How many of you find that one day morning when you get up, without any reason, you are just feeling ugly, for no reason? If it is happening, even at least 2-3 times a year – if it is – then you must do certain things before you go to bed – it’s very very important.
Because, unconsciously – you need to understand this – you can incubate a lot of either negative things, or positive things in sleep. Either pleasantness, or unpleasantness – you can incubate very effectively, uninterrupted in sleep. You can also incubate it in the day. But there are so many interruptions. It doesn’t happen very efficiently. But, if you have a tendency to go to bed in a certain way, and wake up in the morning, really nasty, for simply no reason – that means, you are incubating things in the night very efficiently. Bad eggs! This is not just about psychological disturbances. It can cause major physiological problems, over a period of time. It’s important that you eliminate these things from your life.
So before you go to bed in the night, there are certain things that you need to take care of.
#1 Meal times & sleep times
It’s best if you are eating meat and other kinds of meals, you eat at least 3-4 hours before you go to bed. The digestion is over. Before going to bed, drink a certain amount of water and go to bed. You will see, it gets taken care of just like this.
#2 Take a shower before sleeping
One simple thing can be, just a shower. Always to shower before go to bed. It will make a lot of difference. In this weather, maybe cold showers are difficult, so you go for lukewarm showers. Don’t go for hot showers in the night. Go for lukewarm showers, it makes you alert. So you will think, oh I cannot sleep. It doesn’t matter. You will sleep 15-20 minutes or half an hour later, but you will sleep better, because it will take away certain things.
When you shower, it is not just the dirt on the skin that you are taking away. Have you noticed, if you are very tense or anxious whatever – just a shower and you came out, and feels like almost the burden has been taken away from you. Have you not noticed this? So it’s not just about washing the skin. A whole lot of things happen when water flows over your body. This shower is a very rudimentary Bhuta Shudhi. Because over 70% of your body is actually water. If you run water over it, a certain purification happens, which is beyond cleaning the skin.
#3 Light an organic oil lamp
One more thing if you want to do, you just light an organic oil lamp. A cotton wick, some oil, anything, what do you use here? Normal cooking oil – linseed oil, rice bran oil, or sesame oil. What do you have? Olive oil. Fine. Any organic oil with a cotton wick. Just burn a little lamp somewhere in the room where you sleep. You will see these things will completely disappear.
If you can bring in a chant, or there are nightly practices, yogic practices. Before you go to bed, sit on your bed, and do this practice. If you want to do Isha Kriya, it’s available on the net.
#4 Don’t head ‘North’
Generally in India, they told you, you should not put your head to the North and sleep. You are aware of this? If you put your head to the North and sleep, during the night when you are in horizontal positions, then slowly the blood will get pulled towards your brain.When there is too much circulation in the brain, you can not sleep peacefully.
If you have any kind of, you know, inherently weak aspects in your brain, or if you are of old age – you could die in your sleep. One can have haemorrhage, because extra blood is trying to enter the brain, where the blood vessels are hair like. Something extra is being pushed, because of the magnetic pull. When you are in a vertical position, this is not so. The moment you become horizontal, this pull on the head is so strong, that slowly the blood tries to move towards the brain.
So to avoid this… this is true only in the northern hemisphere. If you go to Australia, you should not put your head to the South. If you are in India, you should not put your head to the North. You can put it any other way, it’s ok.
#5 Time is running out
Keep this in your mind, that you are truly a mortal, ok. Not in words, really. You could fall dead right now. You maybe young, you maybe old, it doesn’t matter – you can fall dead right now. Yes or no? Before you go to bed, sit on your bed, and think this is your deathbed. You have just 1 more minute to live. Just look back and see, what you have done today, is it worthwhile? Just do this one simple exercise.
And, you don’t know when it really happens. Whether you will be sitting on your death bed or lying in a hospital, all kinds of things sticking into you – who knows how it will happen. But, enjoy this everyday, that you will sit on your death bed, look back and see – today, the way I have handled these 24 hours, is it worthwhile? Because now I am dying! If you do this, you will live a worthwhile life, believe me.
