Twenty plus years of insomnia has
enlightened me to a thing or two about the condition. It has also
informed me about the nature of capitalism. It is not in the
medical community's best interest to point out certain
simple and undeniable facts that can naturally assist we
insomniacs in finding good night's sleep. This is simply
because... there is no money in it! There is no
money to be had by telling the insomnomaniacs (my word) of
the world that there exists a little known brainwave state
in between the Alpha (relaxed) and the Delta (asleep)
brainwave state. It is the Theta brainwave state. The
mainstream medical community is much more keen on
prescribing Hypnotics (aka sleeping pills) then
explaining to their patients the reality of sleep.
What is the Theta brainwave state, you
ask? Ah ha! I knew it. You have not been reading my blog.
In natural sleep the
Theta brainwave state occurs directly
before deep sleep. Think of it as the big human brain's
consciousness escrow account. You are not technically awake nor are you
asleep. Your brain wants to sleep but , if abstract thoughts
occur, it will immediately jump back to the Alpha (relaxed
but not asleep) state. The Theta state is the psychic bridge
between feeling relaxed and falling asleep. When we begin
drifting off to sleep we are in the Theta state as your
brain's neurons begin firing up in your Secondary Visual
Cortex. It is in the Secondary Visual Cortex that your
dreams occur. One of the first things our brains like to do
after falling asleep is dream.
Relaxation
Plus Visualization Equals Sleep
Tonight,
when you attempt to fall asleep, try something different.
Put on some relaxing music... slow jazz or classical, and
visualize watching the band play on a stage before you. Or,
for something different, visualize an ice skater performing
to the music. If you like talk radio, relax and visualize
seeing the people talk. Imagine their faces and what clothes
they are wearing. What you are doing is greasing the grooves
to deep sleep by stimulating your
Secondary Visual
Cortex and, therefore, the same area in your
occipital lobe that becomes active in dreaming. Visualizing
will bring on the Theta brainwave state. If you have trouble
staying asleep (i.e. you wake up too early) then stay
in bed and visualize... anything (preferably
something non-threatening) .
Pharmaceuticals act as a shunt, bypassing
the Theta brainwave state, as our brain shuts down in
reverse of the natural sleep process. They (sleeping pills)
increase the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in our
bodies. This slows down our neuron's communication ability.
If our neurons can't communicate an artificial relaxation
state is induced.
The secret to falling asleep is no secret
at all. Remember hearing that you should count sheep
to fall asleep? I say don't count them but visualize them;
or anything else for that matter, and you will fall asleep
naturally. One hint: be comfortably creative in
your visualizations and you might be amazed at the dreams
you dream.
The Reality
of Noise
Because of what I do some might think I
live in a utopian world of waterfalls and ocean waves. This
could not be farther from the truth. Noise pollution is
everywhere, including my world. Unless one lives far
from civilization they are probably living with noise
pollution. I live on a small mountain many miles from a
medium sized city. Just for the fun of it (and, oh, what fun
it was) I recorded the ambient sounds from my backyard:
As you can hear, I too live 'in the
noise'. There is so much noise out there that many of us do
not listen to it anymore.... its just there. Always.
In natural sleep the
Theta brainwave state occurs directly
before deep sleep. Think of it as the big human brain's
consciousness escrow account. You are not technically awake nor are you
asleep. Your brain wants to sleep but , if abstract thoughts
occur, it will immediately jump back to the Alpha (relaxed
but not asleep) state. The Theta state is the psychic bridge
between feeling relaxed and falling asleep. When we begin
drifting off to sleep we are in the Theta state as your
brain's neurons begin firing up in your Secondary Visual
Cortex. It is in the Secondary Visual Cortex that your
dreams occur. One of the first things our brains like to do
after falling asleep is dream. 
