sleep: know more.
The trope of this season is to wake up. Shofars are alarm clocks and the whole thing is about waking up to our better selves, again. So many of us live our lives on auto-pilot, asleep at the wheels. Once a year the horn blares and we are wide awake. But for how long? It needs to be sustainable. So today, rather than think about the wake up call I want to focus on intentions for a better new year in all that is sleep related. How to do it better.
This is not brain science: the better slept, the better function. I am in awe of nursing mothers and young parents, of those who hardly sleep because they have two jobs, and I remember with a chill my years in the Israeli army, when 4 hours of sleep was considered a treat.
Not anymore. I need a minimum of six hours. Ideally seven. And I need to get up earlier in the day – around 6 or 7 at the latest if I want to harness that morning energy that is as fresh as dew. That means persistence, discipline and no-nonsense bedtime by 11pm latest, and this is a hard thing for me to do. yes, I get a lot done in the special late hours of the night, esp. the more poetic, but looking realistically ahead I know that what will make this coming year successful or at least not a nightmare is a good night’s sleep.
Invest in all the right bedding. Though I don’t use an alarm clock – I get up by myself in some miraculous way – it will be good to get one – and not use the smartphone that is charging in another room. And be firm with bedtime. Like with kids. No matter how they whimper.
The fact that I’m single right now is both helpful and not to this intention. Let’s just say that it would require extra effort to turn off the lights should other distractions than a bedtime novel occupy my time. But regardless – and who knows – Thou Shall Not Compromise on a Good Night’s Sleep.
