A calm mind, a calm night

I read something the other day that said Geminis have trouble sleeping because their minds are too busy. Geminis and health. I can totally identify with that so searched for mind quietening visualisations and here are some of my favourites.

1.   A calm mind for better sleep A brilliant insomnia website, full of useful tips.

2.   Internal Yoga A useful technique for relaxation before bed

3.  A visualization to calm the mind  A very useful activity

4.  8 tips to quieten the mind  Another excellent site with some good meditation resources

5.  Progressive relaxation  A very useful technique which can be highly effective

6.  A guided imagery technique for insomnia  I really like this one and will try it tonight

There are so many more out there on the internet, plus youtube has a lot of yoga and relaxation videos that might help.  Other ways I've found to help quieten my Gemini mind are:

1. Don't work too late (it's now 1.40am oops!)
2. Listen to relaxing music or a meditation podcast before sleep
3. Don't work in the bedroom - keep it a relaxation room
4. Write down the next day's tasks long before bed
5. Keep pen and paper by the bed in case I think of anything else I want to remember

To all of you who are having trouble sleeping, try some of these out. I'd love to know how you get on.

Sleep tight xx

Working my way round the insomnia

The insomnia isn't as bad now. Well, every other night it isn't too bad. I've now given up trying to get a 'normal' sleep pattern and have realised that going back to my old job of teaching adults in a difficult environment would not be the best idea. Instead I've decided to do freelance work from home. Perfect! I can work when I'm awake and it doesn't matter when that is. I don't have to lie awake for hours because I don't want to take a sleeping tablet for the insomnia - I can get up and do something, and it doesn't matter if I doze off again in the afternoon. Besides I can have clients in any time zone and still communicate with them in real time - wonderful!

Or is it? I might not have to get up at 6.30 every morning (which is the nightmare of many an insomniac) but the work of a freelancer isn't guaranteed, and it can consist of boring, repetitive work that can numb the brain... Or maybe it might actually help me sleep....

Insomnia

I've been suffering from insomnia for several months now and seem to be incapable of staying asleep for more than three hours. Margaret Thatcher allegedly slept for four hours a night, and that isn't uncommon, but I don't think anyone manages with three on a long term basis. It seems such an arbitrary length of time, just on the cusp of being enough to cope, but I can set a watch by it. Not that I have a timepiece in the bedroom any more, that's A Bad Thing for insomniacs. I've tried herbal remedies, aromatherapy, reflexology, reiki, acupuncture, meditation, baths, milky drinks, alcohol, no alcohol.... Most of the suggested remedies, in fact. I've also tried sleeping tablets but they gave me nightmares and made me even less capable of a normal day as they caused a hangover of grogginess that took hours to shake off after I woke.

Today I got an email from Amazon about I Can Make you Sleep by the hypnotist and writer Paul McKenna. Make seems a strange word to use - I'd assume I need help rather than compulsion. I have visions of Mr McKenna coming to my flat and shining a bright torch in my eyes in a bid to confuse me before getting a hired thug to hit me over the head with a baseball bat and try to persuade me to give him the details of my dreams when I wake. I suspect, however, that the reality is somewhat more subdued, and in my desperation for sleep I may well add it to the list of things I've tried to help me.