I have a question about altering sleeping patterns.
First, I used to sleep till 1:00 in the afternoon due to alcohol, drugs, and terrible eating habits.
Now, being raw for 8 months and sheer will, I'm down to 8 in the morning and loving it.

I want to continue this shift to 6:00 a.m. and finding it terribly difficult. Am I just hardwired this way? Should I settle for 8?

Sleep is obviously important and I am not interested in sacrificing a few hours just so I can get up earlier, but there are things I would like to get done earlier in the day.

Any suggestions in adjusting sleep?

david

In my experience: It's just like a lot of things. Your need for sleep/re-fueling is very close to your NECESSITY for living your dreams. If you MUST sleep less in order to live your dreams....then you will naturally need to sleep less and less....or get up early.

-In short, find something that you LOVE that makes is NECESSARY to sleep less or get up early...and the fuel will be made available.

-Just my opinion.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

From a purely physiological perspective, sleep is behavioral and can be programmed / reprogrammed (have you ever heard about the babies that get their days and nights mixed up...sleeping all day and awake all night). Anyway, it may take a little time, but if you are consistent in going to bed at 10pm, you should be able to awaken at 6 pm and feel rested with 8 hours of sleep.

The older we get, the less sleep we require and many raw fooders require less sleep than others. Determine how many hours you are sleeping now to decide how many hours you think you need. Then see what time you'll need to go to bed in order to wake up at 6am.

The first couple of days, you may lay awake in the bed or even toss and turn, but it will take a little time to reprogram your brain, so don't give up. Having a set bedtime routine is very helpful...like a warm shower every night, a little reading, tv or a certain way to wind down. It signals your brain what is about to happen and the brain responds to the prompts.

If you drink tea, some chamomile about 1 hour before you want to be asleep will help you relax and make you sleepy. Also turning off the computer or any stimuli 1 hour prior will really help (don't play video games). I can watch TV in bed and get sleepy, but if I'm on the computer and try to go strainght to bed, it keeps me awake for at least one hour. The distance of the TV from where I am sitting / laying versus the closeness of the computer screen seems to have an impact on the brain and the amount of direct stimulation it is receiving.

Also, make sure you don't eat anything heavy after about 6pm. Otherwise, the digestive process will keep you awake. Hope this helps.

Ah, I thought eating something a little heavier (nuts) later would help me get to sleep. But what you say makes sense and is probably the source of my problem.

Thanks for all the info.

david

Hello,

I had struggled with sleep as well.

Now I sleep about six hours/day. In bed at midnight and up at 6 or 6:30; I must write that I do love my new job. I really look forward to the next workday.

Thanks,

Arilraw

My nightlife is bad. I don't drink and am 100 percent raw, but have been doing a lot of artistic stuff and singing/karaoke. Sucks but I'm trying to get out of going to sleep so late at 4 am.

I hear you Scott,

I have always been a "night-person" in that I "feel very productive" in the evenings. What i'm finding, which is very much in-tuned with what DavidZaneMason wrote, is that there is nothing wrong with that per se as long as one does not feel unproductive when they do try to shift their schedule 'for health'.

I've been trying something...set aside a week where after dinner you refrain from computers, books etc..and just lay in bed in darkness, and try to bring joy to where you are. That way, in addition to getting some added rest (whether you don't actually 'fall asleep' until the AM) you can at least figure out if you are - in a sense - ADDICTED to this lack, this 'free time' that does not correspond to your health goals. But also, like DavidZaneMason said, if you are doing this intuitively, with great joy, any 10-2 deep sleep 'science' IS just hearsay. David Wolfe touched on this in his rawsummit interview.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2007 11:17PM by anaken.