to stay up late at night and wake late, yet when we reverse this and go to bed earlier and wake earlier, we have more time as we don’t need as much sleep, we feel more vital, we have sufficient time to lovingly prepare ourselves for the day, which in turn has a massive effect on the quality of our whole day, in summary there are so many benefits that it makes me question why we give the idea of staying up late any time at all. Staying up late is the complete opposite of what actually works for our vitality.
Thank you Anne. Developing a rhythm of living and sleeping which supports us continually is an amazing and very simple practice that anyone can do. I have discovered that the more care I give to myself with my sleeping rhythm, the more cared for I feel during the day and then the more self worth that I experience as a result. This is definitely worth sharing with the world.
This is a great blog Anne, with lots of practical tips on having a good night’s sleep. I was once asked ” how often do you wake up feeling refreshed?” Working on a sensible sleep rhythm is so important.
I know I’ve always struggled with sleep because I’ve not been ,’coming home in a way that allows me to bring home me, and only me.’ That’s so beautiful. I feel the commitment in choosing to be with oneself that is loving and accepting. My issues around sleep are most definitely because I ignore most of me most of the day and when it’s time to rest I’ve got issues resolving in my body.
What a beautiful reminder of the simplicity of living and what truly being can bless us and all we are in contact with during our day. I cringe when looking back on how grumpy I’ve been when I’ve not had a good night’s sleep. Or what a ‘bed tyrant’ I’ve been if my sleep’s disturbed by being woken up which has really been about me not taking responsibility for bringing me home.
I love the simple, practical, honest truth you have presented Anne, over sleep. Most underestimate the importance of the quality of sleep and how we prepare ourselves for sleep, including myself until I found Universal Medicine.
This is such a great article on the benefits of a good nights sleep and practical steps to take to ensure one achieves it. I find my life is greatly enhanced when I maintain a regular sleep pattern consistently.
There is much to be said for the affect that how we live our day has on the sleep we enjoy that night. It can be amazing the difference in the qulaity of the sleep I experience, where less will be needed if my day is not lived in a rush and in disconnect. I have found in the past that I have not really connected the two, but your article certainly brings a lot of appreciation to this Anne.
Awesome Anne, the way you have shared your experience is so simple yet so profound all in one. I too have brought a deeper understanding to my sleeping rhythm, also inspired by Natalie Benhayon.
After reading this it has brought an even deeper understanding on where I can support myself even further in my day, to have the quality of sleep that is possible.
I feel I will go to bed tonight and have a good night’s sleep, Anne. What you say in your blog makes such sense and confirms what I know, but somehow reading your blog feels more confirming ………and will bring a greater dedication to honouring my sleep and my rhythm.
Thank you Anne – this really does share with the world the importance of not just sleep – but in what state we go to sleep. I have found that the more gentle I am in the day, the better my sleep is – it says a lot in how we live our days – and that sleep can’t be used just to recharge our batteries – we need to take care of ourselves at every moment!
I completely agree Hannah.
What an amazing way to live – that absolutely shows me that knowledge comes from the awareness of allowing everything to connect.
This is indeed such a great article – one for all doctors and their waiting rooms. I had always taken sleep as a given until my anxiousness made it so, so difficult to even get as much as a ‘wink of it’ . What you share here is profound, not least …Sleep does so much for us, if we but allow it. It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day…thank you Anne
Albert Einstein said ‘everything is energy’ but after reading your blog Anne and your comment Jacky I can see that ‘everything is sleep’ – ML
‘ going to sleep in the quality I would like – in gentleness, in love’. We put children to bed in the quality of gentleness and love, and yes, we can choose that for ourselves too. How absolutely lovely does that sound?
‘The quality of my sleep is a reflection of the way I have lived the day’ this important point should be part of our education of life.
It is so true that the quality of sleep we have is a direct result of how we have lived, the choices we have made throughout the day. If we live in nervous energy and anxiousness, that doesn’t stop when we go to sleep. That anxiousness will still be in our bodies. How we live in the day and wind down for sleep has a huge impact on the quality of our sleep.
