Every living organism goes through cycles
of sleep and activity.
The average human being sleeps about 6 to
8 hours a night, almost 50 hours a week, and
more than 2,600 hours a year.
We spend almost 21 years of our lives asleep.
In a normal person, the optimal amount of
sleep is about 8 hours per night, of which
at least one third is deep sleep.
This deep sleep is interrupted every 45 minutes
or so with dream sleep, followed by light
sleep.
Dream sleep is responsible for discharge of
emotional stresses that have accumulated as
a result of experiences during the day or
experiences in the past.
It is during this stage that our brains process
memories, and during the deepest phase of
sleep, which is deep sleep, our long-term
memories and short-term memories are both
processed and stored.
When we are deprived of sleep, we are more
susceptible to every kind of illness.
And because sleep regulates hormone levels,
lack of sleep can also cause disturbances
in metabolism that lead to obesity and weight
gain.
Besides the physical damage caused by sleep
deprivation, there is also loss of mental
clarity and inability to focus.
A person deprived of sleep and a person intoxicated
with high levels of alcohol can display the
same lack of neuro-muscular coordination and
loss of focused attention.
In fact, sleep deprivation is now believed
to have been a major factor in the Challenger
space tragedy, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster,
and also the in Exxon oil spill.
Most people in western societies look at sleep
as a reparative mechanism for our biology
– which it is – but understanding the
spiritual dynamics of sleep can also give
us a clue to the mysteries of enlightenment.
In the eastern spiritual traditions of the
world, deep sleep is a non-local state of
awareness.
It is a return to the original spirit or consciousness
from which we incarnated as human beings.
That is why deep sleep results in a feeling
of freshness, just like a baby is fresh when
it incarnates from the same domain!
When we are in perfect harmony with nature's
rhythms, then our sleep is effortless, joyful,
and blissful.
The movement of the earth as it spins on its
axis, the earth going around the sun, the
sun, moon, and earth moving in relationship
to one another, and the stars; the push and
pull of ocean tides…These are the cycles
and seasons that are programmed into our bodily
rhythms, and we dance to this music even though
we can't name the tune.
The harmony, the music of the cosmos is imprinted
in our bodies.
Now let me ask you a question.
When you wake up in the morning, does your
body feel joyfully energetic?
Is your mind restfully alert and clear?
In other words, did you sleep well?
If not, what are you going to do about it?
