How to Stay Awake When You Need To

by: Laura Silva

"Awake Control is achieved by entering the Alpha brainwave state and using the five steps technique. The first step is acknowledging the situation by telling yourself...."

Have you ever wondered how to stay awake when you’re driving long distances, or you need to sit through a long lecture or presentation and absorb a great deal of information – but all you want to do is put your head the desk and take a nap? You know how it feels – one minute you’re wide awake and alert, and the next thing you know, you’re doing everything you can to keep your eyes open.

There is a method to staying awake anytime you need to, and it works! But first, it’s important to know the phases of sleep, why it’s sometimes easy to wake up in the morning and sometimes it feels impossible, and why certain activities actually put you to sleep no matter how awake and alert you felt when you started.

The Phases of Sleep

There are approximately four sleep phases during the night. Each one lasts about 90 minutes and takes you through the alpha, theta and delta brainwave patterns. Alpha is light sleep with active dreaming, Theta is deeper sleep, and Delta is very deep sleep. When you first go to bed at night, you spend much of the first sleep cycle in Delta (dreamless, heavy sleep). The remaining phases become progressively lighter and there is more brain activity (rapid eye movement, or REM sleep usually occurs near the end of each cycle, and is more prevalent as the night progresses). Each part of the sleep phase has distinct physiological functions. If we are awakened during the middle of a cycle, the cycle is interrupted and we experience a strong desire to go back to sleep. This is why, when we awaken in the morning, we feel refreshed and ready to wake up only if we’re finished with the current cycle!
The Silva Method teaches a wonderful technique called The Clock Exercise to wake up without alarms, and it’s a wonderful technique worth learning. It’s phase one of developing full control over your daily energy levels!

 Staying Awake When You Are Sleepy

But why is it so hard to stay awake during the day, sometimes? Why do we fall asleep during lectures and meetings? Why is it so hard to stay alert on long road trips? Developing the ability to keep yourself awake is very valuable; and you should know that it’s not “you” – it’s a normal and expected response to lack of stimulation. Falling asleep when we need to be awake isn’t because we’re necessarily bored; the subject matter may be fascinating, but it’s the presentation, and the environment, that triggers the urge to sleep. It’s the monotony that does us in!

The brain’s Reticular Activating System is the part of the brain that controls alertness and attention. When stimuli are few, the RAS signals the body to shut down; so a boring lecture, the monotony of highway driving, or any “mindless” repetitive tasks actually cause a physiological response of a strong desire to sleep. Isn’t it nice to know that you’re not alone and this is perfectly normal? Now you are aware of the power of the RAS to put you to sleep when there is a lack of stimulation. Of course every minute of the day can’t be filled with things that are stimulating, and you will experience the inevitable “down times” when the urge to sleep is irresistible. So how do you override the RAS?

How to Stay Awake When You Need To

The Silva Method teaches the Awake Control Exercise to remain awake longer – anytime! You can use the exercise when you become drowsy when driving or find yourself lulled to sleep by a repetitious task or when you need to be up late or even all night to study or finish an important project. Or, when the drone of a professor’s or presenter’s voice makes even fascinating subjects fade into the background as your eyelids start to droop. Just like the Clock Exercise, Awake Control is a form of mental training and another step toward mastery of the mind. Awake Control re-energizes you quickly and effectively for several hours.

Stay awake and get it all done!

Awake Control is achieved by entering the Alpha brainwave state and using the five steps technique. The first step is acknowledging the situation by telling yourself, “I am drowsy and sleepy.” You then set a goal, “I don’t want to be drowsy and sleepy; I want to be wide awake feeling fine and in perfect health.” You then program yourself by commanding yourself to become fully awake and alert as you count slowly from one to five – this is how you intend to solve the goal. Then, you take the action necessary to achieve the goal by slowly counting from one to five. At the conclusion of the countdown, you reinforce the command by saying, “I am wide awake, feeling fine and perfectly healthy, feeling better than before.” The last step in the five steps technique is to claim your reward – in this case, a state of alertness! You can also incorporate imagery to reinforce the command (by picturing yourself wide awake, alert and ready for action in any setting you’re having difficulty staying awake). This exercise teaches you to very effectively program your mind to work for you in achieving all of your goals!


