“Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.”
This was one of my grandmother’s favourite sayings. Perhaps from an era just fading from memory when really no one stayed up that late. It was common practice when I was a child staying at her house that dinner was early, kids were bathed and in their pyjamas well and truly before the summer sun went down. Dinner was served at 5:30 / 6pm and once it was eaten it was story time and into bed. Adults too.
It seems these days it is a much busier world. The pace of everything is much faster and having space and time in the day seems like a luxury.
The most people seem to stop these days is to queue up for coffee to get a hit to kick-start the day and keep us going because we are so busy. Flat out, not really home from work till 6… and then get dinner ready in a rush to feed the kids. And the whole world seems to stay up much later.
Or when I was single and in my 20’s and 30’s, it was out to dinner or off to a party and not home till 10 pm on a weekday – let alone the wee small hours on the weekends.
The last couple of years I have experimented with going to bed early again.
Is that old saying of my grandmother’s more than just a forgotten rambling of a world no longer relevant?
Or is it actually something that carries wisdom of old. Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.
Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.
I’ve tried it out.
I love getting into my cosy pyjamas early and feeling all cosy and warm and cared for as if I was putting myself to bed like a child, even now as a grown man of 40.
There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer.
It affects how I feel.
How I walk.
How I talk during the day.
How I eat because if I am tired I tend to choose sugary, starchy junk foods.
It actually effects how I think. What I think – what thoughts about myself and others I allow in my head.
And then it effects how I treat others and myself.
It took a while to change it and I am still getting better at doing it but I have to say I love ‘being a Nanna’ and going to bed early. The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.
Thanks Grandma. Now I know what it means when you used to tell me “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.”
The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.
I would like to say thank you – deeply thank you – to Serge Benhayon for his commitment to the simple beauty in the way we can live.
By Simon Asquith, 41, MultiMedia Professional
This blog originated as a comment inspired by the blog:
Going To Bed At 9 pm Makes So Much Sense
Further Reading:
Insomnia – My Sleep Disorder Or My Daily Dis-order?
Words on Serge Benhayon 
Feeling like we are going to miss out if we are not up late becomes a peer group pressure thing that can be very difficult to shift from our consciousness. So understanding that what we are missing out on is so much, when we are not looking after our sleeping rhythms, as we are far more able to work with Loving integrity, as we are no longer sleepy in the day because we are energetically aware and get to bed early as you have shared Simon.
These days what most would call early is my normal. It’s normal to go to bed at 9pm and wake around 3am, I love it. This isn’t a rigid structure, it used to be as I was getting used to going to bed ‘early’ but now it’s normal and if need be, for work, sometimes I won’t get to bed till 10 or 11. No big deal. Yes I am more drained that morning and wake later but how I am in my day can support me or further drain me.
Absoulutely Leigh, Deeply resting early in the evening is super important for our Divine interactions in the day.
“Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise” so very true – its a simple truth that many of us in society choose to deny to our own detriment.
So true, that the only time we seem to stop these days is to wait in queues, or at traffic lights, and even that, we try to fill by looking at our phone. It’s like we are so determined to avoid a full, proper stop, where our body might be heard a bit louder than otherwise.
The effects of going to bed early are so far reaching and transform how I work, eat, sleep and interact with others yet despite this I can still sometimes stubbornly resist taking loving care of myself and prioritising getting to bed early but this is happening less and less as I feel the positive benefits of better quality rest and sleep.
I have been someone who has preferred going to bed early, now, I have no choice than to go to bed super early as my body does not allow otherwise.
When we get to bed early we can achieve so much more in the day and staying up late in case we miss something only makes us so tired when we do wake up. I remember just staying up as late, as I could, so then I thought that I would not miss out but in the end we do because we end up sleeping a whole lot more. Getting to bed early revives us after a hand full of hours being slept so our day can have much more completion with a greater purpose and loads more vitality.
We fear missing out by going to bed early but what we lose when we stay up is the full benefits of truly rejuvenating sleep.
Absolutely Helen we gain in vitality and the truly rejuvenation of what it is like to fully go to bed and have a repose-full sleep. Repose being the quality of being so that we can deeply go into stillness.
Helen I work with a colleague who during a sales call told everyone they go to bed late and get up late and it is possible to hear the tiredness in their voice as they speak. They feel they have to stay up late because they have as you say missed out on the day by working. Another colleague shared how they used to be that way but now they go to bed early and get up early and feel more vital for having made the changes to their lifestyle. Which came about because their husband has to get up early for his work and so went to be early, and they feel the benefits of the change in their well being.
I have found going to sleep early, that the quality of my sleep is richer, in that I feel much more alive and ready for the day on waking.
How far back some of these old adages go would be an interesting study as every word was originally coming from a Livingness and thus probably this say would meet that same criteria as it serves the body so well.
There are olde school sayings and olde school ways of doing things that hold much wisdom and end up being very supportive to the body. After all the body is the one that has to deal with the end result of our choices, and it makes sense that the more we look after the body, the more that we then can benefit from it in terms of wellbeing and vitality and enjoy what comes from that.
It makes complete sense to look after our body, by looking after our body, we are looking after ourself, our wellbeing, why wouldn’t we do that!
I too can relate to going to bed early and then feeling the difference the very next day on waking and rising. Amazing how such a simple thing can be a day changer!
There is definitely a wisdom in some things of the past. We let go of them for a range of reasons, but is it so wise? The desire to stay up late is one which affects every part of us and yet discuss going to bed early and it can bring up many things. Maybe we need to make ‘being a nanna’ ‘in’ again.
Once upon a time people went to bed when it got dark, because there really wasn’t anything else to do and good alternative light was very expensive, and got up when it was light. They simply followed the rhythms of nature. I wonder what the general vitality levels of the population were simply because of this phenomenon?
I recall both my Nan’s were the same in terms of going to bed early and being up early. By the time I got up in the morning Nan had already been up, commenced chores and breakfast was all but ready. I was met with someone who was bright, cheery and ready for the day ahead. Going to bed early really does make a difference.
Absolutely it does, I love it, and my body does too, ‘Going to bed early really does make a difference.’
It’s a great line about wisdom, “Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” Knowledge comes and goes and what’s considered as healthy is often changing, it’s really up to us as individuals to observe what truly is supportive from what effects our choices have on our wellbeing in our day to day living.
I am a person who goes to bed early because I am tired. Why should I do it differently? That would mean to override what my body wants and through my own experience overriding my body is not healthy on the long run.
So True Ester, listening to our bodies would have everyone going to bed early, and then one aspect is we then get up early and can achieve much more in our day.
If I stay up later then usual there is a distinct difference in how I am the next day, I feel more sluggish more tired and have less var var voom to tackle life with.
The simple truths in life and living them is what enriches our lives.
Ah yes, Esther – living them is the key word here. Many wisdoms are shared as knowledge and spouted from the mouth and the head, but when they are lived they bring the true authority and inspiration that nothing else can.
Ain’t no point having a truth and then not living it. Living a truth is what activates it and in turn opens the door for more truths to be unearthed and then activated by living them and so it goes.
So true there is so much truth that can be felt through the wisdom of the body.
I love going to bed early and getting up early perhaps that is why I am so healthy, wealthy and wise.
Love it Nicola! You crack me up – and I do love the wisdom you live and then speak!
Grand parents have so much lived wisdom to offer the young, wisdom that has been handed down through the ages that makes sense. This wisdom is slowly being eroded by TV and the increase in dementia and the young are missing out on the stability and steadiness from the elders that supports them as they grow up
Totally agree. My children’s generation as a whole are missing out on vital and energetic grandparents. With so much rise in illness and disease our elder generation has never been so medicated.
Going to bed early is such great medicine.
There is so much supposed entertainment in the evenings nowadays either going out to socialise or TV, we easily get drawn into staying up late, yet when I do I feel awful the next day, and for that reason I know going to bed early really supports my body and the quality of my work the next day.
When I care for myself in an evening, prepare a nice meal, restore some order to the home, do a few things on the computer, chat to a friend etc… and then prepare for bed and am in bed around 8.30pm/9pm, I sleep much more soundly and awake more prepared for the day ahead. On the other hand when I fall asleep on the couch, stumble off it, quickly brush teeth and go to bed, I awake feeling more groggy.
We choose a flow to finish our day. What do we choose is up to us.
What I have found from going to bed early is that my body feels very rested in the morning and ready for the day ahead, I have more spring in my step and I don’t need anywhere near as much food as when I am late and my body is tired.
Early to bed is a simple choice that has immeasurable benefits and is well worth making the effort for. it supports every part of our day, our week, our year and our lives.
In many cultures around the world people align daily rhythms to nature’s cycles sunrise and sunset, with many waking with the sun as it rises. In the West we’ve largely lost this connection and largely live with little awareness of them. No wonder so many people are so exhausted and strung out.
I certainly notice a huge difference when I go to bed early and get up early. It feels like I am in tune with a larger cycle when I do that.
Its that feeling of space that I treasure most – and no problem being a Nanna!
Sleep is our time for repose and rejuvenation, for clearing everything that we might have taken on during the day, and when we properly wind down and prepare for it, we’re maximising our opportunity for a great sleep and a full and vital following day. It’s interesting to observe what we do then to sabotage that wind down, that then sabotages a deep and restful sleep and our vitality the next day. When we’re sabotaging our own preparation for sleep, we’re essentially saying yes to constant stimulation and not giving ourselves the space to connect to the universe that is beyond any of life’s distractions and dramas.
It’s a simple study, to see how we sabotage the wind down. The art of just having some time is getting ever rarer, gobbled up by TV, social media or the host of other distractions available to us. It’s a scary social experiment and one wonders how the world is going to look as kids who are so used to this mature and grow old, never having let their bodies rest.
There is wisdom in listening to the natural cycles that our body responds to.
“Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live. I’ve tried it out.” – this is the common sense formula to truth, a truth known from one´s own experience as felt and shown by the body; it is the esoteric lived in the everyday practicalities.
This is so true Simon, that there is a simplicity to life that we so often over look due to our being caught up in the pace of our busy lives. The simplicity of listening to and honouring our body when we feel tired and going to bed early is definitely one I have put into practice and now is a huge support in my day to day living, especially when I consider the quality in which I put myself to bed.
I was recently passing some ladies talking and one was sharing how she had started going to bed at 830pm and waking naturally at 5am. She said it was amazing how good she felt. It’s not rocket science or a secret and it does have a huge positive effect on our wellbeing.
Why do we not always honour our bodies, what is going on that we can go against what feels so innate and natural?
The difference between waking up feeling truly rested from a night’s sleep which has been supported by an early night and preparing for quality sleep and not doing so is huge for me. I am sensitive to the amount and quality of sleep I have and being in the knowledge of what affects this means that I know the nights when this does not happen I have chosen this myself.
I can relate Michael as I have also always been, and still am, sensitive to the quality of my sleep. I had lived many years thinking that it was solely the ‘quantity’ of sleep that supported me best, yet I never truly did. It wasn’t until Universal Medicine that I discovered that there is a science to sleep and I have been inspired to explore more of the ‘quality’ of how I sleep, the quality in which I approach sleep and how it now is more about quality than quantity that truly supports me best. Interestingly I now sleep less but live a much fuller life that I ever have, with greater vitality, and the way I sleep plays a huge part in this.
Reading this makes me appreciate the cycles in life and in our day that are there to support us and that we can bring ourselves back to.
True wealth is in one’s heart
Nowadays when I say thank you I don’t drink coffee most people will say that they need their coffee at the start of the day to get things going and during the day to keep things going. At least people seem to be more honest about their choice to drink coffee.
I remember years ago the buzz word at the time was ‘Circadian Rhythms’; this is an extract from National Institute of Medical Science, so we could say there is a lot of truth in Grand Ma’s favorite saying
Do circadian rhythms affect body function and health?
Yes. Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, eating habits and digestion, body temperature, and other important bodily functions. Biological clocks that run fast or slow can result in disrupted or abnormal circadian rhythms. Irregular rhythms have been linked to various chronic health conditions, such as sleep disorders, obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder.
There’s so much on offer to stimulate and make our body keep going that we don’t seem to appreciate the value of this type of very simple wisdom we actually know to be true, and the care that we can afford ourselves as a result. We are not a machine, and our sleep is not just a shut-down time, there’s so much more going on during our sleep that deserves much more care and preparation for.
There are a barrage of ‘busy stuff’ we can get trapped into in order to not honour the first signs to go to bed when the body calls out. The trap does not just have its hold for the night but the impact that follows the day after.
When I have a full day and allow space for me in everything I do then I usually sleep well but if I choose to stay up late and cram in more than is, in-truth, needed I find that my sleep is often much shorter and I am unsettled the next day.
When I wake up and take the opportunity to appreciate feeling that the new day offers a new beginning it really sets my day up so I am open to everything that is on offer.
Simple wisdom is the best, the body loves simplicity. The belief that doing more, experiencing more, whether that be extra hours in the evening is a bit of a set up… we do not gain anything we do not already have.
I love simplicity, and my body loves simplicity.
Its like the world is now asking us to run at break neck speed, and we feel we have to pull in the caffeine to keep us going (now the most popular drink in the world) or add a bit of sugar to keep us going. Of course we then get in a spin and there are then these other patterns that kick in where we just hang out in front of the TV unable to let go and settle back into ourselves. There is alot to look at in this way of being.
When I first heard about taking myself to bed early (apart form my Gran who had similar words of wisdom) I thought I would be missing out on life. However. many years down the line of’ early to bed, early to rise’, I have so much beautiful time at the beginning of the day to be with me, to write in the stillness of the day and to catch up on chores. To see sunrises and hear the dawn chorus- magic! And have more energy too.
Our bodies respond so well to a rhythm of going to bed early and getting up early. The other thing is we can get so much more done in the morning than at night when we are tired.
So true Elizabeth. I have far more energy in the mornings than I do in the evenings when I am winding down. Without electricity we would naturally follow our body’s natural rhythms anyway.
My body adores going to bed early; getting up early is a beautiful time of the day, and allows space for writing.
It’s simple changes such as this (going to bed earlier) which are available to us all, that make a huge difference, I notice when I take the time to wind down and then get to bed early I feel so much more myself and more at ease with the world. And it’s something I’m looking at right now, how I wind down and take myself to bed.
Going to bed early and doing things like bathing, getting into my cosy PJs and early dinner make a huge impact on the way I feel too. It makes sense that the way you leave a day will be how you enter the next. As with all cycles, nothing is separate and each choice flows onto the next.
I love the ‘down to earth common sense you feel it when you do it’ approach to life. Can´t argue with it.
Those simple home truths are from a simpler lifestyle and no less relevant to today if we can put them into practice.
We set up our next day, as how we go to bed is already energetically the new beginning of the next. How you put yourself to sleep is crucial from what foundation your next day starts.
I love to be a “Nanna” too- there is nothing better nurturing and satisfying than a deep sleep at a time, where my body benefits the most of it.
I love how you mention cosy pyjamas and the whole ritual of going to bed, I find it’s the little details such as cosy pyjamas, or lighting a candle are all part of helping me feel settled and ready to sleep.
Going to bed early and getting up early has roughly doubled my productivity as I get a lot done before 7am and 9am.
Yeh a great point Christoph, I get so much done getting up earlier, but I also find it increases my productivity throughout the whole day.
I love the morning hours too- I am so productive during that time. The day has so much space and things start to flow already in the morning.
And what I can really appreciate with what you have shared Simon is that our wealth comes from the richness of our wisdom.
This is so true Linda for I know I reach for starchy stodgy and creamy foods when I am tired or irritated and it perpetuates the cycle all the more.
‘Nana’s of the world unite!’ 😉
Thanks to the technical age we now live in, and all that us ‘clever’ (not so clever) humans have created that gets misused and abused, we have not actually simplified life at all but more so complicated it. Take the various screens and devices we use to endlessly scroll through social media, do some late night shopping, indulge in some all night gaming etc. Does any of this prepare us for a restful and restorative sleep or does it in fact keep us in an agitated, stimulated and alert state even when our eyes finally close out of sheer exhaustion? Don’t get me wrong, technology has its place, but its place is not how we are placing it.
Yes, these distractions seriously hurt our productivity.
Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine reminds me that the very simple movements can bring an amazing ripple effect in my life. Everyday I can experience how deeply nurturing it feels going to bed early and how much this choice is supporting me to be much more light and refreshed the next day.
Wise words from your Grandma Simon. It’s interesting to look at how we have seemingly advanced in so many facets in our society like technological advances, microchips, automatic cars…and so on but yet the essential like taking care for our body is completely lost. How on Earth we are going to survive on this planet living in such a way? We can’t unless we bring absolute honesty to how we are living today, unless we return to the origins that we come from. Listening to our body can be a great start.
I love going to my bed early as I have observed how more able I am to deal with everything the next day without the drama and the emotions. Getting quality sleep each night is in the preparation and how we wind down from our day. I wake up without an alarm in the early hours, and have lots of space for myself to get ready each morning.
It is amazing to feel how nurturing and honoring our body and being makes such a profound difference with the quality in which we live and bring to our relationships.
Sometimes I find myself fighting sleep because I do not want to let go of my day and surrender into a deep repose. There is so much more to discover about what happens when we sleep, as it is an opportunity to open up to the wisdom of the universe.
I do shift work and find that being early to bed on my days off as well as when I do morning shifts supports me to be able do afternoon and night shifts without getting affected by it. Establishing this rhythm is a huge support for all shift workers.
The more we honour and cherish our bodies, the more it supports us with life.
Something I’m appreciating more is the way in which I do things in the evening and how this impacts the quality of sleep I then have and how I then feel when waking up the next morning…
“The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.” This makes me think of all the time that we look forward to the evening, weekend or holiday because it’s our time’ yet we don’t wonder why we don’t feel amazing all the time in life and why we actually don’t like parts of our lives. We can actually change how we are living and therefore feel so much better in ourselves that we don’t need the me time because life isn’t something to get through anymore.
I too have implemented a cycle of going to bed early and getting up early and it is so supportive. I can feel how much my body enjoys this rhythm.
These simple and practical common sense things we all know – but how many of us live them? There’s a million books out there with wise words inside but how many honestly have translated into changes in our world? Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine show us all what we have been missing and through example illustrate how we can change our lives around. It starts with energy, honesty and honouring ourselves as you so beautifully show Simon.
” There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, ”
This is very important for how one prepares for whats ahead, it impacts all that is to come.
I just had a conversation with a women last night on the value of how we put ourselves to sleep and how much this effects the way we wake. When we look at our day being one full day of movement then it makes sense that we are still moving when we are asleep, so what movement do we wish to sleep in?
Great point that it’s the simple and practical changes that we know would make a big difference to our lives, if only we could get around to implementing them..so why don’t we? We like to do what ‘we’ want to do, because we think we can, when we’re choosing to not connect to what our body feels like and the impact of our choices. The more we tune into how our bodies feel, and how our choices make us feel, and appreciate the choices that support us to feel amazing, the easier it becomes to choose what makes our bodies feel good, which then leads to greater flow and harmony in our lives.
With tv, computers and social media I feel most of us have our heads into a screen right up until bedtime now .. and many young people all through the night on social media. I reckon if we all took the early to bed and early to rise we would definitely see a difference, and yep just maybe be healthy, wealthy and wise. And how many of us still read stories to or with our children and young people? This is such a lovely thing to do.
” Or is it actually something that carries wisdom of old. Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge. ”
Yes wisdom carries truth, and truth is lived and therefore one is wise.
Coffee is fuel these days, no doubt about it. And the fact that it tastes nice too is a bonus. But I wonder if perhaps it keeps everyone so busy and in motion that for the most part it is difficult to really feel its effect on the body. It’s like, if you spend so long being so far away from harmony that eventually you forget what it’s like? And so then you don’t even miss it?
I had a late night last night and I just feel my body didn’t enjoy my sleep as much as it usually does. I can feel it did what it needed to do, it recharged my batteries, but there is a spark missing which means I can see there will be more of a pull to outside supplements like sugar! Our bodies are stunning in the level of communication through its subtle and unsubtle conversation.
It is indeed a super simple thing to go to bed early with such a huge effect. I agree in all the mentioned points from you. Sleep from 9 o clock on rejuvenates me much more, than going to bed later with the same amount of sleeping hours.I realised how I used to want to lengthen my day by staying awake longer. Being more with me during the whole day, I don´t feel I need to extend anything later at night. It just feels super cosy to choose to sleep when my body tells me to.
We can all feel the effects the next day of how we are, set up by the previous day how we have lived. Whether it is a hangover from the night before, or waking refreshed from a good night’s sleep, the message is there from the body to be listened to.
Gosh, I love going to bed early – especially after a long hot bath, it’s so deeply nurturing and caring.
You have to ponder on what we receive while we are asleep because more often that not many avoid sleep. Could it be we are offered repose and a space that prepares us for what next is on offer? Could it be we are offered evolution and because of this it brings up resistance?
Wisdom “Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” we do not need to be told it, have it proved, prove it, wisdom is a quality lived from the whole body and not just from the mind.
Absolutely! A body that lives this kind of wisdom and shares the experience cannot be questioned. No knowledge can challenge, if you are the living proof of what you share. That´s why it is so important to never talk from any knowledge, but only what you experienced in your own life.
Thank you Simon. Enjoying a rhythm of preparing and going to bed early is a beautiful way to set a strong and solid foundation for the next day.
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer”.
Actually, the next day starts already by going to bed the night before. Did you every realise that?
If you think about it – our sleep is super important – it actually affects every part of our lives, from how we feel in the day, to our ability to work, to every single one of our relationships and our ability to commit to life and learn and evolve and move forward, and all these parts affect the whole bigger picture of our lives and the direction they go in.
I know this is so true but I still have trouble going to bed early. What I have trouble with is honouring me and reading this has reminded me that it really is so simple and loving, that I’m worth being with and that all the things I may have floating around me as complications from my day also need putting to bed. The next day I can look at the complications and simplify my life so I am not embroiled by them.
Thank you Simon, I used to the think it was the way to go to stay up late and watch TV, even when tired, however going to bed early and waking rested means the whole day is enjoyed. There is no TV show that delivers how lovely I can feel from simply caring for myself and listening to my body.
I still find it not easy sometimes to go to bed early – I would love to be in bed well before 9pm, but something often comes up to keep me up until 9.30 – yes it is work, and there is always more to be done, but I still sense a light reluctance to surrendering to bed! Going to bed early feels so beneficial so I need to follow up that reluctance, and what it is all about..
Sometimes for me it’s the feeling from childhood that staying up is fun otherwise you’re missing out, and other times it’s the obsession with being in constant motion, not surrendering to the simplicity of being because of the stimulation of doing.
We often disregard the simple wisdom that are offered to us. What I love about the Ageless Wisdom teachings is that all those things that you heard or felt over the years all make sense, they all seem to click. This, click factor, I put down to the living way that seems to be so active in all the Universal Medicine presenters.
Years ago there was an ad on the box for the Marines with the tagline, ‘we do more before breakfast than most people do all day’. I have also discovered this is the side effect of going to bed early. In my past life, between 18 to the mid-50s early rising would only be possible with caffeine and other stimulants. I now welcome the start of every day refreshed and ready for whatever comes my way, all because of honouring my sleep rhythms.
When we care for our body in these very simple ways, honouring our sleep rhythms being one significant aspect, we realise how tender and precious every cell of our body actually is. This then inspires us to deepen this care constantly, as the more love we bring to ourselves, the more we see what is taking place with every other body and person also – for they have that equal unending depth of tenderness and preciousness within them as well.
And then you start going to bed early not just for you, but for the whole of humanity, knowing that your movements, precious in their quality, is what will remind others of the preciousness within them as well.
Simon i so fully and completely agree with you, as you say “The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” when I look back it was my resistance to implement some simple changes and drive to fight against everything I felt in my body to be true that caused me the most angst. Change that, change my choice to do some simple practical things and the quality of my whole life changes. Even now I notice how easy it can be to get drawn into the screen and in that loose my connection and start to feel ‘off’.
Lats night I went to bed later than I normally do due to my flight being delayed. So instead of being in bed by 9pm, I was in bed around 10:15…. The difference I felt this morning was significant – and that is the difference of that one precious hour.
And yet if we’re not used to waking up feeling crisp and revitalised and all we know is the feeling of tiredness and lethargy that reaches out for a cup of coffee for alleviation, then there is no reference point to shift this.
I love going to bed early and getting up early too! This practice was one of the most practical loving and caring treatments I offered myself 6 years ago simply from feeling my body needed it, and I was totally hooked! It is true that our modern day and age is much more faster and busier and in many countries it is true that the city’s or country’s rhythm is a lot less spacious now. But if we have built a foundation of spaciousness within our bodies there is an understanding that deepens, which then supports us to support everything around too.
This reminds me of how simple life can be – how often do we look for answers to why we don’t feel great and what if it could be answered so simply, by taking better care of ourselves and adjusting our daily rhythm… it’s worth pondering on.
I agree Meg. Life is meant to be very simple and in flow. When this is not the case something is not quite as it ought to be – and when we do take on this attitude with ourselves and with life, we do allow some profound changes to take place.
These days things are really geared up for us to stay up later and later, with stimulated TV shows, computer games, nightclubs that open at 10 pm and go onto the early hours of the morning. It’s like adding stimulation to an already exhausted body – something will have to give.
It’s just so beautiful that we know exactly what works and serves ourselves in this physical body and we don’t need any complicated theory or research to prove. How intelligent our innocence is.
I am inspired for so many reasons, one being that this blog came from a comment! I am really great at commenting on other people’s blogs but I am yet to take the plunge and write one of my own, this makes it seem so simple. Also, that saying “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.”
holds so many memories for me, as I heard that a lot when I was a kid, it warmed my heart to feel how true it is. Ironically, I am up super late tonight reading this blog but ohh well, tomorrow I will go to bed and I might head of to bed now, as this article reminded me of how great resting the body can be.
I love how the simplicity of our movements and the choice to explore how they feel within our bodies can shift our wellbeing and bring great vitality, clarity and enjoyment to our daily lives and how we in turn move within them.
As humans we got clever and invented electricity – ‘the suns that never sets’ and with this move, made a move away from the natural rhythm of the rising and setting sun so that now like moths, we calibrate ourselves to an artificial light rather than the butterfly that always orientates itself to the light of the burning sun and are not fooled by the many false lights that surround them in the night.
I know this is so simple… You could look at a statement like this or this article and make a cynical observation… But the truth is something as simple as this can literally turn your life around. Because there is so much more to it… There is how you value your own life, the rhythm that you are choosing where everyone else is choosing something different, the effects can be very far-reaching and very liberating.
We are seduced by complexity and when lost in this web, are blinded to the utter simplicity that surrounds us and lives within us. It does not take any degree of academic based intelligence to know for example: if it is dark, turn on a light, if you are tired, go to sleep – yet we push against this innate wisdom and override it with a whole host of very convincing reasons why we cannot perform this simple task in the said moment. Big changes come from small movements, but because we do not want to focus on the detail, we go for the BIG and skip the bits along the way. This is how we have all strayed so far from the truth of who we are and plunged head first into complication.
Considering more and more people are experiencing exhaustion and burnout it would be very supportive if they listened to the wisdom of their bodies and went to bed early instead of pushing their bodies when they are tired.
I love going to bed early and now that I get a good nights rest, I don’t need coffee anymore to give me a kick start in the mornings.
I have to agree with this, I have had a few days where I have pushed myself and taken stuff on and then gone to bed but not been able to rest. It takes its toll as I don’t have as much energy and am more easily irritated and don’t enjoy the day as much, instead finding issues to focus on.
Just this morning, in fact many mornings in the last few weeks, I’ve been considering just how awful I feel after going to bed a little later than I would have liked. I’ve had some things on which have caused me to get home late, which is fine, but what I noticed is that to ‘wind down’, I end up on my phone for half an hour, rather than putting myself straight to rest. It’s interesting just how much this affects the way I wake up in the morning. And I know this from the times I have experimented with resisting the temptation to numb out on my phone. Dragging out putting myself to sleep always results in waking up feeling a bit like I’ve been hit by a semi.
It always felt like a struggle to stay awake past 9pm and again an equal struggle to wake up the next day. These days I really enjoy winding down from my day and more than not I am awake before my alarm (which averages at 3:30 to 4/4:30 max) and no coffee or sugar required all day working two jobs. Yes I get tired and crave sugar occasionally but on the whole I have far more energy then I ever have had through lifestyle changes like going to bed ‘early’ which for me is now normal.
So simple yet so wise are these words. They were onto something in the old days….
What is me time in a true sense? Is it staying up late? Or is it taking care of oneself just to make sure that tomorrow I will be more with me as I walk during my day (e.g., by going early to bed)? What we identify me time with is not it. It is always about being with me, not about doing something different compared to the rest of the day
It seems to me you are talking about a quality of life, where we value the quality of each and every moment and cherish our health and well-being and the people and relationships in our life, and from this simple choice of making life about quality how rich and incredible life can be.
” Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” This is the true way to live life, a livingness is a knowing that the body knows, when lived the result is a pay off for the body which supports us in life. ” healthy ” ” wise”
Not only does it matter what time you go to bed but what you do before you go to bed also matters. If we overstimulate ourselves before bed then it does not matter if we are in bed early or not as we will not be able to get the quality of sleep that is needed to rejuvenate us.
Having supportive ways of living affects us on every level and by extension everyone we meet. We cannot say these ways of living are silly or write them off as being old fashioned when they actually work…
This shows us how the awareness has always been there and how we have been and still are the ones to choose to not allow it. I remember growing up ‘early to bed’ which is only relative to the time we now consider normal to go to bed as in those days it wasn’t really that early. It is almost like a message from the past meeting us now in the future as we set the standard of living from how we personally choose to live.
I was struck by this today – “It actually effects how I think” – and I really got it. That when I am tired, I have different thoughts. I’ve known this but today I got it on a deeper lever and felt the level of responsibility I have to make sure I get enough sleep as it is ALL SO connected.
I agree that there are many distractions that keep us up late, I’ve noticed more that when there is no tv, early nights are much easier and early mornings become a joyful time of the day, a time to set the day up before everyone heads out, or just time to enjoy the stillness of the day before it begins.
It is interesting how we can be ruled by the rhythm that is displayed on a clock on the wall rather than the felt rhythm of our own body.
It is super lovely to feel the next morning how an early bedtime replenishes the body.
As I was reading this I was struck by the word “early”. It seems to me that what your grandmother presented to you was a way of living that supports our incarnation here on earth. In that way it is not so much about being early or late but about what is true.
This is such a great way to sleep, to get to bed early and then rise early. I work in hospitality and we have events that I work in during the evenings through the months. I know when I do get to bed later than what I like to what is really important is that I don’t rush to get to bed. I keep my rhythm and make sure I lovingly nurture myself along the way.
There is no more fundamental self-caring gesture that going to bed early… over time it’s benefits are beyond any comparison, nothing will compensate the body for missing vital hours of deep rest or sleep in the early hours of the night.
A lot of people think that going to bed early means that you miss out on time with family and friends. What I have found is that if I go to bed early I have far more time for family and friends because when I do spend time with them I am not tired and distracted.
I couldn’t agree more Simon, going to bed early has been a God send for my energy levels, and listening to when my body was wanting to sleep, instead of overriding and staying up to watch something on the telly – it makes such a difference to how I feel the next day.
My body loves the rhythm of early to bed and early to rise – when this is not honoured, there is a noticeable feeling of sluggishness and reduced awareness which feels awful.
In the ‘olden days’ there seemed to be much more flow, rhythm and togetherness woven into a person’s day as opposed to the fast paced and distracting way we live that is keeping us all not only doing our own thing, but quite exhausted.
I love the feeling of having honoured myself and all that comes with going to bed at a time that suits me and my body, also allowing myself to sleep and wake up at a time that also feels honouring, without alarms and stress.
The truth can be felt in this saying and felt in the practice of this livingness – Divine Wisdom.
Listening to the natural rhythm of the body is instrumental for our well-being. It is not about being rigid but tuning in to what is truly needed.
There is no doubt about it Simon there is much wisdom for us to discern in old favourite sayings. Early to bed early to rise is certainly one such saying with much wisdom and truth.
There is so much proof in the pudding with this saying. Our levels of alertness are far greater when we choose to rest and reboot the body and give it the respect it deserves.
What truth is in your title, it is a great old saying, but there is a lot of wisdom in it. When we do honour ourselves by going to bed early, we certainly can and do benefit from these self loving choices.
I find that the way I am in the evening before going to bed makes a big difference too, that there is a natural call from my body to do things in a way and flow that is preparing for rest and to regenerate – I can even still be working on things but just in a different pace to how I might do them earlier in the day…
Ah ha so that is why I am so healthy, wealthy and wise 😉
Going to bed early is medicine for our entire being.
“Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” Lived wisdom, that is so important to claim back in a world, where ideals, beliefs and thoughts is what we follow but not a daily rhythm that truly supports us.
This is such a great saying and very true – ““Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” Going to bed when our body lets us know we are tired is super supportive and a very wise thing to do.
Yes, very wise and it is worth considering where the intelligence comes from that decides it is more intelligent to stress the body by staying up beyond its natural sleep time putting pressure on our organs to keep processing and affecting our next day’s rhythms. Not wise at all!
I love going to bed when my body lets me know it is time! It is so easy to read a couple of paragraphs of a Purple Book, turn out the light and feel myself relax into sleep. It is the best feeling after a busy day.
I recall from a presentation once that a rough guideline of 6am-6pm are for working, 6pm-6am are for winding down, and it really got me thinking. This was by no means a rule or set in stone, as people work 24 hours etc… and certain jobs needs to be done at certain times, but what I took from it, is that there is a quality of energy that we can do things in, that makes a big difference.
And just last night I was thinking about this as I came home around 6pm and got changed into my PJ’s, and then slowly started to wind down and prepare for rest, even amongst some activities. I prepared dinner, caught up on some admin, returned some emails, worked on a project – so yes there was some ‘work activities’ but I was doing them in the energy of preparing for sleep by not getting too involved/engaged/hyped up, and in between these activities, preparing myself for sleep by gently taking off my make up, taking my nightly supplements, and having a herbal tea.
I love the attention that you can bring to your life that can truly support you.
To this day I hail the benefits of ‘early to bed, early to rise’ to clients every day, and the flow on benefits to every aspect of life are immeasurable by comparison to late nights and sluggish mornings. We don’t stop to think what the toll this takes on a body that is designed to rejuvenate itself IN FULL every single night…
Your sharing here Simon makes me consider how we have used technology and our skills to go harder, faster and longer, but resisted building vitality, health and wellbeing. We’ve worked out exactly how to build the most destructive bombs but still have rampant illnesss and disease – how intelligent is that? Is the answer really so hard to find? Or is it possible that the truth lives in the simple common sense of your grandmother’s phrase?
I could never get tired (ha!) of singing the praises of an early-to-bed routine. I love it too despite having done my fair share of late nights in hospitality and out partying – thank goodness I don’t have to do that ever again. The deliciousness that is cosyness, bed and sleep far and away trumps anything else. And boy, when it’s not working well, much like the days when I short-changed myself, don’t you know it! 💖😴
You only have to start a conversation about sleep times in your workplace to realise that most are getting very little sleep and then expecting themselves to be able to deal with everything they are feeling and everything that comes at them during the day and everything we need to do. No wonder there are Cafe’s with coffee and sugar at every corner and in every petrol station.
It’s the practicality and simplicity of life that is one of the missing ingredients that is felt by many in the drive and push of our modern day living. The example shared from our wise elders is the key to many living with a deep commitment to consistency that is far from what we are feeling now with the rising levels of exhaustion. How more simple can the way we live be than to go back to basics and start with getting to bed early?
I love going to bed early, and love sharing with young kids how early I do go to bed as it is usually earlier than them, which they think is hilarious. But really our children are so tired these days and yet they stay up later, much later than we did growing up. Our current lifestyles really are not conducive to optimum health and wellbeing.
There is such a culture that maturity equals being able to stay up late and do whatever you want… as parents most of us start our children off with an early bed time and then agree to a bit later and a bit later as they age, yet where does it stop? My teenage boys are forever saying they should be able to stay up later because they are this age and so and so stays up till 1 or 2 in the morning. Yes they can make their own decisions but how that impacts them in the morning impacts everyone… all the things that need to be done in the morning are then dropped as they run out the door. And I put my hands up as doing the same thing when I go to bed late…. everything has an effect on everything.
The connection of what we do in the day and how we wind ourselves down at night to prepare for sleep seems to be a forgotten life skill.
Once we bring awareness into the equation, it is astounding how many things we have participated in in life that have affected the quality of the way we move through it. Once aware of the profound difference when we choose in honour of how our bodies feel, it is hard to go back to what once was just normal due to the beauty in life it can actually deny.
I actually can’t believe what a difference it makes to my overall wellbeing and health by going to bed early. Like proper early, like your grandma early! But I feel so much more alive and vital having gone to bed early. If I ever stay up later say 10pm I literally feel awful and it just reconfirms how important my bed time is for me.
“I would like to say thank you – deeply thank you – to Serge Benhayon for his commitment to the simple beauty in the way we can live”.
I would like to wholeheartedly endorse what you have expressed above Simon. Your blog clearly presents the divine truth and wisdom of Serge Benhayon.
Yes the simple beauty of the way we can live. That is what blows me away, it is so simple and yet the effect it has on so many areas of our lives is, by contrast, profound.
Changing my rhythm from working and going to bed late at night to going to bed early has been one of the most beneficial things I have done to support my health and well-being.
‘The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.’ The simplest choices are often the most powerful – absolutely.
I think we all massively under estimate the power and effect establishing a rhythm in our day has, in general we have become almost a 24 hour society, but like you say – the way we sleep affects everything – the way we talk, the way we eat, the way we move, how we feel… Looking after our bodies so that they can do everything we need them to do is vital.
‘The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.’ There is so much that is pure common sense, but that we ignore in our lives. I feel we have negated common sense as if it is something rather dull. It seems we are in search of something more exciting and magical than common sense. After all, common sense is just common isn’t it. But what I am discovering is that true common sense is not dull at all. Yes, it is common, in that we all have equal access to it within, but it is in fact great wisdom and rather than dismiss is as ‘just common sense’ we might try living it and seeing what happens. Just as Simon has done here. Perhaps common sense is that missing link we have been seeking all our lives.
My mum has a whole stock of sayings that she got from her parents and older family members. So much of them make simple sense. “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise,” was not one I heard from my mum but I was aware of it growing up. Recently I hear these wise sayings less and less, but they still apply. I have definitely benefited from going to bed earlier.
A delightful blog to read….. I too love going to bed early and listenting to my body when it is telling me it is tired. I reap the benefits the next day, as I wake without an alarm, feeling re-charged and ready for all the day will bring.
Making the choice to go to bed early and get up early has simplified my life. It has also supported my connection and valuing of ‘me’. No longer do I get caught up in making decisions to stay out late, eat and drink into numbness and my awareness of my body has become much clearer. Early to bed was just one small step, which has fostered so much more.
I love going to bed early and waking early – naturally. No alarm necessary. Listening to my body and stopping when I feel tired, rather than pushing through – staying awake too long and then not being able to get to sleep. So much more loving to call a halt to the day and use the early morning when I have more energy to achieve what I need to.
Now when I don’t stay in my rhythm I find I am much more exhausted and find it hard to get through the day. Having a rhythm that supports my sleep and includes wind down time means that I have much more quality and vibrancy in my day.
“Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” I just love this saying and something I heard when I was young, I now share it with everyone. I love going to bed as I awake so fresh with vitality. You have to experience it for yourself to understand what it feels like, it is far better than the exhausted dulling feeling.
‘I would like to say thank you – deeply thank you – to Serge Benhayon for his commitment to the simple beauty in the way we can live.’ I second this Simon. There is a simple beauty in the way we can live when we choose ‘early to bed’
Living through the rhythm of ‘early to bed, early to rise’ has changed my life for the immeasurable better.
I love going to bed early with a gentle wind down time before hand, it is beautiful to wake up in the morning with the same loving feeling which then effects how my day will be lived.
I feel it is common sense we choose to ignore. If we do simple things like going to bed early, not drinking alcohol or caffeine, cutting out or down on sugar, stopping smoking we are bound to feel better. I know this is true from experience. Also it seems although everything is so called set up for ‘connection’ with social media etc this is actually a complete illusion and can take us further away from ourselves and connecting with others as you have shared ‘Flat out, not really home from work till 6… and then get dinner ready in a rush to feed the kids.’ For example how many families now even sit around a dinner table altogether at the end of the day and connect, share how everyone’s day was and discuss this? I would say very few .. most families or couples eat at different times (the children earlier than the parents) and do this is either watching tv or on other devices.
I find it is the way that I live during the day that determines whether I will be able to be early to bed and early to rise.
I have been living with a family with several children and observed what happens at bedtime; from what I can see there seems to be this need for stimulation, from sugary foods and drinks to lots of TV and digital media for the older ones. And it makes me wonder: is it that the day feels incomplete? Does that make us go to all these distractions and add-ons in the evening and going to bed later and later? Only to then get up tired in the morning and do it all over again? Somehow that doesn’t make sense.
I find that there is a point in the evening when I feel tired and ready to sleep which if I miss by getting caught up on social media or using a screen in some form or another then I get a second wind and kid myself that I’m no longer tired.
Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, weathly and wise’ so true so why don’t we listen?
I used to have the same feeling with my Grandmother. There was something about her house that was calming. There was a way things were done and everyone knew the meal routine and had their jobs within it. I loved the smell of the sheets and the way she made the bed – there was something very steady in it all and as a kid – this was a massive support as you felt very held by these things. You also knew where you stood and what was expected and didn’t cross it.
Sleep is a necessity in life, but I am not sure we bring our all to our sleep. By that I mean we don’t see that we have a massive say in how it is going to pan out, how much we will have a rejuvenating sleep and how much it will simply be a shut down. We would do well to cut out all sugar, caffeine and other stimulants, crash, sleep for days and then slowly rebuild making different choices that do not result in that burn out. It is not so much what we do but how we do what we do. That would be great medicine in our personal medicine cabinet!
I feel we can get caught in pictures too and the illusion of going to bed early, the fear of oh it’s ‘that certain time to go to bed’ and turning into a pumpkin, without actually listening to our body. Our decision may often come from knowledge, not what we feel, and this doesn’t evolve anyone. For example I went away on a course last year and I could have got an early flight. I missed part of the course to be home for around 8/9pm but I made the choice to stay the entire time, get a late flight and was home around midnight, this didn’t affect me – what did to begin with was the thoughts I let in, but oh I’ll be tired etc, it’s past bedtime (I don’t want to put the actual time) etc. The fact is when needed our body can stay up later if required and if for true purpose and service. It’s the quality in which we move in that affects how we feel the next day.
I agree Simon what a simple true and powerful saying, passed down through our ‘grandmothers’, what a shame some of us ignore the wisdom of our elders;
“Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise” today is a popular saying, but are we listening?
Words of wisdom are never far away if we are willing to listen.
I love how we are rediscovering and proving what has already been a lived truth for our predecessor for generations. Let’s not lose them again.
I used to go to bed at midnight because I was a night owl, ‘that’s just the way I was’. There was a certain pride I had about it. But on reflection I did absolutely nothing for hours before bedtime…watching TV, playing on the internet and basically just delaying sleep. I’m still not an expert at going to bed early, but my oh my it feels so much better. And it also means I feel so much better in the morning. Simple.
Not just is it beneficial to go to bed early, but it is beneficial to look in detail at the way we wind down and prepare ourselves for bed, so that we are not still stimulated by the time we go to put our head down on the pillow.
I remember at school when there was talk about changing the school timings so we started an hour later to give the kids more time to sleep in, and I remember seeing an article suggesting people should be able to start work an hour later to give more time for sleep. Then and now I remembered the saying about early to bed and early to rise. Humans are not nocturnal naturally as it is not our normal sleeping pattern to sleep during the day and be awake at night. We are getting more and more out of our natural rhythms, staying up later and later be it to party, watch tv, play games or surf the internet. When we then adjust the society around this, it makes these sleeping patterns more ingrained and hard to change. But if we look at the rates of exhaustion, burn out, chronic fatigue, depression and coffee consumption in the world we can’t say the way we are approaching sleep is working.
Oh that feeling when I was a child bathed and in my pyjamas early, staying downstairs for a short while and then going to bed, tucked in by my dad, I know this feeling so well and it is the same now when I take my time to nurture and care for myself, to be content and go to sleep early.
I remember that too and it’s a beautiful feeling Annelies and as you say, it is one we can give to ourselves every day and not just have it as a beautiful memory from our childhoods.
There is nothing like establishing a good daily rhythm which includes a harmonious sleep rhythm. This makes a good foundation for great times and other more challenging times so that steadiness and well-being can be established and lived.
This is so true Lyndy – a solid foundation within is a powerful platform to live from and when life situations are super challenging they are supported by this quality that confirms us rather than going into overwhelm and not coping.
Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise; wise words indeed Simon. There is a beauty, knowing and simplicity when we connect to universal wisdom.
Our communities are full of sayings like these which pass on simple, common sense wisdom, yet we seem to excel in ignoring these guides and pushing on despite how we feel inside. There’s something in us that seems to say ‘hey I don’t care’ and does it anyway. I agree Simon , the more we out this rebellious part and listen to the common sense of our heart, the richer and more vital this world would be. Here’s to us all getting a pair or two of cosy pyjamas just like you.
Wisdom – ‘Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.’ I love the word wisdom because I know it takes me to a home place; a place where I know I have been before, one I recognise – it’s like the light being left on, waiting for me when I arrive home.
It is not just going to bed early that makes a difference but the way we wind down in preparation to go to bed that is equally important. If this is not done, then we spend the first few hours of our sleep winding down the body instead of allow it to recuperate as it should, and thus why we end up needing more sleep than we should need.
Great words about wisdom “Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” There is such simplicity that comes from looking within and relying on my own experience, as opposed to looking outside of myself for the answers and the complication that brings. We all have much more wisdom than we realise.
So true, I have loved taking myself to bed when I feel tired rather than being governed by an acceptable time on a clock. It has resulted in being in bed around 8.30-9pm most nights. I can stay up way beyond that if necessary, and it is sometimes necessary in my job, but would I choose to as my normal? no. I say that makes me pretty wise!! “Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.”
Going to bed early is one of the most supportive things I can do for myself when needed however equally when something needs to be done I stay up a bit later. It’s always about responding to life not controlling it.
Definitely for me going to bed early, that is before 9pm, has made a huge difference to my life. I naturally wake up early and feel ready for the day. I so enjoy the early hours and seeing, if not the sunrise, at least the beautiful way the darkness changes into varying colours before the full light of day emerges and there is a stillness in the early hours that really supports my work
Staying up late is a sign of the day not being enough and of us being governed by an image of what is to enjoy life all about. The point is that the body resents it no matter how beautiful the picture that govern us is.
Going to bed early is a universal medicine that everyone benefits from.
I have not been well recently. Getting to bed a little earlier than normal has really helped on my road to recovery.
What I notice is the difference in quality… when I used to stay up late to work I’d be trying to get something finished off just when I’m the most tired and worn out. I’d literally force it out as best I could and then collapse (often having a rough day the next day to compensate). The alternative is to get up early and have this gorgeous, very quiet space when I’m feeling alert and super still inside. The difference in the quality of what I do in that time is incredible.
The amazing thing I have found over time is that if you go to bed late, and get up late, even though it is the same amount of hours sleep, you don’t see to feel as recuperated as when you go to bed early and rise early.
““Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” One of my Gran’s favourite sayings too. People fall asleep on the sofa yet then tell me they cant get to sleep when they go to bed. Seems to me if they went to bed earlier and didn’t sit on a sofa or watch TV etc but went to bed instead, they would feel more alive the next day. Exhaustion is rife in society today and affects everything we do and everyone we meet. We need to take more responsibility for our own health.
Early to bed, early to rise is very wise.
It is true, we all have this wisdom inside we know what we need. Not that we always choose it, but when we do our bodies show. We can live in harmony.
How we are in the day has a direct affect on how we go to bed and the type of sleep we will have. I don’t always manage to get to bed by 9pm but if I am gentle in my day without anxiousness or worry then I know I will get a great nights sleep and wake refreshed. If I take my worries or unresolved issues to bed then I know I will have a restless sleep and not wake as refreshed.
Measuring my worth by how much I have done in a day is still a habit of mine. I do benefit hugely from getting to bed early, but I want to focus now on having a proper wind down time. Too often I am on the computer until the last minute and then its brush my teeth and straight to bed.
Humans have found ways to squeeze more hours of activity within a day and to also extend the day during the night. Doing so requires ‘helping’ the body to artificially cope with our willfully decided way of living. What is interesting is how we live it as something cool as if it were true that our body were like a horse that could be taught to behave as we want and with zero consequences. The body is not a horse that as a result of how we taught it to obey us has learned how to behave in a way that we can enjoy the ride afterwards. What we do to the body comes back to us.
It has been amazing to get a glimpse of the body’s capability when it’s natural rhythm is respected.
Getting to bed early has really turned my life around, without perfection, I don’t make it a rule, but I can really feel the depth of my choice to go to bed late the next day, if that happens. So this does help in making more supportive choices each day.
I also like going for a walk at 5:00am every morning. It is such a marvellous time to hear the kookaburras in full chorus, all the different birds singing and chatting and to feel the freshness of the day.
I love going to bed early and getting up early – it feels so natural and joyful and simply works. Makes me wonder why I ever did it the other way around in the past!
““Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” I used to rebel against this saying by staying up late at night even though I would need substances like coffe, sugar and alcohol to sustain me. However, having been introduced to self-care through the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom presented by Serge Benhayon I now go to bed early and feel so much more alive and require no stimulants to sustain me.
Couldn’t agree more with this old but true saying. Add in buckets of self-care and you’re on your way!
Agreed, but the truth and profundity offered in this blog cannot be understood if not at first lived.
I agree with the Nannas of the past and carry on the tradition of the early to bed early to rise, makes you healthy wealthy and wise! Thanks Simon.
Yes Simon as a nanna myself I can vouch early to bed and early to rise is the only way to go.
The body is the perfect vehicle to assess the truth of proverbs and sayings.
It is interesting to ponder on why some sayings really stick in your mind. Like you Simon, “early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise” is one of my ‘old’ favourites, however, I have only come to really appreciate the deep wisdom held within it by actually putting it into practice.
Much wisdom is not new but is actually ancient. We have just chosen to discard it in exchange for what we thought was a “better” way of living. Alas we were wrong as we are coming a full circle back to truth.
I started changing my bed time a couple of years ago as I found the wisdom of your Nanna’s saying to be true. However there was a strictness at times when working until 9,10pm whereby I would get home to bed 10:30/11pm. Getting upset or trying to control life so I could stay with early nights only drained me further the next day. But accepting my situation and supporting myself by not getting too excited or stimulated past 8pm I felt has been far more practical and supportive. And on the days I can get to bed before 9pm I do.
I love what you are sharing Simon as it makes so much sense, not just about going to bed early but also with the many choices we make throughout our day, of how the choices we make to care for ourselves or not has an effect on the way we are with all that follows. And so with choosing to be loving and nurturing with ourselves, honoring the natural rhythms and cycles in our bodies, we bring this quality throughout the day we live and share with others the true quality of being ourselves.
After spending many years staying up really late and always feeling exhausted and drained, I know going to bed early and rising early has made a huge difference in my life as well – a simple choice yet a truly powerful one in many ways.
A beautiful read, Simon. I have gained so much by ‘being a Nanna’.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” This is a simple yet profound truth.
I love tucking myself into bed as early as 8pm now and enjoying a lovely cup of tea and a little space to write in my journal. It’s a great way for me to wind down into my sleep rhythm and sets me up for the coming day. Such a simple change to my day but oh so enjoyable.
One of he wisest things I changed in my life is going to bed early, from there, a new level of how I put myself to bed has come. They were on to something back in the old days, and it’s well worth checking out what it was.
So true, I also feel I have loads more energy when I set about a loving rhythm for me to go to bed early. When I stay up late it can feel as if I have a hangover!
Winding down to ‘me’ has become an important aspect of me going to bed early.
There is such a simple beauty to going to bed early and getting up early I agree, it’s a great way to live life and it’s crazy that to make such a choice labels you a “Nanna”!
Going to bed early is good medicine and consciously winding down before bed is excellent medicine! So simple but so profound in the difference it can make in our lives.
I think a lot of farmers and country people have this wisdom and are connected with their bodies, nature and the seasons. I am not a farmer, but it certainly works for me. I love going to bed early and getting up early, mind you these days I get up much earlier than farmers and long before it is light.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” So true Simon, there is much wisdom in what your Grandmother says, but we over rule these very simple practical things in life and what we know to be true, in favour of getting things done or ‘chilling out’ in front of the TV. Our body clock knows that 9pm is the time to rest and supports us for the following day, and I know when ever I am in bed by 9pm I have more vitality and the next day naturally flows without having to push or try and make things happen.
Amazing how one small adjustment can bring such ripple effect throughout our day. It’s definitely worth experimenting.
Today we have so many distractions like television, electronic games and social media, to name just a few, that we end up constantly battling with ourselves to get to bed early enough to function properly the next day. I have found from choosing to go to bed early, that my day is packed and I have loads more energy than I did before.
Going to bed early is powerful medicine for life.
Going to bed early offers us so much, and many of us can relate to going to bed early as being a real treat, something we really enjoy… and yet, so much of our life is geared around avoiding this, or delaying it as much as possible. It goes to show how much we are running in the stimulation of life and seeking satisfaction from the world, rather than turning inward and enjoying the depths on offer.
It would seem that sleep disorder is one of the least talked about conditions yet it is one of the most wide spread that affect us all on some level. Whether we are experiencing a diagnosed disorder or whether it be not getting a fully rest-full and vitalising sleep, nearly all of humanity are encountering in one form or another problems with sleep. We are drugged to the eyeballs already with so many other conditions, surely there must be other ways to get a proper sleep without being drugged up for this too! Well this blog powerfully and simple reveals the long awaited answer.
Super cool Simon. I can attest to going to bed early making a world of difference to my sleep. There is no doubt about it. And the truth is, we’re not missing out on anything, What I find is that the more hours of sleep I get before midnight actually means the less overall hours of sleep I need. So I end up waking up even earlier and having the time/space to do a lot more than if I had gone to bed later.
Do not allow oneself to be betrayed by the simplicity of such words, for contained within this simple piece of advice is a great wisdom that offers a gateway to true vitality.
What is true ‘me’ time? Is it the time out we call every night with a beer, wine or whisky at hand in the couch watching TV without having to talk to anybody?
Or is it helping my body to regenerate, hence preparing me for what comes next? There is no doubt in my mind about which is one is true.
I love that old saying of ‘early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy, wealth and wise’. It makes me wonder just how much more old wisdom we can resurrect and bring alive to support us all in today’s world.
It is indeed a very wise saying of your grandmother’s Simon, a saying from an era I remember well!.
Going to bed early has a wonderful impact on the quality of our day as you have pointed out. Thank you for the lovely confirming reminder.
It is a very simple thing to go to bed early, yet it has far reaching effects on so many aspects of our quality of life.
I think a lot of us would like to implement that rhythm and order again in our lives. It’s just that it seems a bit more complicated these days because of the incessant nature of our society, but maybe that is why it’s even more relevant. AND after all… we are the society so we cannot really blame it too much. More effort or not I would say it’s worth giving it a go. And I can really feel the space and time that is set free when you allow yourselves to stop and treasure life and all its moments.
When I am with myself during the day in whatever activity I am undertaking then I have no need of separate ‘me time’ which, for me, used to often consist of dozing off in front of the TV – much better to put myself lovingly to bed so my body can truly rest.
There is so much truth in this saying, I have found the more I commit to getting to bed early the earlier I wake up refreshed and ready for whatever lies ahead and thus I am much more likely to make wise choices throughout my day which have a positive impact on my physical and financial health.
This week I noticed I had a building feeling of tiredness until I got to Thursday and I decided to retire to bed shortly after 7.30pm. I awoke early the next morning at 4am feeling totally refreshed. Early nights feel so much rejuvenating than simply having a lay in in the morning.
“The pace of everything is much faster and having space and time in the day seems like a luxury.” Reading this line makes me wonder how much we do accept in life as it is as normal even though we do not like it. It is not that we should be all going slow and having lots of time doing nothing so to speak but there is something about the business that does never stop that is actually not truly serving us all. We could be living in a way that is spacious and although we are busy we do not feel stressed because of how we are with ourselves: loving, caring and understanding. Which I found does include going to bed early and considering our bodies and what they can and cannot do.
I love that saying – it is wise to listen to some of the advice of our elders and a generation gone by where life was slower and simpler than our current hectic technology filled world.
So true Simon it is a the little things like going to bed early that have the greatest impact on our lives. “If we take care of the little things the big things will take care of themselves” is another wise old saying..
Such a simple change that can make a huge difference to one’s life. Also a difficult change to make if we do not address the way we live during the day. A sense of missing out if we go to bed early, symbolic of the fact that we were not satisfied enough with our day as it was, is one of many reasons why we struggle to not only go to bed early, but equally get to sleep. Add to that anxiousness, poor diet, and the popularity of stimulants such as coffee, and you can see why such a simple but profound piece of wisdom as this is not so easy to incorporate into one’s life. If you have problems sleeping, then rather look at the than sleeping end of things, you need to look at how you operate during the day that prevents you from being able surrender completely once your head hits the pillow.
Beautiful explanation of the word wisdom: ‘Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.’
The whole sleep rhythm thing is very important in our lives. And so is the way we live our waking life, as the quality in which we live will affect the rhythm, depth, refreshing nature and depth of our sleep.
These last few nights I have been pushing myself to stay up later and complete a few more tasks. I have then slept in much later and woken not feeling particularly refreshed. Last night I chose to break that cycle and was in bed by 8.30pm. I fell asleep very quickly and this morning I woke early before my alarm feeling bright and ready to get up. The proof is in the pudding!
I love going to bed early too. I always have and I grew up in a family where that was pretty much the norm. What I find really interesting is how even though I go to bed early I can still push myself to stay awake longer that what my body is saying. Very often I can really feel tired from 730pm, but I can push past this to make sure I am finishing things of my list and it’s a sure fire way to feel very tired the next day despite sleeping well.
There is something magnificent about the start of a fresh day, a day filled with opportunity and all the world has to offer. When that start is in the small hours of the morning because I have had enough sleep having gone to bed early, there is nothing grander in my day. I have space and quiet time at the beginning of my day and the whole day is setup for a joyful experience.
In the days before electricity, people did go to bed earlier and so they also rose earlier. There was much more connection to our natural rhythm. Now we have all the wondrous advantages of electricity this also brings with it a need to keep in touch with our natural rhythm, even though we could stay up all night with the light on. Let’s use electricity with appreciation for what it has brought, yet still keep in touch with our ‘early to bed, early to rise’ wisdom.
Early to bed and early to rise is a solid foundation crucial to rejunivating the body and setting the underpinning for the days ahead.
Going to bed early has allowed me to experience a wonderful, still, and very mentally quiet and clear part of the day, waking up early. Going to bed early regularly I have noticed how my body does not enjoy staying in bed later than 4, sometimes 5 am. It begins to feel disturbed, restless and it loves to get up and move gently into the day.
I watched the queue at Starbucks the other day… numerous people waiting for up to 20 mins and all they got was a double expresso. No comfort there, just a quick shot before they left the store and bang… they were off about their day buzzing. It was sort of horribly fascinating how addicted we are that we cannot see how we are choosing to live life.
I absolutely love this blog Simon, you capture something so important here… that we rush through life without actually enjoying being who we are and being with the people who are around us. It’s like as a whole world, we’ve lost sense of what is really important.
Having just experienced both ends of the spectrum this past weekend I can vouch for the “early to bed early to rise makes you healthy wealthy and wise” I have to say Simon there is much truth out in the world that we need to take a look at again! Thank you for the reminder Simon.
“The most people seem to stop these days is to queue up for coffee to get a hit to kick-start the day and keep us going because we are so busy.” It is crazy how the sales of coffee has gone up so much as most people need caffeine to kick start their day, without that they are unable to function. They have late nights and caffeine to wake them up, the body is on a constant go, with no rest. No wonder it’s exhausted.
I agree Simon, this wonderful, wise saying is ‘Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live’. It is tried and true, so simple, and yet so profound as it honours the cycle of the day and night which is part of God’s divine order and rhythm.
Keeping to the rhythm of early to bed, really to rise, helps to build a rhythm that is steady and harmonic, so that it gives a practical foundation to build that stillness into our movements which then allow us to have a truly rejuvenating sleep, instead of a nervous, fitful sleep which does not truly refresh.
The rest I have at night is a precious part of the start of my next day. I honour that time almost without exception and very much relish that moment of lying down each night.
I really enjoyed the connection you made regarding how your previous day effects your next day.
This is lifestyle planing at its finest.
Not too often do we consider how to support ourselves in the coming days let alone tomorrow.
Our culture is to survive 9am – 5pm.
Yet wouldn’t it be smarter to incorporate a lifestyle which equally supports every facet of our lives.
‘Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.’ I love the word wisdom it asks me to connect with my body and what lives inside, how simple and yet so profound to live what we know is true.
Simon, you remind me that there is so much innate wisdom in all of us, yet we often do not make the time to actually live it and instead get caught in the fluffy of living life at it’s current breakneck speed, using all types of stimulants to keep us going. I heard a version of early to bed as a child which said that 1 hours’ sleep before midnight was worth 2 hours sleep, so it was best to get as many hours in before midnight to get true rest, so we do know and it’s been known in many forms for a long time that early to bed is the way to a truer healthier way to us being us in the world.
Your granny, Serge Benhayon and you are all over it. As am I. It’s the best. I wouldn’t swap my early to bed, early to rise for anything.
I just love the early to bed early to rise, putting my self to be in tenderness is a joy. So much can be done, after a great nights sleep, in the early hours of the morning without the rush.
I also love how rejuvenating and restful it feels to go to bed early.. when I do this, the next day I’ll actually feel refreshed and revitalised after a night’s sleep. It’s a completely different experience than the sluggish forcing myself out of bed, or driven mission to get up, that happen when I haven’t gone to bed early enough the night before.
Interesting how we often carry an image of how much sleep is really needed, or what the ‘right’ time is to go to bed. I’ve also loved experimenting with bedtime and have also found that I don’t need as much sleep as I think I do – and what makes me tired is not necessarily lack of sleep, but the way I am with myself. There’s nothing like a bit of self-loathing and self-bashing to make me feel utterly exhausted and depleted. But as I’m learning to be with myself and treat myself with more kindness and more love, I feel more vital, alive and energised – yet often I’ll be having less sleep than I always thought I needed.
Going to bed early is a fundamental basic in rejuvenating the body and holds you in good stead for the following day
It is amazing how we can fight sleep in the evening when our body is asking for it, by distracting ourselves with the TV, or getting on with things that we didn’t get done during the day as we were too tired….what an irony! The crazy thing is that if we do go to bed early, our body naturally wakes early, and then we have more vitality and energy to do the things that need to be done, and go to bed without the anxiety of not completing our jobs for the day. This has been a revelation for me also, and yes, life changing.
I love going to bed early and my body loves me for it too!
There seems to be little purpose in staying up late each night as it is usually forced and I can feel the disregard in my body. Something so simple as going to bed when our body is ready can be life changing.
Health is absolutely wealth and to look after our health is the smartest thing we could possibly do. Going to bed early supports our body in so many ways and allows true wellbeing.
There is such a simplicity that comes with honouring the natural rhythm of sleep we all have (whether we can feel it or not). Life flows with an ease that comes from a body that has been deeply rested.
I remember when I was easily distracted and my bed time seemed to get later and later, I was caught then in the ticking things off of what needed to be done, I have now found that living in my body’s natural rhythm I am able to do more in the day and I naturally know what needs to be done.
I just love the word Grandma and the wisdom that I received from both of mine – exactly the same saying Simon.
It is really interesting to observe how through the advancement of technology, television, radio, computers, mobile phones, and games we can get so distracted in the evenings that we totally dismiss our own body’s natural rhythm.
Wise words indeed. Going to bed early works for me too, and has been quite a turnaround because for many years I was a night owl and insomniac. I’m amazed at much more vitality I have when I go to bed early.
Its funny how much I enjoy going to bed early now. I can remember thinking how my grandmother was so ridiculous at how early she ate dinner, and then went to bed. But how wrong I was, my early to bed, early to rise rhythm is fantastic, and I wouldn’t give it up for anyone!
The “simple beauty in the way we can live”. It is like a very easy door we can open to a way of living that is much more satisfying and fulfilling. I do wonder why I resist the simple things like going to bed early, turning off the distraction of a computer and committing to purposeful tasks that need to be done. It is also seen for me in the procrastination, leaving a simple task that needs doing to the last minute rather than creating the space of completing it ahead of time and removing that stress from my body. Such simple common sense easy to do changes that make a big difference to my days.
Love returning to this blog as its a great reminder how we can easily distract ourselves with busyness of life and that then creeps into our sleep time, which leaves us tired, exhausted and effects our energy levels what foods we eat. This blog is a great reminder why we should be in bed early and how it supports our health.
‘Is that old saying of my grandmother’s more than just a forgotten rambling of a world no longer relevant?
Or is it actually something that carries wisdom of old. Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.’
This old saying definitely carries a wisdom of old, one that each of us knows deep down is true. It is has lasted because it is true. Researching the other day (on a different topic) I found that Benjamin Franklin was the ‘originator’ of that particular little verse form of the saying, but it is something that we all carry within us, and most of our grandmothers have thankfully passed it on to us.
Over the last eight years or so I have consistently gone to bed before 9pm except for the odd occasion and I absolutely swear by it. The other night I was out with some old friends though and got to bed after 11pm which would have been the norm in the past and I just didn’t feel quite myself the next day. I so love my quality sleep these days instead of staying up against my body’s wishes and watching mindless TV or something.
Absolutely Kev, a beautiful nights sleep is the greatest program we can enjoy. And Dreams I often find are the true show and series I actually need to see, inside me. So bring on rest, repose and an early night so I can live with joy and zest each and every day.
Hi Simon,
It is lovely to read how much you appreciate going back to a very simple and supportive way of living. You are right – we base everything on time these days and seem to see it as such a commodity ‘time is money’ as they say – but time is also the illusion of needing to be busy when really that keeps us from our natural rhythm. I really love reading what you share about how honouring your body is continuing to support you. A very easy change that confirms there is such a benefit in slowing down and creating space.
Isn’t it strange how we all have the same amount of time in a a day and yet as our lives have gotten more ‘modern’ and busy we seem to have less time – staying up later and later to pack everything in. And yet in doing so we are losing a natural rhythm that is what sustains us to be able to work long hours and carry big work loads – it is like trying to sail though a storm without first taking the time to open the sails and check the ropes are all tried properly – sometimes taking time to get good amount of sleep, to eat and take care of yourself doesn’t detract away from time, but give you the space to use your time better.
The secret to living vital and full days is having a wind down before going to bed around 9ish. I learned this through experience. It always felt natural to me as a child but as I got older I started to override this because of wanting to join in with people having so called fun and staying up to the wee ours only to feel like I was dragging my feet through mud the entire following day. These days I thoroughly enjoy tucking up early and having the experience of waking early ready and willing to embrace the day ahead.
Simon I love this blog, as it reminds me of my childhood with my grandfather, who was a very strict man and when it came to 5.30pm-6pm we where all having our meal and then everyone was ready for bed, lights where out by 8pm-8.30pm latest. The stories would be told and we would be all fast asleep. I remember those days we could get up early and have so much energy. My grandfather was quiet a healthy man those days, early nights are a contribution to this.
Thank you Simon, I couldn’t agree more, I just love the rhythm of early to bed and early to rise, and the wind down time before bed, it all feels so loving and supportive to my body and to how my next day is lived.
I never imagined that I would be living these words… Well… Definitely healthy and wise ☺ and just loving this rhythm of early to bed and early to rise, and how natural and supportive it feels.
Wisdom – “Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” We all know that an ‘early night’ will ensure we wake up refreshed and full of vitality for the coming day so the question is; why do we so often ignore or over-ride the wisdom held within every particle of our body?
Simon, when I read your blog today it made me appreciate how we have become addicted to entertainment, staying up late often when our body has already completed a full days work and acting against our natural rhythm.
Love it Simon! I know when I live this I can feel such a noticeable difference in the quality not only of my sleep, but also the way I drift off and wake up the next morning. Versus a late bed time where it feels I am literally not switching off til the moment I turn out the lights and that raciness invades not only my sleep but the next day. I feel as you share taking a leaf out of your grandma’s book and honouring our body by an early bedtime truly offers us so much more quality of sleep and life it is worth investing in.
How is it we can have this simple and oh so common-sense wisdom about how life truly works, and then go and live in the total opposite way? Not just with sleep but in every day. We carry on rushing even though we know no-one wins when we live chasing an invisible dragon. We spend money like it will soon be extinct yet expect to look at our accounts and to see a fortune inside. We treat each other with disdain and distance, forgetting that every body is somebody’s son, brother, daughter, partner or lover. Just how simple could life actually be if we just stopped and took notice of the type of advice your Grandma presents Simon and lived accordingly?
I love your expression in this blog Simon and I agree wholeheartedly that going to bed earlier has had a huge positive impact on my overall wellbeing which is definitely something to be appreciated. I have a lot more respect for sleep now, I certainly abused this aspect of life in the past.
Being a Grandparent now myself I can say “early to bed” etc. and take my own advice too. It is lovely going to bed early and the benefits outweigh the occasional late night watching TV or going out. Thanks Simon.
Are we so caught up in the pace of modern day society that we are failing to see that our human bodies are struggling with the stress we put them under every day and that how we are choosing to live could be actively feeding our poor and escalating health statistics?
In a society where exhaustion is haunting and playing with us all either directly or indirectly, as a community we should all be asking the question why. Why ‘the most people seem to stop these days is to queue up for coffee to get a hit to kick-start the day and keep us going because we are so busy’. What is going on and what is the quality of our days if we need stimulants such as coffee and sugar to get us through each day and a tipple of alcohol with another sugar hit to supposedly wind down from the day? What is the quality of our sleep if all this is so? But more importantly, what are we doing about it?
Simon, it’s so lovely the way you so openly express your tenderness “. . . putting myself to bed like a child. . . ”, how lovely that a grown man can allow himself to feel the yumminess of gently tucking himself into bed instead of flopping down exhausted after pushing himself all day. It does, as you say, set the pace of the next day as one begins from a basis of being refreshed and revitalized and this affects everything we do which also affects everyone around us.
I love tucking myself into bed early with my snuggly pyjamas and rising with the birds and the crickets in the stillness of the day. It sets the foundation for my day and the next to come.
I love early to bed and early to rise, putting myself to bed with loving care, is a joyfully nurturing experience, that sets me up for the new day ahead.
Earlier to bed has certainly made me healthier, not sure about the wealthier bit, that my Gran also used to say! I love the wisdom of our elders…..respect….
Perhaps the wealth is in the vitality of our bodies, or maybe instead of being ‘time poor’ as is the ‘in’ phrase at the moment, we become ‘time rich’?
Love it Jeanette!
Its like we will travel all around the world on the most maddening of detours, expeditions and trips, all just to return to the simple home truth. In a practical, logical sensible way of being lives is a wisdom that never grows old. Thank you Simon… and your Grandma.
I love getting into my cosy pyjamas too. It feels so gorgeous unwinding gently in the early evening so that going to bed is a natural progression of this and sleep then comes easily.
Quality sleep these days is one of my favourite things, but in the past I used to look at sleep as a sort of inconvenience that got in the way of many things. Having the right amour is so important as having too much sleep doesn’t make me feel very good as much as having too little.
My health and life has changed so much from health to vitality, alertness and choices I make, just with my first step to early to bed early to rise. I feel the benefits so much, and love it. My body just does not like late nights.
In Queensland at the moment, there is a lot of discussion around lock out laws in our pubs and clubs and changing it from 3am to 1am that people can no longer go bar-hopping etc… When I read this I want to say to everyone, forget 1am/3am and lets all be in bed by 9pm 😉 Tucked up in our PJ’s , preparing ourselves for the next day.
True Sarah 🙂 There was recently another silent protest in Sydney about keeping bars open for longer – and so many people put their energy towards fighting for this and expressed their passion about why places should open till late. Just imagine if all of that energy was directed towards nurturing ourselves each evening, and then naturally reaching a point where our bodies perhaps say ‘let’s go to bed at a time that the body needs, not the head’ That would be a massive change 🙂
This is such a great blog Simon, I love how it shares the wisdom from the older days, and it proves that it still makes sense, and that it is a way to truly care for ourselves, nourishing ourself with a good night of sleep everynight supports us so well in our everyday lives, that I can’t see that I will ever choose differently.
Wisdom – something that is known to be true because it has been lived. I love this Simon, and it totally sums up wisdom. If we wish to be wise we need to take notice of this lived way that we know feels amazing in our bodies and if we don’t feel amazing because of a lived pattern perhaps we should look at that. It is time to honestly consider what is true and wise.
I remember growing up feeling that you only go to bed early if you were a kid or the elderly, but never because it had an extraordinary effect on your vitality. It was almost seen as uncool and yet now even if it still is, I wouldn’t even care since the benefits of doing so have been so profound.
I know that ‘me time’ in front of theTV Simon, thinking that I was winding down from a long day. The problem with this is that this was not `’me time’, this was me checking out in front of a programme that was encouraging me to lose myself for a few hours and had nothing at all to do with me and truly resting and nourishing my body.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” I couldn’t agree more Simon. Reading about the effect going to bed early has, is the effect most people would want in their days – yet we have a global epidemic of exhaustion and overwork. It’s like we need to re-learn on a grand scale that which supports us to actually function vitally and harmoniously – not just from one coffee to the next.
I agree Amelia those simple things set a healthy foundation
Exactly right Amelia, as going from one coffee to the next is not evolving us – just moving us around.
Every Generation is left with something from the generation before them – something on which they can build. The old saying ‘Early to bed, Early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy and Wise’, shows the solidness of this practice because there are very few that have not heard it, a few less have lived it. What our generation has to offer to add to this is the importance of preparing oneself gently to go into this early sleep and to let go of the day. Serge Benhayon has been inspiring in bringing his livingness to the world and it is definitely building on the solid foundations set by those that have gone before us.
How we put ourselves to bed and how we sleep sets us up for how our next day will be. I love early bed early to rise.
I can’t imagine a more lovely rhythm in my life than “early to bed and early to rise”; it feels like the complete honouring of a body that supports me in every moment of every day.
The body is so grateful for simple things like going to bed early. No complicated treatments are needed.
Yes, I agree felixschumacher8 – simplicity and learning from the body’s own deep wisdom are key in true wellbeing.
I so agree Felix about the appreciation our body has for the “simple things like going to bed early”, and in return it gives us so much back. And it all comes back to us appreciating and honouring the wonderful body that we have.
“Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” I love this statement, it reminds me of my late grandfather, he always use to say we had to be in bed before 8pm and up early morning, I remember when I was child and my sister and cousins would want to stay up later with the adults, but my grandfather was never having that. He would send us up to bed with our grandmother to tell us bed time stories. So we would fall asleep. He had a point we were hardly ill and had lots more energy.
Simon, like your grandmother I was bought up in the times when there was no TV and no internet and story time was a lovely way to be together and wind down at night. It’s no wonder exhaustion is so common these days when people stimulate themselves at night watching media instead of taking time to let go of the day and settle into the night. And that sure does affect the quality of the next day and it gradually accumulates and so we get into a vicious cycle where we are dependent on some form of caffeine to get us through the day which then exhausts us more which means more stimulation, poorer quality of sleep and running on nervous energy until we ‘burn out’. “Early to bed, early to rise’ is a way of breaking this cycle as the quality of sleep improves and, as they say (whoever ‘they’ are, maybe our grandmothers) ‘the hours before midnight are worth more than those after midnight’. I have certainly found that they offer a far better quality of sleep.
I grew up in similar times Sandra, we even had candles and lamps as the area was remote and electricity took a while to reach us. I still remember the snuggliness of being cosy in my pyjamas ready to listen to a story then bed.It felt like we were then following the natural cycle of the day rather than how we now manipulate it, stealing evening time. It is no wonder many of us are so tired and dont feel truly rested in the mornings, we are ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ as they say.
Wow Steve Matson your comment is very evocative. I felt like an old fashioned clock that has a spring mechanism. I wind it up really tight and then control it’s unwinding until it no longer works. That is how we can be with our bodies if we don’t wake up and realise how precious they are, how precious we are.
In our motion of life we have this bad habit of not stopping and looking where we have come from. Yes, we can look at our wall with all of our shingles hanging in frames on the wall that is just the cost of the admission ticket to arrive here. But that was just the paper chase that was required. All of the self sacrifice to become a cog in the machine. When did we loose ourselves? We worked hard to get where we are. We work hard and then have to wind down and play harder and then jump-start the day and start again in a world what doesn’t seem to have enough hours in the day to do everything that is required. I have stepped off this treadmill… I am following the ancient wisdom of our grandparents. Looking back at my life of being un-healthy, always broke and continually making bad choices… the road ahead is a no-brainer.
And so, could we work hard loving ourselves, instead? I agree grandma’s saying.. I would like to add.. Working hard might pay the rent, but love is what all we need instead.
Great Simon how you have simply pointed out how our sleep affects everything.
And equally how everything affects our sleep…
Getting back to your blog is so welcoming Simon I love your sharing about a truth that joins me for a while now. Professional wise I sometimes have to work 12-14 hours, even through the night etc. And having a constant rhythm of going to bed early at the rest of my day gives me the stability and rhythm to cope with these outer influences. And it feels so lovely to cosy myself into my pyjamas and prepare myself for the night in the consciousness that it’s me starting the new day.
Sleep is the foundation to how we live our day.
Yes, Annie. And even if we might think sleep can’t be bad – staying too long in bed when we have already woken up can cause a lot of distraction too. This can take away more power than it gives. You know what I’m saying?
As is the living of our day the foundation for our sleep…
Yes I agree sleep is sure the foundation, if our sleep is disturbed our foundation is Rocky and this impacts the whole day and every moment. A restful sleep sets us up for a strong foundation.
Absolutely Christina, I feel like that way now too. Being in bed preparing myself for a night in rest and appreciate myself, gives me the opportunity to wake up rested and loving & enjoying myself. I mean why would I want to watch a movie instead, if being with me is enough? I am inspired by the teachings of Universal Medicine – everyday again.
