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Posted by: Barry on 2012-01-26, 01:22:28
Exercise, preferably 6 hours before, but not within 2 hours of bedtime. Have a warm bath, or shower, an hour before bedtime, then a glass of very warm milk, possibly with Horlicks, or one of the herbal teas, below, (this raises, then reduces your core temperature, simulating the effect of naturally occurring darkness) and use dimmer lighting. Your bedroom should be very dark, with the lights out, and a good sleeping temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 19 degrees Centigrade. Put your mind in a position where it wants to shut itself off, and sleep. View umm.edu/ sleep/ relax_tech.htm The progressive muscle relaxation at drcoxconsulting.com/ managing-stress.html is very easily learned; guided imagery, or mindfulness breathing at altmedicine.about.com/ cs/ mindbody/ a/ Meditation.htm is known to be effective, or wikihow.com/ Meditate or Yoga Nidra (a series of easy mental exercises only; no flexibility is required) on page L at 8m.com, below. Give the EFT a tryout. It is free via the searchbar at mercola.com "EFT " & "EFT therapists " or tapping.com (13 free videos) or eftuniverse.com Repeat to yourself: "Even though I currently have a sleep disorder, I deeply and completely accept myself. " (or choose your own wording) while you use the acupressure massage/ tapping. Find out which works best for you, in the daylight hours, so you will be prepared, come bedtime. For many people, a good idea is to develop a set "wind down " routine for the last hour before bedtime, so your subconscious mind learns that it is time to put thinking aside, and prepare for mindfulness, (awareness, without cogitation/ purposeful thought) or the EFT, in preparation for sleep. The idea with mindfulness is to not even think about sleeping: just drift off, naturally, during exercising those techniques. Avoid TV, computer, or anything exciting in this hour, although reading a BORING! book is a good idea. Experiment, to find which combination works best for you. No coffee, tea, or other caffeine within 6 hrs of bedtime! Try a cup of chamomile herbal tea, an hour or so before bedtime. Others may prefer Sleepytime, by Celestial Seasonings, Relax, Be Sleepy, or valerian root (valerian "hangovers " possible), etc., from supermarket tea, or health food aisles. Milk, or cream should not be used with herbal tea. Get up and do something, like read a book, if you can't sleep within 20 mns. Personally, I prefer to use word/ phrase repetition for a short time, changing over to mindfulness breathing; however, you may well find another method more effective. The following EMDR variant came from a book on treating insomnia for the depressed; I use it every night, and it is well worth trying. It seems to reduce distractions during the mindfulness relaxation methods, so I use it first. Keeping your head still, move your eyes first to the far left, then far right, and repeat this another 19 times. Each full sweep should take around a second. If you like, you can either subvocalise, or repeat: "one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand ... up to twenty. After this, allow your body to go limp, and relax for a short time. Then repeat the whole exercise, limpness, and relaxation twice. This may well be all you need. Others may require another round of the above. Before beginning the EMDR variant, I take a whiff of lavender essential oil in both nostrils; some people prefer a drop, or two on their pillow. This provides a strong cue to the subconscious mind to prepare for sleep. Get bright light, soon after arising, to reset your circadian rhythm. Stabilise your sleep habits. Try the free sleep aid at: soundsleeping.com/ You could try melatonin (pharmacies) for a few nights only; more can interfere with the brain's natural production of it. Hypnosis is merely a heightened state of suggestibility, in which you are better able to communicate with your subconscious mind. 85% of people are suggestible, to some extent, so consider professional hypnotherapy, or more alternatives along such lines are at your-mental-health.8m.com/ blank_25.html |
