It may
appear that these questions are trivial as we all
sleep everyday and there is nothing more to be done.
But, in fact, there are a very large number of
persons who have problems with their sleep. And even
amongst those who do not have problems, very few know
how to really sleep properly and to take its full
advantage.
We give below some answers based on the writings of
the Mother. Next month we will take up the related
question of Dreams and their significances.
An
Important Subject
"At
first sight one might think that the subject…
is an altogether secondary one; this activity
generally seems to have very little importance
compared to the activity of our waking state.
However, if we examine the question a little more
closely, we shall see that this is not at all the
case.
To begin with, we should remember that more than
one third of our existence is spent in sleeping
and that, consequently, the time devoted to
physical sleep well deserves our attention.
I say physical sleep, for it would be wrong to
think that our whole being sleeps when our bodies
are asleep."
- The
Mother
How to Sleep properly
"There
are many methods, but I will give you one. First,
your body must be comfortable, on a bed, in an
easy-chair – anywhere so long as it is
comfortable. Then you learn how to relax your
nerves one after the other, until you achieve
complete relaxation. You should relax all your
nerves – you can relax them all together,
but perhaps it is easier to relax them one after
the other, and this becomes very interesting. And
when that is done, you must make your brain quiet
and silent and at the same time keep your body
like a rag on the bed. You must make the brain so
still and absolutely quiet that it is not aware
of itself. And then, don't try to sleep, but pass
very gently from this state into sleep without
being aware of it. When you wake up the next
morning you will be full of energy. But if you go
to bed very tired and without even trying to
relax, to calm down, you will fall into a heavy,
dull and unconscious sleep and the vital will
lose all its energy. Perhaps this won't have any
immediate effect, but it is better to try it than
to plunge into sleep when you are very tired.
If you relax very gently before going to sleep,
you will feel great pleasure in going to sleep.
If you manage to relax the nerveseven of only one
arm or leg, you will see how pleasant it is. If
you go to , sleep with your nerves tense, you
will have a very restless sleep and change
position very often during the night. That kind
of rest is no good."
*
"Sleep
must not be a fall into unconsciousness which
makes the body heavy instead of refreshing it.
Eating with moderation and abstaining from all
excess greatly reduces the need to spend many
hours in sleep; however, the quality of sleep is
much more important than its quantity. In order
to have a truly effective rest and relaxation
during sleep, it is good as a rule to drink
something before going to bed, a cup of milk or
soup or fruit-juice, for instance. Light food
brings a quiet sleep. One should, however,
abstain from all copious meals, for then the
sleep becomes agitated and is disturbed by
nightmares, or else is dense, heavy and dulling.
But the most important thing of all is to make
the mind clear, to quieten the emotions and calm
the effervescence of desires and the
preoccupations which accompany them. If before
retiring to bed one has talked a lot or had a
lively discussion, if one has read an exciting or
intensely interesting book, one should rest a
little without sleeping in order to quieten the
mental activity, so that the brain does not
engage in disorderly movements while the other
parts of the body alone are asleep. Those who
practise meditation will do well to concentrate
for a few minutes on a lofty and restful idea, in
an aspiration towards a higher and vaster
consciousness. Their sleep will benefit greatly
from this and they will largely be spared the
risk of falling into unconsciousness while they
sleep."
- The
Mother
The
Best Way
"To
sleep well one must learn how to sleep.
If one is physically very tired, it is better not
to go to sleep immediately, otherwise one falls
into the inconscient. If one is very tired, one
must stretch out on the bed, relax, loosen all
the nerves one after another until one becomes
like a rumpled cloth in one's bed, as though one
had neither bones nor muscles. When one has done
that, the same thing must be done in the mind.
Relax, do not concentrate on any idea or try to
solve a problem or ruminate on impressions,
sensations or emotions you had during the day.
All that must be allowed to drop off quietly: one
gives oneself up, one is indeed like a rag. When
you have succeeded in doing this, there is always
a little flame, there – that flame never
goes out and you become conscious of it when you
have managed this relaxation. And all of a sudden
this little flame rises slowly into an aspiration
for the divine life, the truth, the consciousness
of the Divine, the union with the inner being, it
goes higher and higher, it rises, rises, like
that, very gently. Then everything gathers there,
and if at that moment you fall asleep, you have
the best sleep you could possibly have. I
guarantee that if you do this carefully, you are
sure to sleep, and also sure that instead of
falling into a dark hole you will sleep in light,
and when you get up in the morning you will be
fresh, fit, content, happy and full of energy for
the day."
"Even for those who have never been in
trance, it is good to repeat a mantra, a word, a
prayer before going into sleep. But there must be
a life in the words; I do not mean an
intellectual significance, nothing of that kind,
but a vibration. And its effect on the body is
extraordinary: it begins to vibrate, vibrate,
vibrate… and quietly you let yourself go, as
though you wanted to go to sleep. The body
vibrates more and more, more and more, more and
more, and away you go. That is the cure for tamas.
It is tamas which causes bad sleep. There are two
kinds of bad sleep: the sleep that makes you
heavy, dull, as if you lost all the effect of the
effort you put in during the preceding day; and
the sleep that exhausts you as if you had passed
your time in fighting. I have noticed that if you
cut your sleep into slices (it is a habit one can
form), the nights become better. That is to say,
you must be able to come back to your normal
consciousness and normal aspiration at fixed
intervals – come back at the call of the
consciousness. But for that you must not use an
alarm-clock! When you are in trance, it is not
good to be shaken out of it.
When you are about to go to sleep, you can make a
formation; say: "I shall wake up at such an
hour" (you do that very well when you are a
child). For the first stretch of sleep you must
count at least three hours; for the last, one
hour is sufficient. But the first one must be
three hours at the minimum. On the whole, you
have to remain in bed at least seven hours; in
six hours you do not have time enough to do much
(naturally I am looking at it from the point of
view of sadhana) to make the nights useful."
*
"Before
you go to sleep, concentrate a few seconds in the
aspiration that the sleep may restore your
fatigued nerves [and] bring calm and quietness to
your brain…"
-The
Mother
The
Time and the Hours
Why
is it better to go to bed early and to get up early?
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