Great reminder for me this morning, as I don’t feel as refreshed as I know I can feel. As I reflect on yesterday, I can see where I got caught up and from there it escalated and I took the day to bed with me. Then, magically, I wake to read this blog.
Thanks for all the great tips on sleeping. Understanding that our day reflects our night is a great way to look back on our day and see where our choices could be different. I can see that my running on nervous energy during the day will produce a restless night. With support from Serge Benhayon, the Esoteric Practitioners and my own commitment to myself I am sleeping better and enjoying my days more.
Thank you Anne for this simple but so inspiring sharing about how important the preparation for sleep is. This is still a work in progress for me but I love how you have laid it out so clearly and the practical suggestions about how it is possible to tweak our days so that gentle preparation for going to sleep in the right energy is perfectly possible and the amazing impact that can have on our general health and wellbeing.
“The quality I wake up in reflects the way I have slept, which reflects the way I lived the day before”. I love this Anne – so true. Before attending Universal Medicine events I had never even considered this possibility.
A great blog Anne sharing how the quality of our sleep is influenced by the quality of our day before we go to sleep and everything we did throughout that day.This quality of sleep then goes on to affect the quality of our next day, and so the cycle goes on.
Anne great sharing and reminder how important it is to prepare for sleep. The line that stood out for me was “It means leaving work at work, and coming home in a way that allows me to bring home me, and only me.”. This was great, it so easy to bring work home and get caught up in it, I have been working at leaving work at work and it makes such a difference.
Wow – such a great way to look at what what can be seen as ‘recharging our batteries’
You offer a great insight here – that sleep is something we prepare for throughout the day.
I have seen sleep as totally separate to my day – ‘I can rush now because I will rest later’…But I find that being more gentle with myself throughout the day – provides an amazing balance – so that there is no extreme of exhaustion and intense rushing.
And the result of that – is a much more vital way of living.
Of course – it is always developing, but that is the joy of ever-exploring how we can live.
Anne, I love how you said “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” With that as the focus, we would all be able to understand how each and every choice during the day leading up to bedtime has an effect on not only the quality of our sleep, but the quality of the energy and expression we then bring to others the next day after that night’s sleep. Therefore, there is a big responsibility we all have to really take care of ourselves. I had really not fully honoured this until recently when I committed to getting to bed early, and like yourself Anne, was blown away by the level of vitality I had the next day. It’s such a simple equation, and sometimes I tend to make things more complex than they have to be.
A very honest statement. So simply written.
I have also in the past struggled with sleep. I referred to myself as a ‘night owl’, I had gotten used to that way of living and identified myself with it. However I then had a baby and this changed everything…I began to go to bed early and wake early. And although I woke up in the night with the new baby, I realised I actually felt better than I had when I was a ‘night owl’. The baby grew and I felt I could choose my own hours of sleep a little more, and I have – and they are earlier nights and earlier wake ups, and I am feeling better than I ever have. I am still finding my way with this but I can definitely say that I would not go back to those late, late nights. Something I appreciated in your blog was “If I do not feel complete about my day, I take it to bed with me.” Something I can work on and consider more fully the quality with which I actually go to bed. Thank you
“I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day.” me too Anne. Great blog- thankyou. Sleep has become a great marker for me as to how I live. Going to bed early – consistently – has, along with other life-style choices, truly changed my life.
This is so true Sue isn’t it. It is a great reminder that everything we do effects everything we do. Powerful stuff…
I love your blog, very inspiring. I have always struggled with going to sleep and sleeping. I am starting to really appreciate that the quality of my sleep depends on my day and is a reflection of how much I have been lovingly present with myself. And it is to be consistently loving with myself through out the whole day not just a wind down period at the end. Like you say, ‘I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.’
Thank you so much for this.
A very inspiring blog Anne. How true it is – ‘I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day’.
If my day is filled with rushing about and being racy – this is exactly how my mind is when in bed and disturbed sleep follows.
