Don’t Be Deeply Anxious About Sleeping Less

Once a junior fellow apprentice of mine contacted me, saying he had insomnia because of work pressure. I asked him how he was having insomnia, and he said that after waking at five in the morning he could not get back to sleep, whereas he used to sleep until seven. Hearing this, I was truly envious of him, because I myself basically wake at three or four every morning; most days by five o’clock I have already read for two hours and then prepared breakfast for the whole family. By seven, all my housework is done, and I carry my laptop bag to my study to review patients’ case records and start the day’s work.

He was terribly anxious about waking at five and asked me to treat him; I told him no treatment was needed. I myself have been getting up at five every morning since high school, when I studied 14–16 hours a day. I am not a clever person, but in diligence and perseverance, few among those I have met can match me. Now I am 42, middle-aged, with a family and career established; I could actually indulge and sleep in, but I do not. I still keep the old habit of rising early to read.

Since my mother fell ill, I go to sleep at nine or ten each night and wake at three or four in the morning; once awake I cannot get back to sleep, so I get up and read. At noon I take a one- or two-hour nap; occasionally if I feel drowsy in the morning or afternoon, I take a few minutes to a dozen minutes of doze at any time. Just closing my eyes to rest for a few minutes restores my energy. I have kept this habit for nearly twenty years.

I have never grieved over rising so early; I think such sorrow is a pure waste of time. As age and work habits change, many people’s circadian rhythms shift considerably, and sleep duration shifts with them. Some adapt naturally and do not grieve over it; others become deeply worried and use every method to force themselves to sleep more, only to end up with worse sleep.

Although I sleep little at night, I am still full of energy by day. Early risers gain several extra hours over others, which can be used for study and work. Why fret over early waking? My experience is: once awake, get up and begin the new day’s study and work, do not waste time, do not force yourself back to sleep, and do not lie there anxiously brooding.

I do not consider myself insomniac; I have never labeled myself an insomniac, and I do not take sleeping pills. One must learn to go along with nature and to adapt to changes in one’s own circadian rhythm. In high school I read a success-studies book (such books were only suitable for someone my age then; now I cannot read a single word of them). That book mentioned insomnia: it said someone slept very little each day; at first he worried, but later he figured it out and simply used the sleepless time for study, ultimately achieving great career success.

I do not know whether this story was fabricated or true—as everyone knows, success-studies books are full of invented stories—but at the time it really struck me as fresh. I have not achieved great success in my career, but because I spend more early-morning reading time than most, I have indeed learned a bit more, and this knowledge has helped me considerably.

Buddhists do not sleep much. The Buddha says in the Buddha’s Last Sermon (Fo Yi Jiao Jing): “You bhikkhus, by day diligently cultivate the good Dharma and let not the time slip; in the first and last watches of the night, do not neglect them either. In the middle watch, recite the sutras to refresh yourselves. Do not, through sleep, let a lifetime pass in vain with nothing gained. Think of the fire of impermanence burning all the world; seek early your own deliverance, and do not sleep. The thieves of affliction always lie in wait to kill, worse than enemies. How can you sleep without waking to alertness? The poisonous snake of affliction sleeps in your heart, like a black viper sleeping in your room. Use the hook of holding the precepts to drive it out early. Only after the sleeping snake is out can you sleep in peace.” The Buddha held that it is wrong to crave sleep and fail to cultivate the path earnestly; therefore Buddhist monasteries begin morning services very early, before dawn, when the monks start the day’s practice. But because Buddhists regard this as necessary training, they do not fret over sleeping less. Rising early does not harm the monks’ health; on the contrary, well-practiced monks, free of anxiety and affliction, are healthier in body and mind.

So if we wake very early but are healthy and full of energy, there is absolutely no need to fret over sleep. How long one sleeps each day is a highly individual matter; everyone needs a different amount. If after sleep you are not refreshed and always feel foggy-headed, that is an unhealthy state requiring medical help. But one must also rule out whether these are caused by excessive anxiety about waking early. I see many people who grieve after waking at night, ultimately exhausting both body and mind. If they could adjust their mindset and adapt to their circadian rhythm rather than forcing themselves to count sheep, I believe they would also be full of energy.