I am somewhat astounded to say that over the past three days of this habit-building period, I’ve had continued success in a way that I can’t really fathom. After stalling on day 11, I quickly got back into my rhythm of waking up between 6AM and 5:30AM, and have continued to do so with complete ease.
Let me provide a little more background as to why this surprises me so much: throughout the last semester, while I was generally good about waking up at my then early rising time of 7:30, I found that I absolutely needed 8 hours of sleep for that to be possible and not drastically affect my energy.
Compare that to now: since the beginning of this experiment, I have consistently gotten little more than 5-6 hours of sleep each night, with almost no unusual sense of fatigue: it just feels like another day with adequate rest.
I suppose that the added stimulation of college- intellectual, social, etc.- might be responsible for this difference. It’s possible that my behavior during that time simply required more sleep.
While that’s certainly possible, I am doubtful that’s the case. My days here at home have been plenty stimulating, and yet my body (and my mind) continues to perform on 6 hours of sleep in a way that use to take 8.
I’m convinced that the difference is my meditation. I’ve not only been meditating 30 minutes more, but I’ve been much more regular about meditating, and also meditating smarter, such as by exercising before I begin, and meditating in the coolest place in the house to maintain alertness. The result has been nothing short of remarkable.
It’s my hope that by the end of these 30 days, waking up at 5:30 will be a habit I maintain for life. Or, as I can very easily see myself doing, I’ll move the clock back a bit further, and begin waking up at 5. Hmm… Tempting…. :)
