How to Get Better Sleep | A Monk’s Guide

[Music] so i'm here in beautiful thailand and this is one of the many beautiful islands around as you guys can see thailand has such a beautiful environment from the deep forest to the ocean the island the sea everywhere around here is just so rich with culture and the environment is absolutely stunning for me i wanted to take the time today to talk about a topic that for me i feel like is so important that affects so many people again when i make these kind of videos it's never to convince you to become a monk it's never to convince you to come to thailand but simply i love to use the experience from monkhood because i'm living in monkhood and i think there's so much wisdom in there that can help and apply to your life so if it's effective for you please use it and if not it's okay too so the topic for me that i wanted to discuss today is regarding sleep uh so many people on average are affected and for me coming to monk hood my very first year the very first experience actually the way they taught us how to sleep it was so uncomfortable so difficult in the beginning but now having some time to live in that environment i can see how they train you the thing that i think monk hood does so well is that we get back to the basics how to use things for its intended purposes how to experience things for its intended purposes nowadays people are using things and they're mixing it for example social media and people are getting in trouble because they're tying their identity to it they're using it for the wrong reasons they're using it at inappropriate times but for me monk hood teaches you again like i said to go back to the basics regarding sleep how do you sleep where do you sleep how do you eat how do you eat properly how do you walk how do you become mindful but these are the things i feel like i got so much from monk hood and through this gratitude and through this understanding i wanted to take the time to share this so maybe it can help someone out there who is struggling with this but the topic today is sleep disclosure and for me i wanted to share openly because sleep for me back in my late life was such a big issue as you know back home especially in california life was busy and living out in the physical world keep in mind that my lifestyle was at night i'm naturally a night owl so working as a professional dancer we would have late night rehearsals sometimes till 10 pm 12 p.m we would have dance gigs at different places where we have to travel for me personally was i loved to work out so going to the gym and i would do that late at night i would go take dance classes late at night also so for me my sleep schedule um wasn't so consistent and i always struggled with it and because i had so much energy i was so driven with my business i was so driven with creativity but always in the evening so i would sleep really late and it would affect for many years i never had quality sleep it became a problem and i knew it was a problem was because for me i would have to take sleeping medication i sleep aids for five years and until i went to monk hood nothing ever changed and nothing ever improved but when i went to monk hood instantly all of that disappeared when they taught me how to do it properly then my issue of sleep just disappeared completely since then i don't have to take any sleep aids i can just close my eyes i can go to sleep and there's no issue so today i wanted to reveal how they taught us especially as new monks in the beginning how to sleep and maybe you can apply some of these tools to your life to improve your sleep as well the thing that monk hood does so well is they teach you how to do things for its intended purpose so for example the bedroom the bedroom is for sleep and when we first came into monkhood they gave us a tent and in this tent there was nothing else all we have is very simple we had uh i believe like a blue yoga mat that was very thin not comfortable at all for our pillow we had our set of robes that includes this robe the sanka t that we wear over the main road and then also we wrap it with a yellow belt the belt that we a chest belt so we wrap it very nicely and then we use that as a pillow so it's interesting because when you sleep on this it actually flattens it so it's kind of like our iron so it serves two purposes our robes are very pressed and then secondly we use it as a pillow for monks we have two sets of robes and then the other one we would use as a blanket so again we have our pillow with the robes we have another robe that we use to cover ourselves as a blanket and then we're sleeping on a thin mat and that's what our bed consisted of this for us was important because back home in our bedroom it's so cluttered people use the bedroom as their living room this is where some of us eat i don't know for those watching how many of you are guilty with this where you're on your computer where you do your office work in your bedroom where you're also eating you're chatting on the phone you're watching tv so this room that's designed for sleep it's now a multi-purpose room and we use it for everything from an office to a living room to a dining room and we mix and match so when we do and when it's time to go to sleep then it impacts our sensory so it trains us that where it's time to be active and it's time to think but really with monk hood when you only have a tent when you only have a sleeping mat and robes when you go at the proper time to sleep you just wanna sleep because we're not on our phones we're not checking internet we're not doing any of that stuff but simply having that environment it trains