What’s really going on when you wake up at night

I just finished a weekend course with my mentor Dr Sue and learned so many fascinating things about spirituality, the body, the breath, the mind and how to bring them all into unity.

When reflecting on what stood out, there was a conversation about sleep that I thought you might find valuable. 

What I love about Dr Sue and her work is that she always offers a new perspective. Here’s a one on waking up in the night.

It’s not a problem. (That’s right; not a typo - it’s not a problem!)

When you wake up during the sacred hours (any time it’s dark and not time to get up), it’s not that you did something wrong. It’s actually a great sign. What’s happening is that your soul is waking you up because there’s an opportunity for conscious integration.

At a certain point during the night, the body is finished all of its digestion and detoxification tasks. When that happens, it has energy ready and available for integration (of emotions, old patterns and habits and other things that are no longer serving you). 

Sometimes you sleep right through that time and do the work subconsciously. Other times, your incredibly intelligent and brilliant system determines that it would be more beneficial for you to be conscious for the integration. So it wakes you up.

Dr Sue said it’s like a sacred being has woken you up and offered to spend time with you. It’s an honour. (Which your mind not be on board with yet; more on that in a moment.)

Here are some do’s and don’ts to get the most out of the sacred hours. 

• Do set an intention before you go to sleep; something like: I am waking up refreshed, rested and energized. 
• Don’t think that you have to get a certain number of hours of sleep to feel refreshed. (That’s just a story of the mind. And a story perpetuated by popular culture. When you have access to infinite energy, you can tap into that for all your energy needs.)
• If you wake up during the sacred hours, don’t check your clock obsessively (or even at all).
• Don’t do things to “try to get back to sleep”. That can lead to frustration. Accept that you’re awake and thank the part of you that woke you up. 
• Do use your time in the night to do Central Channel Breathing or other calming breathwork.
• Do use the sacred hours to meditate (or as I like to call it: beditate). 
• Do see the recommendation section for some music I love to meditate to.
• Don’t let your mind get all worked up and go through the reasons why you’re not sleeping or get obsessed with how tired you’re going to be in the morning if you don’t fall asleep imminently. That’s not the best use of your mind. 
• When your mind ignores that advice and obsesses anyway, use it as an opportunity to love your mind. It’s just trying to help you, after all.
• Say something like: Mind, I love you. I know you’re trying to help. I appreciate it. Let’s do something different though. And then breathe deeply.
• Don’t get up to do work, get on screens or distract yourself. It’s such a powerful opportunity for divine connection. 
• Do trust that you will have plenty of energy in the morning. (I’ve continuously been amazed at how this comes to pass; regardless of how much sleep I’ve had.)

Now, probably your mind has some disagreements and judgments about what’s been shared here. After all, it’s been told very different things throughout the years. When I heard this information from Dr Sue, I decided to experiment with it and have found it to be extremely helpful and on point. 

The goal is to stay detached from whatever is happening during the night, especially from the stories the mind likes to repeat over and over. 

Oh - and one more thing - if you go around saying you’re tired all the time… guess what? You’ll end up that way. 

If I’ve had a wakeful night and my family asks how I’ve slept, I’ll say something like, “Well, there was some awake time and I have plenty of energy for today.”

Because that’s what I choose for my truth.

I hope that’s helpful for you. Or at least some food for thought. 

May you have a week of divine connection (at any time of the day or night).

With sacred love and mindful courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Keen on the weirdest solutions (because they tend to be the most effective)

>Enthusiastic lifelong student

PS - Body Awake Yoga class is happening this Friday at 8:15am Pacific/ 9:15am Mountain/ 11:15am Eastern. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be available within 24 hours of the class. Not yet a member of the community? Click here to join.

I love listening to this meditation music during the sacred hours. It’s very soothing and helps my mind calm down. 

It’s designed to take the mind into various brainwaves that have healing properties.

It’s called iAwake and is very easy to use. 

Click here to find out more. 

When you go to the link you can get 6 free tracks. I use them often (and not just at night). Some help you focus during the day, some are great for a quick time out and some do really deep healing work. 

I think you'll find these tracks a tremendous aid on your transformative journey of becoming your best and most creative self. This technology is a life changer. I hope you enjoy!

I love many kinds of music and so for this week, let’s head into the world of opera. Because… The Flower Duet. 

This song is probably what heaven sounds like. 

Plus I feel so cultured and enlivened when I listen to it. 

Click here to listen to the Flower Duet on iTunes

Click here to listen to the Flower Duet on Spotify