I have developed a fail-safe technique for falling asleep. I have had the same mind movie for about 18 years now. Works every time. Before I tell you this intimate little detail about my life, I'll just let you know before hand it is a bit corny. So here goes. I am about 19, I walk out into an old abandoned field and stumble upon an old creaking barn. The stars are shining so brilliant that the sky is a deep, deep blue. I open the barely surviving door and see a large object draped in a dark gray tarp. It is still pretty dark and I can hear the faint sound of rustling in the tall grass and weeds outside the barn and the wind is whistling through some of the holes in the barn. I uncover the object to find an incredible space craft. The design varies from dream to dream but it always has some new about it. Now this is where I usually vary the dream from night to night. Sometimes the ship obeys my very spoken word, sometimes I instinctively know how to fly but the most amazing aspect of this shuttle is that I can go anywhere in the known universe in complete safety. If I want to venture up to a white dwarf star, I can. If I want to fly deep into the 900 mile/hour winds found in the great storm on Jupiter that we know of as the "Great Red Spot", I can do that as well. Sometimes I use this ship solve serious world problems like transporting mass amounts of food or hunting down ole' Bin Laden in his dark cave somewhere and dropping him off at the nearest black hole. Back in my poor, worried college years, the ship also served as a great bank robber. It could literally transport hundreds of thousands of dollars from various banks around the world into my bedroom. (Hey, those were some hungry times people.) Random acts of theft and vengeful murder aside, the dream is mostly about discovery and it ALWAYS works in getting me to sleep. What's your technique for slipping into R.E.M. sleep?
11 comments:
Uh . . . I lay down and close my eyes.
You're an odd cat, Seth. ;)
Yeah, my "technique" is a lot like Euphrony's.
Except, I'll add that I also throw in a lot of staying up too late, and making myself stay awake when I'm starting to nod off (though I don't do this to make myself fall asleep, I'm just a motor-brain who hates to stop my day's activities until I absolutely have to...).
So by the time I actually do lay in bed, I'm out amazingly fast. By the next morning when I wake up, I can barely recall anything past laying down in my bed. Unless I have a restless night or don't sleep well, which thankfully hasn't been the case much lately.
I envy those who can fall asleep with such ease. I used to stress constantly about the state of the world, so I developed these relaxation/sleep techniques to help.
So yes euphrony, I am most certainly an odd cat. Thats putting it lightly. Maybe it is time to try the "just fall asleep thing"
Probably the reason for all this lately is that I get really wound up at night. I do a ton of writing and composing when the sun goes down and by the time I get to bed the mind is still revved up.
My dad can fall asleep in less than 10 seconds, and I mean snoring asleep. I timed him (unbeknownst to him)
i, too, cannot sleep easily. i lay there and try not to think at all, then that makes it worse. i worry constantly before i sleep. it's always a new worry. but, sometimes i put myself to sleep by pretending that i am in mid-evil times and i am wearing a long dress on the moors, and there is a knight who comes to rescue me. no kidding. it must run in the family. most of the time, i just pray myself to sleep though. those are always my best sleeps.
In answer to your question:
One Benadryl, Two tylenol on tough nights.
Counting backwards from 500 on the others.
So far:
1. Euphrony is the most balanced and at peace, just lies down and off to sleep. Not fair.
2. Chaotic Hammer collapses from exhaustion but suffers zero insomnia problems.
3. Operamama dreams she is a medieval damsel in distress and she is off to sleep before Lancelot can flex a muscle.
4. Lexie just pops some pills and if she starts to feel convicted she starts counting backwards from 500.
Uh,um,uh, well, I have these allergies, see, yeah, that's it! I've got allergies, and the Benadryl helps me, see, and it also helps me fall asleep faster, and, and, and...
Aw, heck. You got me.
To be honest, it may not be so much being at peace as at the end of my body's function. I may get 5 hours sleep on a normal night, so when I actually get in bed I am well ready for it. When I was in high school and college, I would often lay awake for hours in bed as my mind raced down numerous trains of thought. I learned over time that I have to give myself time to "detox" from either an excercise high or mental activity (conversation, work, etc.). Once I detox, which takes a while, I'm pretty much useless.
It's the old Freudian thing. I lie on my right side, of course, close my eyes and repeat to myself over and over again; "sleep, sleep, sleep...."
It's amazing how it works everytime!
I am going to try that. Little less complex. I wonder if you just bore yourself to sleep that way.
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