A personal problem

[fpb]

I have a growing problem with sleeplessness at night. I tend to wake up at about two, and, in the last few weeks, I have had serious problems with going to sleep again. That is no damn good, because it tends to make me fatigued and useless the whole day long. And then the cycle begins again.

Comments

[becomethesea.livejournal.com]

I would suggest a repetitive, deep breathing exercise--this is what I do when I have trouble sleeping, and was taught to me by a psychology teacher. The following is anecdotal, but nonetheless effective for me:

1) Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth is relaxing to the autonomic nervous system and also releases toxins in the body. Breathing in through the nose and out through the nose is energizing to the autonomic nervous system.

2) On the full inhale, think to yourself, "I am", and on the exhale think, "calm". This acts almost like a mantra. You could also replace "calm" with "sleepy" or "tired", etc.

3) Visualize a scene that is comforting to you. Some options include a favourite geographical location, a star in the night sky, a totally white room, a garden, a mountain scene, etc.

4) Allow yourself to drift. This tends to be the most difficult aspect of this exercise, but it does improve with practice over time.

I hope this and other suggestions can help you!