You should definitely wake up early - my personal experience

Photo by Abhiram Prakash from Pexels

                               

Hi,
I was an early riser during my school days ( everyone is, since schools start around 8 or 9 in the morning). When I joined college, i started staying up late at night. My sleeping time changed from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. This naturally made me sleep in and wake up around 10 am. This might not seem too much for you because most of us are doing that. But, I must tell you it really affects our lives. I did not even realise when it changed my life drastically.

• I became less active
• Less enthusiastic about life
• Very ill
• Depressed
• Lazy
• Too much thinking
• Postponing every task
• unsuccessful
• unpopular

Basically, all this can be encapsulated into one term i.e. friction. Friction adds to your life when you start sleeping till late. It adds slowly, you won't even notice. I kept this habit of late sleeping for 7 years. My father who has served in Army keeps trying to make me understand that waking up early is very very important and helpful through life. I kept denying it because it is really hard changing your whole lifestyle. All my friends sleep late and wake up late. I had to cut the late night interactions with them in order to wake up early in the morning. I tried it half heartedly for 15 days and my mind started making excuses to change back to sleeping late. I tried to switch to early rising 3-4 times but failed. But recently i have decided strongly that I will wake up early. I shifted the bed time from 12 midnight to 9 pm instantly. I did not fall asleep till 11 but I forced myself to wake at 5. This will automatically shift my bed time to 9 whenever it does. I did not go for it gradually. Around 20 days have passed and there are some instant results i want to share in this blog post. Before that, I want to share some facts I have gathered regarding this topic.

How early should I wake up?

Answer : Brahma Muhurta

Here is one of the greatest persons in the world speaking about this :

Brahma Muhurta – The Time to Create Yourself

Please read it all by following the link for deeper understanding. 

At this time, people, want to sit up and do their spiritual processes so that they get the most benefit. Brahma Muhurta means the time of the creator. You can look at it this way: it is the time when you can create yourself. You become the Brahman in the morning, so you can make yourself the way you want yourself to be.

According to all the information shared by sadhguru in the above article, if we calculate brahma muhurta starting time, it comes roughly between range of 3 to 4 am. Hence 3:30 am is a fair regular time to assume the starting of brahma muhurta. If we want maximum benefit, we should rise up as soon as brahma muhurta starts i.e. 3:30 or 4 am. ( Varies from place to place). But for people like me that is too early as we would need to sleep as early as 8 PM!

The Best Time to Meditate and Do Yoga Please read this for more insight into this.

I encourage you to google "brahma muhurta" and read more about it.

All in all, it would be perfect if you can wake up at 3:50 am. But I totally understand that it is nearly impossible to sleep at 8 pm in modern lifestyle. Most of us need 8 hours of sleep, though it is not a rule for everyone. So i compromised it a little and decided to sleep at 9 pm and wake up at 5 am. Basically at least wake up before the sunrise.

Also read 3 fundamentals for good health which emphasizes that one must finish dinner 3 hours before sleeping.

The only benefit I have noticed within days is that it helps you do a lot more. You start leading your life actively.

1. More daylight added to your day : Suppose you go for trekking. You will have to start early in the morning so that you reach a safe place before it gets dark. If you are not an early riser, waking up at 5 am for the trek will disturb you, your bowel movement will still happen at 8 or whenever is your daily wake up time.
In the evening everyone has some leisure time. For an early bird, it would start around 5 pm. He can do so many indoor and outdoor activities in that time. A late riser will be free around 8-9 pm, it is dark already. The variety of activities he can do falls low.

2. Be ahead : It is not only trekking, some government exams and interviews start as early as 8 to 9 am. On that day, a late riser will be in a little discomfort. Actually there are so many departments such as hospitals, license test etc. in which you have to reach at 9 am to get your work done smoothly. You will reach these places on time, effortlessly and it gives you an edge.

3. You become very active as compared to before : Not sure why, but you will be much more active than before. You wake up at 5 instead of 8, automatically your mind will say that you have woken up for a purpose. You will quickly sail through every task you see. You will have more energy.

You will kick procrastination, lethargy, laziness without even trying! This is a big thing, huge. This will make way for your success.You will stop postponing tasks. You will finish tasks you were not able to attend since months. You become more hygeinic, clean and well dressed. You will want to look good and keep your surroundings well maintained.

That is all verified benefits from my side. Following is what other people have to say :

Brahma Muhurta – The Time to Create Yourself - Sadhguru

BENEFITS OF WAKING UP IN THE BRAHMA MUHURTA - Youtube

5 golden benefits of waking up early - Times Of India

What are the advantages of waking up early in the morning? - Quora

6 Shocking Benefits of Waking Up at 5:30 AM - Youtube

How to Wake Up Early | Robin Sharma

I know you will have to compromise your late riser friends and society. You will become a misfit but it is better to take the right road rather than the road more beaten.