Oh so well said. All these questions actually make a lot of sense and so the actions we have chosen do not make a lot of sense , do they? As , deep down we know this, maybe obvious too for some, so lets choose to be with ourselves – then the whole problem is solved , and we have no reason to numb ourselves with food, alcohol, drugs, tv, or anything really.
I’m inspired by your comment Christina – the consistency of getting early nights as much as possible supporting those occasions when there is the call to do more is something I’m still working on. When I have found this rhythm it feels like things align to bring amazing support while I sleep.
“in the consciousness that it’s me starting the new day” – I love this. I will think about that today more deeply than I have before and will start prepping my evening time/sleep in that consciousness as well.
Christina I have similar hours and sometimes more, long days and late nights. I too have found having a rhythm going to bed earlier normally supports these days. My body has the rest and stability to sustain these days.
When we make choices from our bodies, life flows a lot better and it is gorgeous to live in the simplicity of these choices. Our bed routine is one of these choices and can impact on our whole day. Like you ,Simon , I love going to bed early and getting up early is the perfect start to the day.
I loved coming back to re-read this Simon! I’ve had a few late night recently and have been feeling quite tired and a bit more foggy during the day etc so this is an awesome reminder to come back to feeling the impact this has on my body, and how different I feel when I honour feeling to go to bed earlier.
I keep coming back to this blog like an old friend. Your words remind me Simon, how simple taking care of ourselves really is. The practical common sense of resting and cooperating is what my body loves.
I love the contrast offered in this blog between a lifestyle whiich has not worked for us as a society and of choices made to be more loving toward ourselves. It seems crazy to me to stay in behaviour which does not truly serve us and yet for many years I did the same.
I notice how different the quality of sleep is also if I allow myself to follow my body and go to sleep at whatever time I feel to. The earlier I respond to my body’s need for rest the better the quality of sleep feels and the better my energy levels and quality of energy the next day.
Coming back to this blog is like receiving a big cosy hug. What you say Simon is such common sense, yet so far away from how so many of us live today in our 24/7 society. What if life is actually as simple as making practical sensible choices like this?
You are so right Joseph, this blog of Simon’s is like a big cosy hug! Apart from the wisdom of the rhythm of having an honouring sleep pattern, there is the presence of Grandmother who knows the wisdom of life and acts upon it. One of the most valuable and beautiful things in life is to have such a grandmother in your life, even if it isn’t your own familial grandmother. I was coming out of a shopping centre when a very beautiful woman in her eighties walked past me – here was I in my late sixties, just feeling her beauty, her wisdom and her cosiness and thinking ‘Oh I would love that woman for my grandmother’ – to be held in such arms. It made me realise how much I had missed that ‘older’ woman in my life, as even my mother had passed away when I was twenty four. We as older women have such a powerful ‘holding’ and ‘beholding’ role in life.
This is so true Martin. Why is it that men cannot be self-loving and deeply nurturing and tender with themselves? I reckon it is a huge fault in our social ideals that we hold men in such a way that they feel it is not Ok to express love in this way. It is holding back society.
Simon what I got from re-reading your great blog today is how much every moment effects the next. So how and when you put yourself to sleep, effects how and when you wake up and then all of your actions the next day – cranky/joyfull, vibrant/sleepy etc…which then have an effect on those around you. Could you imagine if we all took that responsibility on what type of person we all brought to our next days???
I have always been an early morning person so going to bed early has been a natural part of that but I can definitely see the way I set myself up before going to bed makes a huge difference to the quality of my sleep. Taking the time to prepare myself in the couple of hours leading up to sleep time is oh so nurturing and nourishing and gives me the chance to shake off any unwanted momentums of the day.
We would be wise to take care of our bodies as it is the only place we have to live.
Exactly Nicolesjardin. Our body is our abode – why would we trash it? It just doesn’t make any sense at all.So one must wonder who is running the show? And how intelligent is that one who is running the show? And why would you destroy the place you inhabit?
Great point you have added Katie about our body being the primary me place that we live, do we put more energy and care into keeping our house in order than our bodies?
I just LOVE going to bed early… to feel the natural tiredness, and then to honour that and THEN to wake up when I need to, and if its as late as 5am then that’s fine …☺
Me too, I love going to bed early, also when it is new year’s eve. I will be waking up when my body tells me to and I will start the new year crispy, sparkling, vital and with a body that has had a lovely sleep.
Going to bed early has definitely helped in improving my state of being and my vitality level. In the past prior to going to bed early it was always a struggle getting out of bed in the morning however since changing my sleep pattern and being in bed by nine, I can be up at 4 or 5 quite easily and work the whole day without feeling tired
I agree Joe Minnici – my body loves to be tucked up in bed early too and my mind is far less active at night now which supports more of a true deep rest. Early mornings are no longer the same challenge – even on dark mornings there is natural rhythm in my waking time to be enjoyed.
I keep returning to this blog and your words Simon. They are just like being given a great big warm hug and sat in front of a warming fire. Its this simple and natural human care I associate with my Nanna. Why is it we wait for another to treat us so lovingly when we can allow ourselves to really treasure our being?
Life can be much simpler than we sometimes make it.
Most people are tired in the evenings after their day – hence going to bed early is adhering to the body’s natural rhythm and supporting the body to rest and regenerate for the next day.
Many people turn up to work or drop their children off at school having rushed to get ready or not having gotten to particular tasks because they didn’t have time. Getting up early having gone to bed early the night before, supports us to start the day in a way that sets us up for all that is before us that day.
Structuring our lives around a simple rhythm dictated by our bodies and the lives we lead during the day can be a huge game changer, as it is putting ourselves into sync with flow of life rather than trying to operate outside the natural flow of our lives.
I love how you show here Simon, that how we sleep flows on to everything we do. And in a bigger way everything we choose flows into a quality of deep rest that we know. Just like your Grandma, these simple facts about life are something we actually do know.
Gorgeous wisdom shared here Simon in going to bed early, & how it makes a huge difference on everything
What I have been noticing lately is the more I have been honouring my rhythm, my preparation time and going to bed early, the more it has supported me in the next day as I awake and how I go through that day. I find I have a gentle and loving flow. My interactions with others have shifted and gentleness is being felt. In my body I feel a steadiness and stillness, and I am able deal with the day ahead, without going into nervous or anxious energy.
We tend to live in ‘bits’ – getting through the day and ‘starting over’ the next but our lives are in fact one momentum based on the choices we make. So I love how you talk here about how you go to bed influencing how you walk the next day, talk, feel, eat and think… everything is connected and making a choice which honors you – in this case at night time – then offers that same quality the next day and when we choose that, we confirm and deepen our quality – a very cool equation which feels like wisdom and nothing you can make happen from your head!
This is true Sarah Davis – living life in compartments and bits to simply get through the day is so disjointed and far from the harmony that is possible when making choices that continually support the following day through the choices of the previous night.
” in this case at night time – then offers that same quality the next day and when we choose that, we confirm and deepen our quality – a very cool equation which feels like wisdom and nothing you can make happen from your head!”
I love going to bed early, it brings a loving close to the day, where I am able to support my body by giving it the rest it needs, a great way to give me and my body the best start for the following day.
I experience the support it gives me to go to bed by 8.30, despite the people who still like to call me late (I now take the phone of the hook). I feel like it is my natural rhythm now.
And waking up at 4 am when most of the world around me is still sleeping is deeply connecting and a beautiful, supportive way to start my day.
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself,…” This too is my experience Simon, I have so much more vitality and my mind is more ‘actively present’ allowing me to engage so much more in the activities of the day. There is a natural flow to my day. It makes complete sense to follow the cycles of nature by beginning to gently wind down at dusk, in preparation for sleep and then awaken ready to greet the sunrise and be a part of the glorious opening to the new dawn. By doing this we become part of the natural rhythm and flow of life, our bodies respond and thank us for it.
I love going to bed early, but once a week now I am late as I have to attend a training. I really notice the difference the next day in my energy. Waking early too, watching the sunrise, and doing odd jobs before I start my day proper – fab.
For years my now departed mother would stay up late and wake up really late on a sunday morning and as a child I observed how she would always be in a bad mood and have a headache during the day – now I can see that the same happens to me if I stay in past 4 o’clock in the morning, so in effect getting too much sleep effects our well-being as much as not getting enough sleep. Our bodies know how much sleep we need during the night and maybe a small nap in the day if needed – there is definitely something in your grandma’s saying we would benefit from by listening to our bodies and how it feels.
I can relate to this Julie – my body feels really heavy and a little stiff if I stay in bed too long. Preparing for bed early with head on pillow ready to sleep by 9pm -930pm is what my body loves and prefers, waking naturally, usually around 4am. If extra rest is required my body naturally regulates this until around 5am.
I am accepting the fact that my outer life will only really improve if I choose to be different with me on the inside first. Indeed, in everything that I do. I’ve always wanted to do a lot and thinking that this might solve whatever needed to be solved. Now I am surrendering more and from that comes the Trust and the Knowing that life is indeed constellating itself. That no control is needed, that I can leave my arrogance behind. That I am taken care of and that I actually always have been taken care of. My sleeping rhythm is a very important part of it, as well as the way I go to sleep. Whether this is consciously and surrendered of ‘just’ fall asleep exhausted. There’s an Amazing difference.
Well said Martin. I too was a bit surprised to see it written by a man – pleasantly so I must say. I cherish men that cherish themselves. Here’s to much more of it.
Well actually I cherish all men and love it when they treasure themselves as well.
Simon I’m with your Grandma! Actually my grandparents would fall asleep in front of the TV, and I would lay awake listening to them snore and counting the chimes of the clock because I couldn’t sleep. Difficulty in sleeping led to a habit of staying up late to avoid the long hours of tossing and turning, or reading a book until my eyes could no longer stay open … No wonder I was not a vital child – healthy but not full of energy most of the time. I have managed to change my pattern to ‘early to bed’ and feel so much better for it – it took a while, but was surprisingly easy once my body adjusted.
Early to bed, early to rise, is a turn around for me also. Although some thing I always wanted to do, I never did it, except when we were camping and went to bed when the sun went down. I love honouring myself, going to bed early and waking in the early hours. And it has done a massive amount for my energy levels.
Our household is an early to bed household now and we find it so nourishing for us all. Even when I could have a “sleep in” there seems to be no inclination for us to do that now as getting up early and feeling the stillness of the early morning is something not to be missed. Great sharing, Simon.
Yes Anne – there is a beautiful deep sacredness in the stillness and darkness of the pre 5am mark. It is not something I get up to on every morning of the week, but it is worth feeling, many times in that week. I still like that occasional later morning rise at 5am and it feel like a good sleep in to have that, but it does have a quite different quality to the early morning hours before that.
I agree Lyndy and Anne – the quality of the energy pre 5am is absolutely beautiful to enjoy. For me, there is only a sense of a profound spaciousness and stillness which can continue into the day from this early connection.
Why does almost everyone remember having to go to bed early? When you ponder when our sleep cycles were ruled by the rise and setting of the sun the same as the animals and nature that worked well. Ah, then came fire and light so we could stay up late… to today where we watch TV, party or surf the web. Some times there are hidden truths and wisdom from Grandma’s in the old sayings ‘the old ways are sometimes the best’ going to bed with the chickens has worked for me!
I agree Martin that there is a beautiful tenderness in this blog that is not the familiar way that we experience a man expressing in today’s world, but actually from my experience it is our natural way of being.
It is gorgeous to hear you men talking this way!
Simon I agree that it is so often very simple things that make such a big difference in our lives. Sometimes it is almost so simple we do not want to accept it and we look for far more complicated answers to our problems. But love and self love are always very simple.
Well said Andrew, I too am realising more and more that simplicity is definitely one of the main keys to life.
I love getting into my night wear early in the evening too, Simon, it starts the wind down to bedtime and encourages me to let go of the day and not try to add any more jobs that “need doing”. I am also aware that your description of how many live their days now feels so rushed and without any space to re-collect ourselves and take some quiet time just to be. I used to find that reading a story to my children was a beautiful time for us all to wind down and become more still and ready for sleep. I meet many children at the school where I help who are deprived of real quality time with their parents at bedtime. The preparing for the night’s sleep in a loving and caring way is so important for everyone’s well-being.
It’s funny that we all know how much better we feel when we go to bed early. Life seems to be set up to keep us up late. Television has the more attractive programs starting at a time when we would naturally begin to go to bed, and stimulating us as well. I wonder why it is that there is so much sabotage to feeling vital and clear headed? Who doesn’t want us to feel this good? Is it loving to live in a way that isn’t vital? We have a natural wisdom that we have cleverly abandoned for a faster passed modern life. Disease and dissatisfaction are at all time highs. Perhaps the answer is more simple than our sophistication would have us believe.
I love going to bed early and preparing myself to sleep with a lovely hot cup of tea and gently tucking myself into my cozy bed. This then sets me up for a gorgeous sleep and I wake early and refreshed to commence my day. It’s the best change I could have ever made for myself and my body.
You have highlighted the fact Simon that so much age old wisdom has been lost over the last 50 years, as technology and our desire for indulgence has taken over and has seemingly made our lives easier and more comfrotable. In some ways it has, but the fundamental understanding of the simple things of life like ‘early to bed early to rise, makes you healthy wealthy and wise’ have been so overlooked and forgotten about. We have got to a point in todays society where so many don’t even know these old sayings, let alone truly understand the profoundness of them. Your blog is a great reminder that the simplicity of natures natural rhythms and beauty are there as a beautiful reflection for us and we would all do well to pay more attention to them as we go through our day.
I used to get the early to bed early to rise from my nan too but never the last part which now makes so much sense to me having lived it .. maybe she wanted me to figure it out for myself, well I didn’t and had some help but I suppose they can’t give all the answer away now can they!!
Yes, it is definitely worth giving it a try – it works wonders.
Yes it is interesting Simon what you are sharing here. Looking at society, we got so used to going to bed late and starting the day late. I work in retail and shops open between 9-11am in the morning and stay open until 8-10pm. This is reflecting the sleep pattern of the majority of people in society. Going to bed early is maybe something to look at in regards to dealing with the wide spread exhaustion amongst us, rather than increasing the intake of caffeine, sugar and alcohol, which is clearly not very healthy for the body.
Spot on Judith – we have set it up in society in a way that totally ignores our natural rhythms and so it then becomes a needed thing to medicate with sugar and caffeine to keep up going beyond our natural body clock…and so the result is mass and wide spread exhaustion indeed. Funnily enough though, part of the ‘remedy’ can be super simple as Simon says – going early to bed is such a therapeutic and caring act for our bodies. Love the simplicity of this.
That would be a great ‘turn around campaign’. Instead of all these ads on the exquisitiness of coffee, let’s sum up all the benefits of early sleep. What I realize whilst writing this, is that most of us like the quick fix. It doesn’t require any effort, any responsibility. It is time to truly wake up and break our sleeping patterns!
Good point Caroline, it seems much easier to drink a cup of coffee than to change your rhythm and go to bed earlier – however it is so worth it as it brings so much more vitality.
Yes Judith, people have become addicted to stimulation because when they stop they realise how exhausted they are so rather than allowing the body to naturally wind down at night they are still keeping going. Going to bed early could certainly be a way to break this dependency on stimulation and heal the exhaustion.
Yes Simon, I can vouch that this certainly works as a person that once needed 10 hours sleep a night to a person who can go to bed at 9pm and arise at 3am -4am and commence work.
I love this blog and revisiting the wisdom of years gone by. You have challenged many interpretations and comments that have ‘knocked’ this ritual in the lives of many and now celebrate all that it has and is offering. It is a simple beauty and I so love it too. Thanks Simon for writing this blog and celebrating this ‘Age Old Wisdom’.
This formula of early to bed and early to rise is one that I have felt an immense support to how I feel and function for the following day when I go to bed early and get up early. The quality of my being is so much more on the ball and alert that trying to remember how it was when I went to bed after a night working in a bar seems like another world away that I definitely don’t want to return to.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference”.
Very wise words indeed Simon as are those from your grandmother.
I love going to bed early too Simon. It feels so nuruturing and nourishing to my body to take that care and preperation for bed. I sleep well and wake feeling refreshed and ready for the day. I was always such a night owl and used to love the quiet of the night to be up when everyone else had gone to bed, but would then sleep late and miss half the day. Your grandmothers words are full of wisdom, along with many other old sayings that no doubt could teach us a great deal. And Serge Benhayon has given us a great gift in sharing these simple loving ways to live our lives.
I still struggle with going to bed early, but when I do it I feel so much better during the next day. When I heard about the benefits of going to bed at 9 I first didn`t believe it because I was so sure that going to bed at about 11pm-12 would be best for me. But this was just a wrong belief. I am sleeping much deeper and feel more rested when I sleep early.
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer.” Caring for myself has a whole new meaning since coming to Universal medicine presentations. I love going to bed early. Currently I am home very late one night a week due to a training course I am doing. Because I care for myself during the day before and afterwards, I no longer feel as shattered as I would otherwise have done; but I do so love going to bed early, especially the following night.
This a beautiful story Simon, the way we live all day has an effect on everything, so as I have experienced, staying up late with all that I am doing at those times, is really not beneficial to the day after.
Yes, Benkt – it’s well worth considering that our day actually starts the evening before in the way we wind down and put ourselves to sleep.
Yes deborahmckay everything is connected so how we prepare for bed the night before to what we eat for breakfast. Everything is intertwined together, so quality is definitely key.
So true Deborah. The way we wind down for sleep is affected by the quality of our day, which is then affected by the quality of how we slept. It is all one big circle that feeds into itself day after day.
So true Benkt, staying up late regularly can really push our bodies and lead to an after effect that not only disturbs our next day but if uncorrected can accumulate a sleep debt that can only lead to full bodied exhaustion.
“Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.” We are taught a lot of knowledge in society today as opposed to coming from our innate Wisdom which includes common sense, foresight, judgement, insight, and perception none of which cannot be taught but rather nurtured which would take us a long way in supporting us living from our own rhythm and in our essence.
I have found this to be true for me also “There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early…” I am naturally waking up more early and I find this rhythm/routine generally supports my whole day. I used to go to bed so late, wake very late and rush to work, I never felt like I had any time in the morning and used feel that rush I began the day with, all day. I am still refining when to go to bed and how to go to bed but in general the benefits of ‘early to bed’ have been very noticeable.
I always remember this old adage of ‘early to bed and early to rise’ being constantly quoted by my parents and grand-parents. I certainly notice a huge difference in the quality of my day if I have overridden the invitation from my body to honour this. Instead of flowing easily without any rush, there is tiredness and a sense of having to push to get things done.
Simon, great words of wisdom on choosing to go to bed early, for me I find I am able to be far more present the following day, and things have their own flow.
I love going to bed early and then getting up early, it’s such an enjoyable time of the day doing what needs to be done so that the other end of the day can be spent gently winding down ready for a rejuvenating sleep. It’s a rhythm that I thoroughly enjoy.
Going to bed early and rising before it is absolutely necessary is generally not considered a cool thing to do. Even if we feel exhausted we push it (our body) to the limits to not miss out on anything and to be able to show others how absolutely great our life is. While we are running around getting our kicks or numbing ourselves with television or other entertainment, we miss out on life all together because we are continuously busy trying to find ways to feel good and better. So used to high and lows, feeling normal doesn’t seem to quite cut it anymore. I am with you and Nanna, Simon. Not needing anything and adhering to my natural rhythm feels absolutely great.
Thank you Simon for sharing, there is much wisdom in some of the sayings of old and this one I love, as I too, feel the benefits of this practice through out my day and the quality it brings to my daily life.
I love coming back to re-read this post! It’s such a simple simple support in our lives and yet one which impacts every area of our lives… maybe our Nanas were onto something… and perhaps more than they realised at the time!
Bedtime gold and a wonderful read to boot.
Serge Benhayon shares true “simple beauty in the way we can live.” always offering the suggestion to feel it for yourself. And this I have learnt and continue to learn, to feel for myself. As you say “Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.” This innate wisdom can come from Serge Benhayon, Grandma’s, the postie, our children, ourselves if it is lived and we are open to it. This has occurred in my life, I have begun living in a way that supports me more. I can feel the benefits of this, I know it because I live it for myself.
I have also found the benefits of early to bed and early to rise. It is a magic buffer of extra space in my day. The amount of things that can be accomplished is endless. But most of all it is that quiet time of the day to prepare myself for the day that lies ahead of me. When I walk out the door to start my day, I am with myself and ready to interact with whatever comes my way.
It makes so much sense Simon to rest after a full day, and yet I see many people exhausted in the mornings because they’ve stayed up late watching TV or going out and then either can’t sleep because they’re so stimulated or are just plain tired from not enough quality rest. In Grandma’s day, they didn’t have so much stimulation and so going to bed early was natural…and it still is when we let go of needing entertainment or reward at the end of our day. Like you, putting on my PJs (particularly in winter when they’ve been on the heater) and hopping into bed after a very full day, is good medicine.
Reblogged this on florisvanderschot's Blog and commented:
“Thanks Grandma. Now I know what it means when you used to tell me “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.”
This comment is summing up Beautifully for the appreciation of the Wisdom that grandma shared when the writer of this blog was young. Now, after years and years he’s revealing how much benefit he experiences from cosingly putting his pyjama’s on early in the evening and getting up early.
I can personally very much relate. For years I go (5 out of 7 days) to bed between 21.00 and 22.00. And I can honestly say that I’ve experienced the best nights when going to bed even before 21.00. I wake up much more vital and clear than when I don’t do that. I also now have come to the realisation that there’s much more in going to bed. Choosing not to go early to bed is a choice based on hardness. As if I’m telling myself that I do not deserve a good night sleep. Going to bed early is a lovely routine in which my body and mind actually are one. There’s a fluency in it.
I agree Simon, the saying ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise’ was something that always made sense to me. When I over-rode the wisdom of these words and stayed up late the following day was always a struggle. When I heard Serge Benhayon present that our body gets its best regenerating rest between 9 pm and 1 am this made sense to me and I realised that my body had been giving me this clear message all my life.
This certainly is a grand old saying that has become so much part of my daily rhythm that if for some reason I am not in bed before 9pm or earlier most nights, it really throws me out. I was brought up on a farm so it was natural for our place to be shut down by 9pm and totally awake with the sparrows in the morning, it wasn’t till my teenage years that I had to force myself into the more unnatural nocturnal way of living to fit in with my friends. I so much prefer the old way.
Simon, I love this blog! Going to bed early not only makes sense, but also has such a massive impact on your well-being and your relationships – with your self and all those around you. It has been my experience also that ‘…the things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.’. Thank you!
I used to be so resistant to the idea of going to bed early because i felt robbed of “me” time. There was huge pressure on this part of the day to deliver relaxation & freedom from child care, I refused to accept my true exhaustion. Universal Medicine helped me to see the futility in this compartmentalizing, by taking greater care for myself, (sleep is a huge one for any parent with young children) I began to turn in earlier and wake earlier – this way I began to reap the benefits of quality connection to myself and my husband in the morning free from exhaustion/frustrations and consequently felt infinitely more vital throughout my day.
Can so relate to what you’ve shared lucindag – pushing through and refusing to accept my exhaustion in order to squeeze in some time for me or get another task ticked off the list. the awesome thing about making the choice to start taking care of yourself through going to bed earlier, is that you start to wake earlier and have more space in the day for everything you need to do, so the pressure and stress is lessened and because you are well-rested, the quality in which you do everything is so different – rather than labour through the tasks in your day you can actually enjoy them! And then there is no pressure at the end of the day that you feel the need to escape from by finding relief in the late night TV show, spot of internet shopping, etc.
Simon these were very wise words from your Grandmother, it feels like all the distractions we have like TV, and computers are the things that tempt us to stay up late. Although the feeling you get from having gone to bed early is something we can so easily give ourselves, and after a while there is no outer temptation to do anything else other than to enjoy the loving rest we give ourselves, and the spring in our step in the morning.
I have always gone to bed early my whole life, and I am happy to say I go to bed early. It is like we give others permission to go too, instead of having to be seen to be fitting in. We laugh in our office as all of us are in bed by 8pm and enjoy sharing how we rise in the morning and exercise to begin the day.
Thank you for the inspiration Simon, a beautiful blog to read. I love how you get yourself all cosy and warm and then put yourself to bed like a child. It’s not just the time that you put yourself to bed that is important, it is also the how that truly supports you.
This is beautiful and awesome because it shares with us the quality of living as opposed to the idealistic routine of living where we are always trying to ‘catch up’. What you offer here Simon is amazing, and yes I thank your grandma too. A very wise woman !
Going to bed early when my body says it’s time to rest, is definitely the way to go. You feel so much more rested when you wake up and your ready and fresh to start your day.
Early to bed and early to rise is how I have lived most of my life. These days I am more aware of how I go about putting myself to bed and have found to sleep well I need to give myself a couple of hours of quiet time before bed where I am extra gentle and present with myself. I find I wake up fresh in the morning, need less sleep and have more energy.
I still sometimes think “I just have to get this done” I should know that if there is a “just” in there I am just kidding myself and squeezing “just” a little bit too much in. I am certainly not being “just” as in fair to myself and I am probably justifying doing something that I know is more harming than healing to my overall well-being and therefore will impact on others too. I might ‘just’ have to listen to my inner wisdom and allow more wind-down time before bed.
Thank you for reminding me of that saying, Simon. I haven’t heard it for years. It truly is a phrase of wisdom that has been forgotten over several decades of rushing, achieving and with it, exhaustion.
I used to try to stay up with my family or friends but mostly quietly dozed off on the couch or in the cinema, sometimes in the car if we were out somewhere loud. My body always wanted to stop and sleep around 8.30 – 9.30 pm but I tried to push against it and fit in with the world around me. The joke is I was naturally sleeping around that time anyway just not all tucked up and cozy and Id have to drag myself up in the night and flop into bed. It feels so loving and honouring to prepare for bed and be tucked in at the time I truly feel to be, that is my way and I have claimed it.
I have just re-read your blog Simon, it is so beautiful and so very true. I too love going to bed early, it feels so very right for me to be honest and say it’s time to rest. Actually, I never really liked going to bed late, I knew I would feel not bright in the morning. I remember, probably when I had started to go to bed later as a teenager, my mother would say ‘I had got out of bed on the wrong side’, she knew I would always be a little cranky until I had my breakfast. It actually was quite natural for me to honour my body and go to bed early, and then I would not feel ‘yukky’ in the morning. It now has to be something very important to keep me out my bed after 9 pm, I just love snuggling in well before that if possible. Those who go to bed very late don’t realise what they are missing.
What I love and really enjoyed about your post Simon is how what we do, or treat ourselves has a direct effect on everything/one else, from the way we eat, walk, think, or interact with people. It really is all about us, to then become all about everyone given the personal impact that we have, and with this responsibility. It really is about the quality of us that precedes all activity – if this quality of us is wired/anxious/exhausted, then the way we cook or eat the dinner we prepare is bound to be adversely affected.
I can so feel the difference when I do not take myself to bed in a way that feels supportive. I feel the impacts of this the next morning. How I wake up, my vitality, do i jump out of bed? Or want to roll over and shut the world out? The answer is yes to both of those, I feel like I want more time to myself, this then rolls into how I get to work and whether or not I am on the front foot for the day so to speak. Who would have thought all of this can happen, just from not taking myself to bed in a way that is supportive, but it is true. As I have felt this, it does help make other choices and how I talk myself to bed.
A beautifully written piece Simon. In essence a simple sharing but one that comes alive with lived wisdom and doesn’t carry any imposition. For the reader. Thank you.
I agree Katemaroney1, a beautiful piece Simon, full of true lived expression, love and wisdom. This practice I find most self supportive also.
I remember what it was like on the farm in my childhood, getting up really early when it was dark, going out to work for a few hours, and then coming home to breakfast… You saw the best part of the day, and you certainly went to bed early. Then growing up, and of course being a musician always staying up as late as possible, and now the cycle has returned, and I just love getting up before sunrise, walking outside to my studio, pausing, looking up at the stars and feeling how beautiful it all is, feeling the connection to that inner beauty, and then making music… And then breakfast ☺
The title of this article is in essence the bottom line for foundational support that we as individuals can build for ourselves. – ‘Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise’ – My experience from working late nights and getting home into bed at 2am-4am and then sleep till late morning and now to today when I am going to bed before 9am and up early morning – I have noticed an undeniable shift in the quality in which I operate. I Love going to bed early and can feel that this is without question a start to a healthier lifestyle.
When I complete the work that needs to be done on my computer and start to wind down for bed early I can easily settle to a good night’s sleep. If on the other hand I am looking on the internet or dealing with emails late on my computer then I tend to override what my body is saying, snack on stimulating food in order to get the work done, end up staying up late and the quality of my sleep and therefore the quality of the following day is entirely different and tends to lead to less loving choices.
If you are tuned into your body and can feel the messages the body is sending and not override what is being felt then the body sends a very clear message when you need to go to bed. I have learnt to honour this feeling in my body and try to be in bed by 9.00 pm – after 2 hours of gentle wind down time that is focused on self nurturing and self care. “There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer.”
I have never really been a night owl, but in the past would stay up with my partner just because I thought I should but my body would be telling me, it’s ready for bed. So now I am ready for bed easily by 8.30am-9 and really enjoy going to bed early so that I can get up early in the morning. It’s so lovely to do more things in the morning as opposed to after work when I am wanting to wind down.
I can relate to this, I also used to stay up for my partner or other people, thinking that it was too boring to go to bed so early. Over time I have let go of this and it feels so honouring to just listen to my body. Which does not mean that I never go to bed after 21:00, because sometimes I do, like this week, when I have to work. It just shows that it does not come from a set rule, but from respecting and honouring my body and what feels true.
Reflecting on this now – the difference I feel when I DON’t go to bed early, or if I am too busy and frustrated or disturbed before or as I am going to bed – is profound. It really make a diference. HOW you are as you are going to bed. Not just the time you go.
And If its not great – I really pay for it the next day. How I feel is vastly different.
Could not agree more Simon. I have been going to bed early for some 20 years now after reading research which suggested that we get our best sleep between 9pm and 1am. Over that time, I have found that “HOW you are as you are going to bed” is just as important or more so, than the time you go to bed!
Yes exactly Anne – the ‘how’ plays such a huge role doesn’t it? It doesn’t matter if we go early to bed, if the body is wound up and hyped up, the sleep will be accordingly and the next day too…
Yes I agree Simon and Anne how you put yourself to bed is a major contributor to the quality of your sleep. In fact I have found that if I am too wound up before bed I can give myself a hang over in the morning without an ounce of alcohol or sugar or any other drug or stimulant.
Great reminder simplesimon888. Although I know this to be true I can get really worked up right before my bedtime trying to get my teenage boys to also get ready for bed.
I grew up with my mother saying, and living, the same thing Simon.
I know it carries Wisdom; after moving away from that wisdom for many years I am now back saying, and living “early to bed and early to rise; makes you healthy, wealthy and wise”
I love getting up early in the morning. I feel refreshed and ready to embrace the day. I love having plenty of time to do things such as read these blogs in the quietude of the early hours of the morning. Mornings feel so lovely. I know I can only embrace the mornings as I do, because of the consistency of going to bed early. This rhythm of early to bed, early to rise feels so natural to me.
Lovely Donna I can relate to your words because for me it is the same. Since I was a child I love the early mornings because they felt so fresh and clear and so still. My head seems to work absolutely sharp and there is no distraction. So why should I give up these qualities – they are so much sweeter than staying up late.
Agree Donna, I love the early rises, and feeling how this feels as I later walk to my day job having had this time in the morning. It just creates space and helps with anxiousness not waking up, jumping into the shower and dashing out the house for work, which feels so tiring. If I break the rhythm of early rises, this feel awful and I don’t have that same fresh feeling…. which then inspires me to get back to the rhythm. And enjoy.
Yes Zofia the space that is created by this time for yourself in the morning does continue to feed you through your day – I love it when I return home after work and feel the appreciation & support that an empty dishwasher can bring!
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer.” – Yes it is a huge difference, and one I am acutely feeling if I have allowed myself to just do that little bit more at night or stay up that touch longer than the body is telling me.
Simon I am 100% with you on this one, getting down to a basic early to bed early to rise regime is up with the best things you can do for yourself, life changing stuff. I have see the amount of coffee shops in England double and triple, maybe even quadruple or more over the last few years, In london there used to be a pub on every corner, now they are gone and you can’t turn around without seeing Stabrucks or Costa. In motorway service areas where there used to be one Starbucks, now there are two or three in the same building to cope with demand and there are still cues. Crazy stuff that can’t continue the way it’s going.
According to the independent, every week across the UK, we consume around 511 millions cups of coffee and the average coffee drinker spends up to £450 a year on this hot beverage. The writing’s on the wall – we’re exhausted and coffee is the quick fix for a global issue.
Wow… and all of that just because people choose to override the deep wisdom of their body arrogantly and ignorantly. The funny thing is that coffee not only helps to not feel the own tiredness during the day, it makes us stay up late in the evening because it stimulates so much. If there would be no coffee, people all around the world would go to bed much earlier.
I used to be such a ‘night owl’, staying up late at night partying or working on my motor cycles pushing to complete a job util 3am! I love going to bed early and waking up very early feeling alive and inspired for the day.
As you have found Simon, the flow on effect of from lack of sleep cannot be overestimated. It affects how we are in every way, from how we feel when we get up, to what and how we eat and drink, how we move, how we think, how we treat others, how we treat ourselves, how we focus at work or study, and it affects what the body must do to compensate for this fatigue by pumping out bursts of adrenalin, running the body in alarm and overdrive, and other such unsustainable emergency measures, just to keep it afloat til the end of the day.
So it is fairly clear that sleep deprivation can easily lead to a breakdown in health, relationships, work and life. It is such a simple measure to take too, I wonder why we so often ignore or override it. I too have found the quality of sleep is greatly affected by the quality in which I end my day – taking on the anxieties of work, or what is coming at me or happening around me – all throw sleep out the window. But I am slowly learning how to wind down and let go of the day to allow a quality of sleep that truly rejuvenates.
Lovely Annie C I love your comment and can very much relate to what you have shared. It is this simple choice to learn to wind down at the end of the day that can change the world. I offer my own experience with winding down to my patients and if they choose to do so as well they too are inspired.
Simon that is such a lovely read. I have not been putting much focus on how I am putting myself to bed lately and after reading how you put yourself to bed, I am going to also put myself on a going to bed like Nana program. Looking forward to an early Friday night, Pjs, bed sock, hot water bottle and a very cozzie bed. 🙂 Oh and to top it all off reading a little of Serge’s latest book. Time. Now that’s what I call a Bed date.
I just worked on a project about proverbs in Europe and it was interesting to see that this exact proverb you are referring to exists in different languages and transmits the same meaning. It seems that there has been a global wisdom around healthy lifestyle choices that we have totally lost. There is even this total absurd perception here in Spain that kids can go to bed whenever, but if you let them get up too early that they are not getting enough sleep….
That is so interesting Rachel, to hear that the same proverb with the same meaning exist into many different languages and cultures. I love the way that there is always a core of everyday wisdom known to all and still there amongst us – strongly showing that we all know the truth of life and how to live it wisely. The wayward and careless way we fall into treating our bodies with contempt at first seems like the excitement of discovering the adult world out there, but that whole way of living and loving, and even the word ‘adult’ now has become bastardized. ‘Adult’ now seems to mean getting drunk, taking drugs, having ‘Adult’ shops to purchase sex toys. This is ‘adultery’ indeed!
I can so relate to what you say Simon, especially to this: “The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.” It is funny come to think about it – what I thought as ‘me’ time was really disconnection time, so not ‘me time’ at all! Thankfully, with the work of Universal Medicine and the presentations by Serge Benhayon, I also have been able to feel into and implement true ‘me time’, and going to bed early is definitely one of them, as staying up late really has a massive effect the next day.
So simple and clear a wise message of old. Thank you for reminding us of the importance of rhythms and having an early night.
Thanks Simon. It is a timely reminder for me, as I am often in the push to get things done and hence stay up later than I need to. I love how you say you like being a Nanna and putting yourself to bed early. When I do this, it feels really great, so this is something I am going to commit to: me, my body, rhythm and well-being.
I have definitely found that the way I prepare myself to go to bed at an early time and with consistency has been one of my most effective medicines for my body to rejuvenate and feel vital and it does not get better than that. Thanks Simon
Likewise – I wake refreshed, rejuvenated and alive when early to bed and early to rise….when I stay up later and push my body by ignoring the natural signs to rest deeply I wake tired, depleted and feeling at odds with myself and the day.
Yes absolutely. To rest deeply and go to bed early, makes me feel vital and healthy the next day.
Francisco, the word ‘consistency’ is so key in what you say, if I am not consistent with not only going to bed early but taking care in what I do and how I am in the lead up to when I go to bed then it leads to a lesser quality the next day, which tends to filter into a lesser quality the next day and then into a lesser quality the next day…. It is the consistency of loving care at bedtime that allows me to feel full of life and rejuvenated the next day.
Yes it`s so important to look at this in a wider perspective than just to look at one single day. When I stay up late (that means 10pm for me) and – what I still often do – eat or work so late in the evening because my day seemed not to be long enough for me, I feel tired and exhausted when I get up and that affects the whole next day. Then I don`t manage to get everything done what I want and tend to stay up late again and so on…
I absolutely agree Francisco – this is the most effective medicine for the body. There are so many healthy and fit one hit wonders out there all trying to sell the next best thing when it really is as simple as consistently preparing oneself for bed in a caring and nurturing way and going to bed at an early time. Although early in relation to what? For me going to bed by nine isn’t early at all and sometimes I wish I could make it to bed for 7.30pm!
Agreed ladies how we have dishonoured & forgotten the power of this most precious medicine, sleep.
I understand what you mean Francisco when you say it’s medicine to get the body to bed consistently early. Doing that one thing alone can transform your entire life.
Yes Francisco I agree for me it is the same even if some people around me do not really want to understand that this is my effective medicine – I don’t care because an early bed time is for me so much healthier than overriding this inner knowing.
Absolutely Simon and Francisco, sleep before 9pm works for me and has brought a greater awareness of my relationship with my body.
Simon, I love how you express how you get into your pyjamas early and feel all warm and cared for. I sometimes change into my pyjamas as soon as I get home from work, it seems to signal to my body that this is the beginning of my wind down time and to not get distracted by anything too stimulating. Going to bed early for me also allows me time to settle down gently and connect to the stillness which then allows for a deeper sleep.
I too am one who loves to get into my pyjamas when I get home from work, especially in the winter; it is a very deliciously snugly feeling. And like you sandrahenden: “it seems to signal to my body that this is the beginning of my wind down time”, letting my body know that the day is nearly over and that bed time is not far away. Early to bed and early to rise is definitely such an integral part of the way I choose to live.
I agree sandrahenden, this is a beautiful ritual and a very caring and nourishing one.
How lovely that we remember the simple things in life. I have fortunately never lost them growing up, and was never a night owl. I love living with the sun early to rise and early setting down. My family also do the same, still. There is so much to learn from our elders if we so choose to listen.
When I was a child it was early dinner and early to bed every night – the same time every night. I had an active day so I found that I couldn’t stay up late even if I tried. The only distraction was the TV but this was not on all of the time, sometimes I just hung out and played with my sisters. We always knew our bed time and we all stuck to it. I noticed these days there is so much technology now to keep us up late at night and into the small hours. It is not the technology itself as I use it too, it is the way we use it. We haven’t learnt the discipline of looking after ourselves first, taking care of how tired we may be feeling, winding down at night. The whole family unit feels caught up in this distraction and so all of these solid routines, that we perhaps once knew as children, slip and we are lured by the constant distraction of a computer screen instead.
