Chapter 2: What Happens When We Sleep

Tonight's Lesson

Come in and take your chair. Before we sit, please check it once more: a sturdy chair without wheels, on a floor that does not slip, with its back against the wall if possible, and your feet resting flat on the floor or on a firm block. Last time we set up the chair and the space, and we tried our first practice in its five parts: Arriving, Breathing, Moving, Stillness, and Closing and going to bed. Perhaps you have repeated it at home on a few evenings. If you have, you may already have noticed that the half hour in soft light feels a little familiar now.

Tonight I would like to step back and look at the reason we are here: sleep. Most of us sleep every night of our lives, yet few of us were ever told how sleep works. When we understand a little about the body clock, about the sleepiness that builds up during the day, and about what happens during the night, many things about our evenings start to make sense. We can see why bright light late at night makes it harder to fall asleep, why a regular time to get up helps, and why the hour before bed is so important.

I will explain these things in plain words, without going into medical detail. Then I will describe the two modes of the body, which I will call the busy mode and the resting mode, because they explain why slow movement and slow breathing can help us at the end of the day. After the lecture, we will do the practice from our first evening again, with two small additions: turning the head gently from side to side, and letting the breath out become a little longer.

The Body Clock and the Build-Up of Sleepiness

Inside your body there is a kind of clock that runs on a rhythm of about one day. We call it the body clock. It helps decide when you feel awake and alert, and when you begin to feel ready for sleep. It also affects many other things, such as body temperature, hunger and the times when certain natural substances are released in the body. The body clock keeps running even when you do not think about it, which is why many people wake up at almost the same time each morning, even without an alarm.

The body clock is not perfectly exact on its own, so it needs to be set again every day. The strongest signal that sets it is light. Bright daylight in the morning tells the body clock that the day has begun. As evening comes and the light fades, the body clock prepares the body for the night: a little later, the body begins to release a natural substance that helps make us feel sleepy. Bright light in the late evening, from strong lamps or from screens held close to the face, can send the body clock a confusing message, as if it were still daytime. This is one reason we practise in soft light.

The second process is the build-up of sleepiness. From the moment you wake up, a pressure to sleep slowly grows in the body and the brain, hour after hour. We call this sleep pressure. In the morning it is low, and you feel fresh. By the evening it is high, and you feel heavy and ready for bed. During the night, sleep clears this pressure away again, so that you can wake up refreshed. A long nap late in the afternoon can lower the pressure too early, which is why some people find it hard to fall asleep at night after sleeping during the day.

Sleep comes most easily when these two processes work together: when the body clock says "it is night" and the sleep pressure is high. This is why regular habits are so helpful. If you get up at about the same time each morning, go out into daylight early in the day, and keep your evenings dim and calm, the body clock and the sleep pressure tend to line up well. A regular time to get up is often even more useful than a regular time to go to bed, because it gives the body clock a firm starting point every day.

How much sleep do we need? People differ, and the amount changes over a lifetime. Many health organisations advise adults to sleep at least seven hours a night. Please do not take this as a test to pass or fail. Some nights will be shorter, and worrying about the number of hours can itself make sleep harder. It is more useful to ask yourself gently whether you usually feel rested enough during the day, and to give yourself enough time in bed to make a good night possible.

Through the Night, and the Hour Before It

Sleep is not one single state. During the night, the brain passes through different stages. There is light sleep, from which we wake up easily. There is deep sleep, when the body is very still and it is hard to wake up; this stage is important for feeling physically rested. And there is dreaming sleep, when the brain is very active, the eyes move behind the closed eyelids and most vivid dreams happen. These stages follow one another in a cycle of sleep stages that lasts roughly 90 minutes and repeats several times a night, though it varies from person to person and from night to night.

In the first part of the night, the cycles usually contain more deep sleep. Toward the morning, they usually contain more dreaming sleep and lighter sleep. Between the cycles, it is common to wake briefly, turn over or change position. Most of these short wakings are so brief that we do not remember them. So if you sometimes wake in the night for a moment, this is part of normal sleep. We will talk more about waking in the night in a later lesson.

