Sleep Now - 5.3 - Transitioning to Wakefulness

How do you transition into wakefulness? We talked about transitioning into sleep earlier, but how do you transition? And we did a little bit of inner tapping, kind of showing you how you might have had this modeled. How can you do this now? Is it an abrupt, like, I'm already late, I have to jerk myself out of bed and scramble through the house and, you know, get out the door, or is. Do you allocate. Even three minutes can totally transform how you wake up. And I had this bad habit because I was always trying to do too many things and I still do sometimes, but I wouldn't give myself enough time for that. So those three minutes made the difference of me getting to work on time or not. And so I would rush, like scramble, and I wouldn't give myself even time for a cup of tea. And when we have something nice, you know, we talked a little bit about, we're going to go a little deeper, but you know, how we're woken up, how that wake up happens when we have something nice to look forward to. We don't have to use the stick so much, so to speak. So even if you've set it out the night before or you planned it, like, if you could, you know, for me, just a warm cup of tea. Something warm and soothing. We talk about grounding exercises all the time. A warm cup of tea, of tea was like. And three minutes to sit on my little balcony to, like, be in the sun. Yeah, Literally three minutes made the difference in me feeling like I was scrambling out. Like I'd set the pattern to scramble all day or, wow, I'm taking care of myself. And there's something nice to wake up to. So invite yourself to notice what your pattern is. Are you using the stick a lot? Which doesn't make you want to wake up anymore because as soon as you get out of bed, you're going to get the stick. Or are you inviting yourself with some. Are you sprinkling some carrots in there too, to like. Okay. And we're gonna do the guided visualization at the end of this, I think will be a very nice carrot for some people too. So.

Yeah. Would you like to lead us in some tapping to give people the space and the freedom? Because oftentimes we're in such a tense pattern. And honestly, if you look at the energy of the tension of your transition, if I was my body, and I have one, and I knew that as 5 o' clock turned to 6 o', clock, that I was going to be needing to prepare to be sticked my way Beaten to work. Then that last sleep cycle, guess what happens? You're preparing for battle. You're preparing for something that is going to be stressful. And our body's intelligent to know it gets the message. Oh, by the way, we need to be ready. So instead of being able to be really deeply relaxed into that last sleep cycle, it starts elevating the energy, starts getting more tuned up to be irritated, restless, kind of adrenaline y. And so from a biological standpoint, this transition time, just like transitioning to sleep, this transition time out can utterly change that last sleep cycle to be much more about recharging rather than preparing for battle. And that makes a huge difference in the kind of energy that you have carrying into the day.

Absolutely. And you might like some people, I just want to mention this because some people have found it really helpful. Some people, it's better just have all electronics away from the bed. Like, if the phone feels like an electronic leash, see if you can find a way to leave it in the other room for during your sleep time, if that feels safe to you. But some people also have found that we do sleep in patterns. Usually we have more awake times and less awake times. And there are apps for your phone that you can put on that will actually monitor your restlessness and they'll gently wake you at the nearest time to your wake up time that you're in one of the more alert phases where it's more natural, where you're not in the middle of a REM cycle. So just things to investigate like that might help you because we'll do some work on this too. But alarms can be very jarring. And my sister with four kids who's always doing everything, she has three alarms, two of them in the other room, and they sound like the fire alarm going off. So that's not the most gentle transition for me. Even in the room down the hall, I'm like, oh my God, what is that?

And we encourage people to tap as soon as you're feeling a trigger or a discomfort or recollection in your body. But alarms like that.

Yeah. So it's just some tapping on carrots and sticks.

Yes.

Some nice slow, deep breath. Feel your feet on the floor and your butt in the chair. You are supported by the universe. You're loved. You are doing something so good for yourself right now. And we are so proud and delighted to have you here. Karate chop. Even though I have been using the stick.

Even though I have been using the stick.

That's what I was taught.

That is what I was taught.

And I didn't know anything else would work.

And I didn't know that anything else would work.

I'm really curious if I can be more gentle with myself.

I'm really curious if I could be even more gentle with myself.

Can I invite myself to wake up and enjoy the day?