Thank you Simon for this beautiful and inspiring article so true and loving to read and confirms all I feel and know for myself. It feels like such a grace and honouring to care for oneself by going to bed early and waking gently early and with a vitality and clarity to bring to the day.This is not so easy in the world we live in but it really is worth honouring and pays off immensely with a strong rhythm bringing a foundation and way of living of health and presence to our lives.
I believe there is great wisdom in “Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise”.
There is great healing that takes place in the body when we sleep early, our body is much rested and what does not belongs is naturally released from the body. This allows us to be more productive in our working life, bringing in great wealth in what we do. As our bodies are healthier our minds are clearer, more clarity allowing great wisdom and knowledge to come through. When the body is tired, exhausted, unhealthy there is no healthy body and no clarity in the mind, the body is constantly playing catchup.
I love being a Nanna too Simon 🙂 I often have to stay up later than I’d like to because of working shifts, but on the days when I finish in the afternoon, I really look forward to an early night. It’s completely changed my life – from a night owl to a morning lark. Give me the dawn over the midnight hour any day.
Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” for me these words feel what it is to take care of yourself. Wealthy not in the monetary value, but the wealth of your listening to your inner-heart and the wisdom you live.
Agree Gylrae, true wealth that cannot be bought at any price. . . but is free for those who so choose to live a loving way.
Yes, oh so early to bed and early to rise has definitely helped me realise I am healthy, wealthy and wise. I used to fall asleep on the sofa, spend all my money trying to get better and feel better and was definitely none the wiser as to the cause 🙂
I have heard this saying Simon but never heeded it. I was always a late owl, totally ignoring any signals from my body that it was tired. I brought up 5 children and relished that time in the evenings after they had all, finally, gone to sleep. I found a huge resistance to going to bed earlier but now when I do I love the way I feel the next day and the ripple effect of this on those around me. I couldn’t go back to late nights now, my body loves my new rhythm.
Simon what struck me most in the wisdom of your words, was actually the real meaning of ‘wealthy’. It is clear why early to bed makes you healthy, and as you’ve described when you’ve slept well and feel refreshed, it is easy to choose much more self-loving ways to support yourself further, which in my experience also shows a great deal of inherent wisdom. But normally l’ve associated ‘wealthy’ with something financial. What I realise reading your blog again, is that what you have in the quality of life and quality of relationship you then share with all others, by virtue of the love and appreciation for yourself and others, IS the wealth we seek in life. Thank you, a wonderful piece of writing that shares something very profound, through a something so simple as going to bed early!
The key for me getting up early is how I prepare myself for bed and what time I go to bed. I have noticed when I do naturally wake up and get up early I naturally feel stronger in my posture and more focused throughout my day.
I love that you share and express this “I love getting into my cosy pyjamas early and feeling all cosy and warm and cared for as if I was putting myself to bed like a child, even now as a grown man of 40.” It really does feel amazing to read this blog and share in your joy concerning caring for and supporting yourself as a man.
To prepare the body for sleep and go to bed at a time when the body feels ready and in such a way which is self-nurturing really allows my sleep to be more restful and restorative.
To me it makes sense to get up earlier, as this is what I would do when I was really young and then never was one for sleeping in really late and on the rare occasions I did I would always have a thick fuzzy head feeling and then develop a headache which would not shift – so to me sleeping in just isn’t worth it. It’s a toss up between having more energy and feeling bright to feeling drained of energy and feeling grumpy with a headache – I know how I would prefer to spend my weekend.
Reading this again my whole body goes ‘ahhh I love going to sleep early’ and ‘I love being listened to’. Especially lovely to read and be reminded of today, as I have felt really tired and then getting easily irritable. Time to go to bed.
And what is even more extraordinary is that with a lot of younger people it is cool to not only go to bed late but to get up earliest by 11am or noon and feel awful when doing so as if it is proof that their night before was really something or that they are under a lot of pressure or that they haven’t missed out or do you know other ‘reasons’? Talking to young people myself they often say they know that going to bed earlier would be more sensible and some even admit that they feel tired much earlier but ignore these feeling and push past them so that they don’t register feeling tired anymore and can stay up late like everyone else who is probably doing the same thing.
I love this blog Simon, particularly your definition of wisdom, …Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live…” It isn’t knowledge, it isn’t science, but it is true because it just feels right. And so does going to sleep nice and early; it just feels right. Thank you for being a forty year old man of wisdom, substance and humour!
What I find interesting is how older people have a level of wisdom because they have lived their life and come to understand that going to bed early, say, is so much more beneficial than staying up late, doing all-nighters or getting drunk off their face. But why should it take a life time to experiencing these things, to work out at the end of your life, while you live with the consequences of your chosen lifestyle, that they are not sensible, supportive choices to make. And why do we as the younger generation not stop and listen to the life experience, realising we don’t have to make the same mistakes to draw the same conclusions that it doesn’t work.
Good one Rebecca – My grandmother also had a saying “Speak clearly if you speak at all carve each word before you let it fall” This too was enduring wisdom as how often do people fly off the handle, engage in road rage and gestures unbecoming? I am no saint but recognise my grandmother had wisdom far beyond my appreciation at the time. This blog by Simon also confirms that respecting our elders can come in many ways – even if it is realised after their passing.
By being in the Livingness and support of Universal Medicine with Serge Benhayon I have grown more aware of sensible, supporting choices in 2 years than my previous 40!
I agree Andrew – It is amazing the things Universal Medicine has supported people to achieve in short periods of time! I very much look forward to many more years – a whole life time!
There nothing better than a good night sleep, and getting up early feeling sharp and full of beans, I guess I just love being a Nanna too!
I feel amazing when I get to bed early, and wake up early, I get to do so much before I go to work, it feels like I start work at midday! I feel clear all day. If I have a late night I struggle through the day and its not worth it! Thank you Nana Simon
Simon, I just love love love re reading this blog. Each time something else stands out for me. I can relate to the business of life getting in the way of getting into bed at a reasonable hour. It sometimes seems to be a struggle to get everything done that needs to be done in one day. Something that I am working on at the present.
So true Simon about the difference between knowledge and wisdom. With the advent of the internet there seems to be knowledge and facts available at our fingertips. Yet we often seem to be missing the lived experience of this knowledge, that is, the true wisdom.
Spot on Lee, a conversation on the benefits of going to bed early generally take on what this or that study reports, on personal habits and preference, even those who proclaim they are ‘night owls’ or ‘not a morning person’, and terms of that nature. To come back to what the body experiences, few can deny having felt the benefit of an early night, and so imagine the ongoing benefit of one early night after another. That is how we naturally build and maintain vitality and wellbeing… hence the wisdom of the phrase ‘Early to bed, early to rise, makes us healthy, wealthy and wise!’ As Serge Benhayon has been saying for 15 years… if you want to know the truth, ask the body, it never lies!
I thought I was an ‘evening person’. I had always difficulties going to bed early. Imagine I would miss something, a program on the television, the end of a party etc. Now I love going to bed early and you know it was very easy to change my rhythm by acknowledging I was tired around 8 or 9 pm and honouring this feeling in my body is yummy. My day feels complete, I feel complete, so simple.
I was worried about missing out too Annelies, so would stay up and out using lots of sugar to keep me going. One thing I notice now is that if I don’t honour the first call to go to sleep by my body, I run the risk of getting a bit racy, almost like I have needed to produce adrenaline to stay awake. I don’t know if this is what my body has done but it definitely feels like it. I have to wait for the 2nd wave to come. Finding a rhythm that tells my body it is sleep time has helped me adapt to those days when I have to stay awake later for work. So far it has worked well but always a good experiment and I never take my sleep for granted.
That is lovely Simon. We are so used to going to bed late , that it seems so normal. I too had my mind on those late night activities. It is the example I got shown by Serge Benhayon, that made me realize that there is another way to life that is actually not draining or exhausting. As I thought that that was just life. Now, I feel just like you the benefits of going to bed early and waking up early. Exhaustion is no more my number 1 feeling during the day.
I love this Blog Simon, I could read it many times.
Me too Heidi, I feel like I’m back having a sleep over at Grandmas!
Hi Simon,
My Grandmother used to say the same thing, and I loved spending holidays at her place, when yes, we were fed and in our pjs by 6pm and off the bed by 7pm. We were also a family of early risers because we lived on a farm and it was just what you did. As I got older, this changed as it was not the ‘cool’ thing if you went to bed early, and so I just went with this. Several years later, I ‘woke’ up to myself, and now am back like the little girl getting in her pjs and ready for bed at 7, only nowadays as the loving woman, getting in my pjs, and into bed by 9. A gorgeous return to a truly nurturing way of being.
Same here Anna, it was always at my grandparents – they just knew how good it felt to go to bed early and to wake up early. I am so pleased to be back to my wise nana days now.
Very cute Lucy, if this is what nana days look like then bring it on!
Nothing beats a good nights sleep and feeling awesome the next day. And it is accumulative. If I am consistent going to bed early every night, I feel I have more and more energy. I no longer ever need to sleep in and it feels great in my body to honour myself by going to bed early. Love your Grandma’s saying Simon. She was on the money.
This is so true Donna, the accumulation of good sleep is profound and cannot be ‘caught up’ in any other way. The body simply cannot rejuvenate properly with out sleep in the early part of the night, and the consequent fatigue, flatness and debility can only be compensated for by artificially stimulating it with coffee, sugar, stress, positivity, goals and other such ‘motivating’ influences. But the underlying de-vitalisation cannot be hidden ultimately and eventually we ‘run out of steam’.
That is very true Donna and Jenny. I used to get frustrated when I was really tired from endlessly working hard and partying that one good night sleep didn’t mean I could go out and burn the candle at both ends again. We underestimate the drain on our body’s resources with accumulated sleep deprivation. Science is picking up on it now but our bodies have been yelping about it for centuries.
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, this definitely is great wisdom that has been forgotten and buried. I too can relate to what you share, if I am in bed early, I feel completely different, my thinking, my eating, my sleep everything is more supportive for me the next day. When I get caught up in work and go to bed a little later, I can feel it straight away, I feel tired, I end up having some sugary or starchy food and I just feel out of balance, and my sleep feels rushed. There is definitely great wisdom in going to bed early, hoping this becomes the norm across humanity over the years to come.
Great blog Simon, I relate well to all you have said. I also find the quality of the tomorrow is set by how I closed down the day before. I have always enjoyed the stillness of the morning as the world awakes.
When we tend our garden, care for a pet, lavish time on a friendship – difference is evident, a response that speaks loudly. Where we put our time, real quality time – a richness and appreciation blossoms. Is it any different when we take that time and commitment to putting in place things that nurture us? There is wisdom of old that can be lived in the present and what we will find is that our connection to the immense richness of who we are will also blossom.
Simon I love reading your blog. It reconnects me to the looking after myself I felt when I was a child and went to bed early. This is true too now when I am loving with myself and go to bed early. There is a sweetness to this that is so different from staying up ‘past my bedtime.’ Is it no wonder that so much that isn’t loving happens late at night?
When I was a kid we lived in an isolated area with no electricity so we didn’t have the destruction of TV ( haha I see I made a typo there, should be ‘distraction’, but it is probably quite appropriate actually so I will leave it!) until I was a teenager. We would read by lamplight, listen to a story on the radio once a week and get told stories before bed. Bedtime was always early and I distinctly remember my flannelette pyjamas, so cosy as you say Simon. I still love getting into these when I get home from work.
Interesting to read your sharing Simon, of when you stayed at your nanna’s place, had early dinner and early to bed. I can totally relate to that, I experienced it, and my sons were brought up to it. We all had an early dinner, and they were in bed at 7 pm when really young, and 8 pm then, until in the later years of schooling, when they had extra study at night time. They were quite accepting and that is what felt right at the time. They were “bright and bushy-tailed” when they woke. What a shame that has not stayed the ‘normal’, but I feel it slipped partly because both Mum and Dad were working and it became a much later meal, or Mum would keep them up longer so they could see their Dad when he got home late from work. A double-edged sword now, many men do now take much more interest in their children when they come home, whereas if the father worked late in the earlier days, they often missed out on seeing their children when they returned home.
Nothing wrong with ‘being a nanna’ when it has so many benefits and feels so much better the next day; and it knocks out the need for that extra food that is not really needed but that can so easily be consumed when I am actually too tired to keep going but go into pushing myself.
Simon, it has also been my experience that “there is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself”. When I do this, the next day flows lovingly, I feel more lovely, things fall into place, my thoughts are clearer and my interactions with others are a joy! No TV or evening distraction is worth sacrificing this!
The difference I also feel is marked especially when I stay busy until the last minute before bed even if I go to to bed early (compared to the considered normal). It certainly helps but its really only if I am extra loving in my evening, taking time to wind down rather than cram in extra work that the next day I wake feeling refreshed. Yet if I stay up late, caught up worrying then I am exhausted the next day and feel like I’ve had a hangover. I now very much treasure my time in the mornings.
Simon, we grew up similarly but even naturally as a child I have never been able to stay up late and would be the one who was in bed before the others. I can really relate to that cozy pyjama feeling when I take the time to prepare myself for bed and then waking up with that same warmth inside, feeling fresh and ready for my day! There is definitely something in It!
Going early to bed is a beautiful, very honouring, present one gives to self. It creates a series of positive ripple effects that help us along the way. It is a little momentum that we create for ourselves that is there to support our livingness.
Yes emfeldman, and so too does the ripple affect work in the opposite way if we stay up later and later. I have watched my son learn for himself that going to bed late throws his mornings out completely when he has to get up for school and then affects the rest of his day and week. He is now more than happy to get into bed at 7.30pm where he resisted this for years. No amount of me enforcing or encouraging has been as effective as his own learning and feeling it for himself (once I let go a bit of course). Now he chooses early to bed…feels like a miracle really:)
How beautifully expressed emfeldman, yes it is indeed very honouring and a gift to oneself that is truly nourishing.
Yes Simon it is as you say “simply beauty,” in the way we can live and care for ourselves every moment of the day. It can truly make a considerable difference to our lives and in such simple loving steps available to everyone universally so.
It is amazing how much energy we can have just by going to bed early…having done this for several years now I’m finding I wake earlier, and have time to do what is there to be done in the mornings – there is no rush, and this rhythm continues throughout my day. I’m not exhausted at the end of the day either, and rest well in the night refreshed in the morning to do it all again! It is a constant nurturing cycle, and the ‘me-time’ I thought I had to have just isn’t needed.
It’s lovely to go to sleep at the end of a great day. It feels complete, no need to stay up late and ‘make up’ for lost time to be with ourselves – for we can be with ourselves during the day also. But if we get lost in conversation and distractions, driving our way through the day, running through endless lists and tasks then we find we need some sort of release at the end of the day.
How easily we learn to ignore the wisdom of such timeless sayings. “An hour’s sleep before nine is two in time.”
I love it Adam, and yes it’s very true. The rare opportunities I get to put myself to bed super early always feel like a real gift to myself and I feel very nourished when I awake in the morning.
I’ve not heard that saying before Adam, but it makes a lot of sense – and I certainly feel the difference in my body when I follow the body’s calling to practice early to bed early to rise etc. – I feel more abe to attend to all that is required of a morning when the body is refreshed and revitalized from a good night’s sleep.
Wanting to have “me-time” after a day of seemingly “not-me-time” was very strong for me and I know that to be similar for others – wanting to make up for what has been missing although most of the then chosen activities don´t deliver what is longed for but keep one still empty and more tired. The more I appreciate that resting time and sleep are not a waste of me-time or an interruption of the daily activity but as well a quality providing activity (true me-time if chosen in the right attitude and quality) the more I enjoy and make use of sleep as part of my daily rhythm. The way I live my day affects my sleep and vice versa – they are not 2 separate halfs but one day.
Its such an important factor, how much consideration is given to when and how I put myself to bed, yet also one I do tend to neglect. I know the times I have taken more care with this I always feel more refreshed and energised the next day. Great to read your take on this Simon, your writing makes a lot of sense to me.
Thanks for your amazing blog Simon, I can relate to everything that you are saying. I work in an IT department and every week some deadlines have to be met. In the past I got easily caught up in the “doing”, I lost myself. Slowly, slowly – I get a feeling, what it really means, to be connected to myself and to nuture myself.
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer.” Yes Simon, I so agree. I wake refreshed and alert ready to start my day – and there is so much time in the mornings to do what needs to be done.
The truth of this is in experiencing the effect of committing to this over time despite having to turn around long held patterns. My whole life I lived as a night owl, probably starting in my childhood as the youngest child by 7 years, wanting to have the privileges of my older siblings by staying up late. Then the drive for excellence in the last years of school led me to all nighters and plenty of coffee. This continued into University along with all night dance parties! I lived with a complete disregard to daily rhythm and wondered why I found it hard to rise early to do yoga practice in my twenties. It certainly didn’t support the requirements of being a health practitioner and running a business, nor being a mother and providing routine for my baby. I have heartfelt thanks to Serge Benhayon for offering this simple wisdom to which I have committed over the last 4 years. Like Simon, I simply wake with more capacity for my day and this is something to be truly celebrated.
When I had a young baby, I would continue to stay up after she was put to sleep for the night. I liked the quiet of the house and felt relieved for the ‘me-time’ I was getting. Over time though, I realised there is nothing better than the quiet in the wee hours of the morning, especially after having gone to bed nice and early. Those few hours I got to myself at night pales in comparison to what I got in the early morning, because I wasn’t tired in the mornings. They were even more special because I didn’t need toothpicks to hold my eyelids open!
Another bonus was I ate less throughout the day, because I was overall less tired and therefore not searching for energy from foods as much.
I can so remember doing this and how it felt. I would be exhausted from my day but thought I had extra energy to do things once the children went to bed. It just seems crazy looking back on it now, walking around like a zombie folding clothes, putting toys away etc and then waking up tired to another full day. At the time though I thought I so needed to get everything done to be a good Mum. Now I go to bed hours earlier than those days, sometimes later than I feel to but with so much more regard. And like you Suzanne I love my early mornings!
I have been noticing that how I wake up and my very first choices for the day are also key in holding a steady rhythm during the day.
I agree Vicky, I experience the same. If I don’t take the time and space to connect to myself, when I wake up, I’m immediately in the DOING and I have lost the connection to myself.
So true. I can wake up feeling so light and lovely, but if I fall into worrying about the day or what I have to do, that is instantly gone and my nervous system kicks in. I am learning to be much more respectful of the way I move and am in the early morning.
This has been my experience also. If I jump straight out of bed and go into the doing I end up with this busyness and momentum throughout the day. However, if I take the time to connect to how I am feeling first, this helps establish a rhythm, flow and connection throughout my day.
So true alexander1207 and Vicky – after waking up if I immediately rush and get caught in the “doing list”- I am in my head and in nervous energy and have lost the beautiful, warm, loving, tender connection with myself.
Definitely Vicky. As I wake and get out of bed, I’ve been practicing simple body connection. Just feeling, as my feet touch the floor, putting on a warm pair of socks and feeling my body with all its movements. This supports the rest of the day as the imprint was marked in my body from the first activity of getting out of bed – its beginning with a quality of connection.
Yes I agree with what you guys have shared. Taking the time in the morning upon first waking to connect to my body and my breath, offers me the choice to start the day being with me. I always allow at least a few minutes if I have set my alarm for “connection to me time”.
Matthew, this feels like such a lovely thing to do in the morning when you get out of bed,and as I put myself to sleep I look forward to trying when I rise tomorrow. Thank you.
Back home when I was young we used to call this ‘going to bed with the chickens’ because they do retire early. I love the early mornings when everything around is quiet and I can prepare for the day without rush but with care and love.
It makes indeed a lot of sense for me, the way I wake when winding down before going to bed and sleep early in the evening is so much better than sleeping late in the evening with all kind of busyness around.
I have been amazed at what I have been able to do by making the choice to listen to and honor my body and I still have a way to go in developing this.
I am starting to really appreciate the time that I sleep. It is a delicious moment to spend with me.
I used to totally under estimate the power of the cycles and the quality that each of them bring. I still feel like that I am just starting to understand them. The more I listen to my body and the cycles that it naturally wants to impulse to I can see how much it is naturally designed to be one, with natures cycles too. I am loving this process of discovery and honouring of what my body knows and is asking for.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” – I started going to bed early a few years ago. I feel like an even earlier night would benefit me further, but I haven’t got around to implementing it yet.
Amazing how your Grandmother had a natural relationship with this simple and self-caring act of going to bed early and rising early, and that we are actually all returning to living such simplicity again.
‘I love getting into my cosy pyjamas early and feeling all cosy and warm and cared for as if I was putting myself to bed like a child, even now as a grown man of 40.’
I do too Simon, I feel like I am saying no to the pressures of the world and saying a big yes to myself when I do this.
Now the summer started where I live, and the whole city is one big terrace where people sit outside and drink till late in the evening. But I walk by and don’t have any desire to join and sit in the lovely evening breeze. I look forward to repose my body and start a new day fresh.
“But I walk by and don’t have any desire to join and sit in the lovely evening breeze. I look forward to repose my body and start a new day fresh.” – So inspiring delorme2013d.
I’ve been hitting the hay between 8.30 and 9pm and rising between 2.30 and 4.30am for many years now, I have nailed healthy and I am wiser, but still waiting on the wealth which just doesn’t seem to be happening for me. Anymore gems from grandma that may assist me in this area?
I love Grandma’s saying – ‘Early to bed, Early to rise makes us healthy, wealthy and wise’. The truth was felt way back and acted on, and the excuses of the Modern World and business are only delays to returning to the connection within that brings the true ‘Way of the Livingness”. In Appreciation of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
What I am going to try is to go to bed early and see if I win in the lottery. Just kidding. I definitely am much wealthier since I go to bed early. And this is qualitatively and financially so!
It’s funny because I know a few folk who end up nodding off in front of the TV between 8.30 – 10.00pm anyway. It’s like their bodies are saying “look buddy, Im tired – you may want to watch TV but I can’t”. Instead of listening to our bodies we can sometimes override what they are saying with old habits and patterns.
Thank you and yes, the simple beauty of living life simply and beautifully is a hallmark of what Serge Benhayon presents.
This is such a great point Simon. “[Quality of sleep] actually effects how I think. What I think – what thoughts about myself and others I allow in my head.” We very rarely make the connection between sleep and our thoughts. Yet it is obvious really, when we are tired we are more irritable and cranky and more likely to have negative and critical thoughts. This would make a great study; How the quality of our sleep impacts on our moods and thoughts.
As a parent of 3 young children I would crave this so called “Me time” – put the kids to bed and then eek out some hours for myself at the end of the day. As you say Simon the impact of this choice on my ensuing sleep, my body, my thoughts, kept me in a cycle of exhaustion for many years. With the support of Universal Medicine I was able to halt this disregarding pattern, take myself to bed earlier with the same loving care I had for my children. Very quickly I began to revitalise my body, the impact of such a simple change to my daily rhythm was huge.
The wisdom of the body has been speaking loudly for a long time, Simon, it appears from even when your grandmother was a little girl. I love the rhythm of early to bed and early to rise as it really supports me, supports my body and supports others in my life. Thanks for the reminder.
I have always loved getting up early and naturally went to bed around 9pm. I would get up at four, walk through the forest, do my exercise and have a swim in the sea and get home as my partner was waking up. It was not so easy as an ‘early bird’ living with a ‘night owl‘ so I tried to change my rhythm to be in sync with his. I couldn’t believe how hard it was and I had to force myself to adopt this rhythm. I felt so heavy and tired and started to get quite run down so I went back to my natural rhythm. Eventually he started to get up earlier and found that he had much more energy in the day and was naturally tired enough to go to bed early too.
As a kid I remember this saying … and wondered how on earth going to bed early made you wealthy or wise? On reflection now I get that wealth is not merely $$ but a wealth of life-force, and wisdom stems from the way we live and not learned by rote! Thanks Simon
Me too Helen. I remember feeling like I missed out on so much when I slept – now I know I get so much from a good sleep. And I do wake up much wiser and wealthier – wealthier as you say in energy. In fact abundantly so until it is time to sleep again.
With a sleeping rhythm early sleep, early up, I am stronger and get less easy caught by emotions.
I agree with Grandma’s adage. I used to think I functioned better at night, but since being in bed early and waking up early over the last 5-6 years, I’ve realised that the level of my functioning has been more sustainable throughout the day.
People are quite surprised when I say my body prefers me to go to bed before 9pm. It feels to me that a lot of ‘resistance’ to going to bed early comes from it being held as a childhood punishment.
I am grateful that being around UniMed students and going on courses/retreats has given me the experience of changing my hours of sleep to the extent where now the next day it feels like my body is being punished if I didn’t go to bed early.
I like how wealth in this instance is related to an abundance of vitality.
Spot on Shami. I used to believe that I needed 8 hours sleep at least to function through the day. For the last 10 years, I have been going to bed early and rising early and I have more vitality at 72 than I did at 52 and on average I sleep for 5 hours or whatever time my body needs that night.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.”
You are so right Simon especially about the sleep making such a big difference.
I have tried everything and anything and have a body of lived experience which has told me time and time again it simply does not work to push the body when it needs sleep.
Getting to bed early is the recipe for me now and getting to bed super early if I feel extra tired or have overdone it during my days work – always. I used to be embarrassed talking to others about how early I go to bed but now I love sharing as the quality in my bright eyes and glowing skin confirms that good quality sleep actually works.
Your nanna was definitely onto something with this saying. Going to bed at a time that I feel to (generally around 8:30-9) rather than staying up to watch that movie or as I used to stay up till 11, sometimes 1am for an online event in my gaming days has had a huge impact on my life. What I would say has helped the most was being willing to give it a go rather than holding onto those needs to be sociable or to ‘unwind’ from a long day with a film. Because I wake up in a brighter quality when I have had a decent night’s rest. Which is contributed like you say Simon by 1. the time I go, as in when I start to feel tired and 2. how I go to bed, riled up, worried or prepared just like I would prepare myself for work with a coat and my lunch – do I have everything for my sleep? Early to bed has set a marker for me in the sense that I feel much better having done so compared to that supposed only way to ‘relax’ with social events, gaming and TV which result in feeling even duller and drained. The quality of the end result is stark and by choosing to give it a go I have been open to a choice in how I want to feel and that I can change how I feel during my day which affects my night which goes around in circles.
Thanks Simon , I too enjoy the early to bed and use routine as it makes me feel full of life and able to cope with the busy lives that I and many others lead
I remember my second to last summer before school was out forever and real life was waiting for us to embrace it… I remember only seeing sun rises for three months, because of all the things that had occupied my evening activities in my youth and later years. I have out grown the need and is no longer part of my life. Now, in the summer time I’m asleep by the time the sun sets and been up for an hour before it rises. I love the morning and the stillness of the world… it sets me for the day.
I have recently got rid of my TV and my life is so much better. Instead of starring at the screen and looking at the clock as to when to go to bed my body tells me its bed time and with out the TV distraction I pick up on it. Off to bed I go now, it’s late.
I have also witnessed how distinctly different I am in all ways now I am choosing to go to bed early. It truly does change the quality of the day ahead and how we eat, think, speak, interact and are with ourselves and others.
I remember when I use to go camping I was very connected to the natural rhythm of nature… Sunrise and sunsets… When we take away all the distractions and stimulation our bodies seem to adjust to a natural rhythm that the body loves. Not that we need to go camping to feel this, we can simply honour and stay connected to the rhythm within our bodies.
So true Simon, there is much that our forebears have lived and know is true that we can bring to this ‘modern world’ that will truly support us all.
When I look back at the nights of endless sleep, the dragging out of bed and the late starts and the chronic medical conditions I had – then compare this to my ever expanding relationship with sleep, with resting and honouring my body I find I more often than not I wake up feeling more refreshed, alive and ready for the day ahead. Certainly makes me healthy, wealthy and wise. And I am also finding the wealth is in the quality of my self and my relationships first and foremost.
Simon, “early to bed, early to rise” is indeed “something that carries wisdom of old”. For the last 15 years it is something that I know to be true because I started to live that and found it to have an effect on the way I live. This did not happen overnight, it took many years before my body adjusted to less sleep. It was not until I met Serge Benhayon and attended his presentations that I became aware that the quality of my sleep was a consequence of how I lived my day. Once I started to make different, more self-loving choices during the day, my need to sleep for 7 or 8 hours fell away and I would wake up refreshed after 5 hours sleep. Every day is different so I never use an alarm clock but instead let my body decide how long it needs each night.
Giving myself permission to go to bed early, or whenever my body calls for it has been the greatest gift. I love the clarity of early morning time, still and beautiful.
I love what you write about wisdom that it is something that is known to be true because it has been lived. What a difference with knowledge, a difference between felt in the body or made up by our mind. There is such a power in wisdom and we can all feel it.
I used to be a night owl and loathed getting up in the mornings. Now I am a lark rising before the sun and loving it. What a turn around, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Grandma’s adage has the ring of true wisdom to me.
Jeanette It brings a smile to my face that you rise with the larks. I love dawn with the kookaburras; to hear them laughing when greeting the new day always brings me to smiles. When I hear them laughing through the day it is always a confirmation to keep the joy and purpose. If we could bottle kookaburra’s laughing perhaps caffeine wouldn’t be quite so needed?
Love it Sandra! Let’s go to the cafe this morning and have an earful of kookaburras. Sheer magic everywhere!
That is gorgeous Sandra, when I lived in Australia that was my favorite thing, night and morning, kookaburra’s laughing, in the distance and often times right beside me. They certainly brought smiles and joy.
The power of sleep and how it affects us is an unknown to the majority of society. Most people don’t go to bed unless they are tired as I used to because I thought bed time was the end of the day. We can argue whether it is the start of the day or the end of the day but in the end it doesn’t matter because really we are still in the 24 hour cycle of a day and every moment has an effect on the next which has an effect on the next and so on. So taking that time to cherish yourself in each moment will be mighty beneficial to your health and well being.
You make a great point tonysteenson. Is going to bed actually the start of my next day?
Is Monday the start of the week? These questions when actually deeply considered are ridiculous in themselves as there is no start and no end, they are like a wheel going round and round and for it to run smoothly there should be no flat spots.
Or does what I do today effect me tomorrow? I can clearly say yes. My body feels today what I did yesterday.
It’s great to look at a day in a 24 hour cycle, with our sleep being an integral part. As you say Tony, cherishing ourselves in every moment is very beneficial for our health, and once I started including my sleep rhythms as part of addressing my overall wellbeing, my health and energy levels improved dramatically. Night owl turned to early to bed owl! My body loves me for it.
Seeing the end of the day as the beginning of the next has been a huge change of mindset for me. No putting the day or the week or the year behind me (as in gone, over, finished!) but actually taking it with me to the next …. what a revelation!
Yes, it blows the “what’s in the past, stay’s in the past” theory out of the water.
I used to feel I was missing out by going to bed early, I was always looking outside for the next party and possibility meeting a new woman.
It’s been and still is amazing to choose me, my body and the simple joy of putting myself to bed early.
Instead of missing out we are giving ourselves such a great present when we adhere to the rhythms of our body, the vehicle of expression that needs to be in a perfect state every day to support us in our unique and joyful expression. We get the present of having a body that is supportive to our way of expressing the truth into the world. Truth in expression, in a healthy and supportive body that completely represents this truth, is so needed in our nowadays society.
Yes, going to bed early in a nurturing way, and honouring the natural tiredness that my body is in, allows for me to wake up early, more refreshed, and feel “yummy” in my body.
I agree Loretta, to wake up feeling yummy is so worth choosing what I do and how I do it in the early hours of the evening before I go to bed. I read that dimming the lights a period of time before sleep is helpful to wind down.
i love how in every language the old saying and rhymes can hold so much wisdom. After realising this i often think twice about what is actually being said.
Feeling into that rhythm and learning to self honour is such a key to building self care, self nurturing and self worth. This is something that i find a challenge and always have, doing it for a while is easy, but keeping a consistency is and has been hard. I find it is an incredible marker for when i am not honouring that rhythm, when feeling tired to actually go to bed. But choosing to be love when i haven’t chosen my rhythm is equally as important to apply to myself. As there is not perfection in what we do, so a grand lesson to be loving with myself all the same.
Our bodies do know its natural rhythm and when we are open to it, life in all its constellations will support us in carrying it out–the constellations could be from a grandma’s piece of wisdom we have learned and experienced as a child, it may be from a reflection from someone when we are grown up, it may be from a lifestyle change due to the requirements for work or school etc, but life will support us in having these opportunities to return to the body’s natural wisdom–and the choice is ours to take or ignore.
I so much enjoyed going to bed really early yesterday. My body was asking for it and to just honor that, is an absolute joy. I bring that joy into my day today, as I went to bed with it, I woke up with it as well..
I just adore the catchy phrase from your Grandmother Simon. It feels deeply nourishing to live this way. There is a lot of power in honouring our bodies.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference” is so true Simon. It can be very easy to either overlook the simple practical things or put them off until tomorrow – which never comes. How much more could we deepen our level of self-nurturing if we were constantly aware to give attention to the simple practical things that we have yet to try for ourselves!
How true Anne. We usually ignore or delay putting into practice the simple wisdom of life available to all, until some kind of stop or disaster hits us. We often know things but until we live them they remain as ‘nice words’ or ’empty wisdom.’
I love going to bed early and find that it truly supports me for the day ahead. I now value way too much feeling great throughout the day to even want to stay up late anymore. Even if I have a party or social occasion, I am happy to leave and be home in bed early because feeling my connection with me the next day far outweighs the extra hour or so of socialising.
The body is so clever as we create a rhythm to sleep earlier the body is realy supportive. I find that if during this rhythum I have to work later at night my body starts to get tired, if I am tired I tend to choose sugary, starchy junk foods.
Me too, have the same !
So very true Amita, it is so important to honour that initial feeling when you first feel tired, I find that if I ignore that and stay up later than that time, my body wakes up again, feeling my nervous system and adrenals needing to kick in to keep me up. I am becoming more aware of this, honouring some times, not always, but certainly bringing more love to myself, so the consistency can develop and unfold.
I have found that also Amita – that if I stay up later than my actual body rhythm is alerting me to, I suddenly think I need something to snack on – crazy isn’t it.
I have always been an early bird, and “The early bird catches the worm”.
I also always loved the early morning hours, Nick, not to catch a worm though but to catch the sunrise or the first birds singing. Having late nights or indulging in food or alcohol it wasn’t always easy to get up. With a rhythm of early to bed and early rise I am up way before the birds and enjoy this time being creative. And I am vital and energetic the whole day.
What you have shared here Simon, seems to be a more natural rhythm one or two generations ago. I can remember that my grandmother also got up early as well as my mother. They always shared that in these morning hours they were able to get a lot done.
I remember waking up once as a child at 3:15am and it felt natural to get up but that woke up my father who told me to go back to bed. I didn’t start going to bed early until my late 40s again even though that is one of the best things in my life.
Among many other advantages it allows me to sleep longer when there is lot to process so I don’t get exhausted even during times of great change.
Funny you mention this Christoph, I too was chastised for getting up early. I do recall how alive and well I felt and how it felt pretty horrible to lay in bed wanting to get up. Worse than being chastised was how I did not honour that natural vitality and tried for my families’ sake to go back to sleep.
Christoph, this makes me wonder how many of us have a sleep pattern that is dictated to us not by the impulse of our body but by that of another, a parent or partner, or from the societal norms that we conform to. I know how much more energised I am now I get up what would be considered really really early, and I know how I find I just can’t and don’t want to stay up late anymore.
After 7 years of going to bed early and getting up early I now find that even if I have a late night due to work I find that I am still wide awake very early. My body knows it wants to stay in its rhythm.
It is true Rebecca and the body feels supported in this rhythm.
I agree Rebecca. Our body knows what’s right for it – and sticks to its rhythm.
Yes, this happens to me too, the body is so wise
I am discovering that my relationship with sleep is very much determined by my relationship with myself during the day, so, how much I care give or not for my body and my self as a person all has an effect on how well I am able to rest.
Imagine if the whole world had a major tun-around and heeded the early to bed early to rise thing, this in itself would make the world a better place with less tired stressed out people.
If we all understood the power of the sleep we have in the early hours of the night (at least 3-4 hr before midnight) then I know everyone would go to bed much earlier. It’s something that would be great to teach in primary school – worth more than times tables.
Totally agree – every child should have a chance to consider the healthy option of those earlier hours of sleep!
I know and it’s crazy to realise how much parents dictate the routines or rhythms that a child will grow up with, so we grow up thinking normal is late. Even though my parents made me go to bed early, they stayed up late, sometimes past midnight, so I thought this was normal and what you did once you became an adult. When I was then older I tried if for a few months and hated it, because I was so tired at school and for my sport. So I guess at the end of the day our body tells us the truth, if we listen.
Beautiful to re-read this blog Simon full of the precious wisdom of your grandmother and a few more of us who have relished in the rediscovery of snuggling up in bed early to awaken truly full of beans early in the morning. Everything you share here about the vitality and clarity you feel during the day I can absolutely relate to in my own life.
I love going to bed early, it always makes me feel so special and worth being cared for.
As much as I love catching up with friends, I’m always very happy when it’s a breakfast or a lunch at the weekend rather than a dinner. I am so used to my early bedtime, having a late night now really throws out my rhythm! It amazes me that I used to do this all the time, go to bed late. It feels so different now, waking up early, feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. Love it.
My experience has been very similar in that with a deeply restful sleep, waking up early I have discovered a far greater level of clarity and space within my day. This means I can work hard but not be caught as often in the spin of issues that arise. From a young age and before meeting Serge Benhayon I was not knowing how to handle life and would lay awake restless to the wee hours then have to get up for school – no wonder I was irritated and couldn’t focus in the classroom. A true blessing and miracle to have a very different relationship with sleep.
How wise your grandmother was Simon. What I find interesting is how your day plays out differently if you have stayed up late to watch the TV or sat at the computer. It makes sense that if we are too stimulated before we go to bed, then wouldn’t that affect the quality of our sleep and then affect how we are during the following day – like burning the candle at both ends.
And Simon, imagine being a musician and getting together with other musicians and practising at 5.30 am in the MORNING… unheard of! … What sort of musicians would be doing that… ? MWLT’s … that is …Musicians Who Love Themselves… that’s who…☺
You’re so right about that tendency to ditch the true, lived wisdom of the elderly and the wise in favour of a contemporary frolic of our own. There is so much wisdom out there, lovingly given, that we dismiss, discard and override when in fact even a light trialling would go a long way to enhancing the quality of our lives.
Beautiful post Simon, thank you. I too have found the truth in this sentence “The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.” I used to live my life the other way round, staying up late into the wee hours. Now I get my head down early and wake up in the wee hours and I feel so much better for doing so, nothing will entice me back to my old habits. These old sayings are like wise heirlooms handed down from generation to generation and it all it took was one man who had decided to actively live them in his daily life to inspire so many to also pick up these wisdoms and make them part of their daily expression too, with astounding results. Feeling the true benefits of early to bed does bring a wealth of health and wisdom and is an expression well worth taking notice of.
Where I live, most people do not get off work until 8 or 9pm, by the time they have dinner and reach home, it may be midnight. The time they usually head to bed maybe 3-4am.
We may have wealth, but do we have health and wisdom?
Thank you Simon for sharing the wisdom of Nanna.
