Awakened Sleep

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Awakened sleep – this appears like an oxymoron. But this is what the Shunamite woman said, “I was asleep, but my heart was awake”. (SoS; 5:2) Was she in REM sleep? Where could she recognize that she was sleeping but her heart was awake? As she moved in and out of her NREM to REM, she kept recognizing her awakened heart?

But the question I am grappling with is, what keeps my heart awake? For her, it was the anticipation that her lover would come at any time and call her out. A desire for her lover, as she went in and out of her NREM, REM sleep cycles.

Neuroscience and physiology now say that in such relaxed contexts, like sleep, and music, diffuse thinking happens. “Diffuse-mode thinking is what happens when you relax your attention and just let your mind wander. This relaxation can allow different areas of the brain to hook up and return valuable insights.” Author Barbara Oakley, using the analogy of playing a pinball game writes “The diffuse approach… often involves a big-picture perspective. This thinking mode is useful when you are learning something new. As you can see, the diffuse mode doesn’t allow you to focus tightly and intently to solve a specific problem—but it can allow you to get closer to where that solution lies because you’re able to travel much farther before running into another bumper.” Thus, in diffuse thinking during sleep, you get closer to where the solutions of life lie!

David says in his Psalm – “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” (Psalm 63:5–6).

How do I fill my mind with awakened desires for God instead of fear and anxiety in the hours of ‘Awakened Sleep”? Physical satiety and a joyful heart in REM sleep instead of waking up with anxious thoughts? And come closer to where the solutions of life lie, which leads me to a good NREM sleep? If I ask I suppose David would remind me – try what he did “Remember God intentionally”….

 

 

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