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| Start of the Lunar Eclipse
© Diana Morrison
28/09/15
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I get very tired of not sleeping. Oh sure, I can fall asleep... eventually, but staying there or returning to it having woken at stupid o'clock, usually after just an hour, is generally a real problem,
but I'm beginning to realise that I'm not alone. Facebook posts from ridiculous times of the morning inform me that many of my friends are right there with me - and yes, I do know that using my mobile phone in the middle of a bout of insomnia is not helping me at all - but thanks for mentioning it!
Trawling through my Facebook news feed yesterday, I came across an interesting gem that one of my fellow insomniacs posted entitled "Trouble sleeping? Here's How I Learned to Fall Asleep in Under 1 Minute Every Night." Well, of course I was going to check it out.
Oh, it all comes down to the "4-7-8" breathing trick - er the what, now? Apparently, it is a method devised by a Wellness Practitioner, (...OK...), Dr Andrew Weil, Harvard-educated student of meditation and breathing techniques to counteract stress. According to the article, "you breath in through your nose for four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and exhale through your mouth for eight seconds." The method allegedly "slows down your heart rate," and "also releases chemicals in our brains that soothe you."
Well, that's quite a claim. So, without changing any of my bedtime routine - I still played my three games of Yahtzee on my phone (Yes. I know!) - I decided to give it a go, and guess what? I don't think I fell asleep in under a minute and I felt a little strange and light-headed, but having just rushed down the stairs to referee a cat spat, and back up again, I could feel my accelerated heart rate slowing and the next thing I knew it was 03:30, exactly three hours after I had turned out the light. Mr Mews was jumping on my head asking to be let out - (Mr Mews is a cat and not my significant other - in case you were wondering.) Three hours - I couldn't believe my luck. The real test then, was whether the trick would work now that I was wide awake in Wee Small Hour Land; the place where my head tends to turn terrorist on me and batter me with an unrelenting parade of problems, both real and imagined until sleep is no longer an option and the services of a good psychotherapist would be most welcome - hence the early morning Facebook sojourn. I tried the trick again - I think it was only four or five breaths this time - and was woken by the alarm at 06:30; another three hours sleep, give or take ten minutes.
I wish I could say that today I was blessed with boundless energy, but I wasn't. I did, however feel more alert and possibly a little less stressed than usual. I was able to temporarily disconnect the automatic pilot, with a view to decommissioning it altogether should this neat little trick, once properly practised and fine-tuned, help me to repay my sleep debt and ensure that I am gifted with my full quota of repose in the future.
I hope that this could work for you too - whether for the obtaining a good night's sleep or for control in a stressful situation. Do remember though, to get a proper diagnosis of the problem if you are worried about your sleep patterns, especially if they have altered radically over a short period of time. Some common causes of insomnia can be found by following the link below.
I wish you all a very happy, healthy and sleep-filled new year x