A timeless blog Simon, it will never go out of fashion. Speaking of that, I think I’m up for an early night! Lately I have been going to bed much later than usual, and have been wondering why I have been waking up tired and much later as well. But last night I went to bed at 9, I planned on having an early night ( 8 is an early night for me) but didn’t make it until 9. Surprisingly I woke up at 3am… I didn’t know what to do with myself. The quality of the sleep was magnificent and it made a huge difference to how I felt the next morning. Yay I think your Grandma was onto something here 😀
I find that it is very empowering to wake early. I find that sleeping in already puts a damp in my day. I can recover from this however it is not the best start I know I can have.
What I have found is that if I stay up late, which is very rare these days, the next day just doesn’t flow – the knock on effect really shows itself and I feel all out of sorts and I have to then work at getting back into my rhythm.
I never used to give the quality of my sleep much thought and would carry on regardless without asking myself ‘what’s going on’ but now I have experienced some great sleeps and feel refreshed, I want more nights like that instead of what I am used to and waking up exhausted.
So true Sandra. We have taken the simple things out of our lives and made them complicated when they don’t have to be.
To think that so much good stuff happens when you get to bed at a decent time, makes me wonder why you wouldn’t just go to bed (at that decent time). We all know this one: “It actually effects how I think. What I think – what thoughts about myself and others I allow in my head.” So really, it’s no small matter worth glossing over. Thanks Simon.
It’s so great after years of not facing the fact I was totally a morning person to fully embrace the fact I am. I am writing this comment at night because I am away and am finding it a bit of a struggle, but when I do them first thing in the morning its a real doddle.
In my twenties, having escaped from home and going to bed early, I started to go out in the evenings and “have a good time”, This probably involved alcohol, not much– as I did not like it anyway. I felt I needed to join in to be appreciated. I was certainly not fit for work the next morning, and always tired, and know I never really gave my best attention to the job. This became a pattern that built up an exhaustion in my body so that it started to malfunction in many ways. It was crying out to me to stop, and forced me to several times. I never learned the lesson till now, always going back to the same pattern. But now, now I know and can feel the difference when I lovingly put myself to bed by 9pm, I am learning a whole new rhythm of living that supports my body and gives me vitality. I recommend anyone trying it for a month and feel the difference.
I love this blog so much Simon. It brings such a joy to me each time I think of the beautiful honouring I get of myself in going to bed early and it being my normal loving way of living and this is something I really treasure. Thank you.
Trying to be cool, I fought my natural rhythm and did the whole late night thing in my teens and twenties.
My body has been rejoicing ever since I returned to a sleep rhythm I had very naturally as a child. My early mornings then were sacred times and that is now my everyday.
As I was reading this blog I was thinking what a awesome man, I love the simplicity and deep connection in the way he writes, I started thinking I want to meet this guy… then at the very end I realise it is my beautiful brother in law!!
I am totally with you on this one Simon, it has been a drawn out process for me and what felt like giving up my precious chilled kid free night time hours ended up being a gaining of quality of life (like you mention) but also an actual gaining of more free time. I get up earlier than I ever thought possible and in those hours I am fresher and more able to get things done that are important to me when at night I used to just kick around watching TV.
I have commented on this thread before, but wanted to share how refined our relationship with sleep and time can become. Some nights I am tired and some I am not. When I am tired, going to bed just half an hour earlier than usual can make all the difference in the world to how I feel the next day.
Yes Simon well said, it’s amazing how much of a difference it makes putting myself to bed early on what sort of a day I have the next day.
So simple and a very effective way to change the momentum of the way we all used to live.
Thank you Simon for your prospect, on this self loving act.
Love your blog, Simon, I couldn’t agree more. I love going to bed early too, – always have. It is indeed something to consider, when our rhythm affects our thoughts, and everything else, like the way you describe. It’s a big ‘ouch’ knowing that absolutely everything in our rhythm is interrelated. Great inspiration, thank you.
It’s interesting how going to bed at 9pm is seen as ‘going to bed early’ – it suggests that there is a ‘normal’ bed time and anything outside of this is ‘early or late’. It feels loaded with a feeling of ‘missing out’ – i.e. going to bed early means you can’t do certain things, and that isn’t just true, as many of us now experience by needing less sleep, and having loads more time in the morning to work on personal projects, do chores, exercise, etc.
It really is the simple things in life that bring the biggest changes. Going to bed early and waking up early as a consequence has really changed my life and finally established a rhythm of sleep that feels supportive and reenergizing instead of constant exhaustion.
What I also love about this blog is it reminds me of an era when life was much more simple, a way I feel we could all return to.
Oh yes Gyl, I too get that feeling of a simpler life with ‘early to bed, early to rise’ – that sense of a rhythm, of solidity, confidence, and yes, say it again, simplicity! Our Future.
True Gyl. That simplicity feels so joy-full to me. How complicated we have made life – unnecessarily so.
“Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise” this just makes me smile with joy, as my whole body agrees and knows it is true.
I agree Simon, the simple practice things do and can make a big difference.
Love the power and simplicity of this blog – there is so much wisdom in this saying and living it feels such a true way of being. Awesome sharing Simon.
Lovely to re-read your blog again Simon, and I love how you point out that staying up late and not getting enough sleep affects your day, affects all of you. I have found this to be true, and now my body tells me clearly when it is time to go to bed, my eyes start to nip, and the only place I want to be is tucked up cozy in bed!
It’s crazy I always felt tired after a certain time at night but would soon fix that with a cup of coffee and something sweet and then stay up late thinking it was my time like it was good for me. These days it is definitely early to bed early to rise and I love it.
A simple blog with so much truth. It is amazing what a difference going to bed before nine and getting up really early, even if it’s as late as five ( I never thought I would hear myself say that) makes to the quality of our lives.
This is so true and a constant marker of where and how we are living, if I just go a few nights going to bed later than my body feels to, it impacts my entire day the next day and how I am in the world. So honouring that for myself is super important, but with no perfection.
I can really relate to this motto – when I follow this, I feel such a difference to the lethargy I wake up with if I am late to bed and late to rise
For me, the rhythm of going to bed early and then waking early, feeling refreshed and enjoying that sense of space in my day with hours still ahead of me before I go to work is gorgeous. What a great way to begin each day!
I love this too jane176, with going to bed early I wake before the alarm and enjoy 3 sometimes 4 hours to myself before I go to work, it is a great way to start the day.
I agree Jane – going to bed early, waking up early and having the space in the morning to get ready with lots of time leaves me feeling refreshed and ready for my day.
I agree Jane, the feeling of having my jobs done before the world gets up is very empowering. I find that going to bed early and waking up early, my thoughts are a lot clearer and therefore my choices will reflect that.
This magic formula of honouring our cycles and listening to the body is super confirming of who we are and where we come from.
Our body sure tells us when it’s tired and time to go to bed, when I honour it, the next day the body has more energy and vitality if I ignore it, I feel so tired.
This is true Amita, our body tells us and it is up to us to respond to what we feel. I also like to think of my day starting the night before knowing that how I sleep is going to affect the quality of my next day. And of course this is accumulative. Mostly now I am in a rhythm where I sleep really well during the night, I go to bed early and get up early. I love feeling revitalised and refreshed for each day. This is a far cry from how I use to be needing sugar and caffeine to get through the day.
Such a simple truth, so widespread with this old saying – and yet so rarely lived.
Adapting my life to this rhythm has been life changing for me. I always was the one to be up very late and tired in the morning regardless of how many hours of sleep I would get.
Now I am usually awake before the alarm and feel truly re-energized.
I love the early mornings. I find it a great time to work on my expression and this really helps set the day off well.
I’m with you 100% there Richard, as soon as I wake I’m on my laptop, I make it my first commitment to my expression, and WOW it certainly does set me up for the day in a joyful way and I feel a great healing from it. If my comments flow it eradicates any self doubt I may have and leaves me with a feeling of more confidence in myself.
Beautifully expressed Simon. Such a simple thing you have presented here but one with such a powerful effect. I too have tried this, kind of re-introduced it. For I also loved going to bed early when I was younger as I loved getting up early to experience the stillness of the day emerging. Your Grandma’s saying feels like wisdom shared to me. I have felt this to be true for me and as you have said wisdom is ‘Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.’ Thank you for sharing your wisdom of a tried and true simple practice of ‘Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.’
I can definitely agree with your words Carola Woods, and having lived this way also for a while now I have found this to be absolutely true. Early to Bed, Early to Rise is my way in this world.
Listening to our bodies is an amazing gift that has been presented to us so lovingly by Serge Benhayon to really feel and live by. Early bed, living responsibly, lovingly being with ourselves and everyone is all part of this gift. An amazing way to live which allows a health and vitality and early bedtime is the start to evolving this. Beautifully put Simon.
Indeed Tricia, this gift is invaluable as it allows me to enjoy a level of vitality, clarity and love I never imagined .
What a truly wonderful gift this is too. All the things we can do to take great care of ourselves come in one complete package, something we can dip into all of the time and take out what we need at any given moment, whether it be looking at our eating habits or our emotional reactions or our sleep patterns. Considering we spend a great deal of our lives asleep, the importance of sleep cannot be underestimated. As the quality of our sleep affects our day and the quality of our day affects our sleep.
Hence the saying ‘early to bed, early to rise, makse the man health, wealthy and wise’…
Not too sure about the wealthy part though but the premise is sound!
I have always loved to go to bed early. For me 10pm was already a bit late. When I was in relationships I would adjust my sleeping rhythm a bit so my partner and I could spend some time together after a day’s work. Usually this meant watching tv together with little to no true connection between us. When I would choose to follow my own rhythm and go to bed early, I often felt a bit guilty. Funny if you think of it. I am done holding back as to why I choose to live a more natural rhythm and go to bed early. I can feel the great benefit of doing so, your grandmother was right: “early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise!!”
Absolutely. I too have always naturally gone to bed early. For me eight thirty was the time i noticed as I was a young adult that I just couldn’t function after that time. I also knew that there was a lot of catch up to follow late nights as well as the affect my body had to live with the next day.
When I tell people that I go to bed between 8pm and 9pm they always look at me strangely and all think that I am losing out on life, the good stuff. I have always honoured that my body loves to sleep at an early hour, always preferred to be in bed before 10pm. Now I know why and as you describe Simon, I am very aware of the great benefit living according to this natural rhythm is bringing me.
Knowing my body is replenishing, is the gift of going to bed when the body signals me to do so.
How beautifully said Kehinde, like our sleep being our fuelling stop to start each day.
Strange isn’t it katinkadelannoy, that since the onset of electricity people’s rhythms are all out of kilter. Surely there must have been a time in our history when it was the natural thing to do to go to bed with the sun, and rise with the sun, and not have the distraction of staying up late and doing anything to avoid going to bed, by distracting and stimulating ourselves so that we can’t sleep. Somewhere along the line our natural rhythm seems to have been disrupted, and we are our own worst enemy. Going to bed early and rising early certainly works for me and I no longer feel like I am missing out on anything that is going on in the world, as the world is always there, waiting for me in the morning.
I love what you’ve written here Sandra.
This is great to hear Katinka and as I have only started the rhythm in the last 4 or 5 years I can say wow I have so been missing out on an amazing quality of life. Early to bed, Early to rise is a rhythm that my body definitely needs.
I agree – I have also found people envy the fact I get up early and have time in the mornings to cook a proper breakfast or do some work. I have found that I am way more productive if i get up early than if I go to bed late.
I agree Rebecca, getting up early certainly sets the tone for a more productive day and having the time to cook myself my favourite meal of the day is special. My colleagues look at me the same too, surprised how early I go to bed and what time I get up, at the same time complaining about how tired they are and how they don’t have enough time to get things done!
It is quite comical in a way – I began telling people who kept complaining about being tired that they might consider going to bed a bit earlier, and the thing is they know it would work but what I found is some people don’t want to be helped and they like complaining. Many people know a few simple things to help make a difference in their lives, but making the change can often be seen as too much effort.
When we understand how supportive it is to our natural rhythm of our body to go to bed early, we can truly feel the difference when we don’t. My body shows me very quickly that it doesn’t like the late night. It’s amazing how quickly our bodies give us the signal.
That’s true Amita, our bodies always tell us the truth. It’s amazing how we think we can get away with ignoring what our bodies are telling us sometimes, when in reality it always catches up with us as our bodies just keep shouting louder and louder until we get it!
If you are tuned into your body and can feel the messages the body is sending and not override what is being felt then the body sends a very clear message when you need to go to bed. My experience has been when I’ve watched TV after a while I can start feeling nauseous which increases in intensity the longer I sit there. I have come to the realisation it was my body signalling to me enough is enough and when I honoured this and went to bed my sick feeling disappeared.
I have had a similar feeling, my body gets tense and achy in the evening, I get really tired and know clearly it’s time for me to go to bed.
It really is that simple and I am really enjoying keeping things in life that simple.
i agree Anne, when i was younger I really resisted going to bed, wanting to stay up with my mum, and would end up unable to keep my eyes open. Going to bed when you feel to is really lovely, and very honouring – nothing like a early night.
What a beautiful realisation. I too have discovered that out bodies are constantly communicating an enormous amount.
Not only is my body communicating constantly if I am truly tired, or hungry etc it is able to naturally respond to life in a more effortless way than when if I go into analysing life first. So much simpler and more knowing.
Listening to my body and all it is telling me is a joy as is going to bed early and living lovingly. This is not always an easy journey but definitely worthwhile in every respect.Thank you Simon for such a simple truth.
Having spent 38 years in a metal tube at 35,000 feet, with umpteen time changes across the great divide. Arriving at the hotel, no matter the time of day or night, bed would always be calling to recharge the batteries. Am I glad those day are now over. I can go to bed early and feel like a million dollars in the morning, without waking up looking like something dragged through a hedge backwards, but feeling so refreshed and on top of the world. Roll on bedtime.
Wow Mike! I am feeling full of appreciation for the service brought to us by airline pilots and what they sacrifice to have us flying around the world. You must be in heaven now you have your sleep rhythm, and what a rolls-royce (or should I say Boeing) body you must have to have got through all that relatively unscathed.
Mike I love your reference to your previous life in a metal tube at 35,000 feet. I can share that my body suffered greatly about 6 weeks ago having not slept much the night before flying to Fort Lauderdale via L.A. – the natural body rhythms that I have been enjoying of recent years went out the door so to speak as we crossed the date line – another night without sleep followed that night, but the body now wanted to sleep during the day time. I appreciate more how ones such as yourself could answer the body’s natural rhythms of ‘early to bed and early to rise etc.’ This also was something I learned from my early childhood but ignored for many years until Natalie Benhayon shared her daily rhythms at a Universal Medicine Retreat some years ago and it seemed to make sense so I also then chose to listen to my body a little more closely.
Sleep and going to bed early are highly underestimated elements in our daily life. We actually don’t take much heed to the depth and the impact of both on our daily lives. Wonderful what you share. I too experience similar effects on my next day when I go to bed later than I usually do. I almost dare to say, sleep is everything. It nourishes us for our next day or, depending on how and how late we go to bed, it ‘deprives’ us from a brand new and fresh day. So how would the world look and feel like if we were all to go to bed like Grannie suggests us to do?
There is so much in the saying ‘Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.’ Going to bed for 9pm has certainly changed my health, has enriched my life and has allowed me to listen to the wisdom that my body reveals each day now that the exhaustion has gone. A very true saying indeed.
Who ever came up with the saying early to bed, early to rise, make us healthy, wealthy and wise, probably never realised how true that statement is.
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself, rather than the days when I sit up late watching TV or working on the computer” – I completely agree Simon
Most of my adult life I’ve been going to bed late-it was always something to do at night, when everything is quiet. Especially when my children were small night time was time for me.
When I came to Universal Medicine six years ago one of the the first things I learned was about spleen time, that the spleen is a super important organ which has a 24 hours rhythm and needs to clean, restore and rejuvenate itself from 9pm till about 3am. It made perfect sense and helped me to become “an early bird” after so many years of being “an owl”.
Now I really like getting up early, going for a walk to the fresh and still park. In the evening my body feels ready for bed sometimes before nine. When I listen to it I feel very well next day so I can be more productive and interact with people without being tired.
Thank Nana! Our natural rhythm and routine, also known as a Circadian Rhythm, follows the cycles of the sun. If we mess with that rhythm, we do experience detrimental effects to our health. There is even a “Circadian Rhythm Disorder” related to not sleeping and waking in a natural way. Something for us all to consider in terms of our commitment to health and well-being.
I love the simplicity of going to bed early and getting up early. When I get up my body is rested and ready for the day.
I love how simply you share the effects of a late night on you. It is very real and honest.
This evening I left my friends chatting around the dinner table and took myself off to bed early to snuggle up in my pyjamas and drink a cup of tea – I love this feeling too and feel super snug and cared for as I tap away on my laptop.
Re-reading your gorgeous blog again Simon I realise I have drifted into my old pattern of just doing this or that before I go to bed. This takes me out of the lovely ‘winding down and getting sleepy’ space I was in and leaves me waking up much less fresh and clear as usual. Time to remedy that!
I recently attended a sleep course through CoUM (a course inspired by the teachings of Serge Benhayon) and became more aware of just how important it is to nurture ourselves by going to bed before we become exhausted as our bodies require energy to go to sleep; that the next day actually starts with how we go to bed the night before and the importance of building a gentle wind down time into our evening routine. For me this has also meant avoiding anything that has the potential to provide stimulation, be it food, drink or electronic devices, etc.
I remember when I was a mother of young children, how important it was for me to wake an hour or two before my children so I had time to slowly start my day and have time to prepare for the day so I could cuddle with the kids as they woke. If I woke late it not only effected me and my day but my children’s also as I would be a grouch and would rush them about.
What a blast from the past to read this blog that reminded us that our Grandmothers were spot on with their saying ‘“Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” Like your Grandma Simon, mine too, as well as my mother, had us in bed by 8.00 pm every night of the week! A beautiful rhythm was set up early in my life but what happened when I hit the teenage years? I lost it! It has now been, since Serge presented to us that these wise words were in fact true, that I have regained this wonderful and amazing sleep rhythm! Now, not only do I go to bed at 8.00 pm, I also prepare my body up to 2 hours before this time to be ‘ready’ to go to sleep in a loving and nurturing manner. – and the result – of course, it makes me healthy and wise!
. . . and wealthy with the riches of the Soul. Beautiful Ruth.
‘Dinner was served at 5:30 / 6pm and once it was eaten it was story time and into bed. Adults too.’ The simplicity in this is so clear and sweet – I feel a longing in me. A longing for an unhampered, no-nonsense, deeply practical way of life. A rhythm that runs through and supports our days. Thank you, Simon.
Hi Simon I was always a person who liked to go to bed early and therefore I was a bit of a “freak” for other people. The thing was when I chose to go to bed later what I did when I was younger people had to deal with that I felt a sleep in the middle of a sentence – true – my body didn’t and doesn’t like to stay up late. And therefore I always was an early bird and that my parents did not like so much. I would like it if all people got to bed earlier – so I would not be a freak anymore – that would be one advantage for me but perhaps it would be an advantage for everyone – because “old sayings” have always a bit of truth in it – what if we all get healthier wealthier and wiser???? Guess what we could try it all together for about 6 months and find out how to be ourselves.
There is such an enormous truth in this simple sentence.
Going to bed at 9pm has allowed me to find a rhythm of sleep that I would never thought I could ever have. I wake up rejuvenated and refreshed now instead of always being tired in the morning regardless of the number of hours I had slept the night before.
Early to bed, early to rise was a well used saying in our house when I was growing up too. I wonder if that’s why I have always loved early nights?
Even though I have always loved early nights I notice too how I sometimes know what is going to support me.
I have noticed that on the nights when I want to stay up a bit later it is because I haven’t lived my day in the quality that I normally live by. It doesn’t happen all the time but if I have had a day where it has been particularly hard or things haven’t quite gone as they should then I can stay up later to try and dismiss the feelings I am having about what has occurred. It is on these days that going to bed earlier than normal is more beneficial as sometimes it only takes one later night to start off a cycle of waking up tired, eating to fight the tiredness and so on.
Love it Simon – very simply expressed too. The simple things bring Joy to your life. They can make such a difference, and always includes another eg. Going to bed early will benefit others you interact with the next day.
Good night !
My Grandmother used to say ” the more hours you get before 12am the better “,
Since changing my bed ‘time’ from 10pm to 8.30pm I now know why.
Thanks for this awesome blog Simon! The saying was also a favourite of my nana’s too… I love it 🙂 I certainly feel it now if I am up late whereas I once was a bit of a ‘night owl’ – though I would often also be up early feeling like I hadn’t slept enough, made to move by the alarm! Early to bed and early to rise is so energising – no need for alarms, and if I do use one I find I am awake beforehand anyway!
I love this Simon. “Or is it actually something that carries wisdom of old. Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.” Wisdom carries so much power of experience, because it is lived from within. Beautiful.
Simon, you share such wise words and with such eloquence! And I cannot help but agree with them – the early to bed thing has been something that I have always been inclined to do, or really in all honesty something that my body has always done whether I wanted to or not: it was like my body just shut down at 9pm and I would just fall asleep. Sometimes I would fight it, but most of the time I would end up asleep in bed. It used to be a family joke that if I ever stayed up till 10pm then I was ‘raging’ (as in partying) and this was the joke because I had always been like that AND was still like that in my late 20’s (and still am today)! And as when young, the moment the sun is up, there is no way to keep me in bed (unless my gorgeous husband convinces me otherwise!).
Before I attended presentations by Serge Benhayon, my life was an endless pattern of staying up late every night and being exhausted every day, never connecting one to the other. More recently, as my awareness of what is happening in my body has deepened, I noticed that I become physically tired around 7.30 pm, earlier on more physical days. In the past I would override this feeling and stay up, for the last few years I have been honouring what I feel and winding down and going to bed when I feel tired. That has made such a huge difference to my energy levels through the day and the quality in which I sleep.
No question your grandma was on to something there Simon, thanks.
I have been someone who would always stay up later than what my body was telling me. Usually to avoid feeling something or very good at overriding what I was really feeling. This creeps back at times and when it does, I really do feel it the next day. I am so much more lethargic and my body functions in a terrible way, I am not as alert, loving with myself or others. This does not leave me feeling very good about myself. So it does encourage me to honour myself more deeply and consistently.
Simon from my experience I agree fully that not only the time I go to sleep but also the quality of sleep has a direct impact on how I feel the next morning. What’s interesting though is by what definition is “early to sleep”? Whilst we have a normal state of society in which people stay up “late” we then have to use the world “early” yet naturally I’ve found my body wanting to go to sleep at a certain time so in that moment for me its not early, its not late its simply what feels supportive.
Good point David, if we choose to listen to our bodies, instead of the misinformation that abounds on the subject of bed time, we will know exactly when it is time to retire in the evening.
What a brilliant comment David. It is indeed the quality of the sleep that matters, and that involves the art of living truly. And such a great point: why is going to bed at a certain time deemed ‘early’ instead of simply the supportive time for your body? What indeed is the ‘right’ time?
Yes it is such a valid point about so called ‘bed times’. ” Who puts the time tyrant in charge all the time’? As you say David sleep when the body requires it, (same as eat), not because the big hand is on … and the little hand is on….!
It is very gorgeous hearing you as a grown man of 40 expressing how much you love getting your pajamas on and snuggling up in bed early. There is something incredibly nurturing in that feeling your describe from childhood Simon. Thank you for showing us we can give this nurturing to ourselves at any age.
I really understand what you were saying about the coffee ‘kick start’ need in the morning to get people through the day… I work in a cafe/deli and this is exactly what is going on, and mostly everyone that comes in feels exhausted but finds themselves caught in this vicious cycle. I was once in this cycle but actually making that choice to stop drinking the coffee and feel and be open to looking as to why I was exhausted then and only then did I start to realise that there was many things in my life that I have not been to honest about. I covered the coffee up with the distraction of coffee culture.
That is a great phrase Natalie, the ‘coffee culture’. I was visiting my daughter in a fashionable suburb of a big city and on our early morning walk with the dog the coffee culture was out in force. Little cafes open every block, people lining up for the obligatory coffee . . . and I was aware of the sense of ‘hipness’ of this, the comfort, the reward , the ‘must-have’, and the sense of collective collusion – that this is the thing to do. It is so interesting the way we make a culture out of these ‘rescue’ or ‘cover-up’ tactics, instead of choosing the ‘culture of God’.
How many other ‘collective collusions’ are we playing our part in? Alcohol is one, working late….
But the coffee one is huge – it is almost like an epidemic – visualising here the jittery queues at coffee bars all over the world – and yes we have become very clever at making not such cool habits ‘hip’.
It is amazing how our rhythms have been turned upside down in such a short space of time, just two or three generations. I personally have never been one for staying up late, but on the occasion that I do, its really interesting to see that the next day I will be craving sugar to get me through, and have far less interest in life and people because all I can think about is that I am tired. We currently have a race of human beings that are exhausted in the extreme, with coffee being the only thing from an all out exhaustion apocalypse. Is it possible this come from simply moving away from our natural sleeping pattern?
When I first entertained the thought of going to bed early I thought – but what about me time? Also ‘what am I going to be missing’ – I won’t be able to socialise any more etc. But the reality is I love it – I am more productive, feel more healthy and have more energy. I wake ready for my day, not bleary eyed. If I had just thought about it and not tried it I never would have come to the conclusion I have nowadays. So many people dismiss changes because they think it won’t work out. The change in actual practice, the doing, makes all the difference.
Going to bed early is something I naturally felt to do as a teenager; but with peer pressure, needing to fit in with others on the weekends I learnt to override my body and stay awake, by eating sugary desserts and coffee- which then stopped me from falling to sleep.
When Serge Benhayon talked about the natural rhythm our body goes in to in order to sleep, it was a confirmation that it was something I already knew deep down.
Its so true what you share here Simon especially the bit where you say,”The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now”. We can convince ourselves that we are rewarding ourselves with our ‘me time’ choices, but it actually feels so much more like ‘me time’ when we choose to listen to and honour when our body says, it’s time for true rest. How you then wake in the morning, is a testament to your loving and wise choice.
Its funny how often the ‘me time’ choices we make actually take us into distraction and away from ourselves.
Love your blog, Simon. I love being ‘Nana’ too – off to fill my hot water bottle right now 🙂
Your Grandma sounds like a very wise woman, and when you describe the way evenings would be in her house, with early dinner and then bath and bed, it feels so natural and home-like, the love and warmth of the picture your words paint is tangible. And then in stark contrast to the ‘normal’ we have come to accept, where if we could get away with not sleeping at all we would!
Rebecca – so true. We have lost touch with what a warm, nurturing household feels like. Instead it is busy, busy, busy with lots of noise, checking out and TV dinners!
I agree Michelle – it is the foundation of our home that is so vitally important. So many of the issues we see in society today could be traced back to how we are in our homes
I know as a teacher that when a student comes into my classroom they are bringing in everything they are living at home. I can feel the dysfunction and how that impacts on them and everyone around them. Lack of love in the home is a pandemic that spreads poison literally into every nook and cranny of society and our lives.
exactly – the child that bullies is the one who is bullied at home, or is jealous of the love they see other children receiving at home. The smart kid is the one pushing past their natural intelligence to be better, to try and get some sort of attention and recognition from their parents.
Yes – or the “naughty” one who will do anything to get attention, even if it is to be told off, as to get no attention is worse!
Very true – I can remember as a child throwing a tantrum simply because I was hurt and just wanted my mum to hold me, but instead of just saying that I would act out and be silly. Adults may have grown up but are often acting out in just the same way.
I can remember life’s rhythm in the fifties. No television to distract us so “early to bed, early to rise”. Even as a teenager I was never allowed to sleep in as the young people do today. This sets up a momentum in their bodies that becomes ingrained into their adulthood. No wonder drinking coffee first thing in the morning is so prevalent today.
I agree Irene, the lives we have created in the last 20 to 50 years and growing, do not support healthy rhythms of sleep and rest. It’s something we need to have great strength in choosing for ourselves, from self love.
You make a great point here Irene. We have allowed the checking out in front of the TV to numb us as to how our bodies feel. Not going to bed when we need to is very disruptive to our natural rythm; everyone is totally exhausted. I remember when my Grandmother used to come and stay – she’d have a tea’s maid in her room so she wouldn’t disturb us when she was up at 5 in the morning. Now I can completely understand the appeal!
The wealth you talk of in the title for me is the level of love and wisdom that I can feel. This wealth is priceless and untouchable. I feel so very wealthy with the reflections of God that I see around, the sparkle of rain on grass or the colour of leaves changing. This magic I see makes me feel very wealthy and blessed to feel the connection.
Thats my sort of wealth Matthew, can’t be locked away in any bank vault, but is shared with everything and everybody.
Simon, there is a beautiful poetry in the way you write, and a deep wisdom. I really enjoyed re-reading this article, thank you!
Thank you Simon for reminding me how life used to be. Early to bed was the norm. There were no distractions to keep us up until the wee hours. A meal was on the table by 6.00pm because Mum didn’t work, there was no Television or computers, it was a lovely nurturing time with the whole family together until bedtime. We all rose early, sharing breakfast together, the making of lunches, the cleaning of shoes, collecting kindling and wood to light the fire for the hot water service, cutting up squares of the telephone book for toilet paper and walking to school. A simple beautiful life.
I really did think I had to stay up late to get more out of life, and would totally ignore all signs and input from my body that this was not a good rhythm. Now one of my great joys is getting together with musicians and singers to rehearse BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP! It is so delightfully non-archetypal that it will delight me for the rest of my life
Thank you Simon for this lovely blog as I too share the love of changing into pyjamas and going to bed early so much .It brings a joy and appreciation and honouring of myself. The extra early waking hours are a real treasure time as is the vitality that comes with it. These old knowings of wisdom often really are gems when lived and well worth adhering to.
I love those early waking hours too Tricia – and the joy of sliding into a nice warm bed before 9. These are special times for me – my treat for me. I always thought that being sent to bed early was a punishment, how wrong could I be!
As a family we all prepare for bed at the same time.
Sleep overs are seen as treats – a moment where the kids get to stay up late like the adults do….not in our house – my kids’ friends always look a bit puzzled by our rhythm, but when they wake up and enjoy the fun of breakfast and journeying into school with their friends it all makes sense.
I’m with you Lucinda. The ‘sleep over’ thing at our house has taken a bit of getting used to for my sons friends but they are coming around to it…and even commenting that its better to have more time in the morning rather than sleeping in. And my son has now seen the benefits of getting to bed early after resisting for a number of years comparing to his friends bedtimes. He is being naturally pulled to ‘early to bed and early to rise’ through his own trial and error…best way to learn!
Staying up late these days feels like an indulgence whereas putting myself to bed early, feels like being responsible and a part of my commitment to myself and the world as a whole .
I love the wisdom shared here. I have never been one for staying up late but even so when I make the conscious choice to go to bed early the benefits the following day are immeasurable and impact on absolutely everything. To the adage we should put ‘healthy, wealthy, wise, open, tender, gentle and loving’…
Wise words from your Grandmother Simon that ring true for all – imagine a world where by we all took that bed time ritual and made it truly loving.
I am imagining that world you suggest Lee and what a world it would be. No late night police patrols required, no night clubs and bars or late night tv, less activity in the accident and emergency ward and the world would be a lot less noisy and certainly more truly loving.
Yes, the world would certainly be more quiet and less stimulating. Going back to our natural rhythm would certainly benefit everyone, maybe we could learn a thing or two from animals, they just sleep when they need to, and to my knowledge don’t spent hours watching the TV in the evening looking for stimulation because they don’t want to go to bed!
Loving this exploration of ‘what if’ we returned to ‘Nanna’s’ wisdom of early to bed, early to rise – from the practical, societal impact to the effects on our well-being and health – are we prepared to accept the simplicity and responsibility of such an action.
An action our bodies are crying out for.
Very simple also!
I love the distinction you make Simon between knowledge and wisdom. So true. Wisdom is something known to be true because we have lived and experienced it, rather than something that is thought to be so.
A great discussion Richard and I agree, much of our wisdom seems to be overriden with either self doubt, insecurities and the business of life. I can feel how simple life is when I connect to it.
I’ve been living in a similar daily rhythm for about 4 years now and I love it. I work harder, eat more healthily, feel better, have stronger relationships and am more productive. Getting a great nights sleep supported by going to bed early – around 9 pm in my case – really works for me.
I have experienced the same! I also find that by going to bed earlier it’s so much easier the next day to make caring choices for myself and other people too.
I agree Meg, and the way I go to bed really impacts my whole rhythm.
Yes, even on the most basic level it impacts whether I wake up feeling tired or not which in return impacts how caring I am with myself
Simon, I bet your body is also loving the fact of you “being a Nanna”!
I know that my body loves to go to bed early, and always has. In the past, my house mates used to put on a movie to watch at 8pm at night – just when I would take myself off to bed. They used to all call me “nana” – but I felt great in the morning, going off for my morning beach walk as the sun rose, while they stayed in bed with the covers over their heads!!
I am paying dearly for a late night out. I yielded to the temptation of a present – a night at the opera! Never again! One late night out and I am still, 2 days later, feeling the impact in my body. The beautiful connection to my body that I had, sensing and responding to its natural rhythms, is still in the process of being rebuilt. The cost of 2 days (so far) of being out of sync with myself was definitely not worth one late night.
I know what you mean Gwen and added to that the effects of emotional soundblasts of the opera itself!
I can so relate to staying out too late Gwen and then paying for it. Saying no to an invitation that doesn’t support omy body is something I am continuing to unfold 🙂
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” This is so true. If we listen to what our body tells us – we can avoid burying things deeper. Only this week someone – a newish young mother – was telling me how tired she was, yet found it difficult to go to bed at 8pm, because that felt ‘too early’. My gran used to tell me that an hour of sleep before midnight was worth two after.
I thorougly enjoyed your blog Simon – the wisdom of the old days is just as relevant today. Your Grandma lived according to the body’s natural rhythm. It is crazy how far we as a society have strayed away from that which is our true rhythm – the escalating numbers of illness and disease
shows the complete disharmony and overwhelm that a lot of people live on a daily basis.
Thank you for sharing how going to bed early improved the quality of your life. Reading through the effects you listed, I feel it would by fair to say, that all aspects of our lives are enriched by this very simple life style change.
I sit here at almost 5:00am, having risen at about 4:15am and having gone to bed at almost 10:00 (a late night for me), I can remember when I used to not leave the house until 11:00pm to go out and meet up with friends, and that would be on a Tuesday! When I first started experimenting with going to bed early and waking early, what came up for me was that there was a sense of, “but I’m an adult! it is my right to stay up as late as I want to!” Could it be that one of the big reasons that we choose to stay up as late as we do is simply because of holding onto that feeling as a child of fighting against being made to go to bed, and living out the fantasy of: “when I’m an adult I’ll do whatever I want”?
The good old science experiments, they have an answer for everything, must get a minimum of 7 hours, must do this and that, with no mention of what your body feels like, which is the main and most subjective question. It is difficult, understandable to assess, when the body has never been given the opportunity to develop true vitality and liveliness, only then is there are marker of what is possible but also, that there are greater levels of vitality beyond to discover.
Bring on the Nanna’s Simon!. If I could live in my pajamas I would! Early to bed, early to rise any day.
Great blog Simon – if I start to go past my natural bed time now then my body really reacts and lets me know – honouring the body’s rhythm for time to sleep has many rewards the next day and the days following as does not honouring it 🙂
The going to bed early, rising early was what I loved about going camping. Being in the bush with the fire going before dawn was priceless.
I remember learning many years ago that the hours of sleep you get before midnight are worth double. Trying this out definitely proves this is true. The earlier I go to bed the more refreshed and energised I am the next day.
Yesterday early evening after a big day at work I could feel that my body was very tired and signalling it was time for bed. I decided to go with this feeling rather than fight it so I had a warm bath and massaged my feet and got into bed at 720pm. I felt snuggly warm and slept almost instantly. I woke up this morning very early feeling well rested and wide awake. As I lay there thinking I can’t get up it’s too early I pondered on all the times I had ignored my body’s signal to get up and then gone back to sleep and felt very groggy on waking. So I got up and gently started my day. From my past experience it feels like when we ignore our body’s signal that it is time to get up for the day we actually use more energy in the going back to sleep- thus the extra sleep is not restorative but draining.
Agreed Bianca – that is my experience too when I ignore my body saying ‘time to get up’ but roll over and sleep some more instead – I feel groggy. Perhaps this is the truth of the phrase ‘getting out of the wrong side of the bed’.
Going to bed for me has been a natural progression for me even before I met Serge Benhayon. Twenty years ago I had quit smoking and going out meant bars and clubs full of smokers with the smell you would get in your clothes I at times would hang my clothes outside for the night to air them out or in the washing machine. In the end I just stopped going. Then I stopped drinking and that kind of ended my night life going out. I did not miss anything even my friend TV was losing its grip on me, if I was tired I would just turn off whatever I was watching and go to bed. I love the early morning for how much you can accomplish. Having a lay-in? I get up late sometimes if I was really tried from the day before, but this would only leave me in bed till before 4. I have not used an alarm clock for years, I have yet to find a lot of things happening before I wake up that requires an alarm.
If I think back a few years to when I was doing the ‘norm’ and going to bed late, getting up late when I could or getting up exhausted early, I thank God I came across the presentations of Universal Medicine on a supportive sleep rhythm. The quality of my life has improved beyond measure just for the simple action of taking myself off to bed early.
Going to bed early really does make a difference. I feel so much more alert and energised in the morning and because I wake earlier I can allow the day to be more spacious by not trying to cram everything in. It is still a work in progress but I love the nights and days that I do manage it.
Simon i love being a nanna too! As a family we get cosy and ready ourselves for bed a few hours beforehand – I have noticed what an impact this wind down time has on the quality of our sleep and our children’s sleep and thus how we are the next day.
Thank you Simon, I agree, I also was raised with this ‘same same’ no different saying. My life before Serge Benhayon got behind the ‘8 ball’ to quote another saying, then a turnaround where life became about retiring before 8 pm. Living a life that now allows me to appreciate more because in getting to bed early, I now have more time in the day because I wake up earlier so get an early start to the day.
Thank you again Simon. I just reread this simple, beautiful blog you have written. It is a great reminder of the difference between wisdom and knowledge and the importance of the lived experience. Having experimented with going to bed both early and late and getting up both early and late, I have the wisdom (lived experience) to know how this affects me. I then make my decisions based on this wisdom.
Thanks for the blog, Simon, well expressed. I used to think the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ maxim was rubbish, but from experience I now know it is the truth and I love it.
I have always loved going to bed early and waking early to the new day, I also remember my Nanna looking after us sometimes and we would have an early tea, early baths and into bed. (my Nanna was so gentle, I can close my eyes and feel her giving me a bath in a dish of warm water on our back verandah and feeling the soft skin under her arms as I held her. And that was 55 years ago. Such gentleness and wisdom.
early bedtimes have made such a difference for I feel I have so much more energy in the mornings it makes my day much brighter.
Oooh I love this blog. I love being a cosy, rested Nanna too.
In Winter time after my work day is over and it is dark outside, I love wearing my night dress and warm dressing gown. It is then the start of a lovely winding down time for me to enjoy before going to bed. Hmmm cosy !
