A few weeks ago, while I was conscious, my body couldn't keep up, so I ended up sleeping for about 6 hours. However, in just a few weeks, I've noticed that even when I wake up, I don't feel much different. That being said, I meditate for quite a long time, so meditation serves as a break, and other than this sleep, I'm not necessarily engaging in normal activities. Also, if I'm not feeling well, I might wake up but then end up taking a second nap, so this isn't always the case. However, my current sleep cycle is that I usually go to bed around 10:00 PM and wake up around 2:30 AM.
I don't usually set an alarm, although I do have one set for 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM. However, I usually wake up before that, and depending on the day, I usually wake up around 2:00 AM. If my body feels okay, I'll get up, but if I'm still feeling tired, I can usually get another hour or so of sleep.
Sometimes I wake up and see that it's 2:30 AM, so I'll get up. However, in that state, my mind isn't working, and I'm in a state where my thoughts have stopped. It's like my brain (thoughts) is still asleep, but I'm acting as if I'm awake. My thoughts are stopped, and it feels like my brain is still asleep, but even so, my consciousness is working, so I can move my body, and if I try to think (although my thoughts are slow), I can think to some extent. In this state, I don't necessarily need to lie down and go back to sleep to rest my brain. Instead, if I wake up normally and don't engage in activities that require a lot of brainpower, I can stay in a state where my thoughts aren't moving much, but my consciousness is still active, and I feel like I can rest my brain like when I'm asleep.
In the past, the only way to rest my brain was to sleep. But now, I can turn off my brain's thoughts or put them in a state of low activity even when I'm awake, so I can rest my brain without sleeping. In terms of resting my brain, whether I'm asleep or awake, things haven't changed much. However, it seems that getting proper sleep is more efficient, and I still need about 4 hours of sleep.
With 4 to 5 hours of sleep, I'm considered a short sleeper. However, I have meditation time for several hours, so it actually feels like I'm not that different from ordinary people. When you include meditation time, it's actually quite normal, and it's not as extreme as it seems.
A few weeks ago, I would wake up after about 4-5 hours, then lie down for a while and wake up again after about 6 hours, followed by meditation. So, the meditation part hasn't changed, but I feel like I've reduced the time I spend resting my body by a few hours.
Also, even when I feel tired, if it's mainly mental fatigue, I feel like it's actually better to meditate than to lie down and sleep. If it's purely physical fatigue, lying down and sleeping is better, but in terms of mental energy, I feel like meditating is better.
If I go to bed early, like at 9:30 PM, I often wake up around 12:30 AM, and I can usually get up without any problems. However, if I stay up until around 5 AM and study, I still feel physically tired, so I often take an extra hour of sleep, which makes me feel refreshed.
Besides that, I sometimes feel tired and sleepy during the day, so I might take a 30-minute nap, which means I'm actually getting about 6 hours of sleep in total.
It seems like I feel better when I sleep in shorter bursts at night rather than sleeping for a long time.
These conditions have been changing rapidly recently, so I'll continue to observe them.
▪️I've become able to wake up even with about 4.5 hours of sleep.
Two weeks later (June 6th), two weeks ago, I would wake up with about 4.5 hours of sleep, but my body couldn't keep up, so even if I woke up, I would need to take another 1 hour of sleep to get rid of the physical fatigue. However, recently, I've been able to wake up and feel relatively okay with about 4.5 hours of sleep.
For example, I might go to bed around 10:30 PM and wake up at 2:30 AM, or I might go to bed around 10:00 PM, wake up at 12:30 AM, but since my body still feels tired, I might lie down for another 1-2 hours and wake up after 2:00 AM. Sometimes, I might lie down for an extra hour around 5 or 6 AM, but even without lying down, I can often get rid of the sleepiness by meditating for about an hour. When I say meditation, I don't push myself too hard, so if I'm sleepy, I often end up lying down in a half-sleeping position and let it happen naturally. When I take a meditation posture, energy flows well to my head, and my consciousness becomes clear, and the sleepiness disappears. However, in terms of physical fatigue, lying down is still better, so when I'm tired, I often lie down in bed for about an hour, which is usually enough.
I sometimes take a 30-minute nap or meditate during the day when I feel sleepy, so the total sleep time might not be as short as it seems.
In the past few months, I feel like my sleep time has been steadily decreasing.
When reading books, it seems that some people, who are considered spiritual figures like swamis or masters, sleep very little, and even if they do, it's often only 3 hours. So, I still have a ways to go.
▪️I started waking up after 3.5 hours of sleep.
About a week later, my condition progressed slightly.
Recently, my sleep time has been gradually decreasing, and while my consciousness is relatively fine, I've learned that my body needs more rest. So, even though I wake up after 3.5 hours, I don't get up immediately, but lie down for another 5 or 6 hours. However, if I sleep for 6 hours, I sometimes feel a slightly hazy state of consciousness, similar to when I oversleep. On the other hand, if I wake up too early, my body feels tired. So, it's a delicate balance between prioritizing my mental state and my physical condition.
Waking up after 3.5 hours is like this: for example, if I go to bed at 10 o'clock, I wake up at 1:30. Then, I might wake up again after a few minutes or an hour later, and even if I try to go back to sleep, I don't sleep for very long. My consciousness feels like it's okay to be awake. However, even if I repeat this process and lie down for about 6 hours, I end up in a strange state that feels like "oversleeping." It's difficult to find a balance, but I hope I'll get used to it eventually.
▪️After that
If I wake up too early, I suddenly feel sleepy during the day, so it seems that sleeping for about 6 hours is better for my overall well-being throughout the day. I will continue to observe my condition.