'Don't Go Back to Sleep'

Hard to imagine that if we live until we’re ninety -and sleep 8 hours a night- we have slept 30 years of our life away. Thirty years is no small number – a third of our lives! Oh, and yes, for some that is the best 30 years of all-for others not so much. There is probably no gift greater than a rejuvenating and good night’s sleep.

Sleep has always been an evasive goal for me-I can’t remember ever, in my entire life, sleeping-in past seven. Though as a teenager I must have had those growing spurts that required additional hours- but I just can’t remember that. On a good night I am a six hour a night sleeper-I’ve read that a whopping 3 percent of the population have a specific gene that allows them to function properly on a mere 6 hours a night. I figure that must be me. Though sometimes during afternoon reading or too much sun-I do drift off for 20-minute naps-and wake up with the feeling of ‘where am I?’

At night I have tried just about everything-warm milk, sleep mediation music, melatonin - staying up a bit later, tart cherry juice and almonds-limiting screen time- but still sleep evades me. But I figure if I sleep only six hours a night and live until I’m ninety (god willing as my mother would say) then I have only slept 22.5 years of my life away-a general savings of seven and a half years-now that is a number to consider -what anyone would give for an extra seven and a half years of wakeful existence?

Of course, there is no shortage of articles professing the importance of sleep to maintain cognitive functioning, metabolism and immune health. I am definitely in the lack-zone but have come to recognize that it is just a part of my genetic construction – and quite honestly, as the clock winds down I am happy to have those extra hours of wakeful consciousness. I’ve got a lot more thinking and being and doing to do-not to mention housecleaning and bird watching.

The early morning hours around 3 to 4 AM seem for me to be the most fluid time for writing. In ancient folklore it was known as the time when the veil between the spirit world and the physical world is at its thinnest. And I clearly remember the late Wayne Dyer during one of his PBS specials saying that waking up at exactly this time is a universal, divine invitation. He argued that during these hours, the chaotic momentum of your daytime thoughts has subsided. ‘Without that mental noise, you are in your highest, purest state of frequency and receptivity.’ So instead of tossing and turning and torturing yourself with lack of sleep anxiety and unwelcome thoughts-it might be OK to get-on-up and do something creative or constructive or just make a cup of tea.

I love the excerpt from a longer translated poem by Rumi (1207–1273) Persian poet, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic.

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill, where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep."

Though the wakefulness that Rumi considers is most probably referring to spiritual awakening and seeking our deepest truth – I still like to pin it up against the current trends imploring or protecting our nightly eight hours and the feeling that somehow, I’m not quite doing it right. There may be a bit of sacredness in sharing the company of owls, raccoons and fireflies.

Each day and each night afford us the opportunity to live the life that works within our purview. If you need nine hours a night- in order to live and drive and think safely - then go for it. It is so remarkable how each of us are wired so uniquely and hopefully we are able to follow our own paths. If 3 AM is your most thoughtful and productive and creative time-why not make use of it. For as many of the mystics may have mused – we have eternity to sleep.