Most of my adult years I lived sleep deprived; averaging between five to seven hours of sleep per night. I thought it was my unique make-up, my body just didn’t require as much sleep as other folks. After I was first attuned to Reiki, my sleep requirements became even less and I functioned well on four to five hours sleep a night (or so I thought). It never seemed to affect me; I still had lots of energy and I felt good.

In the past several years as I journeyed through the glorious age of menopause my waist thickened and no matter how little I ate, it all rested on my belly. At night I suffered from the “heavenly” night sweats and in the daytime I would endure hot flashes. When I did sleep, it came in short two or three hour stretches and all that time, I didn’t realize the value of eight hours sleep.

For the past little while, I have been working very hard at getting eight hours sleep at night and have noticed a big difference in my overall well being. On Thursday, I was working on a friend’s computer late into the evening and as a result, I didn’t get enough sleep even with giving up my early morning walk. Last night we went to the INXS concert and by the time we returned to the Moho and unwound enough to sleep, it was early this morning. Once again I chose sleep over my walk but still couldn’t get my eight hours in and today I dragged myself around.

I have unscientifically been testing the theory for six weeks and I now believe that we really are meant to have eight hours of sleep; it is our bodies time to repair and rejuvenate. It is my experience that when I am well rested, my metabolism improves (what a bonus!) and I get to eat what I want without packing on weight. Sleeping and walking really does work and if weight is an issue for you, I recommend that you try it too!

Oh, and by the way, the weather has greatly improved…today we enjoyed lots of warm sun and no wind. This is one of our views.