Sleeping problems & how to overcome them

There are two main types of sleeping problems, they are problems getting to sleep and problems getting back to sleep after you have woken up during the night. Let’s look at problems getting to sleep first.

Problems getting to sleep

The main problem is an overactive mind whereby the constant stream of thoughts you experience during the day just carry on and on! So, the number one priority is to follow methods to slow down your mind the hour before you go to bed. So, think about how you can relax and slow down. Possibilities would include reading a book that you enjoy such as a novel, listening to your favourite music, taking in a comedy show or being creative by drawing or painting for example. Sometimes people find it helpful to unwind by watching their favourite show although this should be something light-hearted. Anyway, hopefully you get the idea. Have a cool down routine where you wind down and relax for an hour before bedtime Don’t go straight to bed from a very active frame of mind.

If you suffer from high stress levels. Look at stress management techniques such as meditation, hypnotherapy and exercise. So, if you have a very stressful day, as soon as you can, after you leave work engage in some form of exercise that increases your heart rate such as a workout at the gym, running, an exercise bike or swimming. This will burn off the stress response chemicals in your body which were produced as a result of stress during the day. Thus, enabling you subsequently to relax.

Meditation is good for slowing down your mind and relaxing. Practicing the Vedic meditation, I teach which is covered in my books, namely, Therapy for your mind and The Anxiety therapy workbook, you can literally separate yourself from your thoughts.

Hypnotherapy can also help by using Post hypnotic suggestion from a hypnotherapist. But specially self-hypnosis which I guide you through in my relaxation audio available in a free download which comes with my aforementioned books.

Worrying about a problem or a situation you are in

However, what if you are kept awake because you are worrying about a particular situation you are in or a problem you have. Putting pen to paper stops the constant run of repetitive thoughts. So, write out your problem on a sheet of paper then write out the worse case scenario and for just a minute decide to accept it. It rarely results in death! Then when you have accepted the worst-case scenario, on another page, write down all the things you can do so that the worst-case scenario never happens. By accepting the worst-case scenario, you have now stopped worrying about it and now you are working positively to a solution. This certainly helps with getting to sleep!  To this end you may want to consider keeping a journal to get your thoughts down on paper rather than spinning around in your head! I also cover journaling in my aforementioned books.

Waking up and not getting back to sleep.  … what to do.

If ever you wake up in the night don’t check what time it is by looking at your clock or device. To do so will make it more difficult to get back to sleep! This is because your consciously thinking mind starts calculating how much time you have before you have to get up in the morning. And you will possibly start thinking you must get back to sleep again. And you know that if you try to get to sleep its going to make it more difficult to get to sleep. Think of all the times you have fallen asleep without trying to, such as when you were reading a book, listing to music or watching tv for example.

Further suggestions

If you do wake up in the night, put your head back on your pillow and direct your mind back to what you were dreaming about before you woke up.

Use your meditation and mantra to quieten your mind

Make up your own guided meditation

Trying to get to sleep works against you, so think of a way to take the importance out of getting to sleep. Like telling yourself that you can have an early night the following day or leave work early, for example.

Switch your phone off, try not to have any blue screen time before you go to sleep, this is helpful to the brain when it’s time to sleep.