If my day is full of me being present with myself, the day seems to expand and a deep rest is in the quality of my sleep, waking in the morning easily and effortlessly.
Yes, Stephanie, so true , I can relate with this.
Sleep can be a huge issue that affects a lot of people. This awesome blog breaks everything down into such simple language. A brilliant reminder for myself that how I take myself to bed and how much I allow my day to affect me affects my sleep.
I love the honesty of this statement:
“It is up to us to support ourselves, to bring ourselves to sleep with love, so that we can bring the fullness of ourselves to each and every day.”
I still need naps (they are incredible!) and they help me sleep better at night too…because, my nerves are not ragged (‘ravell’d’) with exhaustion.
Great blog Anne, thanks for sharing. I too have found huge benefits from having a daily and nightly rhythm. I used to struggle with getting to sleep so I would stay up as late as I could so I would be really tired and be able to fall asleep but that meant in the morning I would still be exhausted and the cycle continued. By looking at what has gone on in my day and truly loving and nurturing myself I can go to bed early and fall asleep straight away and wake up feeling refreshed and looking forward to the day.
Anne, I loved reading your blog at a time when I have not been honouring the sleep my body needs. It is a gentle reminder to me to bring this back into the way I am living. Thank you.
Everything you have shared I can relate to and have found true for myself – especially about what I take to bed with me… Have I taken a problem from work or an argument with a family member to bed with me? The quality of my sleep suffers.
I have definitely found that an early night is the one thing my body thanks me for the most – if I allow myself to do it.
Thanks Anne for a simple yet powerful blog on sleep. I too have had a similar journey with sleep and just love how it is still and will always be a deepening process. It reveals so much to me that if I bring honesty to the way I have lived my day then the learning is of great value to my health and wellbeing.
That is a great point Natalie, about how we can learn about how we were living the day before from the quality of our sleep… it gives us an opportunity to make some adjustments to the new day in preparation for the next sleep!
“I have come to know that the way I sleep is a reflection of the way I live the day.” – so simple but makes all the difference to the quality of my sleep. If I have a restless night now I reflect on the evening and day before and can then see where things went a bit pear shaped and from that bring more awareness to how I live the current day, leading to a much more nourishing night’s sleep!
Thanks for such a great blog on sleep Anne. I too now love going to bed early. I wake feeling so much more rested, compared to how I used to feel after staying up late. And I have made a commitment to myself to leave work earlier, so that I can have time in the evening to cook, eat, have time with the family and prepare for bed. As you have shared, how I am during the day affects how I sleep and also how I will be the next day. It all does matter.
Thank You Anne Malatt for such an important blog that would benefit everyone.
Like you I have found great benefit in looking at the detail in my day and finding a way to end my work day and avoid stimulation and have a consistent winding down routine.
This has been huge for me and I really Love the fact that I feel rested when I go to bed not feeling racy, exhausted or bloated.
I agree with Dragana Brown that the quality of our sleep is influenced by the quality of our day.
I cherish my sleep and have really started to appreciate how much work my body allows me to do when I give it the rest and sleep it so rightly deserves.
Anne, what an amazing blog and you brought a deeper understanding of the importance of sleep and I feel inspired to deepen my dedication and commitment to my sleep rhythm. Thank you.
Hi Anne, great blog. Everything you say is very true but I especially like the bit where you say ‘the winding down rhythm at the end of the day is all important.’ Thank you.
Very simply written with great pointers from which to be further inspired, thank you Anne.
I Love how user friendly your blogs are Anne, very simplistic while being completely comprehensive and descriptive. Thank you Anne.
I love your post Anne. It is so, so true that the quality of sleep I have is a direct result of how I have lived, the choices I have made throughout the day, and the choices I have made up until that point: If I live in nervous energy and anxiousness, that doesn’t stop when I decide it is sleep time. That anxiousness will still be in my body. I’ve come to realise that my body can shut down but not truly rest and therefore still feel tired the next morning. But the more I take responsibility for the choices I’m making throughout the day, and commit to winding down in the early evening, the more I can feel my body giving me a huge, lovely thank you – it is the most beautiful feeling of relief and letting go to truly and deeply rest in sleep. And how beautiful it is to be in life, doing whatever it is we do, in that quality, vital and alert.