Can I invite myself to wake up and enjoy the day?

Top of the head. I'd like to change from using the stick to the carrot.

I'd like to change from using the stick to the carrot.

Eyebrow. And hopefully I'm sleeping a little bit better now.

And hopefully I am sleeping a little bit better now.

Side of the eye. So I can lighten up on the stick.

I can lighten up on the stick.

Under the eye.

I do have commitments I do have commitments.

Under the nose. I do need to get up.

I do need to get up.

Chin. But I can do it more gently.

But I can do it more gently.

Collarbone. With gentler words.

With gentler words.

Under the arm. With invitation rather than threats.

With invitation rather than threats.

On top of that, I'm really curious how that'll change my day.

I'm really curious about how that will change my day.

Take a nice deep breath. And we said it a little bit in some of the other videos, but some gentle ways to transition include giving yourself an extra. I purposely set my alarm five minutes early so I can hit the snooze so I have a backup. I know the alarm is going to go off again, so I don't just go right back to sleep. But often I'll use those five minutes to either kind of snuggle with myself.

Yes.

Like, I'll pull the pillow up. My cat knows she comes right over and lays there, so I'll pet her while we're doing that. And I'm just present with myself. I enjoy the bed. I enjoy the fact that the day is starting. I try to think of some things I'm looking forward to in the day. And there are days, just like everybody, where I have, like, a whole bunch of stuff I really don't want to do. And I'm like, oh, I just want to stay in bed. But usually there's a few things I can find that are delightful even in the midst of that. Yes, I have really tough meetings, but I'm going to take myself to lunch between them, and I'm going to go to that little cafe where I can sit outside and have a nice salad while the sun shines. Or I'm going to make sure to go into the restroom and tap. And I'm going to clear this energy so I can just do my best and get through all this. Rather than dreading the work, thinking of clearing it out, getting it done, and through that snuggle time can be really important. And we talked about leaving that glass of water by your bed. That can be a great time to reach up and take some swallows of it because your body's been resting and we tend to be a little dehydrated in the morning. And my pattern had always been that I would rush out the door with not even a cup of tea. And I would often be 10 or 11 o' clock before I'd actually get myself something to drink. And I'd wonder why my body felt sluggish. I wasn't giving it anything to kind of like get it started. It was just like, run, body, run. And it did. My body was amazing. And your bodies are amazing. But if we can kind of nurture it and give it that water in the morning, some people find that it helps to have a pinch of sea salt. Himalayan, like the natural sea salt in that water. It can give you some of the minerals to kind of get your body moving, see if you like it or not.

I give myself permission to explore options.

I give myself permission to explore options.

To help with this transition.

To help with this transition.

To make it more of a flow.

To make it more of a flow under the nose.

To enjoy the sensuality of waking up.

To enjoy the sensuality of waking up.

And stretching my wings.

And stretching my wings.

Collarbone. And opening and tuning my heart.

And opening and tuning my heart under the arm.

And activating my body.

And activating my body. That feels really nice. We would love it if you would leave comments below and let us know how you're transitioning because your idea might spark someone else's idea and give them ideas and they might share something that you're like, I never thought of that. That's perfect for me. Whether it's having a second alarm that just plays gentle music for a few minutes before the regular alarm goes off or one of those alarms where the lights come up, there's a lot of different ways you can do this. And I love the night before to leave a little present for my next morning self. Something. Because I know I'd prefer to sleep. I'm always kind of pushing how late I go to bed because I have a lot of things I want to create. When I leave a present for myself in the morning, I feel loved. I'm half asleep. I'm wandering out to feed the kids and I see that cup of tea that's like, the tea bag's already out and the cup's sitting there, and all I have to do is put in some water and put it, you know, heat it up.

Nice.

That feels really sweet. So we invite you, just try it for a week. This week, as you're listening to this, little treats that you can do. It can be something so small, but just a way to say, I was thinking of you, that you can do. You can even do it for the whole week if you have the space. If you don't have kids that would move stuff, you can just set them out for the week and just see how you feel in the morning and how much more eager you are to kind of face the day when you do it.