who have trouble sleeping.
We’ve all heard it said that counting sheep is a good way to fall asleep. (I don’t know why sheep rather than cats or something. Maybe because almost nobody is afraid of sheep?)
Anyway, here is a little website that may help you out.
This could be the silliest Silly Saturday yet.
But when you’re done laughing, maybe it will bore you to sleep.
. . .is to get a lot of sleep.
~ W. C. Fields
Okay, so that’s a bit snarky—in true W. C. Fields style—but there’s a valid point there.
How do you get a lot of sleep when you can’t sleep?
In my experience, all that stuff about hot milk and eschewing caffeine and counting sheep doesn’t really work that well. Everybody’s different. Your mileage may vary, but I haven’t found those things to be effective.
There is one thing that does work almost every time, though.
I wish I could remember where I found this little tip, because I like to give credit where it’s due. The problem is, when I found it, I was thinking more about whether it would work than about who provided it. This was long before I’d started a blog—long before anybody’d ever heard of a blog, in fact—so who knew I was going to want to write about it?
Since I can’t remember the source, however, we’ll have to go with me just assuring you that it doesn’t belong to me, I didn’t think it up, and whoever did deserves all the credit.
Here’s what you do when you are having trouble getting to sleep.
It involves counting—but no sheep. (No alligators, no raccoons, no animals, vegetables or minerals.)
First, you lie on your back. Breathe deeply in and out. Count on the exhale. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Turn on your left side, breathe in and out—1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Turn onto your back. Same breathing drill. Count to sixteen.
Turn onto your right side. Breathe. Count to thirty-two.
You keep doing this, doubling the count each time you change positions. To be honest, I have never managed to get to my right side and the thirty-two count. I usually fall asleep somewhere in the middle of the sixteen count.
I think it works because the breathing is relaxing and the counting focuses your mind on something other than whatever obsessive-compulsive thing it would otherwise be gnawing over.
So, if you ever have trouble sleeping, give this a try.
Sweet dreams!
Perchance to dream*
Thankful today that, in general, I get enough sleep.
It’s on my mind, because Tuesday night, I did not get enough sleep. And I’m a little ticked off about that.
See, I started the evening with the firm intention of awaiting the outcome to the election. I was aware that meant it could be a very long night, but I was game. I wanted to know what happened. It seemed to me to be infinitely more desirable to be disappointed (assuming disappointment was the outcome—and it was 50/50, you know)—infinitely more desirable to be disappointed and then go to bed than to awake to disappointment.
There was always the chance of a joyful outcome, too. And how much better to end the day on a high note than to miss all the excitement.
Having reviewed these possibilities exhaustively (2 or 3 seconds, at least), I decided to stay up and see what happened.
All well and good, and the election was called remarkably early. At something like 11:15 pm, it looked like I would be heading off to bed.
Then there was a little problem with math over on the losing side, and we were suddenly looking at—we didn’t know what.
Now, a person cannot go to bed with the spectre of that famous photo of Truman the morning after the 1948 election hanging over her. She has to stay up to see what’s going to happen.
The result was that I didn’t get to bed until after two a.m.
You wouldn’t think that would be a big deal, but I’m neither as young as I once was nor,apparently, as resilient. I am certainly not as used to staying up late as I had been in the past. (56 hours without sleep is my limit. After that, I start to hallucinate. I know this from experience.)
Anyway, the election ended, the speeches were made, the pundits talked…and talked…and talked, and eventually, I went to bed.
I didn’t have to do anything important today, so it’s no bit deal that I’m tired and unproductive and have had a bit of a headache all day, but I do realize I need to be thankful for those days—and nights—I get enough sleep.
If you’re thinking about pulling an all-nighter sometime, I encourage you to think again. You might get more done if you take time to take a nap.
Try it. You’ll like it!
* Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, Sc. 1