Let’s go back to basics that make a lot of sense, I am all in favour ! There is a French saying – L’avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt (the future belongs to those who get up early) which says just that and I know that there are similar sayings in German, Italian and other languages. So waking early and going to bed early is deeply rooted in our common wisdom. Thank you Simon for your powerful blog. I too have been raised that way and I have not moved on from that truth.
I find this a fascinating subject and one that I have been exploring for some time since an illness got me to stop and really look at exactly how I was putting myself to bed and the quality of the day that follows. A most important lesson that I have learnt during this time is to not judge myself for the time that I go to bed and awake at. No matter the predetermined agenda I have set myself, if I happen to not fulfil that expectation, it is fine. I just start again that night and the next morning, always taking one step closer to the vitality that I know is within but with an understanding that this is a journey without end and without perfection.
I like your grandma’s quote, Simon.
The same was for my grandparents as they where farmers and had naturally an early beginning of the day. So they naturally went earlier to bed as their body told them so. Anyway in our days there are still a lot of people having an early start in the day. I have just to go on the highway at 5am and I am not alone driving. The stillness at that time or even earlier is so delicate and things are done much easier and quicker.
There is nothing more joyful than waking up without an alarm clock and feeling your body warm and cosy. Taking your time before the working day starts.
Having been raised in an ethnic migrant family going to bed early was not part of the equation even for us as kids. The evening was when all the fun and excitement happened. I remember always struggling to get up early for school and that pattern continued into adult working life. As a tradesman I would dread getting up early for work and the cycle of night time stimulation and excitement continued to play out and intensify through years of heavy partying. Looking back now I was always tired, sleepy or exhausted unconsciously relying on the accepted norm of stimulants including sugar, caffeine and carbs. It took over 40 years of this vicious cycle before I discovered the Ancient Wisdom teachings through Serge Benhayon. Learning to understand and honour my body’s own wisdom and rhythms lead to a natural change in sleep cycle I never thought possible. It completely changed my lifelong belief that I was a night owl and that was that. Your grandmother’s wise words are absolutely spot on Simon, I now wake up earlier and fresher than ever before and without any need for stimulants.
I can relate to what you said about going to bed early, it was not part of the equation even for us as kids. On the continent, it was not unusual to see parents parading along the promenade late at night, so when visiting my in-laws in France, we often took the children out with us in the evening. No surprise that the children were fractious the next day! Early to bed and early to rise is definitely the way!
I agree Lorraine, “Early to bed and early to rise is definitely the way!” I learned at the age of 12/13 when my parents stopped telling me what time I needed to go to bed that I pushed it and stayed up later than my body was telling me to. I naturally felt 9am was perfect, but staying up an hour or two hours later meant I was tired the next day. A whole year of this I noticed my grades lessened and I was more cranky and tired in the day. On switching it back to 9pm at the age of 14 made a big difference!
Rachel what an amazing experience to have at such a young age, but what is so cool is that you listened and observed the impact of the later nights to bed and made the change back to what truly felt right for you.
Lorraine, unlike you my parents always insisted that 7.30 pm was when I had to go to bed. I broke this early to bed routine once I attended university and I would often study into the small hours keeping myself awake by drinking copious amounts of coffee. However, the concept of ‘early to bed’ being the way to go did not leave me and later in life, I re-instituted this routine whenever I could. However it was not until I met Serge Benhayon and heard him present on sleep rhythms that I truly understood how ‘early to bed’ benefits the body. Why then is it so common in many cultures to instill otherwise into children?
Your comment Anne got me thinking. Why is it on the continent that children tend to stay up late? I related it to the fact that in the heat of the day they take a siesta so therefore stay up later at night and have family time together after work. Could it be however, anything to do with the fact that the church is a big part of life and that some of the teachings may take us away from our inner knowing of what is right for us? Just pondering on this one but welcome comments.
So many people have that lifelong belief Rob, and it is encouraged by the scientific research about the two different wirings of our brains, “proving” that some are wired to be late risers and others early risers. I also lived with the belief I was a “night person”, and can see now how the influence of the way society functions went a long way to building that belief. But it feels now as though it was ONLY a belief, as the change I have made to a natural rhythm has been easier than I thought was possible and for me, destroys the myth.
I too was a bit of a ‘night owl’ from the time I was young, and getting more that way as I got older – especially staying up into the night when all was quiet to write my University essays as well as the wild social life. When I later pondered on this I could see that, in a way, I was ‘hard-wired’ to be a late riser, not in the sense that it was a ‘permanent’ way of being from birth or ‘genetics’, but that it was a strong momentum from the past that I had bought into out of disregard. Now I choose otherwise, slowly but surely.
I agree Lyndy, it is incredible how the late nights creep back in from time to time, like you say, it is hard wired, or as I have been learning about myself, these late nights creep in when I am not wanting to feel something, avoiding it almost, but distracting myself with tv, social media or busy-ness before bedtime. Then before I know it, it is an hour or more past when I actually felt tired and had the opportunity to self honour and go to bed when it felt right to. I am bringing more awareness to this pattern, knowing I can choose otherwise, but equally being loving with myself if i do have a late night.
I have had a couple of late nights recently (actually that makes me smile a bit: a ‘late night’ 8 years ago needed to be after 1am and was something I announced proudly, whereas now it is anything after 9pm and something I am aware of being out of my rhythm, necessary sometimes and always needing to be prepared for and compensated for afterwards); these late nights were work related and I could definitely, no doubt, absolutely feel the effect of them the next day. This wakes me up to realise how much I have ignored the signs my body ‘chats’ to me with every day. There is unfathomable wisdom available and all I have to do is listen – the joy of that listening relationship is tangible.
Our body sure does tell us what it needs if only we would listen to it a bit more carefully. I am learning this on a daily basis.
I agree Elizabeth, listening to our body and what it is telling is is key and makes all the difference.
Listening to our bodies makes so much sense. I too am learning this one and the more I Listen, the more I am learning. Our bodies know so much. Why aren’t we taught this from an early age? Instead I have spent years fighting what my body innately knows is good for me.
We perhaps wouldn’t see so many young people exhausted through their school years. Staying up late studying and partying takes its toll – is it any wonder we see young people exhausted before they even join the workforce, and then the habits learned continue.
Absolutely Sandra, many of us have been through that cycle and it’s wonderful to discover the simplicity of Early to Bed, Early to Rise. It’s something I used to fight against but now I know it’s significance to the way I’ll feel in my day (and in my subsequent sleep!). My sleep rhythm is most telling of how I have been living my day.
I agree rosannabianchini, it sheds a whole new light on sleep problems. Having trouble sleeping is just the end result of how we’ve been in our day.
You touch on the issue of ‘sleep problems’ Sandra, of which over the many years in the past, long before I met Serge Benhayon and attended the presentations of Universal Medicine I experienced many sleepless nights – and most recently the ‘early to bed and early to rise’ aspect of my present life as a student of the Livingness, went out into cyber space somewhere when the momentum of my day before a long flight to the east coast of the U.S.A had me almost sleepless that night, no sleep on the plane that night with time zones upside down and wanting to sleep during the day on the 3rd day really adversely affected the harmony and rhythmic flow of my body. From that little display of disharmony throughout I learned precisely how the repercussion of the momentum of my choice to ‘push through and keep going’ on that day before the flight impacted my health and state of wellness for the next several days, and I wonder at the energy behind that push that had me choosing to over-ride the promptings of the body and to actually choose to go with the mind that seemed to keep repeating ‘you must just get this, this, and this done before you leave’. Amazing isn’t it how we are always provided opportunities to reflect on our choices.
So true Sandra, how we sleep at night is the result of how we slept the night before, how we woke in the morning and how we were in our day. How we sleep each and every night is the result of the day before and the day before that – a never ending cycle as we deepen in how we are each day and hence in how we sleep each night. .
It will make such a difference, imagine all these joyfull faces beaming with vitality everywhere! now that would be something !
I am quite sure that they would look vastly different. Since adapting my rhythm to this simple wisdom all the symptoms I had been suffering from have disappeared and I feel energized and revitalized in the mornings instead of forcing myself out of bed somehow.
So true Elizabeth and the more I listen the more I realise that there is so much more that my body wants to tell me. Really is incredible.
I agree Elizabeth and I love the fact you have pointed out ‘on a daily basis’. If I’m paying attention it can change from day to day.
I too am learning this Elizabeth, and I am finding the more I listen to my body, the more it will share with me.
I agree Matilda, whenever I have a ‘late night’ these days. the effect is immediately felt the next day, and yet there have been times I have not noticed and it just shows the choice to be aware of our choices and there effect or not.
Well said, Rebecca. As my willingness to take responsibility for my choices and be in a dialogue with my body has developed, it is clearer and clearer what I can do to support and take care of me in life.
I agree, and the things I do that are not true become more and more obvious
Great point Rob, we get trained in how to stay up late and struggle to operate during the day. I remember on days when it all got too much and I couldn’t keep the pace up any longer going to bed early was so what I wanted and loved – yet it would only last for that one night…then back to the familiar routine and cycle. These days I focus on putting myself to bed with much more care and love.
Me too Lee, I have always loved going to bed early more because it meant I could wake up early and enjoy the morning. Although as a teenager I would stay up late with thoughts racing through my head and not being able to sleep. What I have found is that the more I look at what is going on for me during the day, the less I have all these thoughts racing around my head and so find it much easier to let my body sleep.
A great comment Rob and you have reminded me of how I always used to feel tired and not able to get up for work. All this at a time when I was out late and drinking and then wondering why I could not function well the next day. At that time I did not really care enough about myself to make the obvious change of going to bed early. Now I love going to bed early and getting up early so as not to miss any of the gorgeous day ahead.
Yes Simon, so much simplicity and so much sense. What an enormous difference it makes to simply listen to what our bodies need… We set ourselves up to have no time and no space because of how we choose to live…which means we also have the power to choose differently. I love the simplicity of what Serge presents.
So simple this seems and yet such a deeply profound statement on the beauty we can bring to our lives through the most simple acts of self-care. And I am not just saying that because I love going to bed early with you ; )
I agree Rebecca, its amazing how something so simple can have such a profound effect on our lives. Most people I talk to about going to bed early think I am quite strange and that I am missing out, but getting a quality sleep and not waking up feeling I could sleep for another few hours makes all the difference to my day ahead.
Absolutely, Tim! The difference in the day when I have had a proper sleep is amazing. No need for anything to get me through the day, no struggling to make it through to when I can finally put my head on the pillow. And it all has come from just listening to my body and when I feel tired, go to bed!
“I would like to say thank you – deeply thank you – to Serge Benhayon for his commitment to the simple beauty in the way we can live.”, and how beautifully and simply you have described it, Simon. It is such a sensible way to live. With the introduction of more efficient electric light, 24 hour entertainment in the home on TV, work at home on the computers, and improved heating in our homes, the temptations to stay up for as long as we can to take advantage of all these things is great. Not to mention the huge amount of activities on offer we can engage with out of the home in the evenings. I also remember the days of early bed and the cosy feelings around it as I was growing up. When I started to stay up late I became stressed, tired, less focused and always chasing my tail. Also I remember the huge difficulty to wake up and get out of bed in the mornings. It feels horrible now, and as soon as I heard Serge Benhayon talking about the natural rhythm of the day and how we can love ourselves by paying attention to what our bodies are saying, I started going to bed by 9pm and have done so ever since. My body loves it, and so do I. We both also love the early mornings!
As you say it is not just going to bed earlier that makes the difference but HOW we go to bed ‘I love getting into my cosy pyjamas early and feeling all cosy and warm and cared for as if I was putting myself to bed like a child, even now as a grown man of 40.’ With all the devices we have now (adults, young people and children) such as phones, ipads, tablets the HOW can often get completely missed as we are busy using these right up to the time to go to sleep. I have learnt so much from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine including a way I can put myself to bed in a way that is loving me and honours me instead of still holding onto the busyiness of the day .. this is something I very much need to put into practice more though.
I love going to bed, preparing myself for the night and with that for the next day to come. How I go to bed and what time I go to bed all have an affect on my next day. I don’t feel like missing out on anything because every time I go to bed, It feels like having a celebration with myself.
Absolutely Mariette I agree with you. Going to bed is one of my favorite moments of the day. It is so lovely to take the time to prepare myself for bed and have a nourishing sleep because of that.
Simon this is the second time I have visited this blog and it is such a cosy sweet memory of my past that I loved (visiting my Grandparents) I can’t resist stepping back in time. It is the truth that we need to be our own Nanna and tuck ourselves into bed early with that gentle loving care that we do a grandchild or children of our own. Waking early feels lovely and the day seems to stretch out ahead of us with plenty of time to do or be whatever we choose or have committed to for that day. Thanks Simon for the lovely blog.
You are right Simon. Space in a day is a luxury. It is incredible to think how much time has been wasted and idled away on such pointless things. Space is so very precious to me now and therefore my choices on how I use my time have much more purpose.
I go to bed early and rise early and I especially love the early morning hours – they are so quiet, inspiring and precious. I gladly exchanged them for the long evenings, which I mainly used for entertainment. In the early mornings I get a lot done, which gives me more space during the day.
Yes Simon, I had the idea that I would never go to bed early, everything happened in the evenings, the cool parties, the nightlife activities only got going at midnight. These days I’m up well before the night-time revelers are coming home, and I’ve already done a couple of hours of work, it feels great. The body has a natural rhythm of sleep and once we allow ourselves to fall into the slipstream, it does wonders at recharging the batteries.
Me too Rebecca. It feels so amazing to have done several hours work before most people are awake. I find it is possible to be very productive at that time of day.
In the past staying up late for me meant 10’oclock after having slept in my chair for two hours exhausted, then I purposely chose to go to bed early and stopped fighting it and feeling like I was missing out on something, I started to feel the benefits of getting a good nights sleep and the knock on effect that has on the next day. These days I love going to bed early as it has become part of my natural rhythm, even in the summer.
I love ‘being a nanna’ too, Simon! I treasure those cosy times with my nanna-me, warm pj’s and bed socks….reading this helps me appreciate even more those times I did feel truly nourished and cared for as a child, particularly with my Grandma who just let me be the sweet little girl I was (and still am!)
Going to bed early feels so natural. It brought up the memories of the beautiful sleeping rhythm of childhood and establishing that rhythm again. No more squeezing everything into a day before collapsing into bed with exhaustion, but gently winding down and gentle gliding into sleep.
I agree michaelkremer2212, going to bed early brings back the lovely childhood memories of something bigger than just sleep, it involves the whole concept of taking care of oneself, or back then the beautiful feeling of being taken care of. But why is it that we stop doing this along the way when it is the most precious gift that we can give to ourselves?
For anyone who is interested, I just found this article on circadian rhythms and light. http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/findings/sept11/lightliferhythms.asp
You are a treasure Victoria. When I look to nature I am humbled by its reflection and the steadiness of the cyclic rhythms; hibernation, mating, blossoming, tides and snow melts for example. And night owls, would they ever stay up all day…? Let’s honour our rhythms and our Grandmas.
This article has also reminded me how I feel when I hear people say how they stay up all night studying / working / partying or that they are a ‘night owl’ – I feel an internal ouch. My feeling is it is more natural to us to follow the rhythms of the day and night. When you think about it, it’s probably a bit of a modern phenomenon, staying awake all night, no doubt enhanced by the advent of electricity. Fire or candle or lantern or torch power probably doesn’t have the same practical application in terms of making it easy to ‘burn the candle at both ends’. It would be interesting to hear what people who live in parts of the world where daylight extends far into night have to say. Do they stay up later or is there an even stronger, internal rhythm, perhaps related to the circadian rhythms, that cause us to naturally seek rest at certain times of the day?
Victoria I broke my early to bed rhthym recently. I accepted an invitation to an evening theatre performance 7-10pm, by the time I got home it was 11pm and bedtime well after this. It felt strange preparing to go out, leaving the house, hopping on the tube, being part of busy London when I’m usually gently preparing for sleep. At the same time it gave me an opportunity to experience the world of night entertainment, crowds, alcohol, buzz, the music and knew it was no longer for me. I fell asleep during the performance and felt the effects on my body the next day the ‘ouch’. Matinees only for me from now on.
Bring on the nanna pyjamas, I say! I love this Simon and totally agree – I’ve been going to be early for a while now but of late had been working up until bed-time and feeling the difference (not good, as you describe). Now that autumn’s here (at least in this part of the world) I’m enjoying getting cosy and comfy and really winding down. The next day feels that much better – I feel ‘cosier’ in me.
Awesome Simon; and go Grandma for the concise summing-up of why sleeping soundly is so important. Great blog.
Thank you Simon, I love going to bed at 9pm, I used to stay up and fall asleep in front of the TV and then wake up grumpy and be irritable the next day. I would then seek sweet foods to get me through the day. A horrible roller coaster cycle. I now honour my body and it feels lovely to wake and feel vital. I am so much more organised in the morning too, instead of pushing through to get things done and feeling exhausted every night.
Very wise words from your grandmother Simon, I love going to bed early and waking early…I don’t always manage it, but when I do I really enjoy the early start, listening to the morning chorus of the birds and I find I can complete so many things simply and easily, yet if I try to do the same things in the evening they seem to take me twice as long.
Alison, I agree – when I get up early, my mornings always flow and I find I get many things done. It feels much lovelier than the ‘treat’ I used to have when I chose to ‘lie-in’.
I too have noticed what a difference a late night makes in my choice of food the next day – I am wanting more comforting or filling foods and earlier in the day too. When I am really organised, or should I say self-loving, I go to bed earlier the night before my late night and sometimes the night after which I call my loving sandwich, I find that supports me. I love going to bed early and getting up early and feel there is a lot of wisdom in that old saying.
Very cute Elaine, a ‘loving sandwich’ of two early nights either side of an unavoidable late night. It is both self-loving and organised – though as you say, it is the love we have for ourselves in the first place that enables us to then organise ourselves in that loving way. Practical and sensible too. I do the same on the nights I have uni classes; my husband, a shiftworker, is a master of both the loving sandwich and nanna pyjama wisdom. Long may the world embrace both!
I had the same experiences as a child Simon, baths, and pyjamas warmed by the fire in wintry weather, early dinner and sometimes a bed-time story. I loved your words about feeling warm and snug in your PJ’s just like you felt as a child Simon. I love to be in bed by 9pm, I love the winding down time and preparing for sleep in a caring way. I agree it supports me to wake up early feeling fresh and able to enjoy the quiet early hours of the day. Nanna was wise!
Your comment Bernadette took me back to the PJ’s being warmed by the fire for when we got out of the bath. The routine of early supper and the bed-time story, all loving acts which I now do for myself as I settle down under a soft duvet, in the most comfortable bed that I treated myself to a few years ago. Self love, it rocks as do those wise old sayings!
So many people feel they are being ripped off if they go to bed early, but the hours you lose at night, you more than gain in the morning because anything we do, reply to emails, work, TV, walk, exercise is done in a more refreshed and less tired way making the quality so much better.
I used to feel cheated if I went to bed early. Now I love it. It just makes sense to go to bed when the body is tired rather that staying up late just because the clock says it is a certain time, which is what I used to do.
Me too Elizabeth. I used to feel ‘cheated’ if I went to be early too. I was always looking for something exciting to happen, something amazing to come, little realising that the amazing thing was already within me and that to nurture myself through a having good sleep rhythm was a great way of facilitating connecting with that amazingness.
I get what you mean Elizabeth by feeling cheated by going to bed early, particularly if I have worked and got home late. Often now I will get home from work at around 8.30pm and put myself straight to bed, no longer feeling cheated because I have enjoyed my connection with me throughout my day, that I am no longer looking for ‘me time’.
This is so true Kevin, I would stay up to not miss out on something but when I looked at what I was doing, it was really just a way of killing/filling time. Going to bed earlier has meant waking up earlier and I find this time is so much more productive.
Right on, Kevmchardy, working on my computer in the wee small hours with the dawn chorus for company is scrummy.
I agree Kevin, I now have replaced late nights with rising early and the quality in which I do tasks in the morning is far greater as opposed to the old way of late nighters to get things done.
Absolutely kevmchardy, I used to think that late at night was when all manner of creativity took place including interesting jazz music! Wrong! I now realise that all that was a sort of alcohol-fuelled and coffee-driven illusion. Now I just feel sharp and ready to roll, early in the morning and I’m much more productive than I ever was in the small hours!
I know as a mum at home looking after 3 small kids I used to be desperate to find some me time at the end of the day – and would end up emailing or internet searching till late – snacking to keep my body going and then wake up in the same exhausted mode the next morning. Its not until I listened to Serge Benhayons presentations on spleen time; how the body and organs truly regenerate over night that I begun to see that there was another way to find me time, early in the morning. As Kevin says this early morning window feels clearer and more refreshed and I no longer feel resentful about seeing the kids at 6am!
You always nail it Kevmchardy. As you say, many people feel ripped off but it is so true to say that we gain in the morning by feeling refreshed to tackle anything that needs to be done. It simply makes sense!
kevmchardy, that is very true – I used to stay up very late and was hardly ever in bed before midnight. Today I know why I never felt vital during the day and needed huge amounts of coffee to get me through. I have realised what an enormous difference it is for the body to listen to its natural rhythm.
Going to bed has completely changed my life and rhythm. It’s the loveliest thing I have done for myself. People get concerned that I’m missing out on the night life but in truth I never enjoyed late night outings, I always was an early bird preferring the mornings which I enjoy and find very productive now. If I now have a late night I feel so “off ” the next day which tells me loud and clear I’ve pushed my body past its natural bedtime.
That’s gorgeous Merrilee; ‘Going to bed has completely changed my life and rhythm. It’s the loveliest thing I have done for myself’. I’m still working on doing this for myself (going to bed earlier consistently), but already notice changes in my rhythm too.
Not only going to bed earlier, but becoming aware of how I prepare and wind down before going to bed has completely changed what sort of sleep I get and how i feel the next day.
“People get concerned that I’m missing out on the night life…” Initially, when I started to go to bed early, felt like I was missing out too merrileeepettinato, but what is there to miss, really…
What could be more delicious that winding down gently and snuggling up with myself, with my gentle breathing for company, and enjoying the silence of my bedroom, yummy.
Now I have not an ounce of missing out 🙂
I’m with you merrileepettinato, I love mornings, and late nights are well and truly a thing of the past. And my body thanks me for it every day.
Yes that next morning when you have gone to bed late does take a little while to get back or possibly I don’t even get back there feeling the normal alert, clear and focused person I am when I have an early to bed early to rise rhythm.
So true Natalie it just takes a bit longer to get that sharp feeling doesn’t it, on that note good night 🙂
Yes it’s funny isn’t it that people think they ‘miss out’ if they don’t stay up late. I find that going to bed early feels so nourishing and yummy. I also love the early hours of the morning, I find I am so productive at these times of the day.
The body is so wise and so willing to tell us what it needs – if we are willing to listen!
Absolutely Richard. the body is our great Geiger-counter and Educator. Very precious.
Now in my early 50’s, I am more than happy to finally accept Grandma’s advice as being very good medicine and reflective of a way of living that truly supports good health. Thanks Simon. I bet you look lovely in your cozy PJ’s too… 🙂
In the pursuit of health and wellbeing, people buy into new diets, exercise routines, meditations, the mind boggles at the plethora of quick fix solutions on offer. What Serge Benhayon presents is that if we look at the core fundamentals like sleep, eating and exercise and pay heed to how we approach these daily rhythms – then we can begin to make true lasting change to our lifestyle, our vitality and our awareness.
It really is the fundamental basics, as you say Lucindag, like sleep, eating and exercise. The quality of sleep that we have is determined by the way we live our days also so it is in absolutely everything that we do because it is all affected. I know when I have had an amazing, deep, restful sleep that the next day what ever comes my way I am steady how I go about it.
Yes this is so true lucindag, why look to all outer remedies and supplements to fix us when something like getting our foundations like sleep, diet and exercise in place actually is what our bodies need. I have struggled sometimes with this but I have been very consistent the last week in going to bed early and I feel so much more vital and present in my days.
This is definitely what I have experienced in life and by keeping a consistent rhythm with these changes I can say that life become much simpler and easier.
I can relate to this. I too have been experimenting with going to bed early, Although in the past it was natural for me to go to bed early and rising early but with influence of TV and staying up or going out I started to get into this unnatural rhythm.
My body now feels ready for bed by 8.30. If I ignore this, I don’t sleep well so I now honour it.
Honouring the body and going to bed when it tells us is the key here Shushila. Most days I am in bed between 8-9pm but there are plenty of times my body has told me to get to bed by 6.30pm. Most of the time I listen but sometimes I don’t and then regret that decision the next morning.
I do that too, go to bed as early as 6.30pm if my body feels tired, it makes perfect sense to me, and when I wake up my body feels ready for the day and it becomes a pleasure and not a chore. This applies to the week too, no more need for ‘lie-ins’ as this just feels like a waste of time now.
So true sandrahenden, I found that lying in past when I wake up early actually drains me in the day following. I now look at it as not a matter of going to bed early, rather that my body naturally gets more restorative sleep in those earlier hours of the night rather than later.
Wow Sandra, it’s inspiring to hear how intently you listen to your body, but not just that – the fact you act on it, is amazing.
I’ve experienced this too and I’ve learnt to honour this feeling if it comes over me at 6.30 pm. I used to override this for fear of waking in the early hours of the morning and would stay up until it was a “suitable time” to go to bed only to find the quality of my sleep very much diminished whereas if I do go when early when my body’s telling me it’s time I wake feeling far more refreshed.
I love what you’ve shared here Tim- it is something I am having the opportunity to be more honest with myself about also! There are often occasions where my body feels tired and I can feel I need to go to bed much earlier than usual, but when I override this “just to finish off xyz”, I can always feel the effect the next day. When I honor my body and ‘do’ go to bed when I really feel it’s time and without thinking I need to either start or finish other activities, I feel so much different the next day and in fact find I have all the energy to complete all of the things I had left the previous day.
Going to bed early naturally has lead to rising early, with adjusting to this suddenly there was a natural sleep rhythm in my life and no grumbling in the mornings anymore, but a feeling of “welcome day, here I am :o)”.
This I have found key Michael, as I am going to bed earlier I am actually needing less sleep and naturally I am awaking earlier in the morning
Same for me Michael and Oliver – and this early morning time did become so precious to me! Like a little extra day in the morning, where I can deepen my connection to me and the world. It is my set-up for the day.
I agree Michael. I don’t need a clock to tell me it’s time for bed, my body tells me. And when I wake early, I have hours of time to do things before I go to work like preparing meals for the day, doing a load of washing, working on personal projects, etc…and I do all this when I’m fresh rather than at the end of the day. This time is priceless!
Simon what a great blog – I love it! To go to bed early is now one of my favourite things, and you have also inspired me to go and get myself a new pair of warm Pjs. The feeling of getting into them as part of the early to bed ritual feels so very very lovely.
As a working adult I used to dread that evening rush – trying desperately to pack everything into the evenings after work. Going to bed early and rising very early in the mornings takes away so much of that pressure, because I can work quietly for several hours before the day ‘officially’ starts. There is a palpably different quality to the very early mornings – much more settled, much easier to do things without tension.
How about changing the working office hours – start at say 7.00 and leave two hours earlier ? That would make a lot of sense and we would avoid that dreaded evening rush.
Yes! In future perhaps we will have super-early options, as more and more of us discover how great it is to get up very early and have ‘so much day’ available!
Nanna Rocks!! And letting our inner nanna tuck us into bed each night is something money can’t buy. I am with you Simon, give me a nanna ritual at bedtime every time over TV or partying.
Yes Simon, i would have to say as you said, it definitely is wisdom of old…..i’ve noticed a marked difference in my quality of life since i started going to bed early and early to rise, certainly has made me healthy and vital, feeling deeply rested and ready for the new day…love the simplicity of this yet the power of it is enormous.
What a brilliant saying.. I have heard it before but not the whole phrase.. “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise”… uum love it! Its so true. I have found going to bed early and getting up early has transformed the way I live and the quality I am in during the day.
I totally agree with Grandma’s saying. I love going to bed early, it works for me. Thank you for sharing Simon.
My quality of life has completely changed since I have wanted to go to bed earlier and so wake earlier. I feel much more revitalised and ready for the day. The day definitely starts better when I have a moment of reflection and stillness at the beginning of it and this ‘start’ is a foundation for how my day continues.
Awesome Simon- Thank you for sharing the benefits you have felt going to bed early. I can definitely relate and love being a early to bed ‘nanna’ too!
I was always a lark and enjoyed going to be early. In retrospect I realise that this was more from exhaustion than a desire to look after myself. As I learn more self-love and care in my life I am learning to wind down at the end of the day to gently usher me into my night time repose.
isn’t it amazing how many old sayings we have in our languages that hold the lived wisdom of older times? it seems we used to know so much more from simply living in connection to our bodies instead of relying on the mind and scientific evidence. The best evidence is trying it for yourself and I have learned from my body that it loves going to bed early. In Dutch we have a saying that every hour we sleep before midnight counts double and I fully understand this now as you do your grandmother’s saying Simon.
‘The best evidence is trying it for yourself’ – I completely agree Carolien. I have always found that the best (and sometimes only) way to learn is through lived experiences. There is no amount of knowledge that can compare to this kind of evidence.
So simple Simon and so beautiful…. ‘The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.’ I can feel the moment of choice you are presenting with this and how this choice can be so simple, if we just allow.
Yep this is my experience too Simon, even if I sleep in later if I go to bed later it doesn’t work, the quality of sleep is not the same as it is when I go to bed at 9 o’clock.
Yes Tim, I have definitely clocked that too. The quality of sleep and the clarity in which one wakes up is hugely superior to staying up late and drifting into a ‘buzzy’ unfulfilling doze and waking up late and reluctant. Nurturing sleep is such a gift.
Yes, Simon, I agree, bring on the Nanna title. It’s so lovely to honour and care for yourself in that way by going to bed early and waking up early. Such a contrast to years and years ago, when I would sleep till noon at times. I always felt so drained and washed out as a result of that choice, but I can see that it was my way of shutting the world out for a while. Now I can’t wait to get up early and start my day feeling refreshed and prepared for what is there.
The Wisdom of nanna is greatly enhanced by the wisdom of Universal Medicine. Living the day complete and releasing any tension before coming home, a nourishing meal and a nurturing shower makes for a great sleep. A great sleep leads me to wake up early and embrace the day with vitality and love for humanity. I have tried the other way and I don’t get as much out of life.
Gorgeous Simon, just gorgeous. As I sit here in my ugg boots and dressing gown I can so relate to the feeling you describe of getting home from work, and getting ready for bed instead of staying up late or watching TV as I used to. These things I all felt were needed as ‘me’ time and in reaction to how busy things had been during the day. Now I know what my body really wants – and that’s to be in bed before 9pm. The changes to how I live my life due to honouring this simple fact have been profound – and are evident in how I am in day to day life now. Thank you for sharing and inspiring Simon.
Thanks Simon. I love being a nana too. Your writing made me reflect on how initially I felt almost ashamed to tell others about my bedtime habits but these days I love sharing about this… when you go to bed early you wake up early and when you wake up early you get to live in a part of the day that is so amazingly still, where clarity comes naturally and our connection to God can’t be ignored.
Beautiful comment Andrew – living in the part of the day that is so amazingly still, where clarity comes naturally and our connection to God can’t be ignored. Now that is definitely worth going to bed early for.
Thank you Simon, a simple and practical sharing of some wise words. I loved reading this blog as well as going to bed early at the time my body loves. It is definitely worth giving it a go and when I did other timings in my life changed too which means I now have more time as I wake much earlier with the energy to do what needs doing!
Totally agree Simon! I’ve taken on the nanna title myself, and I’m quite content with it, even though the effect of going to bed early and waking up early makes me feel far younger than if I did it the other way around. I have definitely noticed that I have a much better quality of sleep earlier in the night than if I were to go later. And that’s why I stick to it.
We do owe it to our grandparents they did share some amazing wisdom, it’s just our way of life today with the busyness has taken over. But it’s great to be reminded of that ageless wisdom of ‘early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy and wise’.
Ageless wisdom, yes there a lot of things we have forgotten and need to be reminded of. Serge Benhayon is an incredible teacher who presents such wisdom.
I used to stay up all night and feel ragged the next day until I started on a variety of stimulants to get me through the day. Serge Benhayon’s presentations have also inspired me to develop a more loving and supportive daily rhythm for myself. And the proof is in the Livingness – I am much more vital and joyful in every way when I am early to bed and early to rise.
My partner and I once stayed up for a month. I kid you not. We did not sleep at all for a month. We were partying (not with drugs and stimulants though), performing, playing, writing, relating…. and seemed to have an endless supply of energy. Where it came from, one must ask the question! Then one day we were all dressed up to go out again, just about to leave, when we looked at each other with the same thought: let’s not go out, let’s just sleep. Suddenly we both truly felt the level of exhaustion in our bodies. We went to bed and slept for nearly 24 hours!
Another friend, on hearing this story, admired our ‘achievement’. Where does admiration for abuse of the body come from? The same source as what kept us going without sleep for a month, believing we had lots of energy to burn? I had to correct this notion – that denying oneself sleep is somehow cool, admirable and even heroic. Just yesterday my rhythm got a little out of kilter and I had to stay up a little later than normal to take a medication on schedule. Result: a splitting headache and sleeping 2 hours longer than usual, thus feeling off and missing that quiet early morning for being with myself and doing my emails and blogs…. After several years of commitment to caring for my body properly, going to bed early, eating appropriately, my body’s ‘voice’ is now louder than ever – it can tell me right away when I’m off track – not only after a month of abuse!
What a story Dianne!
It is interesting how the voice of our bodies becomes ‘louder’ as we use and develop that muscle of awareness in our daily life – clear the obstacles, stop the numbing, discard the ignorance, reconnect with love and the body. I am celebrating that.
Those beautiful times of being bathed and having tea early when my Nanna
would look after us are with me always. She had such a gentle presence.
Great to read everyone’s experiences of a ‘wealth’ beyond money which they receive through going to bed early
I’m with you Simon! Taking oneself to bed is the wisest thing I know to do 🙂 It’s the best food for my body and soul.
Simon I love being a nanna too. Going to bed early is such a beautiful way to support ourselves and to prepare for the next day too. This is just another way we can deepen our own loving connection within.
i really enjoyed re-reading this and relating to how differently my body feels as I go to bed earlier. It is naturally ready to sleep much earlier than in the past, and with that, my quality of sleep is much deeper. It has become a simple and easy shift in my day, and I really enjoyed how easy it was to break the stay up late habit. I remember turning 18 and thinking I was an adult and now could choose what time I go to bed. So it was fun at first. But there is something much greater in taking care of my body.
The simplicity of this saying ‘Early to bed early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise’ is really lovely. Reading your article I could feel the arrogance in me of belittling wisdoms like these that are often on offer in life. When I stop for a moment and let myself be touched by the common sense of such words I know I am accessing a deeper wisdom than my brain can provide. My body is wiser than my head and guides me clearly. Thank you, Simon.
Simon, this is a great topic. I remember my mothers rhythm who was going to bed early and getting up between 3 and 4am. So I started to do the same and it was such a confirming feeling to get so many things done in early morning hours.
I love the early mornings too. They are my favourite time for nurturing and playing and are my most productive time of the day. By evening I never feel like doing much to be honest, after work the best thing for me is winding down from a busy day and relaxing.
Thanks Simon. I know I feel much more energised when I am in the rhythm of going to bed early. I was surprised how much more connected to me and so well supported when doing this.
That is so true Amanda. And I also know that when I push myself to do things, even though my body wants to rest, it takes me like 3 times longer to get it done. There is absolutely no support in this…
I have found the same into going to be early. I was always one to stay up late. I spent a lot of that time thinking. In all that time I never really came to any answers that supported me to live with more presence or commitment to life yet simply forgoing the thinking and going to bed has had that effect without trying.
Wow! Now I understand the secret of that vibrant, awesome musician who struts his stuff on stage. At night he turns into cosy man and embraces his sleep rhythms.
What I love about this seemingly old saying is that it somehow connects us to a time when it perhaps felt like there was plenty of time and when the intensity of life was not so great. But I wonder how much of modern life’s intenseness is due to our growing awareness of how we are all actually living with each other on earth?
Inspiring, Simon, how something so simple can be of such benefit and affect your entire day – a powerful commitment to the love and honouring of oneself.
So great to read this so openly expressed. I love that saying of grandma and I can absolutely say it works too, she was right. It might sound ‘old’ but in fact it makes me feel as new. I have experimented with it too, and I love going to bed early. I would not believe saying this, being 21 years old now, while I used to always sleep late, or even stay up at night. I am feeling so much more full, vital and inspirational to live my life. A big thank you from my side too to Serge Benhayon, you are a golden rock to this world, standing more steady then ever and shining its purity mountains far.
I love what you have said Danna about going to bed early: ‘It might sound old but in fact it makes me feel as new’. So true. And also your thanks to Serge: ‘Serge Benhayon, you are a golden rock to this world, standing more steady than ever and shining its purity mountains far’. This is such a beautiful description.
I always find if I go to bed early and wake up early I have so much more energy for school and I won’t crave junk food as much as when I go to bed late and wake up late
A very common sense blog on going to bed early. As a child and teenager there is a big pressure and demand to trying to stay up later and later, this is revelled in as being cool and grown up. Yet I wonder what it is as adults that makes the societal view of going to bed early as boring, as if it’s rock n’ roll to stay up late. Its not so rock n’ roll when you have no energy the next day and find it difficult to relate to people and concentrate on tasks. Not to mention that early to bed lets you rise easily to enjoy the best part of the day.
A beautiful sharing Simone, I can almost hear your Nana saying this. I also buck the trend of staying up late and I so love going to bed early so I can rise with vitality and without the need for stimulants to help me get through the day. I get laughed at by acquaintances and colleagues because I’m such a “Nana” but I don’t care, my body loves it and it fits the rhythm of life very nicely.
There is such a strong belief that by going to bed early you are going to miss out. I lived by this rule for many years and took it to the extent of not sleeping at all for a lot of the time. What I missed out on during that time was the care that I now show myself.
Simon i agree whole heartedly with you about how glorious it feels to get into bed early. It seems unfathomable to me now that I used to be too tired to get off the couch and actually go to bed !
That was me too Alexis. I even tucked myself up in a blanket on the couch! I am now amazing myself that as I adapted to the early night routine, I can get up early and enjoy the day ahead. Late nights were my ‘norm’ so life is taking on a whole new meaning.
And to coin another old phrase, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”! It’s really clear by the responses offered here, that going to sleep at around 9pm..how it feels to get into bed when our body needs to (feels gorgeous) and waking feeling ready for the day ahead, has been others as well as my own discovery.
Simon, of course those of us that are also following in your steps know exactly what you describe. Somehow the body gets back to its rhythm and not what we enforce on it. Quite naturally you can find yourself waking at 4am (or earlier), working a full day and feeling fabulous. Thank you for your sharing.
I love the appreciation you share about your grandma, yourself, your rhythms, Serge Benhayon and the simplicity of early to bed and early to rise.
I couldn’t feel anything more simple to implement in my life. A commitment to me, and so that I can be all of myself for others to see the following day. Time will tell (:
I really like how you have laid out how an early night can affect the next day in so many ways. Your list is very relatable and are things I have noticed change since deciding to go to bed early.
This is just so gorgeous and I remember so well the 6.00 pm high tea and bed with the sun still up. Then there was that period in life of very late nights and all that went with this. But now at 60 it’s the early bed and the early rise and it’s the bedrock for a rhythm of living that has transformed my life. There is a whole lot of truth in so much of what we tend to discard as ‘old wives tales’ – time to listen a bit more closely and we will learn much – and time to listen to Serge Benhayon and we will find a better way of living – and I love it.
