I have a question. I've had it for ages and asked it a few times. It seems the function of "going" to sleep is a very individual thing. It may speak directly to the core of our individuality actually.
How do you go to sleep?
To be very direct, what does your brain do just before you slip out of consciousness?
You've had a good day. Nothing extraordinary has happened. There is no stress pending the sunrise. (It's a Saturday night and all you did was yardwork or something all day.)
It's 11pm. You click off Saturday Night Live, roll over, get in your comfy position and then...what happens inside your brain?
It seems an odd thing to ask but can be difficult to answer. The idea is so foreign to some that I've had the response "I don't understand what you mean." This comes from a person who closes their eyes and simultaneously begins to snore. This is not a blessing I've ever had.
My answer: Yes, the day plays in my head and sometimes other scenarioes of myself having productive discussions with other people - but - those scenarioes will not allow me to sleep. I must pretend. I must mentally project myself OUT of my own world. I must imagine myself elsewhere and generally with people I do not know. I suppose it is "fantasy" that gets me to sleep. I must do it though. Every night. Without fail. Not to do so means not to sleep.
How do you go to sleep?
Love and warm hugs to all of you. Sorry for my absence. I seem to be on a two week post schedule lately.
5 comments:
I loved the line "Fantasy puts me to sleep"...
How do I fall asleep? Well I don't really know, I just keep saying Aum and go into this peaceful drift, sleep is inevitable.
FYI: This also how I beat anxiety, and most problems I might face.
Hey Aggie, good to see you :-)
I'll be thinking about the good things that happened that day, or something that I have to do the next day or soon. I do the imagined conversation thing too, ones that I have had where suddenly (much too late:) I think of the perfect response, where at the time it was less than so, or I'll imagine meetings and what might happen there. None of these stop me from sleeping. That only happens when I have a problem that I am still trying to work out the solution to, and once in a while I get thoughts that just won't go away, based on fear more than anything, and in those cases, I just cannot fall asleep. Mostly, though, I fall asleep quite easily, but then I seldom go to bed until I am absolutely exhausted - nothing worse than lying there wide-awake, mind full of stuff, and not being able to get the rest that the body craves.
Sounds like a lot of effort for you to go to sleep, but lots of people have rituals that help them shut off their minds, perhaps even most people. Hope you get a good night's rest tonight, x, with a great day preceeding it.
I read till my eyes shut. I've been known to fall asleep with a book on my chest.
On a side note, I picked up BMG DVD today and I can certainly say, watching this DVD will not put you to sleep. Long live Venus Hum! :-D
i count sheep.
well, i dont actually imagine the sheep, because that would just make me even more awake.
i work at breathing slowly and steadily. then, with each inhale and exhale, i count.
once i get to ten, i start over. i find that counting any higher also makes me more awake.
i think it works for me mainly because i'm starting to breath steadily, nor sporadicly. also, thinking the numbers helps keep other things out of my mind.
Rupen, "Aum"? Very interesting. There are times when I can't even get my head into a fantasy. Then I recite the alphabet backward over and over. How awful, huh?
My fantasies aren't what you'd think. The current one involves me having a conversation with Billy Joe Armstrong on a long plane flight. Weird, I know.
Autumn, those daily scenarios are my plague. Particularly when I've got an unresolved problem. Ick. Here's to staying awake until you're exhausted. That does work.
Tree, I love to read. That got me through the first six months of the year. Reading doesn't put me to sleep though. A good plot will keep me awake for days.
Glad you love that BMG! Rock Movements crack me up.
Oh Becky, I do wish I could focus on breath. That has always been difficult for me. Counting makes me want to do math. LOL :)
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