Penny Mckay

Well, for me, it’s actually a case of  ” to bed - perchance to sleep” in all reality.

Am I alone in this? Is there anybody else out there who goes to bed tired, yet full of hope night after night? I Truly wonder what it feels like to fall asleep as soon as your head hits the proverbial pillow? I wonder…. 

So I was lying in bed last night wondering, nothing new there. I was pretty relaxed and I wasn’t worrying about anything. You see this is the thing, if I had things “on my mind”, I wouldn’t mind just lying there and I do know the best thing to do if you have “things” on your mind is to write them down so they don’t bug you at night. But I don’t have anything on my mind so I don’t fit  into that category.

Don’t get me wrong, on some level I was enjoying just lying there but only because I’ve been through the being frustrated and annoyed about being awake and I’ve come to terms with the fact there’s no point to any of that because it doesn’t matter how frustrated and annoyed you get, you are still awake! (breathe) As I was enjoying lying there all I could hear was my husbands regular breathing.

Now there’s another thing. On average it takes me around an hour and forty minutes to get off to sleep. Wow I hear you cry, that long? How do I know this? Well on previous occasions, I’ve reached the point of being  so fed up with lying there that I’ve done that clock watching thing, to pass the time. Usually bedtime is around ten and I can still be found liaising with the clock at eleven forty. On average it takes my husband around one minute forty seconds to get of to sleep. Wow, I hear you cry, that quickly? Yes, that quickly. Lucky him.

And while I’m on that subject. Why is it that a man ( well my husband anyway) is able to sleep through absolutely anything. I recall one occassion as I returned to bed, after being up to my son for the fifth time, in three hours, when he was having one of “those” nights, to encounter my husband stirring from his slumber and mumbling something about did I want him( my husband) to see to him? (my son)  Hey, don’t worry I was up anyway!

So the point of this piece is not to share our nocturnal habits, actually, but to lead me in to sharing a couple of brilliant techniques for drifting off to sleep. I have found that utilising one or the other of these techniques (or even both simultaneously)helps to conquer the endless hours of inspecting  your navel, if you can see it in the dark. At a premium I can get of f to sleep now in as quickly as twenty minutes to an hour. Wow, I hear you cry, how do you do that?  Well read on dear reader, read on.

Both techniques are yoga based, but do not require you to get up, get out of bed or get on your yoga mat. Neither are you expected to adopt certain postures in your bed (again that’s a whole different website you’re after!)

All that is required as a starting point is that you are comfortable, warm and fairly relaxed in bed, in the dark.

The first technique is a simple repetitive, relaxation sequence that you say to yourself in your mind. The key to this is to be as dis-interested in what you are telling yourself as possible. So its a really bored tone of voice you want to adopt. Also try not to rush through it, take your time and feel each part relaxing.  This is how you consciously relax your chakras and your body and it goes something like this.

I now relax my crown, I now relax my crown, my crown is now completely relaxed.

I now relax my brow, I now relax my brow, my brow is now completely relaxed.

I now relax my throat, I now relax my throat, my throat is now completely relaxed.

I now relax my heart, I now relax my heart, my heart is now completely relaxed.

And so on, through your solar plexus, your sacral and your base. You can also apply it to body parts such as the head, the neck, the shoulders etc etc working your way down. The aim of the game is to drift off during the sequence not to make the exercise itself the reason you stay awake!

The second technique is known asVipassana from the Buddhist philosophy which means “to sit and watch many things” or Avadhana from the Yoga philosophy which means “attentiveness” as best translation and goes a little something like this.  

Thinking; thinking; aware of thinking.

Breathing; breathing; aware of breathing.

Know it; name it; lable it.

Listening; listening; aware of listening, to sounds entering my field of hearing; hearing.

Know it, name it, label it.

You could even make sleep, part of the focus of your Avadhana. 

Sleeping; sleeping; aware of sleeping. 

You continue visiting each of these thinking, breathing, listening, sleeping and any other that may spring to mind again in a repetitive manor until (magically) you nod off. Again the aim is to let go and nod off, not end up chanting in your head all night. Though that might do it too!

Even though I have found these techniques really helpful and I am really keen to share them, it is important to remember that sleep is just one part of the story that encompasses our total health and wellbeing and that other factors do play a major part. Perhaps consider how much you get outside during the day, how active you are, how much stress you are dealing with on a daily basis and even how much caffine and alcohol you drink. It may only take a slight adjustment with one of these areas or more consideration in all of them to tip the balance towards a more graceful and gratifying sleep.   

Wishing you sweet dreams.

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