My experience of waking up at 5 AM

I know it's hard, I mean really really hard especially for a person like me, who prefers a good night's sleep over anything. But something strange happened today. I felt like waking up early today. I usually wake up at around 7 AM daily after sleeping at around 11 PM the previous night. And I would still feel groggy and sleepy on some days, even after getting 8 hrs of sleep. But today was different. Even after getting just 6 hours of sleep when I woke up at 5 AM, I felt fresh and super-charged.

There are numerous advice and tips from self-help teachers, masters and yoga gurus on how to wake up early. Following is a video by Robin Sharma, the renowned author of The Monk who Sold his Ferrari, giving tips on how to wake up early:

There are so many other videos that extol the benefits of waking up early. Most of us, without a doubt, are aware that waking up before sunrise has numerous benefits, both physical and mental, but still doing so feels like a gargantuan task.

No matter how pumped up you are after watching few motivational videos, how inspired you are the night before and how meticulous you are in your preparation to wake up early, like setting up an alarm and putting your phone away from you before sleeping, when the actual moment of waking up strikes you choose to forget everything and your mind comes up with brilliant excuses on why you don't want to wake up right away. Same was the case with me. I was not able to muster enough willpower to actually leave my comfy bed and head for a jog or a run.

But, today was completely different. An urge came from deep inside of me to wake up right now and go outside and feel the air. So, I left my cozy bed without any guilt and when I went outside and beheld the surroundings, I couldn't believe that nature can feel so pristine and beautiful. It was so quiet that you can hear your heartbeat and the rhythm of the environs go in sync, so peaceful that you can hear the inner voice loud and clear.

A perfect time to meditate and ponder over your life, your existence, your place in the universe.

What's more- as the mist cleared up, it revealed the magnificent mountains in their full glory. And the orange hue started to descend on the horizons portending a glorious sunrise. It is a heavenly experience to witness a sunrise or a sunset either in the mountains or on a beach. No matter how successfully I am able to ornate the beauty of dawn in the mountains with the descriptive words, it will fall short of the beauty that you will feel witnessing with your own eyes. I am blessed to get the chance to earn my living in the mountains. I longed for it for a long, long time and finally the wish was granted.

So, now I have made up my mind to at least try my best to wake up early to witness the sunrise every day. And then go for a walk and do some breathing exercises and write in my journal, which I have always wanted to do. One can accomplish so many tasks by waking up early and then you carry the momentum for the rest of the day.

Let's see for how long I am going to carry over this enthusiasm in the future. But having had such a great experience of waking up at 5 AM today, I am certainly craving for more. I will keep updating you whether I am able to keep my promises.