Sleep trouble / waking trouble

[Perkinsj88]

I often have trouble falling asleep, HBO in my head ftw. Yet once I do, I could sleep through an explosion. I hate being so difficult to wake if my wife or kids need me. I am told I'm rather violent when someone tries to wake me, I never remember any of this. Apparently I'm a sleep fighter! Any ideas or suggestions? Sleep aids only make this worse.

 

[Ylva]

Meditation could help.

 

[Perkinsj88]

Meds makes it worse, I fall asleep faster but I sleep much longer

 

[Ylva]

Have you heard of the Silva Method? It is a style of meditation where you close your eyes and focus on counting backwards (because counting forwards is too automatic), and it is how I've been getting rest for years.

There's a way to wake up with meditation, too, apparently, but I have never managed. It's all in the book:

The Silva Mind Control Method: Jose Silva: 9780671739898: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Aalo]

Also inclusive changes could help not only helping to get sleep but to sleep better. Things like changing a diet, or even how you eat few hours before going to bed, how late you are on a computer or watching tv etc. I know that these can sound stupid and obvious, and they might not alone be enough but are things that often need to be taken care in order for other tricks to work. These must often be explored carefully over time, universal rules can't be made as our bodies work bit different each, also individual body will change over time. For many people meds are just easy way to do things and if they don't work one needs to do lot more to feel good, but these changes can easily make one feel better than with meds.

Are you aware of waking from sleep because of noises or temperature or such that ought to be eliminated? It would be great if there was no interruptions while sleeping.

 

[kicker]

See I have a lot of trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. I've come to realize there is a noise threshold that it's either ambient (white noise) or disruptive. If it's ambient I don't have an issue. Mechanical sounds like a fan or frig don't bug me, ticking clocks do though to much lapse in time between ticks I guess, can't seem to not pay attention to it. If it's disruptive like people talking (tv or in person) cars, radio, dogs, etc it wakes me up instantly if I am asleep and if I am not then I can't fall asleep till it stops.

I can't go to sleep till like 2am and I am up at 6, because 2 is when the local noise stops and 6 is when it starts up all over again. I'm quite use to it. Some nights I get a little more, because some nights don't have as much activity some nights I get less.

I have found though if I want to go to sleep when the noise stops I also have to focus on one thing. I usually pose a question to myself about something fun. I like astrophysics and really have no way of testing any of my ideas so I pose myself a hypothetical question as to the make up of something or why something behaves a certain way. Then just let my mind go anywhere it wants with that question, but it has to stay on the question. I'm very image driven so an image will start to form in my head and I will get it to be more and more detailed and play with it. Spin it around, etc and when I get to the point of the image I stay with it. Exploring it. Then I end waking up hours later not even realizing I fell asleep.

It's very much like counting backwards in that your mind gets fixated on a single simple problem/image. I've never been able to see numbers the way I do words so I use words.

Don't know if that will help or add to the conversation any, but I figured I would share and let you take from it what you will.

 

[SallySlips]

Try exercising in the evening, a few hours before you go to bed. Even just a walk can help. I have trouble falling asleep a lot, but wearing myself out a little does me some good.