The sleep of the Just

The above title was a phrase that was oft used by a very good friend of mine. He used to say it after we had a good walking and climbing day in Skye and a few beers:)  'and now for the sleep of the just' he would state in a pompous manner before we climbed the particularly steep sets of stairs at the 'Old school house' in Carbost.

 I  love sleeping in Scotland, (I know a bit weird, how can you look forward to a Holiday and think of the sleep?) in particular I remember one sleep (?) a few years ago that really made me think about the true benefit of mindfulness and yoga practice.

Road to applecross, it is tough

We were staying in a lovely village called Badachro, opposite Gairloch, on the west coast of Scotland;  that is ,me, Phil and his wife, my great mate Sid, and one or two others.  This particular day I decided to revisit my old cycle route and cycle around the Applecross Peninsula via the only way and that was to cycle over the Bealach-na-ba(photo) which is a mere 2000 feet of climb over 6 miles. I will not go into the details here but I had a 'grand day out' on my tod and we all met up back at the Badachro Inn for a few tales and share the days exploits.

it is a bit steep this Road to Applecross

These pictures are not any old pictures, oh no these are THE pictures of the night before the SLEEP.    I can hear you thinking, 'Nick was a bit worse for wear when he  hit those sheets' but you know as well as I do that alcohol induced sleep is not a good sleep.  So after only two beers  of good ale we headed back to the lovely cottage pictured  and had a grand meal. Food always tastes better when away and after a hard day's activities.  

Beer in Badachro before the sleep

I was sleeping in a single bed in a room all by myself. The bed was in the corner of the room away from the window and the air around the bed felt cooler but not cold. There were quilts and blankets for warmth and two pillows..ummmmm. Now, I digress again,  I hate tidy beds with hospital corners and ironed sheets, why? Well I used to be a member of HM Armed forced many years ago..specifically Lieutenant Royal Navy (C033560K SIR!) as part of the induction process I attended Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) where we learned not only navy stuff but also how to fold, iron and clean; in particular how to present your bedding for officer inspection rounds. It got to the point where we so sick of getting ripped apart that we slept on the floor for one inspection so our bedding would pass??  The psychological battering has meant that I hate, detest neat beds and will disrupt folded sheets, blankets and duvets for a relaxed messy bed........So, I return to the SLEEP.

Rose Cottage Badachro;

 I remember lying underneath the quilts with my arms out of the bed and relaxed on top of the quilt. I can actually remember closing my eyes and then .....nothing, not a memory or a stir. Without any sense of anything at all I woke; what was the strangest sensation was not that I forgot were I was (this happens) but that I woke in EXACTLY the same position, the sheets had not moved, my arms had not moved, I simply slept in complete peace. Even more striking was the state of my mind, it was as if somebody or something had wiped my mind and I was starting again from another place. I understood immediately in that small time frame what the term Zen mind, beginners mind, truly means. Yoga , mindfulness, meditation are good wholesome practices but there must be a lasting reason and for me it was the ability to jettison and begin again everyday, in an uncluttered fashion. 
From that moment on, my yoga practice became more balanced and as a result, from one sleep, I changed my direction and attitude towards life. Capturing this feeling of complete freedom means having to be empty and live in a  less cluttered state of mind. It also means cutting ties, expectations from others etc. Chi Running helps this process that is all.  


What does sleep do for you?