New Insomnia Tips

Here are this week's tips for getting back to sleep in the middle of the night (from my upcoming book):


When my mind is racing and I’m having trouble falling back to sleep, I try to picture a beautiful lake... I focus on the surface of the water and imagine that all my thoughts are drops hitting the water. At first, it's like a hard rain, and the surface gets really rough. Then, I watch as the rain slows down and the surface becomes very still.

--April Biddle


If you’re having a hard time turning off your mind, repeat some of the following phrases over and over and over and over...Say them slower each time, while imagining yourself drifting off into a dewy fog…

“My head is very heavy.”
“I’m very tired.”
“I’m going to sleep now.”
“I’m very sleepy.” (Try to yawn each time you say it.)
“I’m so tired.”
“I’m a good person.”
“Everything is going to be OK.”

-- Tracy Ivie

Got any tips to share? Please add below, and thanks.

Insomnia 101 --Tips for getting some zzzzzs

This week's tips -- (Let me know if they work for you.)

From me: Count numbers.

Did you ever see those old black and white TV newsreels, where the numbers zip down from 10 to 1 in a big fuzzy circle? OK, now picture that screen, with a new number from 1 to 300 each time, changing the numbers v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Or just imagine the numbers and no circle, from 1 to 300, excruciatingly s-l-o-w-l-y. Try puffy white clouds or pink, polka dot numbers, if you prefer -- whatever you feel like watching that night.

Contributed tips:

When insomnia raises its ugly head, I just lie there and listen to my cat Miro purr. I get my breathing in sync with his purring and before long I am back to sleep.

-- Pablo Solomon
pablosolomon.com

My husband is an aural kind of buy, very into music. When he can't sleep, he grabs his CD player, which has a Delta sleep CD in it and plays it.

I am a visual woman so I grab my flax and lavender eye pillow and cover my eyes. At the same time, I do a deep breathing yoga/meditation exercise.

-- Jill Nussinow, MS, RD
www.theveggiequeen.com