When you are sleepless,

what is your favorite "calming" image?

I sleep poorly, very often. I wake up in the middle of the night and once I open my eyes my brain goes into high-gear and I am generally up for the rest of the night.

Lately, I've used the image of Gandhi to help calm me down and get back to sleep. I imagine us sitting cross-legged, facing each other, and he holds my wrists (not my hands). I have no idea why I stumbled on this image when I did, but it does seem to help. I was desperate for sleep one night and it just came to me.

I suppose he'd rather I used his image to inspire me to act for change, but for now, he's just helping me be not crazy from insomnia.

When you are sleepless, what do you do?

You can buy it in any health food store. ;-)

btw, this am you 'gain' one hour for daylight savings time.

1. I imagine myself in an elevator on the 10th floor, as the elevator descends I imagine myself getting sleepier. As I see the number 9, I feel more sleepier. I have the elevator descend slowly. Number 8, sleepier. Number 7, sleepier. I never ever remember getting to Number 4 or 5, I am asleep.

2. The other thing I have done since I was a kid when I couldn't sleep is pick a subject, Favorite Band, Countries etc. and start with the letter A and name a song by that band starting with that letter or name a country starting with that letter. I never seem to get past G or H. I don't rush it and kind of dwell on what I had just come up with. Puts me out like a light.

Hope it helps. Incidentally, Melatonin doesn't work for me, does just the opposite, keeps me aware some how.

sleep faster. Making sure that I'm not shallow breathing, I say with each in-breath "I am", and with each out-breath "sleepy". I repeat this with each breath. It's amazing how fast it works for me. (I was told this in a meditation workshop that I attended, and it really does work amazingly well for me.)

I hope that you find something that works for you, Habibi.

I have tried the melotonin, gulped the ambien, forgone the midday nap, taken walks, given up the coffee, tried the teas, drank the warm milk, in short I have tried all that I know.

The funniest part of my insomnia journey was I was referred to the sleep clinic. They greased up my hair and hooked me up with hundreds of electrodes. In spite of the fact I slept in an unfamiliar place and they woke me up a couple times to readjust the electrodes that had fallen off, it was the best night of sleep I had in years! Oh well, at least they said I did not have sleep apnea, lol!

If anyone has any other suggestions I could sure use them too, Habibi.

Cat In Seattle

brain dump everything that is racing through my mind into my journal. Once it is out on paper, I don't have to think about it any more.

Counting backwards from 100 is often effective, but may have to brain dump first. Sometimes I have counted backwards up to 4 times, but that is rare.

I used to listen to nature sounds on tape, which at the time was the most beneficial thing I could do.

Sleep tight!

I've tried melatonin too, and it didn't work too well. I like the "I am" and "sleepy" breath meditation--I'll try that.

Funny, I used to meditate and was able to quiet my mind. The last few years I've lost the ability to do that. Too much to worry about, I guess.

melatonin is more effective than swallowed pills.

Another meditation technique is "midfulness". You gently observe each thought as it comes, one at a time. You will notice your mind has different 'voices', some saying one thing and others something else. You don't judge the thought or argue with it, just observe it, then let it pass. Sometimes this results in some very interesting dreams.

I learned self-hypnosis. It was incredible! One quick countdown put me into the "alpha state" and from there I would drift into the "delta state" which is deep sleep. There are books available where you can learn this technique.