Few studies have been done on the relationship between sleep and spirituality. But if we agree that there is a spiritual element to everything, then sleep itself is a spiritual experience. If we deprive ourselves of sleep, we are in effect robbing our bodies and souls of the peaceful time that can become a time of communicating with God. As I looked back over the years I suffered from insomnia, I began to question whether or not the spiritual crises I experienced were perhaps just symptoms of sleep deprivation. It makes me consider whether St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Ávila, both of whom wrote about dark nights of the soul and feelings of spiritual desolation, might have suffered from insomnia. This is not to discredit their mystical experiences as a by-product of bad sleep. God works through our biology to teach us and guide us. Nonetheless, the question merits consideration.

Excerpted from MicroShifts