Now let us look at the body itself. Very simply, the body has two broad modes. In the busy mode, the body is ready for action. The heart beats faster, the breathing becomes quicker and higher in the chest, the muscles tighten and the mind becomes alert and watchful. This mode is useful when we need to hurry, solve a problem or react quickly. In the resting mode, the body slows down. The heart rate and the breathing become slower, the muscles soften, digestion works well and the mind becomes quieter. The body moves into the resting mode most easily when we feel safe and calm.

Many of us spend most of the day in the busy mode: travelling, working, caring for others, answering messages, thinking about tomorrow. The body does not always switch to the resting mode the moment we turn off the light. If we go straight from a busy evening into bed, we may lie there with a racing mind and a body that still feels tense. This is why the hour before bed matters so much. It is a time of change, when the body can be invited, step by step, from the busy mode into the resting mode, so that it is already slowing down by the time we lie down.

This is what our practice can do. Slow, gentle movement releases some of the tension the muscles have held during the day. Slow breathing, especially with a slightly longer breath out, is closely linked to the resting mode; when we breathe slowly and calmly, the body tends to follow. Calm attention gives the mind something simple to rest on, instead of running through the day again. And the soft light and the regular routine give the body clock a clear evening signal. The practice cannot make you fall asleep. What it can do is help the body and the mind slow down, which gives sleep a better chance to come.

Sometimes, however, a sleep problem needs more than a calm evening. If sleep problems last for weeks and affect your days, please talk to a doctor. And if someone notices that you stop breathing or snore very loudly in your sleep, please talk to a doctor. A doctor can look at the whole picture and help you find the right next step. Our evening practice can continue alongside that, as a gentle way to end the day.

The Thirty-Minute Practice

Prepare as you did on the first evening. Place your sturdy chair on a non-slip floor, with its back against the wall if possible, and check that your feet rest flat on the floor or on a firm block. Leave only one soft lamp on. Wear soft, loose clothes and keep a glass of water within reach. Tonight's practice repeats the first evening's movements and adds two new ones: turning the head side to side, and a longer breath out. As always, if you feel pain, dizziness or shortness of breath, stop, rest and breathe quietly, and come out of any movement slowly.

Minutes 1 to 3: Arriving. Sit down a little toward the front of the seat, with your feet flat on the floor about as wide apart as your hips and your hands resting on your thighs. Close your eyes, or let them look softly at the floor in front of you. Feel the seat under you and the floor under your feet. Notice the soft light in the room. You may like to say quietly to yourself, "The day is ending now." Let your shoulders drop a little. Let your face soften. Stay here for about three minutes, simply arriving.

Minutes 4 to 8: Breathing. First, notice your natural breath for a minute or so, without changing it, as we did last time. Feel the air at your nose and the gentle movement of your body as you breathe. Then, without forcing anything, let each breath out become a little longer than the breath in. Breathe in comfortably through your nose. Then let the breath flow out slowly, as if you were sighing very quietly, until the breath out has finished by itself. Do not push the last air out, and do not hold your breath. If the longer breath out feels uncomfortable at any point, return to your natural breath. Continue like this, gently, for about four minutes.

Minutes 9 to 20: Moving. Begin by sitting tall. Feel your weight resting evenly on both sitting bones. As you breathe in, imagine the top of your head being lifted gently toward the ceiling, so that your back grows a little longer. As you breathe out, let your shoulders soften down. Take about five breaths like this, growing tall without becoming stiff. Then do slow shoulder rolls: lift both shoulders up toward your ears as you breathe in, then let them move back and down as you breathe out, drawing a slow circle. Do five circles in this direction and five in the other direction. Let the shoulders rest. These two movements take about four minutes.

Next come the slow nods. Sit tall and look straight ahead. As you breathe out, slowly lower your chin a little toward your chest, only as far as is comfortable. As you breathe in, slowly lift your head back to the middle, looking straight ahead again. Do not let your head drop back; the movement goes only from slightly down to the middle. Repeat about five times, one slow nod for each breath, and then rest with your head balanced in the middle. This takes about two minutes.

Now the new movement: turning the head side to side. Sit tall, with your shoulders soft and still, and look straight ahead. As you breathe out, slowly turn your head to the right, as if you wanted to look over your right shoulder, but turn only as far as is comfortable; for many people this is a small turn. Keep your chin level and your shoulders facing forward. As you breathe in, slowly turn your head back to the middle. As you breathe out, turn slowly to the left. As you breathe in, return to the middle. Move slowly and smoothly, never quickly. Do this about four times to each side, then rest with your head in the middle and notice the feeling in your neck. This takes about three minutes.

