Insomnia Forum Posting

Posted by Tom-N-Texas on January 27, 2005 at 08:34:00:

Well there seems to be a good number of people who are struggling so I'm going to lay out some of the things that seems to help me. Of course you all realize that I'm not a big fan of crutches, especially during the daytime when you are supposed to be trying to get this out of your head (rrrrright) and live life to the fullest. However, there are lots of things I have done -- past and present -- when I get in bed that seem to really help. I've covered some of these before, but they're all spread out over these boards. So here they are, all nice and neat in one page.

1) Sleeping is like dancing. When I was a teenager I had a girlfriend who was a very good dancer. On the other hand, I was a horrible dancer. So when it came to go to the dances, it was quite embarrasing. One thing she said to help me while on the dance floor was "you can't watch yourself dance.....you just have to move naturally to the music." And it's really the same with sleeping. If you lay in bed at night "watching" yourself, you're going to make things more difficult. Of course this is one of our main struggles as insomniacs. It's hard to not watch yourself when its sooo important that you get some sleep. I've been there. But this is why it's also important that you develop a host of distractions....both physical and mental.

2) I've brought this up before -- but I have a little breathing routine that really seems to help. I still do it every night. It's a wonderful thing. It's difficult to describe but try to hang with me. When you normally breath, your air starts in your lungs and flows through your windpipe -- out through your nose or mouth. Now, instead of just simply letting the air escape out of your mouth without accomplishing anything, try to physically force it through the top of your mouth to the very top of your head. At the same time there maybe should be a slight "ahhhhhh" sound as the air goes out of your mouth. Your goal in this exercise is to use the air to physically relax your brain. I liken it to imagining your head is a balloon and with each exhale, you are essentially filling the balloon up. With some practice this will start to feel incredibly relaxing and soothing to your exhausted brain. At the same time I like to get into a rythmic (sp?) breathing. Not too slow, not too fast. Just a normal, good pace. After a short while of regular breathing I like to physically "feel" the air swirling around in my head with each breath. It's this swirling that really get's your brain into sleep-mode.

3) In conjunction with this breathing technique, I always do a little eye trick. It's no big deal, really, it's just that it seems to get your eyes in the correct position for sleeping. As an experiment now ----- close your eyes and don't move them...just "look" straight ahead. Now (if you haven't already) open them again. Now.....instead....try this: close your eyes and very slightly push your eyeballs outward and upward -- maybe towards your eyebrows. Don't push too hard or you'll ruin the effect. You may notice that your eyes start going into REM mode (especially if you're sleep deprived). This is where your eyes need to be when you try to sleep.

Now...the cool thing about these past two exercises is that not only do they offer physical relief, but they also give you something to do and, consequently, think about while trying to go to sleep. Sort of a physical and mental distraction at the same time. I do both of these things every night when I lay down.

4) You need to try a variety of things to think about once you get in bed. They can be funny or interesting...but mostly they need to make you happy. (You can't count hoping for sleep!) It's funny because I generally think of the same thing every night. It's not anything earth-shattering, it's just a mundane, made-up situation that makes me relax.

5) Don't underestimate the power of a loved one's hands. A good massage can do wonders. But don't stop at your back. There are other areas that often get neglected that seem to hold alot of stress. Personally, I hold alot of stress in my lower stomach. Also having your eyes and ears and elbows and feet massaged can be very psychologically soothing. You might also try some light stretching.

6) A fan can be a great physical and audio distraction. I have mine right by my bed and I turn it on pretty high so that it rustles the sheet a bit up against my skin.

7) Speaking of fans, this one is slightly embarrasing but I'll tell it anyway. When I was in my worst phase of insomnia, I got to the point to where I was literally afraid to go to sleep. My mind played tricks on me and made me feel vulnerable that someone might see me asleep....or that I couldn't react...or whatever. One thing I did to counteract this was to put a sheet on top of the fan that was next to me -- and then also over my head and body -- so that, in effect, I was sleeping in a bubble with the sheet over my head. I slept like this for quite a while, much to my wife's dismay.

8). If you can't sleep, get up and walk around for 3 or 4 mins. Go to the fridge and get a bite to eat. You might also try sitting up in bed for a few minutes.

9) Even if you are not sleeping, remind yourself that the next day usually doesn't feel quite as bad as you might be imagining. In my case if I could just get 3 hours of sleep, then I pretty much could coast from day to day. Of course, I'd be fairly exhausted, but with just a minimal amount of sleep, at least things didn't seem to get horrribly and progressively worse.

10) Try not to over-analyze things. When you get in bed, just be yourself. And just be with yourself. Sleeping is a very personal time that you have to reflect on things happening in your life. By over-thinking and over-analyzing your sleep, you're robbing yourself of these daily reflections.

Finally, there is no hurry. There's no need to try and rush into sleep. Going to sleep is always different for me. Sometimes I'm sleeping in 2 minutes....other times it takes me a half hour or more. But I try to never rush it. I just let it come when it wants to come.

One more thing. A lot of insomniacs have the incorrect assumption that when you go to sleep, you are out to the world...or that you are unconscious...which is intimidating to them. Actually, though, I think nothing is further from the truth. Granted, there are times during the night when you are physically unresponsive, but at any given time, there could be thousand things going on in your head that are alive and well and active. There's a whole different world going on up there in your mind. So don't look at yourself as being vulnerably "unconscious" because I just don't believe it works like that. This is evident by how sometimes even the slightest sound or movement can wake you up. Anyway..this is getting pretty long. I better wrap it up.

Hope everyone sleeps well. Tom

Follow Ups:

• Re: 10 Good Sleep Tips Seeking sleep 09:32 1/27/05 (2)
  • Re: 10 Good Sleep Tips Karen 12:02 1/27/05 (0)
  • Re: 10 Good Sleep Tips Tom-N-Texas 10:07 1/27/05 (0)

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