A Goods Night Sleep

Tossing and turning getting more agitate as your try to fall asleep. Does this sound familiar? Noises in the house become amplifed as thoughts of blame go to the person watching T. V too loud,  or your neighbours washing maching on a late night spin.

Perhaps for you it is the piercing silence that rings in your ears of hidden feelings. The echo of thoughts resound around your head. These thoughts of the day, unsettled and unsolved. A whirring kaleidoscope of anxiety, sadness and anger.

You are not along in suffering from sleeplessness from time to time. Have you begun to notice your own patterns? What are the links?  Do unsolved problems at work or in your personal relationships wake you up and leaves your staring at the ceiling at 3am.

Insomnia is the inability to get to sleep or to sleep soundly. It can be chronic or temporary lasting from a few days to weeks. The often intense rhythm of modern life keeps you in a state or arousal where the sympathetic nervous system is constantly being triggered.  Fight and Flight yet the main predator is our own negative thoughts. Even the most spiritual people have negative thoughts its just how they are filed. At night it might be helpful to notice these thought patterns and make a conscious choice to step back from the storyline, and breathe. Focusing on your breathing and your body you become present. This along with positive affirmations can make your bed time an opportunity for positive change. Cultivating body and breath awareness along with warm and loving thoughts towards yourself. Help! Mushy Alert? If the thought of sending yourself love gives you the creeps, there might be a message in there somewhere.

Creating a Routine of soothing, self-nurturing rituals before bed you can bring your nervous system back into balance and have a good nights sleep.

1. Restorative Yoga Practice in the evening. See the video.
2. Keep a Journal to express your feelings, and thoughts of the day, plus any to -do- list thoughts that come to you whilst trying to get to sleep. Just jot it down so that you can let go and relax
3. Have screen free time before going to bed. Reducing this time of stimuli can help quieten the brain and soothe the nerves
4. Create a wind-down period to withdraw your senses and shift from the busy doing state of mind to a more receptive being state of mind, This could mean dimming the lights, lighting an oil burner, washing, essential oil creams and oils for the body. An Ayurvedic tip for a good sleep is to put cold pressed sesame oil on the soles of the feet before bed. Wear socks to avoid getting oil on the bedding.
5. Mindfulness Meditation . Insight Timer is a good APP that you can get for your phone. They have led meditations which you can listen to from your phone, It also has a timer so that you can give yourself 20 minutes to sit and observe your breathing and the sensations of the body.
6. Pranayama -Yogic Breathwork. Lengthening the exhalations slows the hart beat. Find a comfortable place to lie down  over a bolster, or blankets. Ideally  the chest is elevated and open, whilst the abdomen is passive and relaxed. First observe  normal breathing in the abdomen and the chest  Second you could lengthen the outbreath by simply breathing out for slightly longer at the end of the outbreath. Keeping the throat relaxed and the tongue resting in the lower pallet. More information on Pranayama will follow in future blogs.