Do You Sabotage Yourself into Insomnia?

This morning I coached a coach on working with someone whose racing thoughts at bedtime kept her from falling asleep. This reminded me of the myriad of unconscious daily self-sabotages many of us engage in that have pretty immediate consequences.

Prolonged bouts of insomnia -- either having difficulty getting to sleep or trouble staying asleep -- can have devastating impact on everything, from physical health, to mental focus, to reaction time and judgment, to emotional stability, and irritability in relationships. We are wise to do everything we can to change the habits we have that contribute to this condition.

Here are a few ideas that have worked for me personally, and for my clients:

• Write a do to list for the next day, in bed, ending with writing out a statement such as: I can let today and tomorrow take care of themselves now, while I easily go to sleep.

• Reduce the amount of light in your home 2 hours prior to bedtime because bright lights stimulate the brain unnaturally. A single 25 watt lamp is enough.
  

• Reduce or eliminate conversation for 2 hours prior to bedtime, to start letting the brain relax.

• Eliminate coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, even products like Excedrin, and anything else with caffeine after 12 noon.
  

• Take vitamins in the morning, especially if they include Vitamin B because that's an energy booster.
  

• If you need extra help, try taking DHEA early in the day and melatonin right at bedtime to aid the brain in relaxing into sleep.

Breathing Meditation to Lull Yourself into Sleep

Mentally count to 4 very slowly while inhaling deeply.
Again count to 4 while exhaling slowly.
Keep doing that until the body relaxes. This gives the mind something focused to do.

Pair the counting with a mental image of something expanding when inhaling and then contracting when exhaling -- maybe a flower getting bigger then smaller. This gives the mind something else focused to do.

Finally, create and repeat an auto-suggestion (self-hypnosis) mantra, which is an image form of an affirmation statement. Something like: I feel my body relaxing. The gears in my brain are slowing for sleep. The circles of thoughts going round and round are stopping and holding still.