Hi Anne, Truly awesome post. The beauty in which you reveal how precious sleep is and how much we need to honour our sleep patterns is lovely. The honouring of our bodies not just when we get home (although this being crucial) but how we need to be able to live in a way throughout the day that is also honouring and preparing ourselves for that evening wind-down and nightly shut eye!
great read :).
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Anne, SLEEP SCHOOL 101 is truly needed!
This certainly needs to be shared “out there”… as so so many across the globe have sleep issues! Working in a health food store a few years ago… one of the biggest sellers was herbal sleep aids!
Wouldn’t it be great if we could share… that they way we live/ drive our body each day will have a direct impact on the quality of sleep… this is worthy of a news story!!
I completely agree with you thehealingingredient, this is worthy of a news story.
Anne – Thank you for expressing so beautifully the lovely rhythm of sleep and how this is part of our day, and not an isolated event that happens at night. It felt so lovely to be reminded how the quality of our sleep reflects our whole way of being throughout the day, and equally then affects our whole way of being the following day… creating a beautiful circle that keeps repeating day after day, and allowing us a daily reflection and opportunity to change, or deepen the quality, in which we are living.
Thank you Anne.
Hi Anne, Thanks for reminding me of how lovely sleep can be.
Thanks Anne for sharing so clearly and simply the truth about sleep. Your experience resonates with my own re staying up late and not wanting to go to bed early in former years. Like I was going to miss out on something if I went to bed. Yet I miss out on so much more by not going to bed early. I can still get caught by old ways but these days feel so much more clearly the consequences of not going to bed early and also the impact of how I have spent my day/night before. Thank you.
Thank you Anne, you have summarised everything so neatly everything, particularly to take care of how we are in the daytime so that we can prepare better for sleep that night.
Thanks Anne for re-confirming what I have also come to know about sleep by the inspiration presented by Natalie Benhayon. I always used to think sleep was what you did when you were tired and exhausted but now I realise (as you describe above so well) that the preperation for sleep is in the how I live my day.
Thank you Anne for your post, I could definitely relate to what happens when we don’t get a great nights sleep and William Shakespeare’s eloquent words.
I love my sleep, because I know I will feel great the next morning; but like your post says if something is not quite right, out of kilter then my sleep is restless. I wake thinking of useless thoughts and my body feels a tiredness that would not be there after a good nights sleep. Then the rest of the next day everything has an edge to it, it takes a bit more effort. If the following night is not so great as well then I really do begin to feel tired and I can see how different I am during the day, that my body is now really suffering from having 2 restless nights sleep. Everything then becomes an effort and my day no longer flows. Still a work in progress for me but I am beginning to see the signs and your post is a great reminder of all the things we can do to prepare for a great nights sleep so that our day is equally as enjoyable.
I love what Universal Medicine has taught me about sleep, and you have put it in a nutshell! I fought going to bed early, but in the end it has been the thing that busted a lifelong pattern of insomnia. As you have shared Anne, my whole day will reflect how I sleep, and then that sleep will reflect how I am the next day… so how important is it to work it out!
This is a very profound article, Anne. Thanks for expanding the understanding of what lovingly supports us to sleep deeply and with all of ourselves.
Wow Anne, I can really feel your commitment to the presence it takes to unfold this program of bringing yourself to sleep with love. What you present is so practical and underneath this practicality there resonates a depth of true understanding which is of a quality that will bring all of us back to living in a ‘sea of love’.
Anne, I relate so strongly to what you have shared. The simple words you chose are a beautiful reflection that sleep is simple, when we let life be.
Thank you Anne for this great post on sleep. A great reminder for me that day and night are not disconnected but linked and interwoven. One affects the other and it is my responsibility to lovingly be in my day and to prepare for sleep at the end of the day.