Beautifully said Michael.
I too remember my days of late night indulgence. I always thought something ‘exciting’ was going to happen ‘later on’, – the later it got the more exciting it would probably be. I used to ‘love’ exiting a party in the small hours of the night – (image of the cat knocking over a garbage bin in a deserted street in New York with yearning jazz music crying out in the night). This was because my daily life was not fulfilling and not in rhythm and also because I was looking for love and life outside myself. As well, I used to write my University essays late into the night and ‘think’ how good it was to write when everyone is asleep. What mad rationalisations did I have to make sure I was keeping myself de-stablilized.
Now it is ‘early to bed, early to rise’ and I am feeling heaps more vital and alive.
Great imager there Lyndy – that is how I spent my early 20’s but like simon I have embraced being a “nanna” in the past several years and feel so much more vital and focused in my day it’s astounding- with no sense of loss for what I thought I was enjoying in my ” nightlife”. You could almost say I swapped my night life for a true life!
A very honest comment Lyndy. There is so much glamour attached to night time living that was explored by film makers that day time living and going to bed early was seen as “boring”. Well, I can now openly say that I have been boring all my life !
Me too Maryline! But now we are juicy early-nighters ! No more boring.
This is quite inspiring Michael, there is such a different quality of life that comes with the alteration of a earlier bed time – it is like you are allowing the body the time that it needs to truly rest
Just reading your blog Simon, I already feel a deeper and lovely connection with myself, and how I am feeling in my body. Your words have connected me with the sleep that will come at the end of this day, and that how I live this day will also impact upon my quality of sleep… and so it goes…
Honouring these natural cycles in our bodies is truly amazing. I’ve also experienced a vast difference in this in my own life, inspired deeply by the presentations of Serge Benhayon and also Natalie Benhayon in particular.
And now you also Simon have offered a pearl here – yes, true wisdom as you’ve so beautifully distinguished. And I will allow this pearl to be with me today, tonight, and hereon in. Thank-you.
Victoria, you mention cycles here and it does feel like my body has a natural cycle of the time it needs to go to bed and the time it needs to rise. Just by honouring this simple change, I have started to be aware of other cycles my body has like when its the right time to eat, work, rest. It is totally different to the way I used to live and it does feel so much better, because I am respecting and living with the natural rhythm of my body, not fighting against it.
Yes Debra, it’s so interesting, as I listen to my body more i.e the cycle of when to go to bed, I get to feel where other cycles are in my life, meal time exercise, rest … and how they support me.
Yet more inspiration, reading your beautiful comments ladies. We can be so delicate with ourselves, can’t we… not in a way where we withhold ourselves or withdraw from life, but in the way we so richly honour the cycles of our days, our nights, what our bodies need… More pearls of wisdom, and deeply felt, thank-you for sharing.
I used to go to bed around 11pm at the earliest – and if going out, at early hours of the morning. When I heard the possibility that going to bed earlier might be beneficial I wasn’t convinced and thought I might feel deprived because of all the things I would no longer be doing late at night. Now that I know how amazing it feels to regularly go to bed at an earlier time, I would never ever go back to the old way.
This is one of those things that you just have to try out for a while and then you will know from your own experience what a huge difference it makes.
I’m with you there Golnaz. I used to think that, late at night one became a sort of powerhouse of creativity, producing one’s best ideas for work the following day. I now realise that this was an illusion, fuelled by alcohol and coffee! I could never have imagined how much more productive I would be between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., as a result of retiring at 9 p.m.!
I agree Golnaz and Jonathan. I came from the ‘late night club’ and at first it felt very strange to not want to go out for late parties anymore, until I remembered that I didn’t really enjoy yawning half the night, feeling tired and pretending to have fun! The next day was often a write-off, or certainly slower than if I get to bed early and wake up fresh, ready to enjoy the day ahead.
I have found the same as what you have shared here Simon. I have always felt better going to bed earlier and waking earlier and have never been able to sleep in. It is amazing how simple things affect all that we do and how profound these little changes are. As a 37 year old man, I love being a nanna.
From this article and comments I am loving reflecting back to the fact that as a child I knew and lived the early to bed early to rise wisdom. That what then happened was an overriding of what was natural as I adopted the trends of teenage and early adult hood. What I am returning to know is a rhythm that is totally natural to me and in so being supports every aspect of my life. Thank you, Simon and Lee.
This is a beautiful blog Simon and definitely wisdom coming from our mothers and grandmothers of that time. They knew without a doubt of the benefits of sleep to prepare for an early rise the next day.
Gorgeous blog, Simon. Your grandmother’s words are so very wise! When I stay up late these days, which is rare, I feel SO bad the next day! As you said, it effects everything, to the smallest infinite detail of my day.
Yes Simon I too love being a Nana and looking after myself and caring for myself… Absolutely I second your deepest gratitude and thanks to Serge Benhayon presenting that living simple loving lives is where it is at.
Thank you Simon – I too have always felt a deep understanding that sleep is an integral part of our lives. I would always dread going out at night because the lack of sleep would take me days to recover from. I would become obsessed with sleep and tiredness. Now I have come to understand the science in our bodies of the benefits of sleeping early and rejoice at giving myself permission to get to bed early. My life is so much the better for it. It is as necessary and nourishing to our bodies as the healthy intake of food.
How simple is this? Wind down, go to bed early and then rise feeling refreshed for the next day. Yet we struggle and push to get more done, to watch another show and to put off letting the day go…
I too have chosen the ‘Nana’ theory of early to bed and early to rise and because of this one simple choice my whole day completes with more love, care and honour then ever before. And now I rise to greet the next day feeling gorgeous 😊
So true Simon, I have found how much quicker I can do something early in the morning, rather than trying to stay up late in order to do it. I feel so much more revived making that choice of going to bed early.
What a lovely light hearted blog Simon. Our elders knew a thing or two didn’t they? We can probably blame electricity for staying up ‘past bedtime’, and feeling the need to distract ourselves and wanting to extend our day in case we miss out on anything, this is just putting our minds before our bodies, no wonder we’re exhausted. My mother-in-law used to tell us off if we didn’t keep our kidneys warm… she knew a thing or to too! Thank you for sharing, and it was only today at work that we were discussing staying up late and I confessed that I loved being a granma and going to bed early and snuggling up with myself, I wouldn’t want it any other way, it now feels the natural thing to do.
Your grandma, as well as many grandma’s, sure had some wisdom Simon. Healthy wealthy and wise! Makes sense doesn’t it… To rest well and sleep well means you are healthier, wealthier and wiser !! Works for me 🙂
Great blog on the importance of good quality sleep Simon, when early nights are part of what you do for your self then it affects everything.. as you say;
How we feel.
How we walk.
How we talk during the day.
How we eat because if we are tired we tend to choose sugary, starchy junk foods.
It actually affects how we think. What we think – what thoughts about ourselves and others we allow in our heads.
And then it affects how we treat others and ourselves.
I love what and how you have written this Simon, it is as uncomplicated as the principle itself, of going to bed sensibly early. The scene you describe of preparing for bed after an early dinner sounds lovely to me. I love the idea of being prepared for bed with no rush, as you say this supports a way of living that improves the way I am with other people, as if I am well rested there is more love and care available for me and all around me.
I agree – there is such a great simplicity in this.
Super simple and can be life changing especially when there’s consistency. “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy” so true & so wise. Thank you Simon.
My Grandma must have known your Grandma Simon! I love your comment about Wisdom – it’s tried and tested as is Early to Bed, Early to Rise…. Wisdom is what we know but it is not knowledge. One comes from the head and the other is lived in our bodies and can be passed on and expressed with authority through lived experience that is reconfirmed in our daily life. I loved reading your blog!
I can feel the huge difference between 6 or 7 hours sleep that is had from going to bed early compared to having the same amount of sleep when one goes to be late. There is certainly something that is true in that aged old saying.
I love this saying of your nanny! 🙂 I´ve never been a really late nighter, but even going only 1 or 2 hours earlier to bed- at around 9 pm- made such a big difference in my life. I also don´t hold back in telling others that I go to bed so early- many people got inspired of it and are more aware of their bedtime now- others just found it funny… But that doesn´t matter to me, because I experienced such a beautiful change of vitality and clarity throughout my day, so that I would never want to miss that. So why be holding back 🙂
Me too Steffi, I also don’t hold back in sharing that I go to bed early. Sometimes it feels that with my reflection, it allows people to go to bed early as well. It’s like there is this unspoken rule that going to bed early is not cool and not done, but if you do and people see you making that choice, it’s like an invitation to making choices that feel honoring to you, instead of doing what everybody else is doing.
I can remember always feeling like such a “loser” that I wanted to go to bed early. I would force myself to stay up and be with my husband, but inevitably I would fall asleep on the couch, which seemed even worse. When I attended a Universal Medicine workshop and our daily rhythm was introduced including the potential that early to bed and rise may suit us better I was ecstatic! At last I could go to bed when it suits me, and not when society says. Now I enjoy my early morning hours immensely and don’t know how I lived without them.
Absolutely Jane – we have denied our body a voice for so long, and feeding it substances and chemicals to coerce it into living our chosen life-style. Sheer madness. The body is our best friend, so let’s love it that way.
Going to bed before 9 works for me
I agree Joe, going to bed before 9pm works well for me and my family too.
This blog is simply beautiful Simon, thank you. I can feel your grandmas wisdom and that of those in her generation.
I too can appreciate the daily affects of early to bed and early to rise and this includes my whole way of being in life and with people.
Deep thanks to the simple, deeply true and resonate presentations of Serge Benhayon.
These days I love going to bed early and getting up early. It feels so great for my body to do this.
Great Blog Simon. I’ve noticed that how I prepare and put myself for bed has become very important in determing the quality of sleep I have. I love using this time gently winding down and reconnecting to my body before snuggling up in a cosy bed. Maybe Grandma was right!
Wise words indeed from your grandma. I used to go to bed around 11pm and would be falling asleep watching TV around 9 pm. I obviously wasn’t listening to my body. I now go to bed 9 pm (ish )when I’m tired, and the difference that has made to the quality of my sleep is truly remarkable. I now enjoy going to bed early and getting up early.
Thank you for your inspiring blog on this topic which affects everyone’s wellbeing.
Top blog Simon and I would say that Grandma is definitely right. “Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.
Something that is known to be true because it has been lived and found to have an effect on the way we live.”
You can have as much knowledge as your mind can contain but actually living what you preach will always have far more authority than knowledge ever will.
Simon reading your blog reminds me how much I love putting my cosy pyjamas on early and snuggling up in bed with my electric blanket on… I just do not do it consistently enough lately.. you have so inspired me to get back to this loving rhythm.
Oh what a beauty, Simon!!! I love that what you are offering. There is a picture coming up in me: there is millions of people running in one direction. Stressed, disoriented but running the same direction, cause everybody else does. And then there is a man taking it slow with all the millions around him. He get confused reactions from others, get’s jostled here and there – but with love and stillness and full of joy taking one step after the other – in a blue and white striped pyjama (please don’t ask me why these colors 🙂
And that opens up a strength and beauty to me that is incredibly gorgeous and tender. And all that inspired by a man, Serge Benhayon, who was the first to stop and trust that this is exactly the right thing to do. That not one million running one way are right, that it is him – stoping, taking it slow, surrendering and simply being love…..
Where is my pyjama…!!!?!? 🙂
Haha, great comment Christina. Yes, going to bed early is certainly going against the trend these days, but it makes good common sense in so many ways. It is really powerful to surrender to and be guided by the inner knowing of our own bodies.
Love this Christina, thanks for the funny picture.
with pleasure! to me as well* still keeps coming to me from time to time – my pyjama pants today are striped blue and white… hmmm 🙂
Mine are pink with white dots and a pink bow 🙂
Photos please!
that’s too cute***
Great blog, Simon, with simple but effective advice we can pass on to our future generations. I especially note the food changes – when we are exhausted we go for sugary snacks and that feeds the exhaustion further, a bit of a vicious circle. How much simpler then to just got to bed early and get a nourishing night’s sleep!
This is so true Carmel. Exhaustion = sugary snacks = vicious circle
A simple clear description of the knock on effect of Exhaustion, from Kathryn.
Very true Carmel. I have noticed that. When we get exhausted we go for quick very short-term fixes. That is why caffeine and sugary snacks are such a regular “must have” for most of society.
I used to stay up knowing I should be in bed until there came a point when I decided to commit to going to bed early. I have not looked back. I feel so much clearer in my head, have more energy and I am not grumpy! This simple act of going to bed early has certainly made a big difference in my life.
This is such a lovely blog sharing with us, a snippet of simple yet profound wisdom from yesteryears. For me now, I just love retiring to bed early and starting each day feeling refreshed.
Hi Simon, My family would use that saying too I remember it well but I never took much notice of it back then. The way you have developed your life to be about supporting yourself which includes going to bed earlier and actually noticing how your behaviour deteriorates when you do not – really stood out for me as it made me wonder how much of the behaviour in the world is not about people wanting to behave badly but purely about the way they are living? So your blog describes when you do not nurture you continue the following day to not nurture you and you treat others less well. Its an interesting one to consider with all the youth violence and so on that we see in the world !
There’s certainly wisdom here Simon. Just following what our bodies are telling us is just so much easier than forever fighting it using stimulants to artificially force things. Since adopting the 9 to 5 regime, I find that the 5am rising allows me so much more productive time to get things done, than I ever could have achieved in the wee small hours!
That is it Jonathan, following what our bodies are telling us; we know that they register everything and speak loudly to us. Love the reference to the 9-5 routine too. How hard wired are we in believing that the work day starts and finishes between those hours too?
Loved reading this Simon and I loved this saying as a child as I could feel the wisdom, although I didn’t always live by it as I grew older. And now as a grandmother I have been known to share the saying with others every now and then, and will continue to do so, as I know that many of the wonderful changes that have unfolded in my life in the last few years have been, in part, a result of going to bed early. I just love snuggling down for the night with the knowing that I am lovingly preparing my body for the next day.
Simon I find that going to bed early and waking earlier has a huge effect on how I am the next day. I used to force myself to stay up late because I felt I was missing out. Now I am in bed by 9pm most days and wake earlier. The time I have to myself in the morning is far more useful than staying up later the night before. I find I am fresher in the morning and I can take my time preparing myself for the day ahead. If I have work to do, I find doing it in the morning works much better for me.
Thank you Simon for reminding us all of this very wise ‘old wives tale’. Like many of these true sayings there is a profound wisdom in them that we tend to dismiss, yet when we take heed of them have a marked difference on our lives.
A timely blog Simon and thank you for your simple sharing here.
Sleep is such a big issue and until I came across the work of Serge Benhayon, I had no idea of the harm I was doing to my body every single day by staying up late when it was natural for me to go to bed early.
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself..”
This is so true Simon as the quality of my next day is amazing when I got the sleep thing on track. In my life, I value my rest time and sleep time as the most important thing. It has taken hard work, effort and real commitment to make this happen where today it is “normal’ for me to stop during the day and take a nap. Going to bed early with a self caring and deeply nurturing wind down routine ADDS to the quality of my sleep. I cannot imagine a greater way to live.
I love what you share Simon, that the way in which and time of which you go to bed affects everything for you the next the day, even down to the thoughts that come in. This is something I too can feel in myself, it’s as if when I go to sleep I am actually setting myself up for the next day. If I stay up later I don’t ever want to get out of bed, I can’t complete the day to the same quality that I usually can, it feels like an uphill struggle. Whereas when I go to bed at an early time and with a run up of stillness, I wake up earlier, more freely, feeling prepared for the day that lies ahead, which comes to me with such an ease compared to when I am tired out from a late night. I am learning that if the way we go to sleep the night before affects the following day then there is a responsibility on the ending of my day to ensure that I can live to my true quality the next day, it’s as if the day begins in the evening rundown to bedtime!
I love your grandma’s wise words and yours too Simon. How busy life is and gets and is affecting all of us, yet these simple changes can have such an incredible change on so many things. I do get to bed at a reasonable hour, but I can allow this time to slip from time to time, when I do, I really feel the affects on my body, how I wake up – there isn’t a spring in my step, I kind of drag myself out of bed, not really ready for the day. So I really understand the difference you can feel from making these simple and loving choices.
I very much agree. Going to bed early or eggnog we start feeling the body to slow down or tire in the evening is so supportive to how we are the next day.
Thank you Simon. Your blog also took me back to a time of simplicity with warm baths, meals and being tucked into bed early. How gorgeous that we can still choose that for ourselves now regardless of our age and the trend away from that.
Super true Simon. Now I know why my parents used to make me go to bed early when I was younger.. No protest from me anymore though, early bedtimes are the best.
So beautiful to read Simon, how you care for yourself by putting yourself to bed early. I had a lovely warm feeling come over me remembering fondly staying at my Grandma’s, having dinner early and all going to bed quietly and gently. At the time, being a young girl I didn’t overly like it, but looking back now it was such a loving way to go to sleep. I’ve been in a pattern of going to bed an hour later than I usually would, it has had such a big impact on me, tired, lack of vitality and I’ve noticed, like you Simon how much my food choices change as well. This has definitely inspired me to listen to my body.
Yes I tried it too Simon, the difference for me has been profound, from saying, I am an insomniac, to a restorative sleep every night. I urge anyone who hasn’t already tried it to practice this simple ‘medicine’ for a greater sense of daily well being.
There is a great deal of simple practical wisdom that has been left behind in the big rush of progress. It was not unusual for me to spend my evenings in front of the TV…watching, well watching utter rubbish most f the time. Mental chewing gum was the expression. I remember sitting up for just another few minutes…I’ll go to bed at the next ad break….no the next one…then the horror of realising “oh no! It’s 11.30pm”. Fall into bed exhausted, cranky with myself, knowing the next day I was going to be a tired, grumpy mess, fuelled on caffeine. And I would repeat it all the next day……..
What I love about Universal Medicine is that it does not preach or instruct. It just presented the simple wisdom the body loves to go to bed early, and that when we do, sleep is restored to its place as the time for the body to deeply let go and refresh itself. I gave it a go, and it worked. And I do not miss a single one of those television shows
You are absolutely spot-on Rachel when you say that UM doesn’t preach or instruct. This removes the sort of ‘Nannying’ element that could cause resentment among the lifelong committed night-owls. When the sheer practical benefits of being in bed at nine are so palpable, it’s an absolute must-do.
I can relate Rachel – ‘just one more episode!’, ‘only half an hour then bed!’, these are things I’ve told myself time and time again. Surprise surprise – I always end up watching more! This used to (and still sometimes does) work the same with food too – ‘just one more bite’, can turn into another meal!
I so recognise this – just a few more minutes of watching TV or, I’ll just check my emails . . . and it’s 10.30pm and I wake feeling miserable and beat myself up for going to bed so late. I love tucking up in bed early and waking refreshed and with time to get everything done, including my emails, it is a very nurturing thing to do, and affects my whole day.
Oh Rachel, I completely agree. This pattern is one I have also experienced, however interestingly, another aspect was that ‘I thought’ no one thought it was “cool” to go to bed at 9pm (or earlier). During my school years, I was always so afraid to tell people and claim it for myself (although I would still go to bed at 9pm), so this has been something for me to challenge, to claim and just speak my truth in why I choose to go to bed at this time. Considering if people did react, maybe they are simply reacting to feeling that they haven’t honoured their own body and themselves in this way…and continuing the falseness.
Me too ariannekasi, I used to think it was ‘uncool’ and ‘lame’ to go to bed at 9pm or earlier… and still do a bit! I’m working on it though, and slowly slowly 11pm has become 10pm, and 10pm is now 9.30… I’m getting there 🙂
I know that desire to not let the day go,and to keep holding on with one more minute of a movie, or a doing one more thing well. It’s a great reminder when I get these thoughts to look at the quality of my day, and why this was missing for me to need more and more.
Nanas of the world unite! Likewise with me Simon. I was such a night owl all my life, loving the stillness of those wee hours of the morning but by making them the end of my day, I was far too weary to enjoy them by the time that I got there. Putting myself to bed early was a radical move on my part but as you have shared, the wealth gained far surpasses the meager offerings a body pumped full of exhaustion affords. I now wouldn’t miss those early hours of the day for anything and by making them and the stillness that they offer my starting point, I get to take that quality with me through the busyness of the day. Aaah, my ‘cappuccino’ of connection – no caffeine required.
Absolutely, I too love the stillness in the wee hours of the morning and so much more appreciate that time to myself than I once did when it was at the end if the day when my daughter had settled and gone to sleep. I feel fresh in the morning compared to the drained feeling I once lived in and stayed up in in the evening.
This blog and your opening line here Liane, have triggered a deep appreciation for our elders; our Nana’s and Grandma’s and those who represent them. It’s time to appreciate our older folk and seek their wisdom. We cast them off and write them off when we can be supported so much by them. Imagine them lining up for a coffee each morning, or hanging out for a cigarette whilst at work or at home! Yes Nana’s of the world unite!!
Beautiful Bernadetteglass – the old rhythms and ways had so much more common sense respect for the body. I had the privilege of living in a tiny village in North Yorkshire for many years surrounded by older country folk who taught me much about the most productive and vital rhythms of the day – early to bed and early to rise sustained all – caffeine free! There was a steadiness through all the productivity – no rushy bustle, or nervous humm, but so much got so well taken care of. In appreciation of our elders.
Yes Kate! Hear hear to the rhythms of life, the rhythms of the country, our salt of the earth farmers, our elders, our beautiful children, our Nanas, and indeed all who live by the rhythm, and in the rhythm as sons of God.
Me too Liane – I love the feeling of having space and time in the morning, but of course this is only possible when I go to bed early and don’t stress and exhaust myself during the day.
Wow – really puts it all into focus just how nutty and ‘squeezy’ life is for most of us these days, and how fast we have slipped away from the steady wisdom of relatively recent times. Raising children where we lived for a while on a street where there were heaps of young families, who not so long ago would have been tucked up having their beauty sleep after an early dinner. My kids still followed this pretty natural way, and it was amazing just how very much this stood out, with most kids on the street averaging bedtimes long after dark, playing on the street till late, then continuing on computer or TV way beyond that to midnight or even beyond. While still in Primary school, my kids got to talk with their friends and it seemed the average bedtime was around 10.00pm. Little wonder serving at the primary school canteen kids so often looked totally worn out and tired with dark rings under their eyes – at the start of the day, reaching for high sugar foods, or even caffeine just to try and wake up. At school assemblies also one of the stand out features is how exhausted the children look. Love the common sense wisdom you share here Simon, can tangibly feel what a difference it makes through your days.
So true Kate. More ‘ space ‘ and less ‘squeeze’ please ✨
Oh YES! – Gorgeous!!
‘just how nutty and ‘squeezy’ life is for most of us these days’ – what a light-hearted wake up call this is – the madness that we are ever more coming to consider normal: running with exhaustion and compensating for this with high sugar foods and stimulants. Working in a primary school I watch the roller coaster ride through a day as children come in high after breakfast, limp to lunch, peaking and toughing throughout the day whilst chatting about their late night online activity. I would love to put early nights back into ‘cool’!
Great blog Simon, thank you. Making a choice to go to bed early really does set up a rhythm for the 24hr day cycle, and what I have found is that my body absolutely loves this consistency. Consistency is what seems to drop off in a world where everything is fast paced, and in turn, becomes key in the practice of self care.
I agree Johanne, consistency is vital and the body does loves it. I now see why I found late nights such a drag, I’m naturally and early riser and have returned to a rhythm that is intrinsic to who I am.
For sure, it’s easy to dismiss the simple practical things we all know support us and not appreciate the difference they can make to our lives.
Simon I love this saying of your Grandmother’s, so much truth in her saying. I resonated with the part about things we think we need to do at “me time”. It’s the most common topic that comes up when I mention what time I go to bed. People seem very concerned that I don’t have “me time”. I feel the more I am with myself during the day the less I think I need “me time”. Perhaps people are so disconnected all day that they feel the need to stop and zone out during “me time“, there has been so much unprocessed business from the way they lived their day it is all too much (best to check out). Being more with myself I realise I’m having “me time” all day, time to process the day as it happens.
When it come to night time and I’ve put the kids in bed, I’m content to put my sleep wear on and tuck myself in at Nana hr, and prepare myself for the new day ahead, feeling rested and loved.
‘Being more with myself I realise I’m having “me time” all day,’
I love this – all day is ‘Me-time’ – very simple :o)
that’s true Carmel
I always needed loads of ‘me time’ because I was so checked out during my day, that in my evenings and weekends, I felt I needed time to myself. These days, ‘me time’ is all day every day…what else could it be?!
‘Me time’ for me has always been about some kind of a reward for something I have done during the day. So I work hard and then get ‘me time’ to compensate. What I am learning now is that every moment is an opportunity to commit to me, to life, to those around me in full and that when work is done, if I have been steady, present and connected, there is just space for more commitment to me, life and those around me! Thank you, Kim.
In my 20s and 30s, I could never work out why if I slept from say midnight to 8am I felt washed out and tired, despite having had the recommended 8 hours sleep, compared with when I went to to bed around 9pm and slept for only 6 or 7 hours and felt more refreshed in the morning. Now, my body knows this as a true science … in bed by 9pm (ish) and I wake naturally around the same time each day feeling like I’ve had a true rest. It’s priceless.
Yes. And it’s so lovely to wake naturally early and have enough time to get ready for the day than waking in the drain and exhaustion and then also getting ready in that.
Gosh I remember that feeling and man I do not miss it! Its an amazing support to align to the natural rhythms of our bodies,
Love it Sandra – ‘Now, my body knows this is a true science’.
I went through a similar experience and working later till early hours in the morning, again having around 8 hours sleep and still feeling not myself and tired. Turning it round so I know am in bed most days by 9pm ish (unless I have an event at work) and up earlier I feel so more alive and alert is incredible.
That’s really interesting what you have mentioned, in that it is not having the ‘recommended 8 hours’ that makes the difference it is the actual going to bed early.
I love this and know that early to bed is a fundamental support in my rhythm in life. I know also, and am working on, the importance of the quality with which I go to bed – letting the day past be complete so that I am not encumbering my rest and/or the next day. Thank you, Sandra.
Wise words indeed by Grandma. They remind me of another wise old saying that’s offered and that is: Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight. Not quite such a catchy saying but never the less full of wisdom, that ‘early to bed’ gives us a quality and depth of sleep that will stand us in great stead for the next day.
Yes, I recall this one too – it makes such a difference going to bed early. I awaken refreshed and prepared for my day- tho the ‘how’ I prepare for sleep has made a big difference to my sleep quality also. I now need fewer hours sleep too.
Now here is a most wise and inspiring blog and gorgeously written Simon.
As a kid I was early to bed and early to rise so I could walk for 30min at first light to the local pool just so I could be the first one to dive into the still water to begin training at 6am
Today I love being awake for these precious early hours as its my time before the busy day begins. By the end of the day unwinding from busyness and going to bed early is such a natural joyful feeling as the day is complete.
I love that special time in the morning too Yasmin, its such a joy to be up and aware as the world ‘wakes up’ Its so lovely to celebrate not only the sunrise and the dawn chorus of the birds, but a special space for me to connect with all and prepare myself for the coming day.
That’s what I love too about going to bed early, that I’m awake when the rest of the neighbourhood is still sleeping (so are the birds!) and I can feel the stillness of the day not yet awakened. It’s such a lovely time to connect in with myself and to then have time to work on personal projects, other work, to cook or go to the gym and still be at work fresh as a daisy in good time.
Wise words from your Gran Simon, and so very true. There is nothing more gorgeous than to snuggle up in bed when your body says it’s tired and go straight to sleep, to then wake up much more refreshed and ready for your day. I too, used to stay up with others or have the need to watch tv even though my body was clearly saying, it was tired. Thankfully I am listening to my wise and loving body these days.
Snuggling up in bed feeling all of myself and honouring a tired body is so delicious. No food or tv program could replace it.
This I recognize more and more, with going into bed early, the time that actually feels the best to have a great day which helps preparing for a good night sleep again.
Simon, so true is the line, ‘the simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference’. Why is it we fight the very things that we know could be so very beneficial in our lives? I’m learning to give up the fight as the fight isn’t real and doesn’t serve me in any way. Lovingly preparing myself for bed for an early evening and being a Nanna, is something I’m appreciating more and more as I’m learning to pay more attention to the wisdom of my body.
Great question, Stevie: “Why is it we fight the very things that we know could be so very beneficial in our lives?” I observe this so much in life that I wondered what was going on with us as humanity! Serge Benhayon has provided the only explanation that makes sense and covers the whole picture. We are not ‘bad people’, we are being influenced by energies that do not want us to be the whole amazing selves we are. For if we did all connect to our inner truth and drop all our harming behaviours, things would change dramatically in the world. Still, we have the responsibility for coming to recognize that, and the fact that we allow ourselves and our choices to be influenced away from the health and wisdom we all know within.
Great blog Simon. Going to bed earlier has a HUGE impact on my day; I’m tired an awful lot of the time, and the reason for this is that I get anxious, overstressed and nervous during the day (which is super exhausting), and then I go to bed late.. It really makes no sense. When I do make the choice to look after myself and sleep earlier, I wake up feeling full of beans, and I then have much more focus and presence during the day – limiting the amount I get stressed. The cycle of exhaustion I get myself into is quite self-abusive, and often all it takes is creating a bit more space in my day and making simple choices (like getting more sleep) that honour what my body tells me to stop the momentum.
Hear, hear I’ll second that, going to bed early make such a huge difference to how everything in my life is, including the kind of thoughts I have.
It is a simple life changer, I totally agree Simon.
I love your blog Simon – it’s amazing how much we can pack into those few hours in the evening that if we’re honest isn’t necessary (like TV, time online), when as you have shared it could possibly help us to feel better in the day by going to bed earlier
Simon, I agree with your grandmother whole heartedly. I have always been someone who wanted to go to bed early and get up early naturally but for most of my adult life I thought there was something wrong with me. Others all around seemed to think it was ‘normal’ to stay up until midnight or later on a regular basis during the week and even later on weekends. Now I have realised that my body was sending me a terrific message and I am happy to go with my ‘normal’ regardless of what may be doing.
Me too, Helen, I always naturally put myself to bed by 9:00 pm; my parents did not have to push me. As a working adult, this still felt true and I’d usually be asleep by 9:30, but there was a lot of pressure from partners and friends to stay up late. Plus our favourite TV shows didn’t start until 8:30. Plus our jobs loaded us with ‘homework’ and we had to cut into private time to keep up. However, my body never liked to go to sleep after 9:00, and if I passed the 9:30 mark I’d start to feel agitated and wakeful with a kind of ‘second wind’, feeling exhausted but unable to sleep well. I really feel that I am honouring myself when I put myself to bed with tenderness before 9:00 pm, and then I go to sleep peacefully.
This is a lovely sharing Simon, love your humour and Nana’s wise words are so true! Going to bed early determines the quality of how I feel the next day, Usually I have more clarity, joy and more bounce in my body, it feels awesome!
My parents also followed that rule when we were younger and no matter if one of us was 5 or 14 we would all be in bed by seven o’clock. We didn’t mind and we never questioned it and I was always up earlier too and felt better for it. Then as we got older my parents started to let us stay up longer and we would sit there watching the tv together. These days I have reverted back to the early nights and early mornings and am finding that I have more energy during my day.
Beautifully said Simon. I love that its wise words that hold as if they’ve been for all time, yet those from knowledge for me just don’t strike the same chord, and I find much harder to retain.
It’s actually really beautiful to play with the nightly bedtime routine and make adjustments. I’ve recently found getting to sleep at 9 and not 9-30-10 gives me an even better quality of sleep. I used to be a night owl and always needed lots of sleep. Through Universal Medicine I’ve become more connected to my body’s own natural way and have followed that, which has led me to naturally do what I thought would be impossible – fall asleep easily at 9pm! Not pushing against the body anymore has brought such ease, and sleeping early (even if not for very long) brings a real lightness to the day. Proud to be a Nanna! 🙂
Going to bed early means I get to wake up early. The stillness and quiet of the early mornings is my favourite time of the day.
I just imagined this phrase from your super gorgeous grandmother, Simon, in the football stadiums instead of the ads, they usually have there. That’d be fun!
Very cute Felix – I love it, laughed out loud, at seeing ‘Early to bed . . .’ up on a board at a football game. We could rent a ‘watch this spot’ and post every week.
So what is this crazy, jam packed existence that we have ‘evolved’ into in the last 100 years. Filled with bright lights, technological gizmos and bigger and better ways to distract ourselves, could it be worth listening to some of the ancient wisdom that has been lived by others, as a guide in these fast moving times.
Absolutely
Brilliant blog Simon, and oh so true. Putting myself to bed early with a caring preparing time before really does make for a wonderful quality nights sleep, waking early refreshed and ready for the day. If I keep myself stimulated or busy up to going to bed I can wake feeling groggy foggy and sluggish, the first definitely my preference.
I can completely relate to what you’ve shared here Simon in that how going to bed late or even if I am in bed before or at 9pm or later as some shift days I do, if I am wound up or stimulated it can have a huge impact on how I start my next day upon waking and then the following events throughout the day.
Timeless wisdom, Simon, and as always the simple truths are the most powerful. I can really feel the quality of loving care you have towards yourself in ensuring you have that time to wind down and feel deliciously yummy before going to bed early – thanks for sharing this with us.
Simon I love this blog as it reminds me of my parents home to this day. Our family dinners are always served at 6pm. I find that when I pop in for a meal I always bath before hand. Put on some pre pyjamas clothes. Stay for an hour or so and head home to my cosy bed. Your grandma and my parents got the right idea and it works.
There is something so wholesome about going to bed early, a reminder of a truly nurturing way of being remincent of my childhood days. Although still working on consistency I’m definitely a fan of ‘early to bed early to rise’.
I also used to feel that I had to stay up late, that I was missing out, anyway thats what musicians did!. Now I love getting up at 4 am going around to the studio in the moonlight, or having band practice at 5.30 am in the morning … the delight and the seeming dichotomy of it always tickles me , and I love it… it is such a creative time … early to bed , early to rise, the music just flows, from the heart inspired.
I found that I was staying up late to have some time for myself, just to wind down. Since I have started living with a deeper sense of presence in daily life, I feel less need to have that time because my day has already been spent with me.
This is lovely Simon, thank you. I am definitely putting my hand up for early bed time and early wake-up time.
I love a simple old fashion truth, lovely sharing Simon. I listen to my inner Nana these days, who lets me know just what my body needs. If I don’t have a good nights sleep or do stay up past my body’s natural rhythm, my day ahead is also out of rhythm. It simply makes sense to listen to our bodies.
It started as a necessity for my health but now I love going to bed early and getting up early. It feels like a very natural rhythm.
Indeed words of deep wisdom shared by Grandma. My day turns out so much better when I prepare for bed and sleep well. This reminds me of some advice my Gran shared with me, “keep your kidneys warm” she would say it regularly when I was a young girl and I used to wear short tops. I can remember her gently pulling my tops down and placing her hands around my waist. It is now something I share with my children and I care for my kidneys and make sure they are warm and cosy and a consequence of this is that they do not feel depleted and exhausted. And I do not feel tired or cold.
There is a lot we can learn from our elders – early to bed and keeping our kidneys warm are just 2 examples. As we return to what fully supports us in our day, as elders, we will be able to pass this on.
Absolutely Samantha. My parents too used to say Simon’s grandma’s ‘Early to bed . . ‘ words, and my mother used to say, ‘Always keep your kidneys warm, and don’t sit on grass without a rug or something like that. because, even in dry weather the ground holds a lot of damp and it comes up to dampen your kidneys’. I always took that bit of advice seriously and have since passed it on to many people sitting on damp grass at picnics.
It is lovely how you have remembered the wisdom of your grandmother’s words Simon, and how they timelessly apply. They are words that bring what we all need to know about the huge value in having a rhythm with our day – as you have so beautifully described, your sleep rhythm affects everything from how you walk and talk to how you eat and think the next day. That is well worth pondering on and feeling the huge benefit and support that such a rhythm gives us. Thank you Simon!
Simon, I love how you’ve presented the simplicity of the wisdom many of us know but often don’t live. It is really those little things that make a difference. I used to hear an expression as a child that an hour’s sleep before midnight was worth 2 hours! And I know as I’ve changed my sleep rhythm in the last few years to go to bed earlier, I feel so much more ready and energised for my day. I love the mornings now, and they feel so spacious, and somehow I feel I have more time – it’s lovely, and I get to hear the birds sing too!
Great blog Simon! I very much agree with you and your grandmother, I love the feeling of going to bed early and rising early – it makes a HUGE difference on my day and how I feel.
I was never able to stay up late but going to be bed early and in the way you describe is far more loving and enjoyable than when I stay up later and just hurry off to bed. It literally makes the world of difference to the next day – just like you describe.
I checked my “me time” differences, if I take it late or early and found: late time I am checking out by watching tv, reading or surfing in the internet that left me feeling empty and in the need for ‘more’, drinking and eating badly (sugar or salty things) and wake up with a heavy body and a hangover. In the early time I do connecting with myself deeply that supports my connection to others through the day, doing exercises which supports my body through my day, take my time in the bath to celebrate my beauty and I do some volunteer work, by my experiences I can just agree with your nanna.
this is a great differentiation between the two Sandra, I couldn’t agree more.
Great reading Simon and so true. From pushing myself to stay up, not going to bed until late, I now willingly and lovingly cosy into my PJ’s and prepare for bed early, everyday. I’m so thankful to have been shown a much wiser way to be with myself and my body.
This saying was also in our family but I seem to remember that it was only applied to children. I have always enjoyed going to bed early but for many years forced myself to stay up later and go to bed at a ‘normal’ time like everyone else. Now that I have given myself permission to listen to my body I enjoy going to bed early and wake refreshed early in the morning.
Yes Mary, same, same for me. When I was young I always went to bed early but when I became an adult I stayed up late to fit in, as going to bed late was considered ‘normal’ for adults. How wrong I was! While searching for answers to the life threatening cancer I had at 50, I started to read and found research, which suggested that going to bed at 9pm was healthier for the body. At that time I adopted this regime as a mental construct as part of my healing. Years later I met Serge Benhayon and after attending his presentations I started listening to my body. Now I go to bed at 9pm or earlier depending on what my body needs and I wake up without an alarm when my body is ready to awaken – usually anything from 2am to 4am at the latest. This is now my new ‘normal’.
Your reply Mary has triggered something in me. Yes, the adults used to stay up later so I couldn’t wait to be old enough to join them. Parties and grown up stuff always started late – but at the same time my Mother would say ‘the hours before midnight give you your beauty sleep’. More wisdom in that than she realised I feel, although deep down she knew of its validity. These old sayings are so true!
“There is a distinct difference in how I am the next day if I go to bed early and in a way that is caring for myself.” I so agree – I love going to bed early, waking refreshed and having lots of time to accomplish what is needed before the rest of the world wakes up! And I am a Granny now too – and my Gran used to say the same as yours. It took me a long time to follow her advice!
Gorgeous, nanny Simon! I used to hear that expression too and felt the truth of it. Now we can all be grandmas for ourselves and go to bed early, snuggled up and yummy, and feel full of energy, wisdom and vitality every day.
