When My Head Hits the Pillow
I have
known quite a few people that told me that they fall asleep as soon as
their head hits the pillow.
I have always envied this ability I
have often wondered why them... and not me? Do they have a
special talent for sleep that I do not possess or are they more
genetically inclined to be able to relax and all asleep? Did their grandparents
have this talent? Was it handed down to them, inherited and
re-inherited,
like an antique dresser over the years. Is it in
their nature or in their DNA? I'm thinking... yes.
My gene
pool contributors were obviously insomniacs. My father's father's father's father's
father must have had it rough. Or maybe it was on my mother's side. At
some point along the genetic trail that led to 'me' someone had
developed the inability to fall asleep.
Some of my brothers and
sisters have this proclivity as well. It seems my big brain has confused
the mechanics of sleep with the process of dying. I think I'm falling
asleep while my subconscious thinks I'm falling off a cliff.
Gee, thanks
great-great-great-great-great... whoever.
When my head hits the pillow;
or at least when it used to, I would go into an almost panic mode. I
knew a rough time lay ahead. It certainly did not help that I suffer
with the sounds of two ringing ears, as I have had tinnitus for
decades, but my sleep issue went beyond that. Most nights, right before
slipping off to sleep. I would arouse in an almost startled state. This
was as if an alarm was going off in my head preventing me from sleeping.
To most
people the mechanics of sleep are natural and they don't think twice
about it. The generic understanding of falling asleep is that we get
tired, lay down and sleep just happens. That might work for some
but not for me. I realized that there were multiple steps to falling
asleep. Our big brains go from the Alpha (relaxed) brainwave state to
the Theta brainwave state and onward to dreamland via the Delta (deep
sleep) brainwave state. I understand being relaxed and I certainly
understand being asleep. It was that middle step in the sleep ritual
that both frustrated and intrigued me. The Theta brainwave state. The Theta state is the
middle ground between your consciousness and your sleeping mind. It is
at the junction that we release the keys to our physical bodies to Mr.
Sandman. Okay, maybe that's an over-simplification.
That Relaxed Feeling before Sleep
The Theta
state is that daydreamy relaxed feeling you get right before drifting off. It is
also the state of mind hypnotists strive to put their subjects in. It
can be reached as well through meditation. You know the feeling. If you
have ever driven a car from here to there and wondered how you got there
... you were probably in the Theta state of mind. If you have stared out
a window on a rainy day and got that 'far-off' feeling... that was the
Theta brainwave state.
From my own
studies in self-hypnosis, deep relaxation techniques, meditation and
visualization this site was born. I am one of the worst insomniacs that
I have ever heard of and yet the simple act of visualizing; through
natural and nature sounds that promote mental imagery, an ultimately
relaxing scenario has worked wonders for my own sleep issues. Basically,
the act of visualization emulates the sensation of dreaming for, as it
turns out, visualizing and dreaming use the same areas of the human
brain. It is also important to note that it is our hearing that
succumbs to sleep lastly.
It's
virtually dreaming. Ergo, virtualdreamer.com.
These days
when my head hits the pillow there is usually a CD of one of my
recordings ready to go just in case my subconscious decides I'm falling off a
cliff. I would much rather have it think I am hearing the sound of the
ocean while relaxing on a beach in the
Caribbean.
