If you're like me,
sometime it's tough to fall asleep.
I don't think it's
the full blown insomnia that some people have.
It doesn't happen every night, or even consistently enough to be a
PROBLEM. But it does happen, and it is
frustrating.
And I'm not talking
about the nights you just stay up, playing your games, reading your book, while
you tell yourself you really should be in bed.
Ha. If you're like me, you've cut
back on your reading because of that tendency.
No, the most
frustrating nights (if you're like me) are the nights when you know you're
tired. The nights you go to bed
early. The nights you've flung yourself
on the bed before finishing your nightly routine, and you drag yourself back up
again because you MUST finish. And then,
when you finally get snuggled in all proper and ready, the brain kicks into
high gear and you don't sleep.
Well, you feel like
you don't sleep. If you're like me, it is possible you slip into a doze in
between bouts of intense wakefulness.
You don't realize you've been asleep, so all you're aware of is the
wakefulness. Is the wanting to be
asleep. Is the "Oh my Gods, why
can't I be asleep? I want the warm cozy
snuggly feeling of just waking up, of drifting on dreams, not this cold,
isolated, left out feeling of aching restless body & over active,
repetitious, mind. Shut up shut up shut
up!"
So, if you're like
me, you've developed some ways to deal with it.
Here are my two
favorites. The first is a tool to
replace the repetitious thoughts or scenarios which run around and around in
the head. There is a track, I swear,
which seems to enjoy repeating things!
(Maybe it's the learning track, because that is one way I learn - by
doing the same thing over and over again until I get it right.) So, when I want to sleep, I occupy that track
with something familiar & monotonous - the alphabet song.
I like to sing it
without a pause between letters, so I finish the alphabet before I finish the
tune. This gives my puzzle loving brain
something to concentrate on, while still being monotonous enough to be lulled into
sleep.
If this doesn't
work, and sometime it doesn't, I move
onto step two - the countdown. I start
at 100 and count to 1. Simple and easy.
This has many
benefits. If you're like me, the
countdown is associated with meditation, and that means relaxation. So as you countdown, your body starts
releasing. You may be amazed at which
muscles have been tensed in the effort to MAKE yourself fall asleep. (My buttocks and upper thighs are big
favorites for sneaky tension.)
The other benefit is
the monotony. You have to really
concentrate. It's so easy to get
distracted from the countdown: By the wandering thoughts. By the relaxation. By the alphabet sneaking back in. And often by that little rebellious child who
will insist on falling asleep when you're trying to stay awake and count.
I rarely make it to
1. When I do make it to 1, I get out of
bed, and go to another room. I read a
chapter, play a video games, or do some work for an hour. Then I go back to bed and try again.
But I have to make
it to 1. If I realize I've stopped
somewhere, or I'm not sure what number comes next, I have to start over. At 100.
And count down all the way to 1, clearly, concisely, consciously. I have to make it to 1.
Just last night, I
was ready to bound out of bed when I realized I had stopped at 9. I hadn't actually made it to 1.
I had to start all
over.
I never made it to
70.
Sleep rocks.
I hope you have a
great night!
-Lila