I don't sleep well. I wake up anywhere from two to four times a night. Sometimes I only wake up once a night--and never get back to sleep. On those nights, I toss and turn, I read, I get up and check my email . . . and sometimes I head to the kitchen for a nice hot mug of Ovaltine. (Sometimes that does the trick--sometimes it doesn't.)
I hate those nights. Thoughts circulate through my head over and over again. I'll think about stupid (usually negative) stuff that happened when I was a child, at my first job, at parties--stuff I haven't thought about in YEARS.
This isn't something recent. I've been like this all my life and I'm sick of it. Anybody got any tried and true home remedies?
And what's bugging YOU today?
Sorry, no remadies. Sleeplessness must be catching. I fell asleep in front of the TV last night during the news, woke up at 3am, went to bed and ... no sleep. Finally got up at 4 something, turned on the computer, and did jigsaw puzzles until nearly 8 am. Yawn. Sometimes sleep just doesn't happen. Good luck on staying awake for the rest of the day. (Oh, shoot, grab a cat & go take a nap if you so desire!)
ReplyDeleteI used Valerian when I went through a period of sleepless nights many many years ago. It worked really well.
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve today - people who see things as either black or white. Oh, and then add in a "holier than thou" attitude to make it even more fun!
Insomnia is awful...very damaging to the body. Some of my clients have had success with this method...it calms the mind (banishes those cursed thoughts) and engages several parts of the brain. It's not a miracle cure but it's worth a try. Lie flat, with your eyes closed, do some deep breathing to get rid of muscle tension (the Dr. Herbert Benson approach). Now, with your eyes still closed, visualize a chalkboard or a whiteboard or a giant pad of paper. Now imagine you are grasping a pen/pencil/magic marker/piece of chalk, whatever, between your index finger and your thumb. With your eyes still closed, imagine yourself writing numbers on the board. Write slowly, make the numbers large. You may notice some eye movement (your eyes are still closed) as you visualize drawing the numbers. Start drawing slowly 1, 2, 3 etc. Put all your focus on drawing these numbers. They find this is more effective, and engages more parts of the brain than simply "counting" or repeating a mantra, or various other techniques. See if it works...sorry you are trouble with insomnia, it is really quite debilitating and many people don't understand how awful it really is. mary Ps loved what you said about cats, they are always ready to take a nap!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary, I'll give it a try--no doubt tonight!
ReplyDeleteI try to breathe really slowly, imagine myself floating in a salty warm cove in Greece, and then count backwards with my breath starting from 1000. I almost never get to 700. It doesn't always work, but it helps.
ReplyDeleteMy killer is that I have to get up at 5 am to go to work (to avoid the traffic). If I wake up at 4 or 4:30, I'm almost certain not to get back to sleep. Sigh. Alas. Just get up and go in early is what usually happens. Good luck!
All of these are good suggestions. I at times, suffer from insomnia and I have found that if I read for a half hour or so before bed, I sleep much better. I usually get drowsy while reading, and then I shut off the light and go to sleep. This has worked for the past year. Also, I try not to have anything with caffeine in it after 5 o'clock in the afternoon. If I do, then I can't sleep for sure. Good luck and I hope some of these suggestions help you. There is nothing more miserable than not being able to sleep.
ReplyDeletePatti S.