Between the Clock Exercise, the Awake Control Exercise and the sleep-inducing Sleep Control Exercise, you have the tools to manage your sleep/wake rhythms for optimal energy, relaxation, attention, alertness and even healing, since the body does most of its repair/regeneration work during sleep. Give yourself the gift of a new superpower: the ability to sleep when you need to, and to stay awake when you need to. Imagine the possibilities – high energy when you want it, and peaceful sleep to recharge your batteries!

Learn more about how your mind works. Sign up and download a free Silva Method Starter Kit

Allah's Creation for the Mankind

Allah has created mankind primarily so that they may know their creator through his creations. Realization of the supremacy of Allah, although necessary for success in the hereafter, has not been enforced on man - it is a test that is based on the fact that man has been given free will. Understanding the nature of Allah is essential as it has a substantial effect on a Muslim's duties to Allah.

The humble honeybee is an integral part of our ecosystem. Bees provide wholesome honey that nourishes our bodies and acts as a medicament for a slew of illnesses. A recent study in China proved that honey contains the highest concentration of vitamins, minerals and vital hormones to man than any other food on the face of the Earth.

The bee is also the hardest and most efficient worker in all of Allah's Creation. The bee does not even take a day off and is continuously producing honey, building amazing hexagonal hives or pollinating. Without the bee's pollination efforts all the different species of plants and trees would eventually die off. The food chain would come to a screeching and deadly halt. Without bees, vegetation cannot grow as fast or efficiently. And without vegetation for fodder, animals will die. There will be nothing left for humans to eat. Life, on this Earth, would end.

 
Water has been specially created to keep the human body alive. It reaches every point in the body, carries nutrients to all of its 100 trillion cells, and supplies them with oxygen and energy. Its viscosity level has been specially determined so that it can do all of these things. (harun yahya wallpapers) 

MashaAllah, Allah is the All-Knowing, the All-Forgiving…

Every day our taste cells come into contact with acidic foods that are hotter or colder than the body’s temperature. Hot tea, an ice-cold fruity juice, thick coffee, or bitter grapefruit juice all damage these cells to some extent. But, new cells mature in the taste buds to replace those that have completed their life’s work. Even if people are unaware of them, these processes occur so quickly that the taste cells we use at dinner are not those we use at breakfast. Who installed this renewal mechanism in your body? Have you reflected on this? (harun yahya wallpapers)

The main veins or midribs permit leaves to obtain the maximum benefit from solar rays by maintaining their rigidity. Other veins on the surface of the leaf act as a skeleton for its tissues. There is a plan and order in its design. This ain’t any sort of co-incident, but a conscious creation. (harun yahya wallpapers)

From the Book of Allah

 "Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error; whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And God hears and knows all things." - (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah, 2: 256)

"Every soul is held in pledge for its deeds." - (The Qur'an, Al-Muddathir, 74:38)

God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) was asked what type of earning was best and replied, ”A man’s work with his hand and every business transaction which is approved." Rafi‘ ibn Khadij, Mishkat al Masabih, hadith no. 2783.

"Woe to those who give short measure, who demand of other people full measure for themselves, but give less than they should when it is they who weigh or measure for others! Do these people not realize that they will be raised up on a mighty Day, a Day when everyone will stand before the Lord of the Worlds? " (The Qur'an, Al-Mutaffifin, 83:1-4)

"O you who believe! Fulfill your obligations" (The Qur'an, Al-Ma'idah, 5:1)

"If the debtor is in difficulty, then delay things until matters become easier for him; still, if you were to write it off as an act of charity, that would be better for you if you only knew."(The Qur'an, Al-Baqara, 2: 280)

On the Day of Judgment, the Prophet (saaw) will be a witness against “one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by him, but does not pay him his wages." Abu Hurayrah, Sahih al Bukhari, hadith no. 3.430.

"O you who believe! Give of the good things which you have (honorably) earned. And of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it you may give away something, when you yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes.(The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah, 2: 267)

(article from the Islamicworkplace.com)