I hope you’re coping with this chilly weather. Its great weather to snuggle up in bed and read a good book. I’ve just finished reading an amazing book by a woman I met at the Afterlife Conference earlier this year. Her book is about her husband’s journey through an illness that almost killed him. In fact when he first “crashed” he had a 0.5% chance of surviving. I actually wrote about Caroline’s story earlier this year after hearing her speak at the conference.
Caroline’s husband, Gordon, was on life support in ICU with heart and kidney failure and pneumonia among other complications. Caroline’s friends organised a Facebook Group to co-ordinate group meditations and distance healings for him. They did these synchronised healings for 15 minutes four times a day. During these times at 10am, 2pm, 6pm and 10pm Caroline sat with Gordon and “channelled” these healings to him. She felt waves of energy flowing through her. Although there were huge ups and downs through Gordon’s journey he defied the odds and made a miraculous recovery. Caroline’s book is called “The Love of One.” It’s written beautifully and is a true testament to the power of love. I encourage you to grab a copy of the eBook HERE. Hopefully we can get Caroline to come down from Queensland at some stage to do a talk and book signing for us.
Anyway, getting back to snuggling in bed, today I want to talk to you about insomnia. Most people have difficulty getting off to sleep, or going back to sleep if they wake in the night, from time to time. Serious insomnia however can have a variety of causes and needs investigating. Chronic sleep deprivation has a huge impact on your health so I generally recommend an appointment with one of our Naturopaths to correct any hormonal imbalances combined with Hypnotherapy, Kinesiology or Intuitive Counselling to clear any underlying stress. Today I thought I would share my top 10 tips for getting to sleep as well as give you a link to my new Insomnia MP3. I would love to know what you think.
Alison’s Top Ten Tips for Getting to Sleep:
- Slow Your Breathing – As you’re going off to sleep pay attention to your breathing. Pause at the end of each exhalation. Wait until you need to breathe in again, then breathe in and out gently and wait again. Listen carefully to your body and stay focussed on your breath.
- Melt Your Tension – If you start to toss and turn in bed, it’s not the mattress that’s hard and uncomfortable, it’s your body. To relax the body divide it into 5 zones:
- The head and face
- The shoulders and arms
- The chest
- The hips, abdomen and lower back
- The legs
Over a sequence of 5 breaths let each zone melt as you breath out. Start again at the head and continue as long as you can.
- Change Your Self-Talk – Listen to your inner voice while you’re trying to go to sleep. Is it harsh and negative? Is it angry with you for not sleeping? Is it telling you that you’ll be exhausted tomorrow if you don’t go to sleep? If so, change your self talk to a soothing, comforting voice. Imagine you are talking softly and gently to a child to help them drift off to sleep.
- Take the Pressure Off Yourself – Rather than TRYING to go to sleep use your imagination to create a scenario where you could easily drift off to sleep without any even trying. Perhaps imagine you’re lying on a couch or sofa on a lazy Sunday afternoon with warm sunlight streaming in. Or imagine you’re resting in a hammock between palm trees on a beautiful tropical island. Create a feeling of wellbeing and contentment.
- Start to Dream – Use your imagination to create a dream before you fall asleep. Imagine you’re in a beautiful movie and you can play any role you like. Activate all your senses and become aware of what you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste. Pay attention to the details and make it as vivid as possible.
- Balance Your Chi Energy – Often it’s difficult to sleep when your mind is busy and your Chi energy is more active in and around your head. A simple yoga position to balance your Chi energy through your body involves lying on your back with your left ankle crossed over your right. Fold your arms over your chest with the right arm on top. Tuck your fingers under your armpits with your thumbs on your chest. Breathe right down into your belly. Close your eyes and pay attention to the energy flow around and through your body. You may feel pulsations or tingles. After about ten minutes your energy should have settled, leaving you feeling calm and relaxed. Uncross your ankles, place your hands together over your chest with your fingertips touching in a kind of prayer position for a minute. Your Chi energy will be settled and your mind and body will be ready for sleep. Repeat this as needed.
- Get Grounded Before Bed – If you spend most of your day indoors then take a few minutes before bed to connect with the Earth. Stand or sit with your bare feet connected to the Earth for two or three minutes. This discharges the static electricity and positive ions that have built up throughout the day. Believe it or not, this technique can work magic and it’s great for jetlag.
- Learn to Meditate – Mastering the art of meditation will give you the ability to choose your thoughts and control your emotions. It will strengthen your ability to stay focussed and concentrate on one thing at a time so it makes many of the techniques described above even more effective. Click HERE for our next Meditation Course
- “Try” Not to Sleep – Sit up in bed in a dark room, sit up straight, keep your chin level and your eyes open. Look up at the ceiling or a spot on the wall. Make sure its high enough to feel a slight pressure in the top of your eyes. Hold your focus and stay awake as long as you can. When you can’t stay focussed or keep your eyes open any longer close your eyes and lie down. Repeat as necessary until you’re asleep.
- For “Hard Core” Insomniacs – If you’re still awake 30 minutes after you’ve gone to bed, get up and do something really menial and boring like scrubbing the kitchen floor, cleaning the oven, dusting skirting boards etc. Continue for a minimum of an hour and then go back to bed. If you’re still awake after 30 minutes get up and repeat the same task for another hour. Repeat until your mind is retrained to get you off to sleep quickly. I guarantee your insomnia will be cured within 3 nights.
Good luck and remember you can download my new Insomnia Cure MP3 HERE
You can also download a PDF of these Ten Tips HERE to print and keep next to your bed.
That’s all for now. Sweet dreams. Take a look at the Right Hand column for our upcoming classes and events. As always we have some awesome events coming up. >>>>
Have a great week,
Warm Regards,
Alison Burton
Health and Happiness Guru
Simply Natural Therapies
41 Tunstall Square
East Doncaster
VIC 3109
03 9842 7033
info@simplynaturaltherapies.com.au
www.simplynaturaltherapies.com.au
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