The Silent Insomniac
I had insomnia
for years. My insomnia was a complex that had elements of Tinnitus (ear
ringing), stress, and hyper-awareness. I say 'complex' as I believe most
people have a variety of reasons they have relaxation and sleep issues. Trying to
pinpoint a single reason why I was not sleeping was a wild goose
chase. After a night of flipping and flopping; and then collapsing from
utter exhaustion a few hours before having to get up, I would show up for
work on most days dragging my exhausted body through the door. However, it
is interesting that one thing I rarely did was talk about it. Some of
my family and a few good friends knew about it, but that was the extent of
it. For years I had a perception that my insomnia affliction would be seen
as a weakness. I even modified my work environment around my insomnia. I
would seek jobs where I was alone or 'on call' for most of the employment.
Why am I
telling you this? I have a visceral sense that there are lots of insomniacs
like me. We don't talk about it. We try to go through our lives ignoring the
problem and hoping it will fade away. We end up filling endless sleeping
pill prescriptions or possibly drinking alcohol to get sleepy. Or maybe we
just tough it out. Chasing sleep becomes the center of our lives but it's
all kept very hush hush from the real world.
If there is
any real secret to falling asleep it is in understanding the process all
humans go through to reach deep sleep naturally. The human brain has specific
patterns that it wants to transition through each and every night. We start
by relaxing, we get daydreamy and we fall asleep. Sounds simple enough. But
it was that 'daydreamy' part my brain wasn't willing to initiate. That
daydreamy part of the sleep onset process has a name. It is called the Theta
brainwave state. Few doctors will talk to you about it because, unless they
are sleep physicians, they probably only covered it briefly in medical
school. Unless you can release your awareness enough to allow this
pre-sleep Theta state to occur you will continue to have sleeping problems.
Here is the
simple formula that finally released me from my nightly battle with
insomnia:
-
Exercise
Do
something physical everyday (I walk)
-
Standardize Go to sleep at the same time every
night (for me its 11:30-12:00)
-
Visualize
Assist
your brain into Theta by meditation or simple visualization
I also keep my
bedroom pitch black, usually have a frozen bottle of water next to me on hot
nights (the body is coolest during sleep), keep my room neat and
uncluttered, and never watch television or surf the Internet in the bedroom.
The bedroom should be used for relaxation, sleep and,
well, .. that other unmentionable thing.
Simple
visualization can be done without purchasing anything. All the equipment you
need you were born with. By visualizing you are stimulating the Secondary
Visual Cortex in your brain. This is the same area of our brains that is
quite active in dreaming. Dreaming is one of the first things our brains
like to do upon entering deep sleep. In a sense, the Theta brainwave state
prepares the sleeper for dreams.
By the way, if
you feel like talking about insomnia you can find me on
Twitter
most
nights. Not talking about it can make us feel isolated and there are too
many millions of insomniacs out there for that to happen these days. Unless,
of course, you are the silent type.
Dream good
dreams!
Brad McBride
Comments?
email me
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