***Insomnia Cures

Most people experience insomnia at least occasionally. There are effective alte
atives 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 Jou
eys 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.