Restful Sleep Getting Your Brain to Cooperate

There you lie in bed, desperately needing to sleep, yet your mind and body seem to have other ideas. You are tired, yet somehow cannot seem to relax and quiet your mind enough to sleep. It is as if you are at war with your brain. You want to sleep. Your brain is determined to keep you awake. Interestingly, scientific research has recently shown this dichotomy to be true in cases of insomnia. In fact, sleep research suggests that before you even hit the sheets, your brain has already chosen its course of action for the night (without even consulting you). If a part of the brain called the Default Mode Network is overactive, you are destined to lay awake, experiencing mind clutter, body tension and a host of other mentally and emotionally disturbing destroyers of restful sleep. The existence and activity of the Default Mode Network has been confirmed through MRI studies and scientifically correlated to what Stanley Block, MD calls the Identity System (I-system). The Identity System The Identify System is the part of our brain that evolved to create a sense of separateness from other people and from our environment. Without it, we would not be able to distinguish our individuality or even realize that we exist apart from the elements. The problem occurs when the I-system becomes overactive, exaggerating our separateness and restricting our awareness. With a hyperactive I-system, our experience is confined to the thoughts and emotions that isolate us – fear, conflict, worry and a variety of mind chatter than only serves to keep us distracted and tense. Sleep is impossible. Helping Your Brain Decide to Sleep How do you retire to bed confident that your brain intends to sleep? By resting your I-system. A quiet, relaxed I-system leads directly to balanced functioning, including natural sleep when the body is tired. University conducted clinical trials among the most difficult insomnia populations, cancer patients and combat veterans, show that resting the I-system through a simple practice called Mind-Body Bridging, results in improved sleep in an unprecedented 90% of patients. Why the unusually high success rate? It is physiologically impossible for your I-system to remain overactive while you are engaged in the practice of Mind-Body Bridging. When the I-system rests, so do you. It’s a biochemical certainty.