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Originally Posted by highvoltage  Heh, I woke up at a little after 05:00 again this morning. I didn't get up right away and just sort of drifted in and out of sleep until about 05:45. At that point I was wide awake, so I just got up. And that was after only getting about 7 hours of sleep, which is about an hour less than I would sleep before I started this experiment. Maybe I just need less sleep now, which would be cool.  |
There's a great book by Dr Rubin Naimen called Healing Nights. He talks about gradual awakenings such as yours.
According to him, the transition from sleep to waking is like the contrast of land and sky at the horizon. At first glance, it seems that land and sky are two entirely distinct objects.
But in reality, the two flow into each other.
Gazillions of tiny dust particles float up from the ground and into the sky every second. And the molecules found in air soak down into the soil every second. In fact, trees get their 'nutrients' straight from the air, not so much the soil.
The same distinction can be made of daytime and nighttime consciousness. Most people go through life thinking that the two are entirely distinct. That daytime consciousness is "awake" and nighttime consciousness is merely, well, being unconscious.
But the truth is that the two flow into each other. And I'm not just talking about REM dreams, but in all stages of sleep there is a consciousness. And if you're willing to adopt the right sleep practices and lifestyle habits, you can get a strong glimpse into these mental states that border daytime and nighttime consciousness.
The process of a "gradual awakening" is truly cool if you develop the right kind of attitude and mental awareness. People tend to associate the drowsy state upon waking up wit negativity and laziness, which is just not the case.
Read Healing Night for a more thorough explanation