. A Monk's Secret to Sleeping Better

As with all advice, always check with your health care practitioner before embarking on any regimen, especially one that you haven’t tried before. Everybody’s body is different. Having said that, I would like to introduce you to the secrets I discovered about sleep while living as Buddhist monk in the backwater jungles of Thailand.

I never slept better than when I was practicing the 227 rules of a Buddhist monk. The rules are designed to create a harmonious atmosphere for a community of monks so that they can live together peacefully and practice meditation, but I quickly discovered that these rules not only enabled us to live together in accordance, but they mystically improved every aspect of my life, including my physical and mental health.

The rules included only one meal a day and a lot of walking. We would walk into the surrounding villages at daybreak, usually a two to five mile walk, and collect that day’s food from the villagers. We were not allowed to store food, so we had to make our walk every day. The food consisted of mainly rice, miniature Thai bananas, leafy vegetables, and occasionally a little protein, such as dried fish, grasshoppers, chicken — all organic.

We would eat our one meal a day in the meditation hall, which was about a half mile from my hut, so I had to walk the half mile quite a few times, night and day. This was in addition to the walk into the villages. The walking, combined with the type and quality of fresh food, and the fact that the digestive system had to work only once a day, all promoted a restful night’s sleep. The decisive factor, however, was the meditation practice, which has a tendency to relax the mind and resolve any outstanding conflicts so that one can really relax peacefully at night and experience a dreamless, invigorating sleep.

Now that I am stateside again, I still sleep like a baby. My regular routine is an hour or two of brisk walking every day, lots of whole grain brown rice (the bulk of my calories), very little fruit, maybe some blueberries, apples or grapefruit, lots of vegetables, beans, and olive oil, no sugar whatsoever, no wheat, dairy products, meat, etc. (small quantities of fish, eggs or chicken can be added), adequate salt, and lots of vitamins, especially vitami
C. I meditate regularly whenever I have time and always before bedtime. Walking, meditation, and a diet close to the macrobiotic model seem to work magic.

If you are lacking in either or all of these areas — walking, vitamins, meditation, or diet, and you are having problems sleeping well, you might consider slowly incorporating this regimen into your lifestyle. It costs nothing, and actually your food bill will reduce dramatically, unless you buy designer brown rice. (Is there such a thing)? Another side benefit is that any health problems already active or soon to become active will probably be reduced or eliminated without the need of invasive drugs.

Overall, your health and mental outlook will improve dramatically; a good night's sleep is the best insurance policy for health, and since everything mentioned is natural, there are no side effects or long-term dangers as one may experience with drugs of any kind. The three key ingredients are meditation, diet, and exercise. The reason walking works so well is because it doesn’t add to your stress levels. You can do it around home, no need to spend extra money to attend classes or involve yourself with stressful, competitive workouts.

Meditation is free as well. A beginning book on meditation will suffice, or free advice is available on my Southwest Florida Insight Center website mentioned below. Since none of this should cost you additional money, your stress levels should reduce, and with meditation practice, your stress levels should reduce dramatically. One added bonus is that meditation, over time, will reduce any obsessive wants and cravings, and this will help maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Sleep well!