Finish the moving part with the hands on the thighs. Rest your palms on your thighs. As you breathe in, slowly slide your hands forward toward your knees. As you breathe out, slowly slide them back toward your hips, letting tonight's longer breath out make the movement back a little slower than the movement forward. Do this about six times. Then turn your palms up and let your hands rest, the fingers loose. Take a few quiet breaths and feel the weight of your arms. This takes about three minutes.

Minutes 21 to 27: Stillness. Slide back in the seat so that your back rests against the chair back, if that is comfortable, and keep your feet flat on the floor. Let your hands rest on your thighs. Close your eyes or let them rest on the floor. Let your breath return to its natural rhythm. Now imagine your body changing from the busy mode into the resting mode, slowly, like a room in which the lights are turned down one by one. You do not need to make anything happen. Simply notice your breath, the chair under you and the quiet of the room. When the mind wanders, notice it kindly and come back to the next breath out. Stay for about seven minutes.

Minutes 28 to 30: Closing. Take two or three slightly fuller breaths. Gently move your fingers and toes, and open your eyes slowly if they were closed. Take a sip of water if you like. Place your hands on your thighs, lean slightly forward, press your feet into the floor and stand up slowly. If you feel dizzy, sit down again and wait. Turn off the lamp and walk calmly to bed. As you lie down, you may let two or three of your breaths out be a little longer, just as you practised tonight.

Common Questions

A common question after this lesson is: "I usually sleep less than seven hours. Am I doing something wrong?" Please do not worry. The advice to sleep at least seven hours is a general guide for adults, not a rule for each single night. Instead of counting hours, notice how you feel during the day over a week or two. If you would like more sleep, the gentlest first step is often to give yourself a little more time in bed and to keep a regular time to get up. If sleep problems last for weeks and affect your days, a doctor can help.

Another question is: "I naturally feel awake until late in the evening. Does this course still suit me?" Yes. Body clocks differ, and some people naturally feel sleepy later than others. The practice does not need to happen at a fixed hour; it is meant for the hour before your own bedtime, whenever that is. What helps everyone is regularity: a similar time to get up, daylight in the morning, and a calm, dim hour before bed.

People also ask: "What if the turning of the head makes me dizzy?" Then make the movement much smaller, or slower, or both. You can also keep your eyes open and let your gaze turn together with the head, resting on one still point in the room at each end of the turn. If the dizziness continues, leave the movement out and simply sit and breathe instead. Remember the shorter rule we use in this course: if you are unsure whether a movement suits you, ask a doctor.

Finally, some people ask: "Should I go to bed even if I do not feel sleepy yet?" It is usually better to go to bed when you feel sleepy rather than at a fixed time when you are wide awake. If you finish the practice and still feel quite awake, you may sit quietly for a few more minutes in the soft light, or read something calm, and go to bed when your eyes begin to feel heavy. The practice prepares the way; sleep comes in its own time.

Summary

The body clock runs on a rhythm of about one day and is set mainly by light. Daylight in the morning and soft light in the evening help it know when it is day and when it is night.

Sleep pressure is the sleepiness that builds up from the moment we wake. Sleep comes most easily when the body clock says "night" and the sleep pressure is high; a regular time to get up helps both.

Sleep moves through light sleep, deep sleep and dreaming sleep in a cycle that lasts roughly 90 minutes and repeats several times a night, though it varies. Brief wakings between cycles are normal.

Many health organisations advise adults to sleep at least seven hours a night. Use this as a gentle guide, not a test.

The body has a busy mode and a resting mode. In the hour before bed, slow movement, slow breathing and calm attention invite the body toward the resting mode, which gives sleep a better chance to come.

Tonight we added turning the head side to side, slowly and only as far as is comfortable, and a breath out that is a little longer than the breath in, without forcing or holding.

If sleep problems last for weeks and affect your days, please talk to a doctor. If someone notices that you stop breathing or snore very loudly in your sleep, please talk to a doctor.