A Method for Insomnia
An excerpt from “Small Steps to Giant Leaps”
I have battled with insomnia since I was a child. Not being able to sleep is not a fun thing to experience, especially when you have something “important” to do the next day. Millions of people experience insomnia every night. Below is some helpful information that can be useful during a restless night.
By systematically relaxing your body from toes to brain, you more easily slip into a deep sleep. I recommend doing the yoga nidra body relaxation technique then the breath ratio of 4:2:7. (inhale 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, exhale for 7 seconds and repeat) Many times I don’t get to even four or five rounds before I am fast asleep. Yet sometimes if I can’t fall asleep I have found just lying in a restful state throughout the night is enough to allow me to feel good the next day. Many times if we can’t sleep, we turn on the T.V. or try to read or other do some other busy work. Yet just lying still, relaxing the body and breathing, we can access the regeneration of sleep even if we do not fall into a deep slumber. There has been stories of yogis who haven’t slept in 30 or more years, they meditate through the night and this allows them an even deeper state of healing. I remember one time in the not to distant past, I laid down to sleep as I had a very busy day and important stuff to do the next morning. And of course I couldn’t sleep, so the anxiety of “I can’t sleep” came into my solar plexus once I realized the day will begin in 6 or less hours. I relaxed my entire body and just breathed through the night. I finally fell asleep only getting one hour of sleep but I felt great the next day. I was on point as if I had slept for 8 hours. Because I didn’t get up and fuss about, or toss and turn in anxiety, I was able to rest the body and mind enough to ready it for the day ahead. This was also a reinforcement to me that even if I did not sleep I could access that state of healing throughout the night. This lessoned the anxiety of not being able to sleep and the irony is that you will usually fall asleep by staying restful.
Often with not being able to sleep, the fear of not being able to sleep is arising and we push it away as we think, I need to get to sleep and be up early tomorrow. This makes the emotional energy of fear more prevalent, and the option for sleep further away. We ignorantly think that by pushing the fear away we will sleep faster, yet that is why we can’t fall asleep: that feeling in our solar plexus or wherever it may be. The accepting and naming works well for this, as you lie there, accept the fear, the feelings that arise with this energy, and use what we have been practicing. It works very well here. Use all three of these methods to help you with this if need be. Make it your own and see what works best for you.
A Basic Explanation of Yoga Nidra
You can begin at the toes and feet if you like, simply saying internally, “Relax the toes and feet, my toes and feet are relaxing, my toes and feet are relaxed.” Move your way all the way up to the top of the head, systematically relaxing the entire body. You can then move onto the internal organs if you wish in the same way, “Relaxing the stomach, my stomach is relaxing, my stomach is completely relaxed.” Again, move through the organs until you get to the brain, and at this point, after you relax the brain, you will be in a deep state of relaxation. Try to bring your awareness to the area of focus and feel it relaxing as you send the message from your brain to that area by internally telling it to relax.
Guided Yoga Nidra (surrender) Meditation available as MP3 and CD:
