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Awakened Sleep: Access Higher Consciousness While You Sleep (Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar & Dr. Sheila Patel)
Scott Britton
December 04, 2025
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“When we tap into consciousness and our state of pure awareness during sleep, the qualities of consciousness we start to experience in our lives. So when we plant intentions before we go to sleep, which is one of the practices we teach in the book, then we are taking those intentions into this field of pure potential, especially during deep sleep. And then those things start to manifest when we're living also a conscious life.” (00:06:54 in this cast)
Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar is a classically trained Ayurvedic physician known for integrating traditional Ayurvedic wisdom into contemporary wellness. Dr. Sheila Patel is a board-certified family physician who has served in medical leadership roles within the Chopra Organization. Together, they've written Awakened Sleep, a practical guide for accessing transcendental states during the hours you're already spending asleep.
I felt called to have them on the show because of my curiosity around using sleep as a doorway to transcendental consciousness. The idea that sleep can be a nightly rehearsal for what mystics call "the fourth state" beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep is completely fascinating!
This episode is sponsored by my book Conscious Accomplishment - How to Use Personal Achievement for Spiritual Growth.
If you’re looking to blend consciousness expansion while creating the material life you desire, pick up your copy today!
This episode is great for:
Those who practice 20-30 minutes daily but want to access deeper states
People who've had mystical experiences during sleep but dismissed them as just dreams
Those who suspect their unprocessed emotions are affecting their sleep
Those curious about doshas and personalized approaches to wellness
Ideas that really stuck out to me:
There are four consciousness states, and understanding this map is essential for accessing higher consciousness during sleep. Waking (Jagruti), dreaming (Swapna), and deep sleep (Sushupti) are the three that most people know. But there's a fourth state called Turiya, the transcendental witnessing awareness that can remain present through all three. The practice of awakened sleep is learning to maintain awareness of Turiya while your body moves through deep sleep.
Sense withdrawal is the mechanical technique that opens the doorway to higher consciousness. You cannot access these states while your senses are engaged with external stimuli. Dr. Suhas walked me through systematically withdrawing each sense (sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste) before sleep. This conscious withdrawal trains you to feel yourself crossing the threshold into sleep while staying aware.
Unprocessed emotions create energetic static that blocks access to deeper consciousness states. If you're carrying suppressed emotions into bed, your dreams become a processing ground instead of portals to higher states. The solution requires daily emotional work plus a nighttime practice of rewinding your day in reverse to release anything still carrying charge.
Planting intentions before sleep programs them at the source code level of reality. Dr. Suhas shared a story about a teenager who dreamed of scoring a winning goal, and his broken bone healed 80 to 90 percent faster than expected. When you set one clear intention from deep peace, then completely release it before sleep, you're planting seeds in the quantum field where form originates. This is why the greatest innovations such as the DNA double-helix structure, the periodic table, and the benzene ring emerged during sleep.
Witnessing awareness during sleep is more accessible than you think and follows a clear progression. You start by training the witness during day meditation, practicing sense withdrawal at night, and clearing emotional blocks. Over time, the witness that's present during meditation naturally remains present during sleep. Both doctors emphasized this isn't reserved for advanced yogis and is available to anyone willing to do consistent work.
Your dosha type determines your personalized pathway to accessing higher consciousness. Vata types need grounding practices for their racing minds. Pitta types need cooling and surrender for their controlling tendencies. Kapha types need stimulation and releasing attachment to comfort. Understanding your type explains why generic advice doesn't work and gives you a customized approach that actually fits your physiology.
The practice evolves through five measurable stages you can track over months and years. Stage 1 is basic sleep improvement. Stage 2 is dream lucidity. Stage 3 is spontaneous insights and downloads. Stage 4 is witnessing sleep states. Stage 5 is continuous awareness through waking, dreaming, and sleeping. Having these clear markers removes the mystical vagueness and lets you know exactly where you are on the path.
If we talk about the one third of a human life, we sleep about eight hours a night, which adds up to 2,920 hours each year. Over a 75-year lifetime, that becomes roughly 219,000 hours. In simple terms, we spend about 25 years of our lives asleep. Even if a quarter of those hours became conscious, that would offer more than 54,000 hours of inner experience.
It invites an intriguing question.
What might unfold in a lifetime if even a fraction of our sleep became an intentional space for awareness?
Western medicine can map the physiology of sleep and describe what happens in the brain and body during each stage. It also acknowledges that the full purpose of sleep, and the nature of consciousness itself, remain only partially understood. Ayurveda enters the conversation from a different starting point. It treats consciousness as the foundation of experience, not a byproduct of biology.
From this perspective, sleep is more than physical restoration. It is a return to a subtler field of being, a place where the mind softens and deeper layers of self become more accessible. Through that lens, the hours we spend sleeping are not empty. They are an unexplored landscape of possibility.
The doorway to higher consciousness opens every night. The only question is whether you'll walk through it aware or asleep.
I hope you enjoy this conversation!
- Scott
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Episode Transcript
Show Notes
00:01 - Why We Sleep and Why It’s So Misunderstood
00:41 - How Sleep Connects You to Higher Consciousness
04:00 - Ayurveda vs Western Sleep Science: What Most People Miss
06:44 - Understanding the Four States of Consciousness
10:57 - How to Develop Witness Awareness During Sleep
14:32 - Deep Sleep, Lucid Dreams, and Intention Setting for Spiritual Growth
17:35 - Prophetic Dreams and Healing Experiences: Real Examples
22:03 - How Sensory Shutdown Improves Deep Sleep
22:35 - Guided Ayurvedic Practice for Better Sleep
26:38 - How to Use Sleep as a Meditation Practice
33:19 - How Emotions and Trauma Disrupt Deep Sleep
38:00 - Ayurvedic Dream Types and Dosha Patterns Explained
45:17 - Creating a Personalized Ayurvedic Routine for Better Sleep