The 3 hidden messages of the snooze button

Do you hit the Snooze Button? The Hidden Messages of Not Waking up Naturally

Today I woke up groggy. It sucked. My alarm went off and it wasn’t even that early for a Yoga Health Coach anyway. 5.57 am to be precise. I hit snooze. Then again. And again. I knew exactly why I had such a rough time getting up. I made poor choices the night before.

Finally, I dragged myself out of bed, cursing my stupidity while at the same time giving ensuring words to my body. “Dear Body, I still love and appreciate you.  I just had temporary brain fog about how to treat you well”.

Today Was A Good Day

Here is what happened. I had a productive day yesterday, doing all kinds of necessary office work, like accounting, talking to my virtual assistant, ordering graphics and corresponding with clients. I gave a massage in the afternoon and then went to Kung Fu for some physical activity. I had a full and productive day all in all.

When I came home, I had a cup of golden milk since I had missed my early dinner time (necessary for a good night’s sleep FYI) and took a hot shower. So far so good. Then, my night went south.

Then My Downward Spiral Began

I could have snatched a book, snuggled up in bed, read a few pages and fallen asleep, but instead, I chose to pick up my computer to watch a tutorial that was still on my to do list. That in itself would have been fine (maybe) if I had stopped at a reasonable time. But I didn’t and ended up feeling too wired to fall asleep. You know that feeling? A second wind kicks in and falling asleep is a possibility of the past. I lay in bed tossing and turning restlessly, so I decided to get up and watch more videos ( even worse idea); I opted for the Daily Show (which is funny and keeps me informed) but isn’t exactly sleep medicine. Arrrggg!!!!

I ended up staying up far later than my body wanted to. And I had fed myself a computer and phone EMF’s that didn’t make me sleep as well as I would have otherwise. I woke up the next day – today that is – with a foggy brain and feeling not much excitement for anything. I had much less energy than I would like and I had this weird pressure in my forehead that I always get when I am not rested enough.

Having had to hit the snooze button several times this morning was the like being hit on the forehead “Alexandra girlfriend, you are a dumb butt”.

Personally, I am coming out of a time over the last few months where I was really diligent about my evening routine and going to bed early. My sleep was epic, I had tons of energy, was super efficient at work and  got tons of stuff done. I would naturally wake up before my alarm went off at 4.55 am. I had enough time for meditation, yoga, self massage, chanting and whatever else I do to get a good start to my day. I LOVED IT!

 

How Did This Happen To Me?

Then I started a new teaching job started that overtook my life. I had underestimated the amount of time I needed for prepping and I took the evening hours to make up for it. That prompted me to get into a vicious cycle of going to bed late and waking up late. BAD, folks. It’s BAD!!!…for the health in my body and more so for my peace of mind.

Now I could blame my never ending to-do list for my bad choices. Or the teaching job. Or I am sure I could find someone or something else outside myself to blame. Does that sound familiar?  But the truth is, I could have made better choices to keep me going and operate from a full gas tank.

Yesterday I was abusing the sweet and heavy energy of the evening hours to do work. Instead of winding down and letting the energy carry me to bed, I chose to amp myself up with devices and study. No wonder I woke up groggy.

My Ideal Morning

The ideal scenario for me: Wake up early – I like 5 am. I prefer not to use an alarm and wake up naturally, with tons of energy. That shows me that I have slept enough and am ready for the day. I have a natural enthusiasm and zest for life. Going to bed late robs me of all of that enthusiasm and zaps my productivity, efficiency and focus. From today onward, I am re-committing to my early bedtime. My body is worth it, I am worth it.

Sleep Is Critical

You see, according to Ayurveda sleep is one of the 3 pillars of health. That means is that sleep is mega important. If we don’t get it, our health declines. Western medicine agrees. The US center for disease control has termed lack of sleep a public health epidemic. It causes endocrine dysfunction – which means your hormones are off – and lack of sleep is a major contributor to weight gain.

Reverse Engineer Your Urge to Hit the Snooze Button

Here are Three important messages I learned from the snooze button. When you have the desire to hit the snooze button, it is a warning that tells you one or more of these three messages:

1) I have not slept enough.

2) I did not wind down skillfully the night before.

3) I need to make better choices at night.

We all need occasional reminders to go to bed early AND to wind down more skillfully. I made a wisdom sheet for you (and me) to remind all of us to ditch the bad wind down choices and instead choose ways to wind down that leave us feeling rested and refreshed. My Wisdom Sheet hangs near my desk to remind me to make wiser choices. Even Yoga Health coaches need to be reminded 🙂  

Download the Better Sleep Wisdom Sheet