I love going to bed early, snuggled up and yummy. It makes such a difference to how I feel the next day and supports me to make ongoing caring and loving choices for my body until my next early bedtime 🙂
Beautiful Simon.
When I was growing up dinner in our house was always at 6pm and my mum supported us kids to go to bed by 7.30pm every night. We would always complain that our friends got to stay up late but looking back now it was such a support for our growing bodies. Now my children say they same thing to me and I simply smile because I know in my body how supportive going to bed early was for me. In fact I still do it now and feel all the better for it.
It was the same for me growing up Bianca, our bed time was 7.30pm and we also complained, just the same as my boys do now, as their friends to to bed at 10/11pm. This is so true and great for me to remember – “…I simply smile because I know in my body how supportive going to bed early was for me.”
That ‘me time’ is quite funny. What am I the rest of the day if I’m not me doing all the things that I do…? I get what people mean but perhaps there is a way to have ‘me time’ even if I’m with others.
Well said Matts. If I’m honest ‘me time’ is really something of a misnomer. It’s usually a time to check out from my life with TV or pointless internet stuff. It’s a time I say I don’t want to be fully present because actually when I am present going to bed with me is lovely. Then waking up early with lots of my day ahead I have that me time with or not with people.
Going to bed not fully present is like taking to bed energies that I don’t know and letting them run riot all night. It’s no wonder then one wakes up feeling grubby.
Great point Karin that I’ve not considered before. ‘Going to bed not fully present is like taking to bed energies that I don’t know and letting them run riot all night. It’s no wonder then one wakes up feeling grubby.’ Makes total sense and gives me a greater understanding as a parent to view it like this. Thank you.
It’s so true Simon, what you say about how the time you go to bed affects just about everything for the next day. I have the same experience and it doesn’t make a difference if I sleep later in the morning, if I go to bed late, the next day is so much harder.
Thank you Simon Asquith for showing me that the fact that life is actually simple was already known by our grandparents but in our so called ‘modern’ times we have completely lost our connection with this wisdom. In the arrogance of our ‘modern’ times we are ignorant to the wisdom that is there for us to be found, a wisdom that is already well known and lived by humanity for ages but conveniently ignored in order to remain in the suffering of life and for not having to take our responsibility for living an irresponsible life for that long time.
This is a good point Nico, the wisdom was/is there waiting for us to reconnect to.
Very wise and powerful words Nico. How easy it is to be in the suffering of life rather than take responsibility for how we are living.
Great contribution – and so true: not trying to cram everything in at the end of the day in nervous anticipation of the following day and what it will bring has made a huge difference to my life as well.
This feels like one of those Aesop’s Fables. I love it. Such a lovely, simple truth. Thank you, Simon.
It feels very loving and nurturing to go to bed early, and I’m one of those who used to push past the natural point of sleep to burn the midnight oil. I agree, Simon, it makes such a difference to how I am the next day, not only in the way I feel about myself, but also how I interact with other people.
From one self-proclaimed nana to another – you rock!
Love this Simon. Great practical wisdom from your Nana. Healthy, wealthy and wise.
“Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” Yes, I’ve had heard this from my family members but only recently have started to live it in my life and this simple way of living makes soo much sense. I used to be a Nocturnal person and used to take pride in that and was relying a lot on outer sources to give me energy to get going, like caffeine and sugar which was normal part of my life. Now I don’t need any of the outer supplements to get me going, all I need is my early to bed routine that keeps me fulfilled for the day.
Wisdom from our older generation is priceless and timeless. Reading this has reminded me on the simple things we did at bed time with my grandfather when I was a kid who was an early to bed and early to rise kind of person and the stories he shared with us. Thank you for your sharing and bringing such golden memories back.
Simon this was a joy to read and it is a joy to go to bed early and be all tucked in so lovingly as you share here.
So true Lydna. I love how Simon has shared the joy to tucking yourself into bed early, ready for another glorious day. Even as a grown man we can share this with ourselves.
I agree totally Lynda – I used to be a late night girl and was sluggish and grumpy every morning. For many years I have been going to bed early and really enjoying a quiet wind down time before bed and I love it and I love waking up fresh in the early morning too. It’s a relief to have a light more vital body again, as Simon says here – it makes such a difference to so many areas of your life and how you are with others.
Beautiful Simon. I love what you’ve shared here. It’s been amazing for me to honour when I feel tired in the evenings and actually go to bed. Naturally around 8.15 (when I used to reach for chocolate to keep me up) I start to feel tired. In doing so over several years now, I wake without an alarm clock at 3 or 4 or 5 depending on how I’ve been with myself the day before and I no longer need stimulants to get me going. In fact I feel like I did as a child and like my children do, full of vitality instead of wanting to roll over and go back to sleep as the alarm clock rang or my children woke me. I’m now up before them so I can fully enjoy my day and the wonder of it coming towards me. This alone time is precious space for me to write, take care of myself and prepare for my day so when they do I can be totally present and there for them. The extra two hours I used to get when my children went to sleep or at after work and supper, I was already really half asleep, kept awake and distracted by a TV show or chocolate or tea. ‘The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.’ Yes indeed. Hooray for spelling this out.
Nanna’s wisdom..love it. Only thing missing is the chicken soup.
So true Simon about the fact that we now only seem to stop whilst in a queue! – and even then can get frustrated from being held up instead of appreciating it as an opportunity to slow down. Yes we’ve been taken over by our own busyness. A busyness i\I never noted or experienced when I was a young child remembering too the discipline of early to bed nights. It is so wonderful as an adult to turn in to rest and then sleep early, awaking early with freshness and brightness for the day. In its nighttime silence and stillness, early mornings are one of my favourite times in a day.
“The simple practical things that we all know, and yet somehow don’t ever get around to implementing in our lives, can make such a big difference.” I can relate to how often this occurs, and that deep down I know these things would be revolutionary. I have really become aware of how the way in which I prepare myself and take myself to bed, vastly affects the day ahead. Thank you Simon and of course your Nanna!
I loved the playfulness in your blog, Simon, however, the message you bring is so powerful. Honouring our natural sleep rhythm isn’t just about caring for ourselves, you bring attention to the wider impact, how we affect all those around us when our rhythm is off.
So true Alison and Simon. When we honour such rhythms we honour the small but enormously significant part we each play in the greater rhythm of life. That’s love.
So so powerful Simon, Alison and Liane. The rhythm of our little microcosm is so crucial in the whole divine dance.
Ah …. The wisdom of the elders Simon … What a great expose of our youth driven arrogance!
Awesome blog Simon, the difference that this has made to your life is remarkable. If the whole world decided to ‘be a Nanna’ (love that) and experienced even some of the benefits you have in how they are with themselves and others, it would be a vastly different world indeed.
Great blog Simon that is how I was raised too “Early to bed early to rise”
we were always “up at sparrow fart” as they used to say back then. I raised my children this way too. Having them bathed fed and in their warm pj’s before their father got home from work and in bed soon after he got home. By the end of primary school 8.00 pm was bed time for the kids and adults. Maybe there is a lot more wisdom in the words of our forefathers than we realise.
Forget Green Eggs and Ham, what a gorgeous bedtime story this is.
I have learnt the proof is in the pudding when it comes to early to bed, early to rise but only because I was blessed to have been taught the wisdom and science of sleep from Natalie and Serge Benhayon and gave it a go.
Isn’t it alarming though, the writer is only 40 years old, so how is it our society can be living so far away from what was known and lived wisdom not so long ago?
These days when I share with others the health and riches I have from going to bed early it is looked upon as alien, unachievable and worse than that- unnecessary! As if the ‘sacrifices’ are not worth it. Maybe this blog does need to be made into a picture book for adults and children alike………
I love the simplicity in what you have shared Simon. It seems we have deviated away from the natural wisdom of your Grandmother’s time to live in a way that is quite disregarding of our body’s natural sleep rhythms, choosing instead to stay up late to be entertained and then relying on stress, sugar, caffeine and drugs to get us through. Perhaps there is a connection here between the rising illness and disease rates, in particular depression and exhaustion?
I agree Vanessa there is so much simplicity and wisdom being shared here in this blog. You could say it is common sense. Common in the sense that as Simon says, we all know these wisdoms about life but don’t seem to get around to putting them into practice or giving them a go.
Wise nanna! I always considered myself a night owl until I came across Universal Medicines presentation about the body’s rhythms and how early to bed early to rise is actually how the body loves to flow. It took me a while as well, but once established I can’t believe how many sunrises I missed while sleeping off a late night. It’s true – I love being a ‘nanna’ too Simon!
Thank you Simon and Jo. What a difference it makes to our day if we get to bed early. The amount of time then needed for sleeping and regenerating our body is so much less. As Serge Benhayon presents, going to bed before 9pm allows our body to regenerate and rest deeply. This is now very evident from the blogs and comments substantiating this fact!
I agree Jane, it does feel so natural and nourishing. 2 years ago I would never of thought I would be able to get up very early and feel energised. I have now chosen to change my rhythm to support my body and there is no longer any stress or strain in my body because of my choice to honour my body.
So far I’ve only read the title – ‘Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise’, and I already love it. Thank you Simon.
I love the title too!
Simon I too love getting into my cosy pyjamas, sheepskin slippers and snuggly dressing gown in the evening and then taking myself to bed early. So deliciously nurturing, and beautiful to hear a man speaking about this simple joy in life. Let’s keep the true wisdom of old alive for the next generation.
Something else I have loved about this process and learning for myself is that I realise I have all I need to truly develop wisdom for myself. No one can “teach me” to be wise. It is something only I can develop myself. No teacher or workplace, No University. I can never buy wisdom with a degree or money. It is different than knowledge or letters after my name.
Sure – I can observe and listen to those who I may consider wise – but even they – if they are truly wise – understand that each person has to have the lived experience in their body to truly understand it and put it into practise.
Wisdom is an inherent part of who we are and there for all to claim as their own.
Awesome addition Simon, full of wisdom. ‘No one can “teach me” to be wise.’ I love it, good to remember and sure I’ll be using that one : )
So true Kristy! I grew up in Melbourne before central heating was common, and winters were freezing. Bath time rituals definitely included warmed towels and pyjamas … so soothing. And we had hot water bottles and later electric under blankets to warm the bed before hopping in. Snuggly dressing gowns and slippers were essentials. Simple care, very nurturing. Early to bed was the rule also.
Thanks Simon for sharing this simply powerful blog. Like you most of us were passed on this great wisdom “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. However it has taken up to quite recently to be a way of living for me and it is so true.
I also heard this saying a lot when I was a whipper snapper and growing up on a farm meant that 9pm was a late night for us. Going to bed at 10pm was unheard of in my family but I recall a few occasions when I was around 11-12 trying to stay up to watch “rage”, a music clips show which started around midnight. I would carefully prepare what meals and drinks I was going to use to keep me up, (all sugary). It never worked for me and I always woke up with the tv watching me.
If we are honest about how our body feels, it wants to go to bed early and rise early. I have always known this and mostly honoured it, but for a period in my life (from my late teens to my early thirties) I thought I was abnormal and tried to force myself to stay up until at least 10pm. This really didn’t work for me for all the reasons you describe, Simon. It is crazy that I needed Serge Benhayon to talk about our natural body rhythms etc, so that I could again give myself permission to go to bed when I felt to. And wow, how amazing it is to have those extra hours in the morning when I am feeling fresh, I am able to get so much done!
Thank you Simon, you have reminded me to appreciate how precious it is to honour our body and get to bed early. I can relate to your blog so well. I too thought I was having quality time with my partner after putting my children to bed by staying up late. But now I have chosen to go to bed the same time as my children and what a different this makes to how I feel. I feel so much more energised and generally fantastic. I feel like a new person. I love my new bedtime of 8pm and I will never go back to my old time of 11pm because I have felt the benefit of making loving choices.
Simon I really enjoyed reading your blog. Even though I am about 30 odd years older than you, your sharing of your Grandma ‘s quote “early to bed early to rise” etc. reminded me of my Grandmother too. I can relate to the lovely feeling of snuggling in bed early and reading myself a bedtime paragraph or two of one of Serge Benhayon’s Books. I feel so much more rested and refreshed when I listen to my body and resist watching TV just that bit longer and falling into a doze in my chair! Waking up early is something I have always done but now I am using those extra hours in a more productive and gentle way most of the time. Lovely blog Simon thank you.
Hi Simon, I used to have a pack of playing cards which I loved to play when I was young called ‘happy families’ and this saying “Early to bed…” was on one of the cards. It always struck a chord with me – like I knew this was true. As a child we were encouraged to go to bed early too and it is something that stayed with me. There is a lot to be said for “early to bed, early to rise…” well you know the rest!
The better I put myself to bed, the better I wake up in the morning. And I love it, my favourite thing right now is to put a little perfume on before getting into bed, so romantic, and cosy… I certainly don’t feel like a nanna!
That sounds super luscious Laura – what a loving and yes, romantic way to go to sleep. I am inspired. My favourite at the moment – because it is so cold – is to prepare a hot water bottle, some candles and warm the room before I get changed for bed.
I love feeling the crispness of my sheets as I slip under my covers and lay myself gently and delicately down to rest… Mmm
Warmth and Love flood my body as I reflect on ‘early nights and cosy, warm PJ’s’. Everything is a choice and knowing what is true for the body, living that, brings a wealth beyond measure (health and wisdom too). Thanks Simon
This is so gorgeous to read Simon. I have never been one to stay up too late however am now really fine tuning my rhythm and recognising what time it is that my body needs to go to bed. At some stage I was staying up till 9pm as I have learnt from the teachings of Serge that our bodies need to be in bed by then, however as I really start listening to what my body needs, it needs to be in bed before 9. If I listen to that I feel all of what you are saying the next day, however if I don’t I find it a drudge the following day.
Living on a farm when I was young, I too remember going to bed early and rising early. We used to say that we went to bed at the same time as the chickens. And my grandmother was also full of wisdom. Thanks Simon for reminding us that the simple things in life are so good, such as the warmth of a pyjama that envelops you and prepares you for a restful night.
Each day my family and I feel the effects of how we put ourselves to bed the night before. for us, the next day always starts when we start to wind down the previous evening. Sometimes we do not get this right and find ourselves very tired and grumpy with each other, but sometimes we get it spot on and I am always blown away by just how much fun we can have together.
I also remember when this saying was very common and have always known how well it supports me, even though for many years I didn’t apply it. How great it feels now that it has again become a part of my daily rhythm. Being prepared for bed early and having that lovely quiet time in the evening before an early night is a wonderful feeling, I awake very early with no alarm, and with no rushing into the day. There is a lot of wisdom in this saying “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise”. So true.
Hello Simon, ah we love our Nanna’s and I love that era, not that I don’t love this era but there are many things to be learnt from what has been done before. There is something very special for me when I go to bed early and how it sets up the next day as you say Simon. Our family is a big fan of the ‘early to be early to rise’ rhythms and this is a reminder to me of just how special this can be. Thanks Simon this is a great blog because of what it reminds me of or brings me back to and that is not an era or time that is past but more the feeling of when you hold yourself and treat yourself in this precious way. The same way our Nanna’s treated us, very preciously.
I loved reading this Simon – and that you embrace being a ‘nanna’ – i’ve been laughed at for going to bed early, but what I realise is that staying up late was just me not listening to how tired I was really feeling. There is a lot of joy in treating myself with care – and I have come to appreciate that listening to when my body wants to rest, rather than my head telling me to stay up late, is just the start of a much bigger venture in self-love.
I share your love of going to bed early. It is a wonderful gift that I give to my body every day. I have so much more energy by doing this. I think your grandmother was indeed very wise.
One of my Nan’s favourite sayings was “1 hours sleep before midnight is worth 2 after” which was her way of explaining the benefits of early to bed.
As I child I needed lots of sleep and couldn’t stay up later than 7pm and even as a teenager trying to push past 9pm was impossible for me. My body needed to go to bed early and still does.
However, as a student at Uni and in my 20’s I felt it was childish to be going to bed so early so would try to push through and go to parties and night clubs with my friends, invariably though by 11pm I’d had enough and would go home tired. These late nights took their toll and I used to feel horrid the next day and would need lots of coffee and sugary snacks to keep going.
If I wasn’t out I’d fall asleep on the sofa about 8.30pm only to wake all stiff and groggy a couple of hours later to go to bed.
Eventually in my late 20’s I admitted that staying up late wasn’t for me and would give in to my tiredness and go to bed when I felt to and would wake about 4am.
My body had a natural rhythm and sleep pattern that I had to listen to but I still felt like a failure that I couldn’t stay up late.
However, through the teachings of Universal Medicine I have come to realise that it is not natural or healthy for my body to push past this time where it asks to go to bed so I have been able to let go of the notion that because I’m an adult I must stay up late.
I’ve heard that saying too from one of my relatives, it’s always stuck in my mind even when I was a teenager and going to late parties etc!
Lovely blog Simon. So much warmth and cosiness. I too love going to bed early. It has had a profound effect of my life in so many ways. There really is something to that granny wisdom.
What a timely read Simon, I just started a little experiment to go to bed early for the next 9 days. I have been going early to bed for some time but have found with my schedule getting busier and busier that I tended to keep working on my computer till I would go to bed and felt tired every morning.
After day one of going to bed early I felt already so much more joyful and vital in my day, it just makes a world of a difference! Thank you for sharing the gorgeous words of your grandmother, very true I can say.
Simon I love you sharing the wisdom from your grandma which has been confirmed by the wisdom of Serge Benhayon. This is something I now live and like you find it makes a huge difference in my daily life.
Simon I would often “rebel” about going to bed early, especially after a day at school. I notice now the difference between honouring going to bed early “Early to bed, Early to Rise”, and trying to extend my day – when I do the next day I often feel tired and dragging. The motto of the story for me is to follow what I feel.
I was the same David – a bedtime “rebel”. I was told that even at age 2 I would jump up and down on the bed at 11pm screaming “party time”! Through my adolescence and up until a few years ago, I always just accepted I was a “night owl” and would stay up regularly until 2am working or watching tv. Needless to say, I also accepted that tiredness was just part of life, as was drinking coffee. The last few years, since working with Universal Medicine, this has drastically changed. I no longer know myself as a night owl. I go to bed by about 9.30pm and enjoy my early morning time when I feel clear and not tired! I no longer need coffee to get through my day and feel less turbulence and more consistent in how I am. Reflecting on this makes me realise that not only is this amazing, but that I am a living miracle.
I love how you have written about getting cosy in your pyjamas and ready for bed Simon. It’s a reminder for me about the importance of preparation time and not making bed something to rush for too or to just keep ‘going’ until I am ready to ‘pass out’. I enjoy the best sleep when I go to bed and I’m not exhausted but ready and prepared. Thanks for this simple reminder and yes, thank you Simon’s Grandma too.
When I’m going to bed, its the winding down bit before that I enjoy most. Taking a little bit of time and space to care for myself before bed, rather than passing out. The quality of sleep is totally different, and on into the next day as well.
Love it Simon and it’s so true how our choices in the evening directly affect the way we are the next day. I’ve always naturally been an early bird so have always struggled with staying up late. I love it when I’m camping and align even more with the rhythm of the sun and go to bed just after dark. Today most people I talk to can’t even contemplate getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning and being productive yet not tired during the day. What have we done to ourselves?
Well Simon, what you (and your Grandma..) have shared here is invaluable wisdom. I too love the warmth of preparing my body early in the evening for a nights sleep that can truly replenish me.
What I have found interesting is when I work on evening shifts in nursing, especially on prac in a brand new ward / working environment. I have been playing with all that I can do to support myself to feel the warmth and gentle wind down from my day whilst still being at work for a later time in the night. It’s been an interesting learning for me, as I would much rather be at home early in the evenings but there has certainly been an opportunity for me to learn that the quality I live can be chosen and lived anywhere and at anytime.
It’s so true that going to be early versus late has a huge influence on our day. I find that staying up late is a sure way to sabotage our day, a way to guarantee that our next day is going to be a ‘struggle’ or a challenge and that we will not be able to be our full and joyfully abundant self in our day. So really going to bed late is actually quite selfish, because not only do we miss out on the vital and joyful day that we truly deserve, but other people miss out on the deeply connecting and playful us. Instead they get the tired, grumpy or stressed self, that is fed further by any negative choices we make during the day to try and cope with being tired.
Simon, we tend to minimize or laugh at some of these old sayings but as you have so articulately written there is so much truth in them. I love going to bed early as well and relish the freshness I feel in the early mornings- so much more productive!
In the last couple of years I have become more in tune with my sleeping and have been refining my sleep rhythm (imperfectly). I couldn’t agree more with how it affects my next day. As a single mum, when my child was small I would stay up past when I was tired as if I didn’t do it then when would I ever have some “me time”? I look back and think how crazy that was. As you said, the quality of my days are so much more when I have been to bed early. So much so that I no longer desire any “me time”.
This is a work in progress for me. I do go to bed reasonably early, but know I could rise earlier and get done what I would normally do in the evening, wind down earlier and therefore enjoy a more loving and nurturing night’s sleep.
‘The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.’ I totally agree Simon, ‘me time’ in the way it is used is an illusion, it is always me time when we are with ourselves in everything that we do during the day, simple and joyful. Just as your blog!
I have come back to read this blog again and every single part of my body just melts in agreement. My body so loves to go to bed early just as much as I do, it feels so cosy and yummy, in the sense of being all snuggly in bed. To top it off I love cuddling up with me too.
Hi Simon, I really love how you stop and take stock of all the things that are affected by lack of sleep. This really puts into perspective how powerfully healing caring for ourselves with an early night really is. I remember those drunken nights in my teens and early 20s when we wouldn’t sleep at all. The next day the effects were horrible in the body. Many years later, a long time after I stopped drinking, if I found for some reason beyond my control that I would have to stay up a lot later than usual, the next day ‘lack of sleep hangover’ felt like I used to as a teen when I had drunk all night. It wasn’t until then that I realised the poison from the alcohol was only a portion of how I felt after a big night. The sleep deprivation had a big impact too, with symptoms like a dehydrated and super vague feeling that I would attempt to fill with sugar and carbs. Today kids are staying up late online and many are zombified by this the next day. it feels like time to reinstate some old wisdom for sure.
I agree Rebecca, when my daughter was born I stayed up all through the night and into the next day to be there with my wife and although the joy was overwelming when my daughter finally arrived afterwards I had a sleep deprivation thing going on that reminded me of the old days.
That’s exactly what my kids are sharing about school – about how other kids are coming walking round like zombies, wiped out by late nights every night, and using school to catch up. The sleep deprivation can’t be good for them, and it does not bode well for when they then have to get a job… Its a long way from living their full potential!
The ‘lack of sleep’ hangover fuelled then by sugar and carbs and of course coffee. Nanna’s advice could surely turn around or make big inroads into the exhaustion epidemic we see everywhere now.
Yes, this saying was also in my family but I did not like it and instead I used to fight to stay up as late as I could. Like you, Simon, I now relish going to bed early and feel a wealth of difference from doing so.
I’m with you 100% on this one Simon, everything I do benefits from getting my head down early and it seems like a far more natural way for me to operate. In my teens I had to really train myself to me able to stay up later and later and eventually be able to do all nighters as was the cool thing to do, even though my every fiber was telling me to get some shut eye.
“”The things I used to think I needed in my life in that ‘me time’ and staying up late, actually pale in comparison to how I feel in my life every day now.”
“Me time” I am learning, as I too used to invest heavily in this, can be ‘me time’ all day if I choose to live lovingly with myself and I then don’t feel a need to indulge in ‘me time’ watching TV late or eating something which doesn’t support me. To me nowadays ‘me time’ equates to self indulgent time or reward time, none of which support me living the fullness of my true self.
Not to mention an amazing way of being tender with ourselves and our bodies. A very healing thing for everyone to do especially to feel how lovely it is to be warm and tender with ourselves.
Thanks ‘Nanna’ for your wise words and sharing what is a similar experience for me too.
I felt really playful and cosy reading this.
Very true words from Nanna and one I live by myself. Starting to go to bed earlier and having that as a consistent part of the way that I live – on weekdays and weekends, was the start of my life changing big time. I became much more productive at work and craved less sugar and became less moody.
A great sharing Simon, the simplicity of caring for ourselves. Beautiful.
How beautiful Simon to share something so simple and essential to our quality of life. As a child growing up I always found my own rhythm of early bed and up at 5 am every morning as natural to myself also and find it so supportive to honour this with a true knowing again.I too love how the warm and cosy pyjamas feel and am lovingly cared for with this.
God blessed your Nanna and you too Simon. I love what you write.
Simple, but with a lot of truth, the words your Grandma used to say to you. I am experiencing the same. Here is another simple line, which (I found out by experiencing it) has wisdom e.g. common sense in it: when the body gives signals of tiredness, it is time to go to sleep or at least to go to bed. I am still in the process of listening to these signals and honouring them.
Thank you Simon and thank you grandma for the loving simplicity that you both bring. I am looking forward to my pyjamas tonight and going to bed early. This is true wealth.
I can’t believe the extra time that I found during my day when I started to go to bed earlier. I realised that my evenings were spent watching rubbish on the TV that was not adding any value to my life and eating or craving sweet things. The choice to go to bed earlier has meant waking up earlier. So I have played with switching my world around and doing more in the morning when I wake up and am fresh and the evening has become an awesome family time. I have found time for study, volunteer work and another job – Amazing.
I love the simplicity and truth in your blog Simon. From attending presentations with Serge Benhayon, I have been totally inspired to take care of myself in a different way. I am a great fan of going to bed early these days, nestled in my cosy nightwear, to be resting deeply with a quality of sleep that leaves me feeling alive and vital the next morning – just so gorgeous.
It makes be shudder remembering how I used to live ‘burning the candle at both ends’ and putting myself into total exhaustion and just ‘pushing and getting through’ each day. Functioning – certainly not the quality of living that I am enjoying today.
Thank you for your inspiring sharing
I come from a family that love late nights everynight but I love the phrase, ‘being a Nanna,’ and I’m going to use it because going to bed late has me feeling like I’ve got a late night hangover for days even! I feel so sick for it and want to just eat sugar.
In contrast, going to bed early I feel lovely.
Thank-you for this loving nudge Simon! I feel this is so relevant for me right now. The ways in which it can affect your daily being are so very true, and I don’t think I have felt the real impact of that until now. I have been quite ignorant of my level of exhaustion of late and have been caught up in the “busy”. I love your Grandma’s saying, I may just borrow it for a little while 🙂
Wonderful blog Simon. Our Grandparents were very wise with their statement. It works a real treat for me and my body.
I love it, so simple and so true and no mystery behind it, everybody can try it. Thank you Simon, and thank you Simon’s Grandma for sharing your lived wisdom.
It is so true you do feel clearer, stronger and more productive from going to bed early. What I felt reading your blog was an old consciousness of ‘it is cool to stay up late .. or not cool to go to bed early’. I can remember times when I would be exhausted but not go to bed as it wasn’t ‘late’ enough. Completely crazy! I would say now cool means looking after and loving yourself.
So true Simon everything about me works better the next day if I go to bed early.
P.S As kids we were put to be at 6pm also.
“Wisdom – that word that is different from knowledge.” – thank you Simon for sharing the wisdom of your experience – and your mastery of “being a Nanna”! 😉
Great blog Simon – I love being a ‘Nanna’ as well! (as I sit here already wearing my pyjamas and ugg boots before 9pm on a Saturday night 😉 ) I can also attest to feeling much healthier, wealthier and wise since choosing to go to bed earlier. It definitely affects the choices that I make on a daily basis to be more loving instead of ones based on tiredness that have more of a ‘quick-fix’ feel about them. Thank you for sharing, night night!
In the past I bought into the ‘me time’ thinking I needed this after my work and would stay up late to watch a film, even though I had missed most of the film because I had fallen asleep. The difference is now, I listen to my body and go to bed early as I can feel my body tired… my body truly appreciates how much care I give it these days.
I love the huge truth in what your experience is Simon – it’s mine also. The other classic saying is “the early bird catches the worm”, which is the bonus of going to bed early. I personally don’t catch worms but I’m up with the Kookaburras and that is worth singing about!
I knew you had a inner-nanna! Awesome to see it claimed in full in this blog and an incredibly sexy amazing man sharing about getting cosy in his pjs’ – your awesomeness knows no bounds Simon! x
I love being a ‘nanna’ too. There is no ‘me time’ as good as preparing for an early night. A warm shower, a few gentle stretches or body connection and putting myself to bed knowing I am worth taking care of. When I go to bed early I wake up ready for the day, refreshed and feeling alive. It really is with giving it a go!
When I read the grandmotherly saying you were quoting I feel it comes with a gentleness and simplicity that we have lost in our busy busy modern world, and these simple words are rather soothing and relaxing to first embrace and then put into action. Like you Simon, I enjoy my pyjamas, going to bed early and waking up early and have found this simple routine has made an enormous difference to my health, wellbeing and productivity, so I am with granny all the way.
This is a beautiful and simple blog. Thank you Simon. I also completely agree with what you have shared. In our house we have dinner between 4.30pm-5pm so our girls can be bathed and put to bed by 7pm. It feels gorgeous to care for them in this way, to make the space necessary to give them this time to feel nourished, so they can take this into the next day. There is no rush, no stress and no pushing. Making evenings enjoyable here with lots of love and cuddles.
Robyn that’s so precious. Time and space for everyone in the family and totally supportive for all. I’m coming to yours for an evening to hang out:)
Anytime Jennifer, we can always use an extra pair of hands! Plus the cuddles and love shared are divine.
I am so with you Simon and am quite ok to call myself a Nanna too when it comes to going to bed early. I may be a Nanna in this regard, but I’m far from being a Nanna in how I am in my day…I have more energy and vitality now than I ever have had. That to me says it all.
I love the fact that a man of 40 (or any age) talks about loving getting into his cozy pajamas early to feel “cozy, warm and cared for”. So gorgeous Simon.
I love the simplicity and playfulness of your blog Simon. Yes, going to bed early works for me too! I’ve been going to bed by around 9pm for the last 5 years and it is on the rare occasion that I’ll go to bed any later. Simply because I feel refreshed, energised and more like me, which allows me to enjoy the day that follows. I value too much how I feel throughout my day to now want to stay up late.
Yep, I’m there with the snuggly, fluffy, pink dressing gown too. It’s like giving myself a permanent hug. It feels so lovely to awaken to silence and stillness in the wee hours of the morning…like a velvety massage on my ears. I much prefer this to the late night news!
Great blog Simon. There is much wisdom that we have all forgotten like your Grandma’s words. I too feel vastly different if I go to bed early with preparation and care for myself.
Beautiful Simon, you are inspiring us all to find our inner Nanna’s! It is soo soo delicious and yummy to snuggle up with ourselves early in the evening well before we’re too tired, and actually enjoy putting ourselves to bed. It’s a divine ritual, and I can also definitely vouch how it literally transforms the quality in which I am in for the next day. I used to wake up tired and groggy, now I wake up feeling delicious. Give me early nights and call me a Nanna any day because my body feels amazing.
Thanks, Simon, for these wise and gentle words, and I love the way your writing is not overly wordy. This is a favourite saying of mine too these days … simply because I’m living it and it’s 100% true. Some people by allowing themselves to meander into late nights might have given up on it, but all I’ve found it takes is a light decision to turn the TV off (easy to record that show people think they’re missing out on), close the computer and snuggle into bed, yum.
I love going to bed early. I was so relieved when I stopped staying up at night to get some ‘me time’. But under the illusion that I had to stay up after I had put my young son went to bed (I would so want to fall asleep too!), I would drag myself back into the lounge room and find things to do to keep myself awake. One day, some years ago now, I decided to follow what my body was actually telling me to do. Consequently, I had the best nights sleep. I awoke in the early hours, with plenty of time, and fresh and clear for the day ahead. Since then I have never looked back.
I have heard many parents say this is why they have to stay up late or say that if they didn’t do this they would never have time with their partner. I recently looked after my five year old niece and loved going to bed at her time- some nights I was even asleep before her.
I just recently worked on the topic of oral culture products and how through proverbs, customs and behaviors are passed on from one generation to another. It is very interesting to see how certain stereotypes (mostly negative ones) of our behaviors and habits have been maintained during this time, meanwhile looking at the topic of health all the wise sayings about living in harmony with our bodies have been lost. We can observe a clear tendency to align more and more to a way of life that is not in line with our body. I can feel a strong arrogance in the way evolution is seen as if we do not need to respect the body.
I love how you make the connection back to the body in this blog and show the simplicity and beauty of living in a rhythm that supports and is in line with our body. I too experienced this very strongly how unharmonious and sickening it was to not respect my body’s natural sleep rhythm. Coming from the belief that sleeping was a waste of time, today I enjoy my consistent vitality without depending on any substances that keep me awake and I only need 5-6 hours of sleep. So, today I sleep less, but in the hours that truly restore my energy and have more vitality than ever.
Yes, Rachel thank you for mentioning. The more sleep I have before midnight the less sleep I need for the whole night, so actually I am not missing out or losing time by going to bed early I actually gain more of today’s golden commodity – time!
There is much truth in the wisdom of old, it becomes wisdom because it has been lived, and the benefits have been experienced, and passed on to younger generations. Once we choose to acknowledge this wisdom and are willing to make it a part of our lives the benefits are there to be seen and felt and can no longer be denied. Great blog Simon, thank you.
I agree Simon, an early night is the best start of the day to come and the most loving choice we can make for ourselves. Although the world around us is trying to sell us the opposite with every party starting late at night and even daylight saving time facilitating us to stay up late.
I have always loved going to bed early and now it looks like it has been because I am wise and not the only wise one as I join Simon and his Grandmother.
I too like you Sally have always looked forward to going to bed early, even in my teens, and early 20’s. It was however peer pressure on the weekends to stay up late or homework commitments. But I always naturally felt so much more revitalised the next day when I chose to go to bed by 9pm.
I love this Simon and can completely resonate with it, my grandfather use to say the same. I love going to bed early, as I feel amazing and have more energy, when my days are long and I go to bed later, I can feel it in my body how tired it gets and feels.
I love my cosy pj’s too! I love taking time to wind down and let go of the day and I absolutely love the feeling of completing my day in a way that I don’t need the evening to prop me up or take me away from anything.
I too thank Serge Benhayon for sharing how he found it worked better for him to go to bed early and get up early. I was quite excited when I heard that because I had always had the same feeling but never given myself the permission to live like that. I now live that way and it is fantastic. I love going to bed early although for me 8:30pm is no longer early but normal. I also absolutely love getting up very early 3:00am or even earlier and have the most fantastic time working in the morning when the day is fresh and it is just a wonderful to be at my computer. I also have more energy and vitality than ever before so there is a lot to like about it!
Simon, I love your blog, and your description of you putting yourself to bed. It feels so cuddly. I know it has made such a difference to me and how I feel the following day to put myself to bed early. When people, especially family, comment on my unwillingness to be up later at night, my very truthful reply is now, “I just love going to bed early, and I choose to”. To me, it is the natural thing to do, so your Grandma showed much wisdom in her saying.
Beautiful Simon ! Your grandma’s saying captures it all ! Worth putting it into a frame so as to be Reminded every day🎶🎶
Thanks with love Ann-Brit
As you say Simon, all those old sayings are not there for nothing…
I remember my grandmother saying to me as a child, to put on undergarments to keep my kidneys warm. In those days I did not really listen to her, but now I understand the importance of what she said to me. I can not bear to have my kidneys unprotected and cold anymore.
Yes Delorme, keeping the kidneys warm was big in my childhood too. Always wear a singlet in the cool seasons. Never sit on concrete or you get piles … simple, practical wisdom that only requires us to be pay attention to how we are with our body.
Awesome Simon, reminds me of when I was a kid and had that same beautiful experience, when everyday was filled with unrestricted joy and a simplicity that is beyond compare and can’t be beaten by anything else. Now I am beginning to know that we can still have that way, since we all experienced it as a child. And it can be just as fun, living with the simplicity of a child, like a nanna as a grown adult! and thank you Serge Benhayon!
Beautiful Simon, I remember staying at my grandmothers as a child and getting tucked up in bed before dark, cosy and warm, and waking early in the mornings “full of beans” eager to greet the day.
We did this at home too as we lived out in the bush with no power apart from hurricane lamps for many years (I know it sounds like I must be in my dotage but it was only 50 or so years ago). I loved the feeling of being tucked up in my bed listening to and feeling the vastness of the universe.
I have found like you that returning to such a simple thing as going to bed early to be so supportive of my everyday. My Nanna would also say “early to bed, early to rise….etc”. Same saying, different country.
This is gorgeous Jeanette, another great reason to be in bed early – “I loved the feeling of being tucked up in my bed listening to and feeling the vastness of the universe”……..maybe this is why the body benefits so much from going to bed early – the universe is there simply supporting us in this rhythm.
The best lullaby in the world!
Gorgeous Simon, I adore the coseyness as well. It’s beautiful to hear a man share that this is what they love to do. This blog is full of your wisdom and warmth.
Agree Simon, one of the simple joys in life.
What an awesomely simple blog that is so, so relatable! I loved how you described getting into your cosy pyjamas and feeling “all cosy and warm and cared for”… it was such a beautiful cosy description of a way to take care of ourselves, and made me smile because this is what I love to do also!
I love it too Angela. It feels so nurturing and yummy, like when we were children or like how we are with our children, except we are now doing for ourselves.
Yes I too love how Simon writes about his cosy PJ’s and how he prepares for a deeply restful and restorative nights sleep. I get that warm and snuggly feeling when reading this blog.
Yes, me too Angela.The warmth and support of an early night is almost like taking a holiday- (every night!) deeply nurturing, rejuvenating and inspiring, it is worth not staying up late for!
Kylie I love what you share, that’s how it feels for me too. When ever I get a chance to have an early night I grab it. I find it extremely supporting and nurturing.
Very Inspiring Kylie and Amita!
Simon, you are so right. The hours between 2/3/4 and 8am in the morning are so much more productive than the hours from 7pm onwards, it’s not funny. Barristers have known this for a long time.
I find that too, I have never been productive at night and am generally falling asleep by 9.00 pm. It used to be on the couch in front of the television, but now I enjoy my little pro-bed rituals and tucking myself in. It’s so much more self-loving.
Reading your post reminded me of my university studies. I would often go to bed early and wake up at 4am to get the work done. It was quiet and there were no distractions. It was also last minute but that’s a different issue! Point being is that I’ve known the early morn to be a beautiful time of the day to work.
Simon, how true, I too have gone back to going to bed early and what I learned as a child, implemented as a parent and now as a grandparent often say ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise’. The benefits are displayed in a vital and energetic body that only tires when it is time for bed. Thank you.
Ah Simon. This is all so true and shows just how far many of us have strayed from the simple truths that allow our bodies to do what is needed. Thank you for sharing this – I’m looking forward to an early night.
Yes, me too Leonne, I am having an early night tonight.
A great Blog Simon and I love the Grandma part, I too love this part now I go to bed early also and it has been profound in my day and my work, being a Grandma is very cool 🙂
I agree, being a Grandma is very cool! We can liken how we would treat our grandparents similarly to how we would choose to hold a small baby; I know this with my own grandmother as she radiated such delicate preciousness. How beautiful that we can embrace this quality of holding another in warmth to now choose and enjoy this way of living with ourselves and our own bodies too.
Thank you Simon, I cherish the truth and simplicity of this blog and your words. It is very true and wise, going to bed early does make you healthy, wealthy and wise. Just as deeply loving, caring and nurturing yourself does.