Gurdjieff talk on Energy & Sleep 1/30/1923

Summary

The speaker discusses how people unnecessarily waste energy through chronic muscle tension and an inability to fully relax and sleep deeply. He explains that we have a fixed daily energy capacity and need to conserve it through releasing unnecessary tension. Our sleep is meant to recharge us but most waste energy transitioning between waking and sleep instead of quickly falling into and arising from deep, dreamless sleep. He advises learning exercises to eliminate chronic tension so we can save energy, sleep better, and have more energy available for productive work.

Takeaways

• 😴 Our body produces a definite amount of energy every 24 hours, but we often waste much of it due to unnecessary movement and tension
• 👆 Tension requires more energy than movement with momentum. Chronic tension wastes huge amounts of energy even at rest
• 🔋 We can’t increase our energy production capacity. To achieve more, we must conserve the energy we have
• 😪 True restful sleep happens when connections between centers in the brain are fully disconnected
• 🌛 There are degrees between waking and sleep based on how many brain connections are active
• 😎 Some people are most active with fewer active connections between brain centers
• 💤 Good sleep quickly provides what the body needs, without transitional half-dream states
• ⌛ Chronic tension makes it hard to fall asleep and wake up quickly
• 🧘‍♂️ Exercises can train us not to be tense unnecessarily, conserving energy
• 👍 Saving energy through release of tension also enables better sleep

Q & A

What does Ouspensky say is the cause of unnecessary energy expenditure?

Ouspensky states that a major cause of unnecessary energy expenditure is our unnecessary movements and tensions in everyday life. Even when we appear relaxed, small muscles may be tensed and using energy.

Why do our larger muscles use less energy than smaller muscles?

According to Ouspensky, our larger muscles have become more adapted to momentum and so use less energy, whereas smaller muscles are less adapted to momentum and can only be set in motion by force, which requires more energy.

What is the relationship between tension and energy expenditure?

Ouspensky explains that tension requires a continuous flow of energy. So chronic tension leads to constant energy expenditure even when a person is at rest.

Why can't we increase the overall energy produced by our organism?

Ouspensky states that the amount of energy our organism produces is limited, like a machine with set capacities. We cannot increase the total energy, only try to use it more efficiently.

What are the different degrees of sleep?

According to Ouspensky, there are multiple degrees between deep sleep and full waking state. As connections between centers in the brain break, sleep deepens. Most people need fewer connections broken to fully rest.

What is the purpose of sleep?

Ouspensky says the purpose of sleep is for the body to manufacture substances, but this only happens in deepest sleep when all connections between centers are disconnected.

How can chronic tension affect sleep?

Chronic tension makes it harder to break connections between centers, meaning it takes longer to fully fall asleep and wake up. This lengthens the transitional states between sleeping and waking.

What two major problems does chronic tension cause?

According to Ouspensky, chronic tension causes a leakage of reserve energy and also leads to dependence on mechanical sleep rhythms, making sleep less efficient.

What does Ouspensky advise people do regarding tension?

Ouspensky strongly advises learning exercises to eliminate unnecessary chronic muscle tension, in order to conserve energy and improve sleep.

Why must we try hard to apply the tension-reducing exercises?

Ouspensky states we must diligently practice the tension-reducing exercises because relaxing chronic tension is extremely valuable yet very difficult to achieve on our own.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Understanding the Expenditure of Human Energy

This paragraph discusses how humans expend a definite amount of energy daily for existence. Much of this energy is spent unproductively on unnecessary movements and chronic muscle tension. Learning to reduce this wasteful expenditure of energy through economy of motion is key to having the needed energy for intentional work and efforts.

05:02

😴 The Various States Between Sleep and Waking

This paragraph examines the different gradations between deep sleep and full waking states. It notes that there are various degrees of connectedness between centers in the brain, with sleep occurring when all connections are broken. Many people spend excessive time in transitional half-dream phases rather than productive, restorative sleep.

10:05

🛌 Achieving Restful Sleep to Conserve Energy

This final paragraph continues the sleep discussion, focusing on the ability to quickly transition between waking and deep sleep by breaking brain connections through relaxation. Chronic tension is highlighted as a key factor preventing restful sleep. Eliminating tension and learning to fully disengage centers during sleep is important.

Keywords

💡Energy

The video discusses the concept of energy as a limited resource that our body produces and uses for functioning. It states that we waste much of this energy through unnecessary tension and movements. Conserving energy is critical for directing it towards productive efforts.

💡Tension

The script talks about tension, referring specifically to chronic muscular tension resulting from poor posture, anxiety etc. This constant low-level tension wastes significant energy. Releasing tension frees up energy for other uses.

💡Sleep

Sleep is discussed as a state where connections between different centers in the brain are temporarily disrupted. Deep sleep allows energy restoration. But most people experience transitional semi-sleep states which are unrefreshing.

