“Sleep is the best meditation,” according to the Dalai Lama and the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr Michael Roizen calls it “the most underrated health habit”. Either we’re beginning to lose trust in sage advice or too many people simply aren’t aware of the power of sleep.
I’m often asked where sleep fits in to the Exceptional Life Blueprint.
There’s no doubt in my mind that sleep is as important for our spiritual health as it is for our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Like most parents, my relationship with sleep intensified when my daughter, Maya, was born in 2010. Before then, I completely overrated sleep. I subscribed to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s heroic mantra of “sleep faster”. And while Schwarzenegger sleeps six hours per night (so that he can do more of what he loves in the remaining 18), most people’s poor sleep quality and quantity is due to lifestyle choices and poor working environments.
More than a third of Americans, for example, sleep less than seven hours per night, with the average at 6.8 hours. Approximately 20% have a sleep disorder, and since 1985 the number of people sleeping less than six hours has risen by 31%. A staggering 97% of teenagers sleep less than the recommended amount, and seven out of every 10 university students sleep poorly. Costing the American taxpayers more than US $400 billion, sleep is a big deal.
So why do we have such little respect for sleep? When a child is born, one of the first things they do is go to sleep (no doubt entering the world is exhausting)! In their days as an infant, they’re asleep more than they’re awake, and we know that this sleep is vital for the child to thrive. As we get older we need less sleep than we did as a child. But our body’s systems – including our nervous, immune, endocrine, and digestive – still require the parasympathetic nervous system to ‘rest and repair’ or ‘rest and digest’. This takes a significant amount of time, which many of us are not giving to ourselves.
Sleep performs a countless number of tasks, from slowing our heart rate, increasing immune activity, growing muscle, repairing tissue and synthesising hormones. Emotionally, it’s much easier to be happy after a good night’s sleep. Mentally, it’s far easier to concentrate and solve problems after a solid sleep. And spiritually, when you consider the conflict of opposites, the judgement, expectations and other challenges we face daily, we are far more tolerant and accepting of these after a good sleep. When you add an exceptional morning ritual to a good night’s sleep, you can reap incredible rewards. If you’re resistant to any of this, simply go a night without sleep and compare your mental, emotional and spiritual performance to that of a day when you have a good night’s sleep. When you give yourself the gift of an exceptional sleep on a daily basis, just like compound interest, your physical, mental and emotional health can improve exponentially.
Importantly, if you are in the midst of significant challenge, going to bed grateful for your problems is vital (problems are a sign of life, after all). If you do work you love you will end the day inspired and mentally fatigued (that’s a good thing). If you move regularly you will sleep better, because your body will naturally want the rest. If you socialise throughout the day you will more happily enjoy time to yourself at bedtime hours. If you nourish your body and avoid stimulants at night you will improve your chances of a good night’s rest. If you show or tell your family members each night before bed how much you love them, you’ll sleep well.
If your evening ritual includes reading a book at night (with a lamp on, not a full blown downlight) you are likely to fall asleep more easily (unless it’s a thriller). Avoid the temptation to stare at a screen for hours or browse social media. Neither will give you a good night’s sleep. If you’ve been wise with your money during the day you will fall asleep more easily. If you are thankful for your life and communicate this through prayer, meditation, journaling or contemplation, you will be more at ease when you go to bed.
Whilst there still exists a great divide in the philosophy of sleep and the recommended hours each of us gets, what everyone agrees on is the importance of a ritual or rhythm to begin and end each day.
Each morning when I wake I simply want to get moving. I’ve gone through periods of my life where I’ve risen at 4am, meditated for thirty minutes, followed by yoga, a run, a green juice while writing in my gratitude journal before enjoying a nutrient-dense breakfast. After a few months my morning routine was exhausting. Now, all I feel the urge to do to start my day off exceptionally is to move my body. It typically lasts anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour. I belive it’s important to find your ‘one thing’ for an exceptional morning so that you aren’t relying on everything going your way in order to start the day well.
My evening ritual includes anything that doesn’t involve a screen. It often consists of reconnecting with my wife Sarah and learning. If Sarah hasn’t gone to bed early, we’ll sit down with a cup of herbal tea and chat about the day. Sarah goes to bed no later than 9pm most weekdays and I tend to stay up for an hour or so after, reading a book. On the weekends I break all my weekday rituals and replace the book for a movie on the couch with Sarah.
Looking back, I can smile at my old “sleep faster” mindset. These days, I see sleep not as wasted time but as sacred time — where my body repairs, my mind resets, and my spirit renews.
Exceptional sleep doesn’t begin the moment your head hits the pillow — it begins the moment you wake. The way you live your day determines the way you rest your night. When we honour that rhythm — day and night, action and rest — we give ourselves the energy, clarity and calm to live exceptionally. So tonight, give yourself permission to rest deeply, recharge fully, and wake ready to live intentionally.
Marcus Pearce is a longevity and life design strategist and the author of Your Exceptional Life. You can take his free Exceptional Life Quiz here. He also hosts the podcast 100 Not Out: Mastering The Art of Ageing Well, and spent September exploring the European Blue Zones of Ikaria and Sardinia.
You can receive the ebook and audiobook of Your Exceptional Life for free here.
As for all things relating to your health speak with your GP or a relevant medical professional. For all your financial health contact PSK on (02) 8365 8300 or visit psk.com.au
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