The Defy Aging Newsletter
Anti-aging psychology, holistic health, and wellness
a biweekly e-mail newsletter for helping you think, feel, look, and be more youthful and live with purpose.
Number 120
This issue:
Insomnia Cures
ACTION TO TAKE
Have a collection of insomnia cures ready in case you should need them.
WHY
Most people experience insomnia at least occasionally. There are effective alternatives to pills, alcohol, and supplements. First, rule out caffeine, alcohol, or medications contributing to the problem and try to have a regular bedtime and bedtime habits.
Suggestion #1:
Our body’s rhythms cycle between alert and drowsy every 90 to 100 minutes. During the day most people most people bear up during the drowsy phase. Some indulge in a nap. At bedtime, the idea is to catch the wave. Have you ever had been watching a movie on TV around bedtime and you are feeling very sleepy but you keep yourself awake to see how it end? Did you find yourself wide awake when it did end? If so you missed the wave.
When we are having difficulty getting to sleep, our brains are usually abuzz with thoughts and self-chatter. The trick is to distract your mind until the next wave comes. Meditation might clear your mind but you are probably feeling too tired to focus. A neat trick is to put on one of your favorite videotapes or DVDs—not an action shoot-em-up, but a slow moving one, like Casablanca. Because you love the move, it engages you. Because you know exactly what is going to happen, when you do get drowsy, you nod off. My personal favorite is Groundhog Day, both because I love the move and because it has so many time loops it is easy to get lost in the movie.
Suggestion #2:
If you have developed a pattern of insomnia, you walk into the bedroom and your brain is thinking, “Oh no, another wrestling match with the bed.” Many people have told me that if they give up and lie down on the sofa, they fall asleep quickly. Their bed became a conditioned stimulus of insomnia. The sofa was neutral. If you don’t fall asleep within a reasonable time after going to bed, get out.
Do not let bed become associated with insomnia. When you are really sleepy, use your bed again, and build up a positive conditioning between bed and sleep.
Suggestion #3: The easiest solution, however, is a hypnosis CD that leads you into an increasingly relaxed state and suggests you can just drift off to sleep.
Hypnotic Journeys to Ageless Lifestyles not only does that, it gives you hypnotic suggestions that help you live longer, healthier and happier. The CDs have my hypnotic suggestions and original keyboard music by John David Jones.
QUOTES
Only when one cannot sleep does one know how long the night is.
~Chinese proverb
O sleep! O gentle sleep!
Nature’s soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
~Shakespeare
HUMOR
A man asked his financial advisor how he handled the nail-biting ups and downs of the stock market. The advisor told him he slept like a baby. "Really? Even with all the fluctuations?" The broker replied, "Yes. I sleep for a couple of hours, then wake up and cry for a couple of hours."
The Biblesays, “The lion and the lamb shall lie down together.” But the lamb won’t get much sleep.
~Woody Allen
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THE DEFY AGING NEWSLETTER
Anti-Aging Psychology
Holistic Health and Wellness
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"Dr. Michael Brickey, The Anti-Aging Psychologist, teaches people to think, feel, look and be more youthful. He is an inspiring keynote speaker and Oprah-featured author. His works include: Defy Aging, 52 baby steps to Grow Young, and Reverse Aging (anti-aging hypnosis CDs). Visit www.NotAging.com for a free report on anti-aging secrets and a free newsletter with practical anti-aging tips."
