It’s almost the end of the year and everyone is feeling a little frazzled and worn. You can read it on Facebook, sense it in the shopping centre and hear about it from everyone you know. So while I am not alone in being absolutely exhausted I think I have a particularly severe form of exhaustion because I cannot sleep.
I have always been a problem sleeper, I can only imagine that I must have been a nightmare as a baby, and it’s not getting any better with age. Of course, like all insomniacs, I go through periods that are worse than others so I decided to make a list of what it is that is keeping me wide awake from the 2am-6am time slot
• I can’t sleep if there is a mess in the house which is why you will always find my house spotless first thing in the morning
• I can’t sleep if there is a cupboard open. I wish I just meant a cupboard in my room but I am starting to believe I can’t sleep if there is a cupboard open anywhere in the world
• I can’t sleep if I am wearing any clothes (sorry about the imagery there, but I find the feel of clothing when I am trying to sleep very claustrophobic
• I can’t sleep if I am too hot
• I can’t sleep if my husband falls asleep before me. I realise that this is incredibly selfish but it’s true
• I can’t sleep if my dog is sleeping on the floor instead of on the bed. We have the only dog in the world that we have to force to sleep on the bed
• I can’t sleep if it is raining outside because I have to stay up to worry about the homeless people
• I can’t sleep if I have eaten too much
• I can’t sleep if I am hungry
• I can’t sleep if there is chocolate in the house
• I can’t sleep if I have something on my mind
• I can’t sleep if I am angry
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So when CAN I sleep?
• I can sleep as the alarm goes off
• I can sleep while I am waiting to pick my son up from school, although I have promised him I wont
• I can sleep in the afternoon although I don’t because I worry it will keep me awake at night.
• I can sleep when I am watching a movie that I really want to see the end of
• I can sleep during very boring presentations but my head nod wakes me up
• I can sleep if I have had many glasses of red wine but I can’t do that every night for obvious reasons
• I can sleep while I am driving long distances which is why I don’t drive long distances
• I can sleep while I am having a facial but I am always petrified that I will snore and I will never know about it because the beauty therapist is too polite
I think I am going to start setting my alarm for 11pm at the school pick up with a glass of red wine and a beauty therapist. Might be tricky but at least I wont be so exhausted.
Are you a good sleeper? Do you have anything that keeps you awake or gets you to sleep?
You poor thing! I used to have bouts of insomnia and when I did sleep I woke up 6 times a night. Lyrica has solved that for me but I take it for something else.
And I’m sorry, I often have cupboards open in my house so it’s probably my fault you can’t sleep. I’ll try to do better. Xxxxxx
Please close your cupboard doors xxx
Of course, your insomnia could be just be a normal sleep pattern – we love giving labels to things – we call people who can’t sleep through the night “insomniacs”, but this is apparently only a modern behaviour – it used to be quite normal to get up in the middle of the night and do stuff – having two sleeps a night used to be the norm:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/24/sleep-twice-a-night-anxiety
So maybe we should all stop worrying about “how” we sleep – some of us sleep all night – some of us have two sleeps – if you’re a 2 sleeps person, then get up in the middle of the night and do stuff you love – read a book, write a blog… enjoy your sleep pattern! 🙂
Interesting comment John James (as always). I would not worry about the sleeping so much if I wasn’t so exhausted during the day. Also the middle of the night is the loneliest time in the world, where lonely means scary 😉
To sleep or not to sleep…
So many factors to be considered.
There is a yoga posture (quite easy), non presel kind, that benefits the practitioner to an extremely restful disposition ( the same as an 8 hour sleep). I believe that’s why master yogis don’t sleep. However, for us mere mortals the need for sleep or rest is relevant on the morning radar of crankiness.
My humble suggestion for stabilizing a better sleep pattern for anyone….. Is to…
“Rest on it”
Namaste <3
OH poor Lana. Sleep in the day. I find it takes the pressure off at night because at least you know if you don’t sleep you can, well, sleep in the day. Also I’m asleep in the afternoon so you have no reason to stay awake. xxxxxxx
I feel like a grandmother, But I will consider it
I am not a good sleeper either, mostly because I am the world’s lightest sleeper and the slightest noise wakes me up. This is particularly annoying as my husband is a very accomplished snorer. Just last night I got up at midnight and flounced off to the spare bed in a fit of temper. I also never drink caffeine of any sort after 4pm, as that keeps me awake. I say take an afternoon nap if you need to. Sleep at any time is a good thing.
If you go to the spare bed at midnight can you fall back asleep? Or does your anger at your husband’s snoring keep you awake? xx
I find that when ever I have stress in my life it builds up and becomes a crippling anxiety at around 11pm, just as I turn off the light. It’s characterised by fixating on a particular problem, running it over in my mind on a continuous loop. It could be tallying up my expenses vs the money in my account, or thinking that if A doesn’t arrive in time can I still do B?
Positive thinking and self reassurance is easier said than done. Does anyone have any tips to break the cycle of repetitive thought?
I do! Once I start having repetitive thoughts I focus on a physical item in the room, one which I can see clearly and then I describe it in minute detail to myself. Explain its shapes, its contours and colours, its size – everything. There is actually some proper psychological explanation behind this, once you start engaging this part of the brain (whose name I can’t remember) you actually can’t think about what you were thinking about before. Try it!
Sometimes I spend a whole night describing things but it works xxxx
I realise that there is about a one in a gazillion chance you will NOT laugh when I suggest this……have you tried meditation? I said meditation, NOT medication:). xx
I know you will find this hard to believe but I do a guided meditation every night before I go to sleep!!! I can fall asleep sometimes – just can’t stay that way
Actually I understand, I am such an early to bed person that it’s not uncommon for my 9 and 11 year old to tuck me in. I can fall asleep with ease, but when I wake up at 4 or 5 I can rarely get back to sleep. Sometimes breathing exercises help. x
OMG, did you write this post about me, Lana??? I can relate to ALL these things…especially about cupboards being open!!!
Ah a kindred spirit. I will think of you tonight as I close every cupboard in my home xx
I adore your OCD lists!! As a chronic insomniac from a quite young age, (I began at uni with a family tragedy), I’ve tried everything…and still do: meditation, medication, a set routine, milk drinks with sleep-inducing properties, herbal tablets. The thing about sleep is, it’s elusive – the more you try, the less you can 🙂
Having said this, I have been known to drift off in the middle of staff meetings at school (but try to sit in the back row so it’s less obvious)
Oh Lana, I feel so bad to tell you that both my husband and I are the best sleepers on earth! We LOVE sleep, the more of it, the better. I wish I could offer advice, but I think it is probably just the way you are and the way we are and nothing is going to change.
By the way, just got back from our holiday – averaged 9-10 hours of sleep every day and still came back this morning needing an afternoon nap!
Love this post… I usually sleep well but as soon as I am stressed or start over-thinking something I can relate to what you’ve said. Loving the new blog, thanks for sharing! x