Thank you Anne for this reminder of how important it is to honour our bodies need for truly restful sleep, and for sharing how you have turned this around for yourself.
Thanks Anne, beautifully put together. It is a huge problem for many people – I see them in the clinic every day. What you’ve shared above is also my experience and I use that to help them find exactly what it is in their day that is the main contributing factor. Most find this very empowering and there is almost always an instantaneous change. Even I am amazed at how quickly patterns that have been there for years can shift in a matter of days or weeks.
This is very inspiring to read Jenny Ellis and I agree how quick we can change our patterns that have been there for years in a short time. I have been recently choosing to walk before bedtime and what I have noticed is the quality of my sleep is deeper and my body feels more steady. The walking helps me to let go of the day and just have some time with me and there is no agenda which really helps. I just walk because I want to walk and I feel that it really does support my body which in turn gives me a great nights sleep. I feel ready for bed and equally ready for the next day when I get up.
I agree Bina I have been walking in the early evenings for most of the summer this year and found it has really helped with the quality of my sleep, I nearly always wake up before the alarm and don’t feel tired or wish I could have an extra half hour. When I walk, and I catch myself thinking about the day, I bring myself back by feeling how I am placing my feet on the ground, how my shoulders feel and the rhythm of my walk and this allows me to let go of the thoughts and to release the day so that I am not taking the day to bed with me. The walk is the same walk around the village and takes about 20 minutes, but it is worth every step, and I really enjoy this time at the end of the day.
That is great Bina and Alison that you have found walking at the end of the day assists you to wind down. On first consideration any physical activity would seem opposite to that, however it makes complete sense, with the busy lives everyone of us have where there is so much thinking going on, taking that time to go for a walk and as Alison says “I catch myself thinking about the day, I bring myself back by feeling how I am placing my feet on the ground, how my shoulders feel and the rhythm of my walk and this allows me to let go of the thoughts and to release the day so that I am not taking the day to bed with me”. Perfect way of getting out of our head, and get to bed in fully present and in stillness.
Mmmm, I love sleep, and don’t often give myself the wind down time to make sure it can support me as much as possible, and I don’t give myself as much time as I do to prepare in the morning… so thanks for this great reminder, I’m off to prepare for bed now, with a little more inspiration to make it more loving…
Lovely to read the simplicity of living that has such a overall effect on your life, how everything, all your actions and decisions are interconnected.
You have brought up some very interesting points Anne. Here is one that particularly caught my attention.
It is almost universally accepted that how we slept the night before would hugely influence the day ahead. So if people are grumpy, clumsy, lack concentration, edgy, snappy, weepy, spaced out, unenthusiastic, lethargic… we often hear them say – I had a bad night – didn’t get enough sleep or I had a bad sleep due to bad dreams, and waking up often. Nobody ever (not that I have heard) questions The validity of this claim – everyone agrees.
However, until I too heard Natalie Benhayon speak I had never ever heard anyone say:
I had a bad night because I had a really bad day before I went to sleep! Yet if it’s true for the first example, why not apply the same to the second? There are some things that we will admit and acknowledge – like: couldn’t go to sleep, because my mind was too much on the project I had been working on today, or because I got upset/unhappy about something that my partner/mother/colleague said earlier in the day or an argument I had with the shop assistant etc etc. But we generally still do not connect how much the quality of our sleep is influenced by the quality of our day before we go to sleep and everything that we did, said, ate, exercised (or not) throughout the day.
As you say: “I have come to know that preparing for sleep takes the whole day.” It sure does and it’s such common sense, is it not!
That is a great point Dragana, we go halfway and say – I didn’t sleep well so I feel bad, but don’t go the extra mile to admit, how I went to sleep and how I treated myself the day before is in fact the cause of my un-refreshing sleep and that me feeling bad now is a direct result of that. This dispels the myths I grew I believing: that you are either a naturally good sleeper or not, and how you sleep is random! What you have written Anne makes so much more sense.