Getting Up at Sunrise

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

 

I too love the sunrise.

 

Alas my current location and accomodation are not ideally placed.

 

I see the sun rise over the tower blocks.

 

I want to move to the country.

 

...

[silent thunder]

The sunrises this time of year in LA are simply jaw dropping.

Wispy cirrus clouds shot through with pink and lavender.

My job is often outdoors and we start before dawn much of the year.

This was my view for months while working on Star Trek some years back.

Our location was one of the highest points overlooking LA.

Pure view for about 320 degrees.

 

 

 

 

[Nungali]

This is pretty much what I can see, but I am a bit further back and can see the edge of the escarpment more (that is Nungali - Old man in the mountain - looming up lower CG (but his face is in shadow)

 

http://www.sparklingadventures.com/images/4407.jpg

[zerostao]

at around the official change of the seasons on recommendation from a friend i decided to resume sunrise practice.

and since that decision there have been 2 mornings without rain or heavy cloud cover.

[GrandmasterP]

Fabulous sunrises here at the new place.

We're on the East Coast.

Sunrise here is 7-20ish at the moment.

Edited October 16, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Nungali]

I like the time between first light and sunrise ... in the warm season.

 

I used to get up at 4:30 am to go to work ( in the city) ... great - no traffic, the road to myself, get an early start ... I would do most of the work before I was actually awake .

 

Then 1 or 2 hours after lunch, off home before late traffic and a couple of hours surfing or spearfishing

[mYTHmAKER]

A friend of mine once told me he does his qigong everyday at sunrise and that he recommends that time. So I asked him how on earth do you do that? Well he gets up at sunrise, does his hour or two of qigong, then goes back to sleep for a couple of hours . I really like his way of thinking.

For many years we used to get up at 3:30 chant and meditate for 1 1/2 - 2 hours go back to bed and wake up at 8 am to go to work. Now i get up at sunrise to pee and go back to bed.

[Guest munky]

I feel much better getting up at or just after sunrise, and has positive effects for the rest of the morning and afternoon.That's a big part of the day so i cant imagine this aspect not being important for cultivation. Especially as there is some great energy at that time to do practice.

Practicing later in the morning, the energy just doesnt feel the same and also begins to be too strongly yang for my body.
To be awake during the full transition from sunrise to afternoon is a way to align the body with nature and its cycles. Waking up past 730, 8am on weekends when it is already more yang I dont feel as in tune and takes some time for my body to adjust.

Even so I had trouble waking up early in the past when there weren't any committments in the morning to force me to do so. It feels more natural for me now, perhaps i now need a bit less sleep or that a routine/cycle was established.

What are people's experiences as they got older? Thought also maybe because I'm still young and sleep more, so I need to sleep earlier if i want to wake up early. Because I've heard you need less sleep as you get older, so it becomes harder to sleep in and easier to wake up early.

Edited October 17, 2014 by munky

[i am]

I got up very early, very happy when I was a kid. Then when I hit teenage years, I started sleeping in. It was a habit I didn't fully kick until I got into my thirties. A few years with jobs that started a 7am helped. Then if I slept until 7am on the weekends, it felt like sleeping in.

 

Now I don't sleep past 7 no matter what the circumstances. If I was up really late the night before, I'll just take a nap later on. It's important for me to get up early and be awake during the early hours, no matter what. 6am and 7am don't seem early to me anymore...I'm shooting for being up no later than 5:30.

 

Most people get up earlier as they get older. But...as you can see from some of the posts above, not everyone. My Mom will sleep until 8am on days she doesn't work. That's just when she feels like it's time to get up. But she's not actively working toward enlightenment, so far as I know

 

My Dad, on the other hand, was always up around 4:30. He was a teacher and had a 30 minute drive to work. So he'd be up, work out, go for a run, then sit at the kitchen table, right next to the window that looked out at the field behind his house, and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes in silence for 30-40 minutes every morning before work. Luckily that window opened.

 

Not sure if he's still up that early now that he's retired.

[Ish]

Recently i've been naturally waking up around 4-6, getting up to do some practice... then going back to bed for a few hours.

I do assume it's better to just get up fully though!

[i am]

I don't know if it necessarily is...

 

One thing I've noticed, as I've started going to bed earlier and earlier, is that I think I might actually be in danger of oversleeping. I'm usually asleep by 10pm these days, which means in bed usually no later than 9:30. I think sometimes I wake up around 4 or 5, feeling pretty good and awake, but see that it's still dark or look at the clock and think "that's too early" and go back to sleep.

 

Then I wake up at 6 feeling sleepy and not ready to get up...

 

Probably it would be better to get up when I wake up early feeling good, and just take a nap later if I need it.

 

The body has its own rhythms...

 

I've been regularly waking up at pretty much exactly 12:50am lately, every night.

[C T]

i have found the summer/winter periods to be a force majeure in dictating the amount of sleep required.

 

Spring/summer marks an increase in activities in line with longer daylight hours, and balmier nights, so less sleep is sought.

 

Autumn/winter reverses all the above.

[silent thunder]

Circadian Body Rhythms For The Win.

[steve]

I usually start my morning yoga and meditation before sunrise and the sun comes up as I'm sitting - for me it's the best time to sit. I meditate with my eyes open so the gradual dawning of light is wonderful. Although I go through phases of feeling a bit sleepy or sluggish in the morning, it's generally my clearest time of day. Perfect for meditation. I used to do Taijiquan at sunrise but meditation has become much more important for me in the past few years.

[iain]

Brahma Muhūrta is a wonderful time to see the Planets. The only time the interior planets are visible being sunrise and sunset ...

I like to make the chart of the day at sunrise; I believe that traditionally one would calibrate their water clock at the first sighting of the tip of the Sun, after having observed the celestial bodies.

Jupiter is easily found above a waning crescent moon this morning; quite beautiful.