💡Centers

Centers refers to different parts of the brain controlling various functions. More centers in connection means greater wakefulness. Breaking these connections induces sleep.

💡Connections

Connections indicate communication pathways between brain centers. Intact connections signify an alert state. Breaking connections induces sleep.

💡Momentum

Momentum refers to the property of movement to sustain itself once initiated, thereby reducing energy use. Small muscles lack momentum, using more energy.

💡Economizing energy

A core message is practicing economy in all energy usage - avoiding waste through unnecessary tension, movement or elongated sleep transitions.

💡Graduations of sleep

The video discusses multiple sub-states between deep sleep and full wakefulness based on degrees of connection between centers.

💡Passive vs active states

An active state is defined as all centers being fully connected and interacting. Passive is where some connections are disrupted, reducing awareness.

💡Transitional states

Transitional states refer to the partially disconnected mode where one is neither fully asleep nor functional enough to be considered awake.

Highlights

Our organism produces a definite amount of energy daily, yet we spend more energy than needed through unnecessary movements

Small muscles consume more energy than large muscles because they require more force to move

Tension requires continuous energy expenditure even without movement

Chronic muscle tension wastes energy even at rest, more than physical labor

We cannot increase the body's energy production - it is fixed based on our physiology

Unnecessary chronic tension is a major factor draining our available energy

Deep sleep happens when all connections between brain centers are disconnected

People need different degrees of brain center disconnection before falling asleep

Dreams signify that full disconnection between brain centers has not occurred

Good sleep requires little time if brain center connections disconnect/reconnect easily