our minds that when you walk into your bedroom in our case it's a tent that it's time to go to sleep nothing else and it trains your mind to already be there to be still and it develops that habit so when you lay down automatically you can fall asleep very easily so that's one tip where again use your room use your bedroom for its intended purpose and when you do that with just your room just your bed and its sleep time you'll be able to knock that habit out easily and it will definitely improve another thing that we do at monk hood that is very helpful is that we have a consistent sleep time as a new monk we have lights out at 10 pm so in the daytime we're just working um when we are working we're not able to come back to our room and sleep and lay around but really is we just leave we do our business we do our work and then when it's time after our shower after chanting then we come back and then when it's time to sleep 10 o'clock bites out and that's the end of that and in the beginning like i said it's very difficult our sensory is still moving however when you do this month after month then naturally it develops into a habit and it starts to change so this tip is just have a consistent sleep time so i alluded to this tip before but when we wake up we make our bed and we're out it's very important because a lot of people wake up they don't even make their beds they go out they have breakfast they come back in and again this is not to judge your lifestyle but it's just uh a common occurrence or a common pattern that people display outside and i did that as well but really it is helpful because in monk hood is when we wake up we make our bed neatly very clean very disciplined and for us it's so important because in monk hood they train us that our outside environment reflects our inner worlds so a lot of times people can't access this inner world yet it's not so bright it's not so clear because we haven't done that work yet so then an easy thing to grasp is more tangible and that is making our outside world so when it comes to bedtime it's just making our bed very neat folding it properly stacking it and then when you're done you're done 30 percent of our life is spent in the bedroom spent regarding sleep we spend about eight hours each day out of the 24 hours sleeping getting ready to sleep getting out of sleep but when we spend 30 percent of our energy of our efforts doing this activity it becomes a habit and they teach us that when we get out of bed make it properly and leave and don't come back two-fold one like i said it develops this habit that when we come to the bedroom our mind is already prepped to go to sleep we're doing nothing else so we just get right to task the second purpose for this is that when we finish what we need to finish not go use the restroom not go to breakfast and then come back and lie in bed again because it teaches us not to finish the job when someone can really get up make their bed and then leave do that every single day it trains you our teaching monk tells us that when we have a problem in our life we know how to fix them a b c and you're done but don't mix and don't be sloppy and don't procrastinate but just keep training your mind where you finish a task and when you can do that then when issues arises in your life then automatically you'll know how to finish a task very cleanly you compartmentalize finish and then you're on to the next you don't go back and forth another tip that we learned is again i shared with you where the bed of a monk is not comfortable one of our precepts is that we don't sleep on a high luxurious bed when i first heard this i'm like i don't understand how does this have to do with anything but again in monk training a lot of things at the beginning does not make sense but now it makes complete sense one of the habits that we fight with often is laziness and back home for me in malibu where i have a nice bed a comfortable bed a luxurious bed when it's my blanket was goose goose feather you know so the pillow was goose feather and when it's that comfortable you don't want to leave but in monk hood it was the opposite where when you have the thin yoga mat that is not so comfortable when you don't have the fluffy pillow and blanket when it's time to wake up you just get up you're not in there laying around just wasting the rest of the day but really when you sleep on something that is so basic it helps you to fight that urge of being lazy so for us again like i said having a thin low bed on the ground it's easier when you wake up to get your stuff go out and you're ready to start your day so try that if anyone is struggling with sleep i know there are people with back problems again consult your doctor i'm not saying this is for everyone but if you are able to try to sleep on something that is not so luxurious something that is low to the ground and it's one of the trainings that we use for ourself how to not be lazy how to not procrastinate and then get up get out and keep going and this is the last tip that i want to offer you and i feel like it's the most important and i never understood this when i first came to monk hood i had or one of the factors why i was struggling with sleep was because i don't know how i came across this but before sleeping i would take that moment to reflect reflect but i did it incorrectly was that i reflected on my problems i thought of the issues that i had throughout the day i thought of the work items that i needed to do for the next day i thought of some conflicts i thought of some disagreements and for me i would take this moment laying in bed and just taking an hour sometimes two hours