Tis the Season for Sleep

"... cease to sleep longer than is needful;

retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary;

arise early, that your bodies and your minds

may be invigorated."

- Doctrine & Covenants 88:124 



During the winter time, what is needful sleep may be longer.  Listen to your body to know what it needs.  Or pray to know how much sleep you need.  Prayer never fails me.

Just as the season changes, so do our bodies.  In this demanding world, we often don't take time to change our pace throughout the year depending on the season around us.  Our bodies need to arise in the Spring with fresh ideas, clean up from winter and get creative.  In the Summer, our bodies need to work and sweat and build.  Autumn we reap the rewards of our labors and gather up what we've accomplished.  Winter though is intended to be quiet, reflective and restful. 

 

I look out my bedroom window and see bare trees.  Everything outside is quiet and still.  The animals and plants are putting all their energy inward on their core and/or roots.  They must rest to really grow and thrive during the warmer months.

 

I own a couple books that I have really enjoyed studying up on this very topic.  One is called "Staying Healthy Through the Seasons" and the other is "The Way of the Happy Woman".  Both go into depth on how to direct our thoughts, exercise, pace and even the type of food we eat to help our bodies be fully nourished during a particular Season.

 

In Winter, we should be sleeping a lot more.  When I started writing on this blog, I made the goal to wake up at 5:30am.  I used the alarm on my phone to work on this goal.  Alarms are evil.  They have never been my friend.  My stubborn nature just wants to prove to the alarm that it isn't important and so I turn it off and keep sleeping.  This is the story of my life.  Alarms have always been a mere suggestion to my sleepy self.

 

A few days ago, I had the thought to set the intention before going to bed to wake up when my body and mind were ready.  That may sound silly because wouldn't we always wake up when our body is ready?  I don't think so.  Actually, I know so.  Years of sleeping in as a teenager did not improve my energy level or productivity.

 

So, I've been going to be around 9:30 every night and my body is naturally waking up around 5 am.  This is wild to me.  It is almost unbelievable because I've never been a morning person.  But maybe my body was sleeping too long?

 

In the winter, we're suppose to sleep more and rest during the day.  Since my body is waking me up so early, I have time for a great workout and to start my day off feeling strong and productive.  When the afternoon rolls around, my body is ready to slow down.  I'm allowing myself to do that.  So, I'll read to my children or fold laundry while they are watching a show.  Or I may just take a nap.

 

Listening to my body is awesome.  I don't always listen but when I do, I'm amazed at just how smart this body is.  Our Father in Heaven truly blessed us to have great joy inside our bodies. 

 

Give yourself permission to be more of a homebody;  to be restful and reflective.  Write in your journal. Listen to your body's natural rhythm. Go to bed earlier and allow your body to wake up when it's ready. 





 

Let sleep rejuvenate your soul!

 

 

Story Time: This was back in 2010 when Fargo was hit hard with blizzards.  It was the coldest winter I have experienced yet and hope to only relive it in my memories.

Confession:  I wish I had a picture to document it but this winter was my first winter to make a real snowman!  Every year, I set out to build a snowman and I always pick the worst day when the snow is crunchy.  The first snowstorm this year, Jared was home and thankfully informed me it was snowman snow-weather.  We all bundled up and made our snowmen.  Loved the time together to play, laugh and admire our work.  We also really enjoyed warming up with hot cocoa afterwards.