I love this, Kym. I feel like it would do double-duty of infusing the night with gratitude and redirecting the brain from stressful things to happy things. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent advice, Brianne! You’re right! The tiny green light on my oxygen concentrator keeps me awake on an iffy night. And I’ve learned the hard way that 100% cotton sleepwear is best! As always thanks for all the thought and care you put into your posts!
Great to hear what works for you Brianne. One of my go tos is remembering that some humans have a big sleep and a little sleep, with an hour or two of waking in between... that helps me to be less stressed about being awake.
Rather than read, I listen to audiobooks... audible has a sleep timer and you can extend the sleep timer by shaking the phone so no light. The story needs to be not too exciting. I might listen to gentle music instead. It gives my busy mind enough distraction to stop the inner doom scrolling.
My doctor recommended if I’m still awake after half an hour to get up and so something undemanding. Often a trip to the bathroom and a warm drink is enough. In my most desperate insomniac moments I iron teatowels... its kind of pointless but I have a dodgy inner conviction that they dry dishes better if ironed so its quite satisfying and I’m usually bored and sleepy after half a dozen. (Yep, weird.) Maybe I’ve trained myself to go back to sleep after? I barely iron anything these days.
I also do that meditation where you focus on the here and now physical sensations: the softness of the sheet, the snuggliness of the covers, the quiet of the darkness, the purring of the cat etc. then I count breaths to 10. I can’t do the counting backwards slowly from 1000 because by the time I’m in the 400s I’m even more stressed 😬
What a great list of small things that help sleeplessness, Michelle. Thank you! Audiobooks at night sounds like a good one for me to try next time, and how smart to have a feature so you can shake it to keep going without turning it on. And I love the remembering that having "a big sleep and a little sleep" is normal and not necessarily a problem at all. Ironing the teatowels!! Whatever helps! I love that this combines satisfaction and boredom into a perfect return to sleep mode. Thanks for sharing. I always love reading your thoughts on these posts.
This helps me get to sleep: in my head, or on paper, I’ll listen to all the things I’m grateful for
I love this, Kym. I feel like it would do double-duty of infusing the night with gratitude and redirecting the brain from stressful things to happy things. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent advice, Brianne! You’re right! The tiny green light on my oxygen concentrator keeps me awake on an iffy night. And I’ve learned the hard way that 100% cotton sleepwear is best! As always thanks for all the thought and care you put into your posts!
Thanks, Angela! I had forgotten about cool sleepwear — another small thing that makes a difference. So appreciate you being here and sharing!
Great to hear what works for you Brianne. One of my go tos is remembering that some humans have a big sleep and a little sleep, with an hour or two of waking in between... that helps me to be less stressed about being awake.
Rather than read, I listen to audiobooks... audible has a sleep timer and you can extend the sleep timer by shaking the phone so no light. The story needs to be not too exciting. I might listen to gentle music instead. It gives my busy mind enough distraction to stop the inner doom scrolling.
My doctor recommended if I’m still awake after half an hour to get up and so something undemanding. Often a trip to the bathroom and a warm drink is enough. In my most desperate insomniac moments I iron teatowels... its kind of pointless but I have a dodgy inner conviction that they dry dishes better if ironed so its quite satisfying and I’m usually bored and sleepy after half a dozen. (Yep, weird.) Maybe I’ve trained myself to go back to sleep after? I barely iron anything these days.
I also do that meditation where you focus on the here and now physical sensations: the softness of the sheet, the snuggliness of the covers, the quiet of the darkness, the purring of the cat etc. then I count breaths to 10. I can’t do the counting backwards slowly from 1000 because by the time I’m in the 400s I’m even more stressed 😬
What a great list of small things that help sleeplessness, Michelle. Thank you! Audiobooks at night sounds like a good one for me to try next time, and how smart to have a feature so you can shake it to keep going without turning it on. And I love the remembering that having "a big sleep and a little sleep" is normal and not necessarily a problem at all. Ironing the teatowels!! Whatever helps! I love that this combines satisfaction and boredom into a perfect return to sleep mode. Thanks for sharing. I always love reading your thoughts on these posts.