“A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.” Irish Proverb
Mornings are a hot topic, and not just around here. Media outlets like Inc., apps like Fabulous and seemingly every lifestyle IG account has content around how to tee up your morning to make the most of your day.
We’re big believers in it all: for three months, Seven Minutes in the Morning has been devoted to the topic of mornings, and sought to give you permission and reminders to take pause with mindful tasks to carry with you throughout your day.
But as August draws to a close, and September and Fall planning loom large in our minds and on our calendars, we’d like to take Seven Minutes this morning and think about the night.
Our culture devalues sleep. The goal is to pack as much productivity in to our days, and sleep is considered an inconvenience, even an indulgence. At Lifetherapy, we admire cultures that embrace a different attitude (Italians: we’re looking at you and your workday siestas.)
We have to keep reminding ourselves, and we’d like to remind you, too, that sleep is vital for health, as essential to wellbeing as food or water. Too often, we shortchange ourselves on sleep to gain more time, realizing after only one night of getting to be early that we can get twice as much accomplished the next day after going to bed at a decent hour the night before.
We all know that everything looks brighter in the morning. So it’s the perfect time to not just plan for your day, but to make a conscious decision about what the wind-down will look like for you. We set times, alarms and reminders for everything these days, using our phone quite literally like clockwork.
For Seven Minutes this morning, go in to your settings and set a new alarm: for bed. Sleep is an expression of the best type of selfishness: chiefly concerned with one’s own personal profit or pleasure. So as seriously as you’d take a start time for an appointment at work, with your friends, or even for a personal indulgence, like a manicure – prioritize sleep this week. Let’s conclude summer and embrace the Fall season feeling satisfied, content, and well rested. The next morning will be ready for your energy and productivity. And just like the sunrise, Lifetherapy will be right there with you, too.
xo,
Lifetherapy
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