Early Rising: Falling into a Rhythm

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep
You must ask for what you really want
Don’t go back to sleep
Rumi, 13^th century Persian poet

In 2006, I read an article by Steve Pavlina on becoming an early riser. I was instantly enthralled. That happens to me a lot, by the way. Green juicing is another example but the early rising story is much better.

Now I know it is easy to be enthralled with ideas when you are not able to even begin to imagine what it takes to accomplish them.

And enthralled I was.

For the next three years, I was undeterred in becoming an early riser — which, for clarity’s sake, I define as 5am or earlier – a part of my life and no amount of struggle or failure was going to prove that this was possibly a really bad idea. The idea had taken hold and the seeds were planted deep in my head. What’s worse is that I associated early rising with success and as a stepping stone toward my personal development journey.

I simply could not fail even though success was simply unreachable.

It was not for lack of trying, I assure you. I tried every technique imaginable and each for a reasonable period of time but my longest stretch of success was no more than a few days. These are the most popular strategies for my early rising dream:

The Last Thought: I would make the thought of getting up early the very last thought in my mind before falling asleep. I imagined myself as an early riser right before falling asleep. That worked brilliantly for all of two nights.

Same Bed Time: I would make myself go to bed at a certain time and wake up at a certain time. Ever try to make yourself fall asleep when you are wide-awake?

Any Bed Time: I would go to bed whenever I felt sleepy but then wake up at a certain time. I never ended up with enough sleep and felt miserable in the morning.

Yoga at Dawn: I would wake up and do yoga sun salutations and I neither felt awake enough to enjoy it nor inspired enough to continue it for long. No early riser emerged from yoga at dawn.

Alarm Location: I would put my alarm far from the bed and go turn it off in the bathroom. You do not want to know the instances where I would lay down on my white fluffy bathroom rug and wake up half an hour later.

Morning Reading: I would read books — and promptly fall back asleep.

Hot Tea: I would make my way to the kitchen and prepare my Oolong tea when it was still pitch black outside and even with caffeine, I would feel sleepier still.

Snoozing: I would snooze several times and this one quickly became a serious problem with my sleep partner, the husband, who by the way is the lightest sleeper when least convenient but anyway. That’s around the time the betting system started. (See the next one)

Punishment System: I was not allowed back in bed or I had to pay my husband a ridiculous $100 toward his gambling fund. So I slept on the bathroom rug instead!

Ahead Planning: I would plan exactly what I need to do upon rising but all the excitement the night before vanished into thin air at the crack of dawn and I fought temptation to go back to sleep more than anything.

To top it all off, I was in the midst of frequent business travels coast-to-coast across the US, not to mention our own personal world travels, and it just so turns out that jet lag and stress make for poor support on dreams of becoming an early riser.

By 2009, I had largely given up on the consistent early rising dream. Yes, me, given up, let it go, lose interest in the stupid idea altogether and aside from bouts of inspiring 5am mornings here and there, I stopped obsessing and begrudgingly accepted sleeping until the sun was ready to come up. Even though there were periods of week-long success especially during the height of my excitement and health, the pattern never emerged and the habit never established.

Before I talk about the breakthrough, let’s do get one thing straight. This gets usually a great reaction and if you want to argue about it, bring it on.

There is no such thing as Early Bird or Night Owl.

There is no such thing as “morning person” or “night person” (do they call themselves that?). There is no genetic makeup, no biological disposition, and no personality inclination to make us into one or the other. It all comes down to habit and choice. I am not arguing whether one is better than the other. For me, I wanted to find the magic at dawn and the breeze Rumi talks about. I believe in the magic of wee hours in the morning. But I repeat, you are one or the other by choice and by habit. It’s all fine and great whichever you pick but don’t blame your gene or your body, please. That body can be habituated to become the other with the right motivation and practice.

I went from a night owl to an early riser. It took me 4 years and a million failures but it finally happened. As with many other things in my life, I stopped trying oh so hard and stepped away from it and came back to it later. Later seemed to be a better time as you see, I fell into the rhythm when:

My health significantly improved. I had good health in 2006-2009 but I started to enjoy exceptional health after 2009. With cycling, I am stronger and with the intense yoga and daily meditation practice starting in 2010, I am deeply in tuned with my body.

My mental clarity improved. I always knew there is a greater purpose to my existence. With the photography, the writing, the blogging, to name a few, I have found not only my purpose, but as Sid Savara likes to say, “I have found my people and nothing else matters.”

My dream emerged. With dreams of entrepreneurship stuck in my head and forging me ahead, I have a renewed sense of urgency about life and not a moment can be wasted until this dreams can see the light of day.

Now I wake up daily at 4:30am without struggle. I sleep in until 6am once a week and some times, I make exceptions when social life may keep me up til 2am or when I travel but I still manage to get back into the cycle within a day or two.

After shaking it up a few hundred times, my early rising routine has settled. Here is what works now:

1.  Bedtime: I go to bed when I am sleepy — not just tired but very sleepy. This is usually between 10:30-11:30pm. Sometimes, I turn in at 10pm. That means, I operate on about 5.5 to 6 hours of sleep per night but I sleep well and soundly and never wake up in the middle of the night. Really, I have never needed 8 hours of sleep and refuse to give that much of my life up to sleep, period. You may feel differently.

2.    Sleep Cycle: Even though I do not have a strict bedtime. I have discovered that the absolutely best times for me to rise are 4:30am, 6am, or 7:30am. Anything in between and I am miserable all day. Sleep cycles are generally 90-minutes long with 65 minutes of normal, or non-REM (rapid eye movement), sleep; 20 minutes of REM sleep (in which we dream); and a final 5 minutes of non-REM sleep. If you can approximate the end of your sleep cycle, you can make your life much easier.

3.    Alarm: I put my iPhone in the bathroom and once I am up after that first alarm, I never ever go back to bed. This is the best lesson I learned from the failure years!

4.    Mindset: The first thoughts in my mind upon waking are good ones. I am training myself to echo only happy and positive thoughts as my brain slowly wakes up.

5.    Waking Up: I still get on my white fluffy rug but with clear intention and only for 2 minutes to stretch my back, take deep breaths, and open my eyes.

6.    Cleaning Up: I wash up, clean up and change into my cycling clothes on the mornings when I take the 5:45am class (usually 3 times a week). If not, I stay in my PJs!

7.    Fluids: I drink room temperature filtered water. Hydration is so important early in the mornings. Then I make a cup of Oolong tea. I don’t eat right away.

8.    Temptation: Sometimes I have temptation to go back to bed. But I wait it out, whisper Rumi’s words as a mantra and soon, temptation fades and energy fills its place.

The breeze at dawn
Has secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep

You must ask
For what you really want
Don’t go back to sleep

People are going back and forth
Across the door sill
Where the two worlds touch

The door is round and open
Don’t go back to sleep

Rumi, 13^th century Persian poet

I believe in the magic of the early mornings but none of this would have happened if a persistent dream and purpose had not emerged before me, urging me to wake up and greet the day long before the sun. What about you?