First Light
How First Light worksTuesday 27 October·
- Sunrise
- 07:55
- Quiet hour
- 06:19–07:07
- Brahma Muhurta
- Moon
- Waning gibbous
- Next full moon: Tue 24 Nov
Autumn
The quiet hour (Brahma Muhurta) is the traditional time for practice, just before sunrise.
अभावप्रत्ययालम्बना वृत्तिर्निद्रा
abhāva-pratyayālambanā vṛttir nidrā
Sleep is the movement of mind that rests on absence.
Yoga Sutras 1.10 · verse 10 of 196
Unfolding the thread
Surprisingly, Patanjali counts dreamless sleep as a movement of the mind, not its stillness. Something is still there to wake up and say, "I slept well." Sleep is rest, but it isn't the clear, awake stillness yoga points to. Still, a mind that sleeps well is far easier to settle. Take care of your nights, and your mornings will follow.
Try today
Tonight, put the screen away ten minutes earlier than usual, and notice how tomorrow's first light feels.
The Echo
The same truth, heard in another tradition
“Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, Balm of hurt minds.”
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