#6 Keeping things aside
So everyday in the night, all of you should do this before you go to bed. Last three minutes, everything that you have gathered – the body, the content of the mind, things… Don’t ignore small things, small things are big things. I’ve seen how people are carrying their own private pillow, you know. Because it’s very important. So your pillow, your footwear, if you have relationships, everything that you have gathered – keep it aside. Sleep. If you sleep in that condition, you will wake up with much more light, with much more energy, with much more possibilities than you have imagined possible. Just sleep as life, not as a man, not as a woman, not as this and that. Keep everything down. Simply.
This is getting too easy. Just sleeping sadhana! At least this you must do.
#1 Don’t get alarmed
So what kind of sounds you come awake to, will determine the context of the day, and the future of your life in many ways. So coming awake to an alarm bell with a sudden start, is not the best way to do your life. It is best that if you need a certain amount of sleep – if your body right now, because of the kind of food that you consume, and the kind of thoughts and emotions that you process within yourself, and the level of vibrance that you have managed within your body, will determine how much sleep you need.
Let us say you need 3, I’m sorry… let’s say you need 8 or 12 hours of sleep. I was saying the wrong number. Whatever amount of sleep you need, you know how much you need. So you go to bed early enough, so that you come awake naturally. If you are coming awake naturally, and suppose you have a doubt whether you’ll come awake or not, if you have a certain chant. If you have identified one of the Vairagya chants, you can use it.
#2 The right side of the bed
Physiologically, one important aspect of you is your heart. The pumping station for your blood circulation, which pumps life across the body. This one thing doesn’t happen, nothing happens. This starts from left side. So, we told you, you know, in India they have told you, when you wake up you must roll to your right side and get up. Have they? Left side if you roll and get up, bad things will happen to you. Did they tell you? Bad things are not about that.
When you are in a certain state of relaxation, when the body is in relaxation, the metabolic activity is low. When you get up, there is a certain surge of activity. That’s why they told you in India – all these things are built into your life which you are throwing away. The whole science of living has been built into your life.
They told you in the morning before you wake up, you must rub your hands together and see like this [look at your hands]. Not see like this, you must place it upon your eyes. You do this, you will see God. It’s not about seeing God. If you rub these two things [hands] together, all the nerve endings, there is a heavy concentration of nerve endings in your hands. If you do this, the system comes awake immediately.
You are feeling asleep, you are feeling sleepy, just do this [rub your hands] and see. Everything comes awake. So morning before you move your body, you get it awake first and then place it upon your eyes. Instantly a whole range of nerves, connected with your eyes, and the other aspects of your senses, come awake. Before you move your body, your body and your brain should be active. You shouldn’t get up dumb, that’s the idea. You understand? So you do that, and then roll over to your right and get up.
#3 Wake up with a smile
Today if all of us go to bed, by tomorrow morning, nearly a quarter million people won’t wake up. Natural death, in the world. Suppose you wake up tomorrow… you guaranteed! Have you come with a guarantee card? No guarantee card! So, suppose you wake up, let’s say – just do this much, I am telling you, this is simple first step to your spiritual process.
Tomorrow morning when you come awake, check you really awake, or are you dead! If you are awake, it needs at least a little celebration. You don’t have to get up and dance. At least you can smile – still on [looking at self]. Quarter million people died. They were like you and me. Puff – they went off, isn’t it? Wherever you look, they are not there. Here I am still alive – one big smile. Will you? I am talking management, you know.
Then, if quarter million people died, at least 3-5 million people lost somebody who is dear to them. You check those 3-4-5 people who matter to you. All of them alive today – one more big smile! Hello! Will you, or not?
If suppose right now we put a gun to your head – will you think, it is a relief? No. You will be terrorised, isn’t it? That’s how precious it is to be alive, isn’t it so? That’s how precious it is for you to be alive. So, tomorrow morning, a quarter million people died overnight, but you still alive – does it not at least deserve a big smile, I’m asking you? And, all the people who matter to you are all alive today – one more big smile.
