Anyone else awake at 3am, and wondering what they can do about it? After lots of sleep deprivation, I finally made a list of everything that sometimes works - and sometimes doesn't, although a combination of several things may help. All of these are entirely drug-free and normally harmless - but do take your personal situation into account.... * Get someone who cares to read you a bedtime story - something gentle and benign. (We've made our way through the entire works of Lewis Carroll, the Narnia series, etc...) * Go to bed with a hot water bottle and hug it to you * Get someone to give you a massage - in bed. * Try a breathing exercise that has the out-breath longer than the in-breath (eg: in for 3, out for 6) * Get yourself a little bracelet of beads, just to hold in your hand while you are in bed, then count off, one bead at a time all your favourite movies, books, dog breeds, flowers, trees, or whatever has interest to you. * Listen to a softly tuned radio, or some such device that might lull you to sleep. There are special devices for this also. * Note: these last two require you to carefully assess your personal circumstances *** Drink some herbal "sleepy tea", and/or use an aromatherapy mix of specific oils ( I put a dab on the neck of whatever I'm wearing). Would be interested to hear of other ideas. Lack of sleep can really play havoc with your state of mind.....

Posted by Chel at 2023-05-13 09:17:03 UTC