Chronic tension makes it harder to disconnect brain centers, causing poor sleep

Releasing tension saves energy and enables easier sleep transitions

Exercises can train ability to relax muscles and break brain connections at will

We must learn to avoid tension when not absolutely needed

Freeing chronic tension improves sleep, saves energy, and enhances productivity

Transcripts

priory January the 30th 1923 energy

sleep you have probably heard at

lectures that in the course of every 24

hours our organism produces a definite

amount of energy for its existence I

repeat a definite amount yet there is

much more of this energy than should be

needed for normal expenditure but since

our life is so wrong we spend the

greater part and sometimes the whole a

bit and we spend it unproductively one

of the chief factors consuming energy is

our unnecessary movements in everyday

life later you will see from certain

experiments that the greater part of

this energy is spent precisely when we

make less active movements for instance

how much energy will a man use up in a

day wholly spent in physical labour a

great deal yet he will spend even more

if he sits still doing nothing our large

muscles consume less energy because

they've become more adapted to momentum

whereas the small muscles consume more

because they are less adapted to

momentum they can be set in motion only

by force for instance as I sit here now

I appear to not to move but this does

not mean I don't spend energy every

moment every movement every tension

whether big or small is possible for me

only by spending this energy now my arm

is tense but I am not moving yet I am

now spending more energy than if I moved

it like this he demonstrates it is a

very interesting thing and you must try

to understand what I am saying about

momentum when I make a sudden movement

energy flows in but when I repeat the

movement the momentum no longer takes

energy at the moment when energy has

given the initial push the flow of

energy stops and momentum takes over

tension needs energy if ten

in his absence less energy spent if my

arm is tense as it is now a continuous

current is required which means that is

it is connected with the accumulators if

I now move my arm nos so long as I do it

with pauses I spent energy if a man

suffers from chronic tension then even

if he does nothing

even if he's lying down he uses more

energy than a man who spends a whole day

in physical labor but a man who does not

have these small chronic tensions

certainly wins wastes no energy when he

does not work or move now we must ask

ourselves are there many among us who

are free from this terrible disease

almost all of us we are not speaking of

people in general but of those present

the rest do not concern us almost all of

us have this delightful habit we must

bear in mind that this energy about

which we now speak so simply and easily

which we waste so unnecessarily and

involuntarily the same energy is needed

for the work we intend to do and without

which we can achieve nothing we cannot

get more energy the inflow of energy

will not increase the machine will

remain such as it is created if the

machine is made to produce ten amps it

will go on producing ten amps the

current can be increased only if all the

wires and coals are changed for instance

one coil represents the nose another a

leg a third a man's complexion or the

size of his stomach so the Machine

cannot be changed its structure will

remain as it is the amount of energy

produced is constant even if the machine

is put right this amount will increase

very little what we intend to do

requires a great deal of energy and much

effort an effort requires much energy

with the kind of efforts we make now

with such lavish expenditure of energy

it is impossible to do what we are now

planning to do in our minds as we have

seen on the one hand we require a great

deal of energy and on the other our

machine is so constructed that it cannot

produce more where is a way out of this

situation the only way out and the only

method and possibility is to economize

the energy we have therefore if we wish

to have a lot of energy when we need it

we must learn to practice economy

wherever we can one thing is definitely

known one of the chief leakages of

energy is due to our involuntary tension

we have many other leakages but they are

all more difficult to repair than the

first so we shall begin with the easiest

to get rid of this leakage and to learn

to be able to deal with the others

a man's sleep is nothing else than

interrupted connections between centers

a man's senses never sleep since

associations are their life their

movement they never cease they never

stop a stoppage of associations means

death the movement of associations never

stops for an instance in any sensor they

flow on even in the deepest sleep if a

man in a waking state sees his senses

his balls in half sleep he also sees

here senses his balls and he calls this

state of sleep even when he thinks that

he absolutely ceases to see or hear

which he also called sleep associations

go on the only difference is in the

strength of connections between one

Center and another memory attention

observation is nothing more than a

observation of one Center by another one

sensor listening to another consequently

the center's themselves do not need to

stop and sleep sleep brings the Centers

neither harm nor profit so sleep as it

is called it's not meant to give centers

a rest as I have said already deep sleep

comes when the connections between

centers are broken and indeed deep sleep

complete rest for the machine is

considered to be that sleep when all

links all connections seeks to function

we have several centers so we have as

many connections five connections what

characterizes our waking state is that

all these connections are intact but if

one of them is broken or ceases to

function we are neither asleep nor awake

one link is disconnected we are no

longer awake neither are we asleep if

two are broken we are still less awake

but again we are not asleep if one more

is disconnected we are not awake and

still not properly asleep and so on

consequently there are

different degrees between our waking

state and sleep speaking of these

degrees we take an average there are

people who have two connections others

have said them we have taken five isn't

it as an example it is not exact

consequently we have not two states one

of sleep and the other of waking as we

think but several states between the

most active and intensive state anyone

can have and the most passive

somnambulistic sleep there are definite

gradations if one of the links breaks it

is not yet evident on the surface and is

unnoticeable to others there are people

whose capacity to move to walk to live

stops only when all the connections are

broken and there are other people in

whom it is enough to break two

connections for them to fall asleep if

we take the range between sleep and

waking with seven connections then there

are people who go on living talking

walking in the third degree of sleep

deep states asleep are same for all but

intermediate degrees are often

subjective there are even prodigies who

are most active when one or several of

their connections are broken if such a

state has become cut from me for a man

by education if he has acquired all he

has in this state his activity is built

upon it and so he cannot be active

unless this stage is there for you

personally the active state is relative

in a certain state you can be active but

there is an objective active state when

all the connections are intact and there

is a subjective activity in an

appropriate state so there are many

degrees of sleep and waking active state

is a state when the thinking faculty and

the senses work at their full capacity

and pressure we must be interested both

in the objective that is the genuine

awake

state and in objective sleep objective

means active or passive in actual effect

it is better not to strive to be but to

understand anyway everyone must

understand that the purpose of sleep is

achieved only when all the connections

between the centers are broken only then

can the machine produce what sleep is

meant to produce so the word sleep

should mean a state when all the links

are disconnected deep sleep is a state

when we have no dreams or sensations if

people have dreams it means that one of

their connections is not broken since

memory observation sensation is nothing

more than one Center observed in another

thus when you see and remember what is

happening in you it means that one

Center observes another and if it can

observe it follows that there is

something through which to dig observe

and if there is something for which to

observe the connection is not broken

consequently if the machine is in good

order it needs very little time to

manufacture that quantity of matter for

which sleep is intended at any rate much

less time than we are accustomed to

sleep what we call sleep when we sleep

for seven to ten hours or god knows how

long is not sleep the greater part of

that time is spent not in sleep but in

these transitional states these

unnecessary half dream states some

people need many hours to go to sleep

and later many hours to come to

themselves if we could fall asleep at

once and is quickly passed from sleep to

waking we would spend on this transition

a third or a quarter of the time we are

wasting now but we don't know how to

break these connections by ourselves

with us they are broken and re-establish

mechanically we're slaves of this

mechanism when it so pleases we can pass

into another state when not we have to

lie and wait till it gives us leave to

rest this mechanical nice this

unnecessary slavery and undesirable

dependence has several causes one of the

causes is the chronic state of tension

we spoke of in the beginning and which

is one of the many causes of the leakage

of our reserve energy so you see how

liberation from this chronic tension

would serve a double purpose first we

would save much energy and second we

would dispense with the useless lying

and waiting to sleep so you see what a

simple thing it is how easy to attain

and how necessary to free oneself from

this tenseness is of tremendous value

later I should give you several

exercises for this purpose I advise you

to pay very serious attention to this

and to try as hard as you can to get

what each of these exercises expected to

give it is necessary to learn all cost

not to be tense when tension is not

needed when you sit doing nothing let

the body sleep when you sleep sleep in

such a way that the whole of you sleeps