Wednesday, 14 October 2009

• Great Ways to Beat Sleeplessness or Insomnia Without Drugs

   
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  The other night, I couldn't sleep. I had put in a full day of work and was certainly tired, but I just couldn't seem to turn off my thoughts. My mind was jumping from one thing to another: Should I look for a new apartment? Do i have enough money to go to San Fransisco next month? Are my lesson plans ready for tomorrow? Did I turn off the stove? Better get up and check! Sometimes my brain exhausts me. I didn't get to sleep until 3 am or so and I had to wake up at 7 am the next day to start this cycle over again.
  
  If this has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating it is. Luckily, dirtbubble@xanga recently sent us some great tips on how to beat insomnia once and for all. This information is also great for those of us who struggle with getting to sleep occasionally. Enjoy and get some rest!
  
  
  

  There's a lot more to sleep than just zonking out. Each stage of sleep performs a specific type of maintenance that allows the body to recharge, rejuvenate, recycle and to heal. Needless to say, if you don't sleep or if your sleeping schedule is disorganized, you can't take advantage of these benefits.
  

  Preparing for Sleep: Please try to create as quiet, dark and comfortable space for sleeping as possible. Wear loose, comfortable clothes. Covering is a good idea because you want to avoid awakening later because you are cold. Try to go to bed at a time when you know you are feeling sleepy – not too early or late. You should also use common sense if you have serious problems with insomnia. Cut back as much as possible on caffeine and sugar, especially after noon. Heavy meals, spicy foods and too much alcohol or nicotine ought to be forsworn. Use the restroom, shower, brush your teeth. Make sure you are ready for a long night of good sleep.

  Relaxing Your Mind: Most insomniacs have trouble sleeping because the mind just races on. What we need to do for this problem is make an effort to re-direct the mind to the task of visualization. In the following exercises I will ask you to visualize certain things in sequence. Avoid embellishing the visualizations I give you. Adding your own special flair to any of the exercises I provide will distract your mind. Stick to the program and I can help you get to sleep. When you visualize you must immerse yourself in the scenario. If you find your mind wandering or get interrupted, don't give up and give in. Return to the visualization. Start over if you have to. (For these exercises you must be flat on your back, no exceptions. These exercise do not work if you lay on your stomach. If you have some medical condition that makes this physically impossible, you must then find the most suitable position for relaxation, preferably not prone.) You must be able to access the full range of breath for these techniques.

  The Dan Tien: The Dan Tien is the name of a specific energy point in your body identified in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. The Dan Tien is the point we use to begin consciously collecting and circulating life force energy, called chi, throughout our bodies. The Dan Tien is located just below the navel, perhaps an inch or two, and about two inches inside the front of your abdomen. At first concentrating your attention there may seem artificial, but with practice you will begin to sense it. Don't try to force it, just visualize as directed.

  The Technique

  Close your eyes. Breathe deeply into your belly, into your Dan Tien. Make you tummy expand. Use the full capacity of the lungs, but there's no need to go overboard. Inhale and exhale through the nose if at all possible – mouth-breathing leads to dry tongue and sore throat, snoring and choking. Breathe. Do a cycle of three deep breathes. Choose one of the following visualization exercises to try until you find one that works for you.
  

  Exercise One: Lights Out
  The following is a visualized variation of a technique called progressive relaxation.

  Imagine your entire body floats in a black void. The only source of light is your own body. Your body is lit from within by a dull red light. Imagine a solid, softly glowing red light shaped like your human body. This is you. Count down from ten to zero. Count one number per inhale/exhale breath cycle. With each breath you visualize that the light in a portion of your body turns off. You turn it off with each breath, each number as you count down.

  As each area shuts down, its red glow fades utterly into the blackness, becomes heavy. Relax that portion of the body and let go off all muscle tension. If that part of the body has pain, that pain is part of the red light that turns out. Turn it off, let go and relax.

  Your body is now completely relaxed, warm and floating heavily in the void. Completely turned off and without light. Allow your breathing to continue naturally and softly.

  Exercise Two: Head Check
  This next exercise does two things at once. First, it clears all of the remaining tension from the complex musculature of the skull and face where stress likes to take up residence. Second, it continues and deepens the process of quieting the mind through visualization. This Head Check visualization is concerned only with your head and it is a completely seperate exercise from Lights Out. Consider the work in Exercise One accomplished and move on.

  During this exercise continue to breathe naturally.

  Imagine:
  Your head.
  Your head is hollow.
  Your head is a hollow vessel.
  Your head is a hollow vessel made of an ultra-smooth material.
  Your hollow head is smooth like polished glass but strong like metal – its visual qualities are unimportant in the black void.

  Make certain to methodically clear the entire inner surface of your skull. Clean from the back to the crown and over to the forehead. Get into all the creases of ears, brows, jaws, cheeks, jowls, chin, lips, tongue and teeth, nose, eye sockets and finally the eyes. The mask of the face and the skull seem to provide endless nooks and crannies for stress to get into and make its mess. Take your time, explore and make sure you wiped everything completely clear. Remember that the magic cloth needs to make only one pass, even though sometimes it feels good to do it again. Always save the eyes for last.

  Exercise Three: Descending
  This last exercise is a visualization based on the concept of descent, and similar to Exercise One in its use of counting down to zero with the breath.

  Each visualization is strictly abstracted from physical activity. This means that when I say, "You are in an elevator," visualize only the interior of the elevator. Imagery of your body and other details are of no concern – stick to what I describe.
  
  Imagine:
  You are in an elevator.
  This is a dimly-lit, warm elevator. You are descending from the tenth floor.
  The only sound is the muted hum of its machinery lowering you floor-by-floor.
  You are alone. This elevator will not stop on any floor until you reach Floor Zero.
  You feel the elevator begin its descent and you can feel as it passes each floor. Only a softly lit LED display indicates which floor you pass as you descend.
  Take deep, natural breaths into your Dan Tien, and count down from ten. Each breath is a floor.
  You reach Floor Zero.
  Floating in darkness.
  (Repeat Visualizations)
  
  
  You may also try the third visualization by picturing an escalator or a slide. Repeat this sequence as many times as you have to. Be patient and persistent and forgiving.

  
  
  What do you do when you can't sleep? Do you have any get-to-sleep tips?
  

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