and reflecting what can i do differently how can i change this and i remember coming to monkhood and i asked my teaching monk i'm like i think i've been going to bed wrong it do you have any tips for me of how to do this and it was so kind because the teaching monk just kind of chuckled a little bit not to make fun of me or anything but he chuckled and he was like oh wow he's like that's not how you reflect and two that's also the wrong time to reflect um i was under the impression that each day i should just think about these things and then how will i do it differently the following day so to change the habit but for my teaching monk he was saying no do you know that the last thing that you think about when you go to bed is automatically the first thing you think about when you wake up the next day so here we are and this is many people around the world maybe you can relate to it was you sit or you lay down in bed it's evening time you think about your problems all evening and finally you're able to go to sleep the next morning you wake up and the first thing you think about is that exact same problem so really you barely slept you didn't even have a good night's sleep and again your thought pattern continue so this sounds a bit cheesy in the beginning but for me i'm just simply sharing it because it was transformative it changed my whole sleep pattern one of the things that they teach us or the thing that they teach us is really to sleep in a sea of merits and what that means is to think about not reflecting about your problems but actually contemplating about the good deeds that you've done for that day things that made you feel proud especially in monk hood we always make a habit to improve ourself we're doing morning chanting we're doing evening chanting we do alms round that in the morning that gives the lay people an opportunity to give we give blessings we clean the temple we're doing chores to help with the community we're helping our neighbors we're memorizing chanting and all the good deeds that you've done for that day the donation the volunteering that is what you need to carry that's what you need to reflect on contemplate on and they teach us to put that at your center and allow that good energy to expand if you can't think of anything good or proud that you did that day think of something throughout this week did you help your parents did you help your co-workers did you give to an organization what good did you do this week expanded what good did you do this month what good did you do this year or this lifetime but for me in buddhism coming as a son to ordain here in thailand and be a monk for us it's the ultimate merit it's the ultimate act of purity that you can give to your parents so for me sometimes it warms my heart and it like brings me to tears i can't sorry to be so cheesy but to do a act that it's good for the world or to do an act that benefit others in our case our parents this is the highest act of generosity it makes me feel proud it makes me feel proud of my ordination it makes me feel proud of the donation and the giving and all the good deeds the meditation that i've done and to teach and to share the dhamma it makes me feel great so take that energy that good pure energy and put that at your center and this energy should be bright it should be clear and just imagine when you're sleeping put it at your center allow it to cover you like a blanket and they always teach asleep in a field of merit a sea a sea of merit and i just imagine all the good things that i've done i cover myself and i just let it sit here and i just let it cover me i just let it heal me and i let it expand so now the last thing i do in the evening is i think of all the good deeds i sleep with that covering me just with this field the sea of brightness this goodness and then i wake up and i'm fully energized and for some of you out there who say well i'm not sure of some good deeds that i've done well that might be a sign that you need to do more good deeds do more things that make you feel proud that helps yourself help others and benefit the world so do more good deeds cover yourself up sleep in that sea of merit and i can guarantee you that it will transform your mood it will transform the way you see the world and even better you'll get a good night's sleep and feel fully rested and i'm sharing this because it's been a very long time many years and now i don't have to rely on these sleep aids i know how to sleep i sleep properly and it recharges me and it energizes me so for anyone out there who is having any of this these issues regarding sleep wanting to improve your sleep or learning how to sleep properly um i would say give this a try and hopefully this can help you sleep a little bit better so all the way from thailand i hope i want to wish you all the best and hopefully this evening you can sleep in the sea of merit and let it shine and cover you and sending you blessings all the way from thailand so thank you [Music] you

Channel: Nick Keomahavong

Views: 378,266

Rating: 4.917623 out of 5

Keywords: a monk's guide to better sleep, a monks guide to sleep, how to sleep like a monk, how monks sleep, sleep like a monk, monks sleeping secrets, the life of a monk, life of a monk, monks, monk, buddhist monk sleeping, sleeping like a monk thailand, sleeping secrets from monk, how monks sleep better, improve sleep like a monk, how monks improve sleep, daily life of a monk, a day in the life of a monk, how monks sleep thailand, buddhist monk and sleep, deep sleep like a monk

Id: b47Wz6odqek

Length: 22min 38sec (1358 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 05 2020