“If you go to bed at the right time, you will always know what time to wake up” ~ Sadhguru ~

This morning I happened to be listening to a podcast by Hay House featuring the late Dr Wayne Dyer. Titled ‘The Miracle of Being’, the recording was playing in the background as I came in and out of the room, taking in little sound bites of this lecture that was originally recorded live in around 2012.

He spoke of his daughter Tracy’s recycled plastics business , his invaluable friendship with Bruce H. Lipton, and his lessons on the ‘I am’ discourses by Saint Germain.

However there was one particular topic towards the end of the recording that really piqued my interest. In reference to the subconscious mind, the part of our mind apparently responsible for 96% of what we do in our day, Dyer speaks of the importance of the time of day where the subconscious mind shifts and ‘launches’ into the more uncontrollable unconscious mind, and the affect this has on our mental programming for the following day.

He argues that the last 5 minutes of our day, before we go to bed, are THE most important 5 minutes of the day, and that these 5 minutes influence everything you will face upon waking the next day.

It got me thinking about my own daily mindful practices and the impact that they have on quality of sleep and my morning mood (just ask my husband!). If I can head to bed at a reasonable hour with a cup of chamomile tea and read something uplifting for 5-10 minutes, it makes the world of difference to my energy levels and motivation the next day.

If I lie in bed late after a few glasses of wine deliberating on my day and nit-picking everything that did not work out in my day, I wake up groggy, sluggish and cranky. I certainly know what I would prefer!

Other spiritual teachers claim that the most important part of the day for spiritual practice and meditation is during the period of ‘Brahma Muhurta’, defined as the last quarter of night before sunrise. This could be anywhere from 3.30am to 5.30am or even 6am, depending on the time that the sun rises in specific areas of the world. It is believed that during this time period the pineal gland secreting at its maximum and melatonin is produced, providing a natural mood boost and sense of peace and calm.

Vishuddha Das agrees that the brahma muhurta period is the most spiritual time of day as it was regarded as such by many saints and sages for thousands of years.

Sadhguru dictates a precise time frame for more experienced spiritual practitioners, of between 3.20am – 3.40am, as the exact time of day that will ‘bear maximum fruit’ for spiritual practice and peace of mind.

‘We have lost awareness of how to be in sync and rhythm with the natural forces of life around us’, he explains.

‘If you are awake at brahma muhurta, and become aware…the seed will get the necessary support it needs at that time to sprout or spurt up more rapidly than…at other times’.

‘If you go to bed at the right time, you will always know what time to wake up’.

Perhaps it is the perfect combination of night time preparation (the 5 minutes before bed) and early morning practice (brahma muhurta) that is the key to working on our own personal time of day for optimal spiritual ritual.

In any case, I plan to take my herbal tea to bed with me tonight, set my alarm and see what happens!