How to Put Yourself to Sleep
I thought to share my own observations about getting to sleep, and getting back to sleep.
If you often wake up in the night, it might be helpful to know there is a sleep style called poly-phasic sleep. If you can accomodate this in your schedule, you might find more ease for yourself. I recently learned about www.thenapministry.com with its message of rest as a human right; although we can't always allow for naps in our daily lives, they certainly aren’t inherently bad and can be restorative, as well as support memory and learning. If you’d like to try, you could see what is helpful for you.
If you find yourself wakeful during sleep time, here are some ideas:
Consider the idea of "rest." What is restful, even if you can't sleep? Can you just rest?
For handling thoughts, keep paper/pen by the bed; notice and write it down your subject. (You may be amused in the morning to see what was in your head.) Tell yourself “I’ve taken care of it for now”; or remind yourself "There's nothing to be done right now. This is a time for rest."
Sometimes I realize I am waking myself up by thinking about a dream; I remind myself that I don't need to figure it out, that it was a dream!
If you are quite wakeful, do a re-start: get out of bed, get water or go to the bathroom, then "put yourself back to bed" afresh; (If I'm really awake, I might go to my desk, read or write for 30 minutes or an hour, then go back to bed).
Deliberately not thinking about anything, which means focusing on sensory awareness:
how nice it feels to be in bed, or to have your head on the pillow;
noticing tightness, particularly in your face, shoulders, or arms, and letting it go (often over and over);
focusing awareness on your "center" (a point about 2 inches below the navel), repeatedly bringing your awareness back to center;
focusing on your breath, taking slow, maybe deeper breaths.
I find it helpful to remind myself that I will make it through even if I don't get enough sleep. Sometimes sleep is just elusive, and I tell myself that I don't have to understand what's happening; just allow for the mystery - which calms my mind and helps it to go to sleep.
May you rest, and sleep.
ADHD Life Support is the blog of
Susan McGinnis, CALC of ADHD Impact Coaching LLC
Coaching adults with ADHD www.adhdimpactcoaching.com