Did you have a midnight to crumble from side to side in unsuccessful attempts to fall asleep? Razreic thoughts are about, and this noise is not possible to “turn off” this noise. Psychologist Jay Wu explains why this is happening, and tells how to outwit the stubbornly awake brain.
How did you sleep? This is a very important question. Responding to him, we evaluate our general condition: “How I feel? I’m here or not really?»Everything is natural. Sometimes such a bustle day is given that by the evening we barely crawl to the bed, dreaming of falling and falling asleep, but it is worth lying under the blanket, as annoying thoughts begin to rush in my head. What is the most paradoxical, the more we are exhausted in the day, the more difficult it is to lull the brain.
Insomnia – modern “trend”
If you know this, know: you are not alone. Bouts of insomnia regularly occur in 30% of adults, and every year their number increases. Even if you are one of those lucky ones who usually fall asleep easily and quickly, you probably had nights when you tossed from side by side, trying in vain to disconnect the annoying brain. But he muttered everything about deeds, concerns, debts, ideas and plans, scroll through awkward moments, hummed obsessive songs and did not want to stop, at least hit his head against the wall.
The brain is always in business
That the brain refuses to obey is quite natural. He works like a bee. His destiny is to buzz tirelessly so that we remember, compare, calculate, plan, decide, in short, acted like people. No matter how we want to calm the brain, it is useless to blame it for stormy activity – it cannot otherwise. In addition, our brain is very persistent. He has an extremely responsible work – to help us remain attentive and productive.
Therefore, if he considers something very important, you can’t just take it and tell him: “Listen, stop fussing. Tomorrow we will deal with all urgent cases and urgent decisions “. As if not! But you can stop fighting with a stubborn brain, confident that he works for us for the benefit, and try to lull him. Here are five tips that will help to calm the rushing thoughts and sleep peacefully.
A few words about chronic insomnia
Before continuing, it is necessary to make a small, but extremely important digression for 10% of people who suffer from chronic insomnia. Namely:
- cannot fall asleep or often wake up almost every night;
- This lasts more than a month;
- This prevents live normally and brings to nervous breakdowns.
If all this is about you, try the following techniques, but still keep in mind: they will not help to cope with severe sleep disturbances. Most likely, you have repeatedly unsuccessfully tried to defeat insomnia: followed the rules of sleep hygiene, meditated, used lavender oil and so on. Just in case, do not really hope that these tips will become a panacea.
Better ask the doctor to direct you to a profile specialist who treats insomnia with verified methods. All the rest – that is, those who have problems with sleep only from time to time – can safely apply these tricks today.
1. Arrange a “disturbing break”
It would seem a rather stupid advice. Who wants to worry on a schedule? But be patient. Take away the alarms for 15-30 minutes a day-just not before going to bed! Do not try to do other things at the same time. It is important to concentrately worry about everything that you are not able to influence.
If at the end of the break it turns out that the brain is trying to cling to problems with which you can’t do anything, and begins to drive the same thoughts in the second circle, just tell yourself: “That’s it, for today the anxiety limit is exhausted”. Or: “Thank you, brain! Let’s postpone these concerns until tomorrow’s alarm break “.
The meaning is to limit the space for anxiety. Set them in a specially designated corner, so as not to be worn, like mad, for a day long. You probably know how difficult it is to turn off the restless thoughts. Try to order yourself not to think about a pink elephant.
Now admit what you just thought about? So, instead of persuading yourself not to worry, give the brain the opportunity to get anxiety from the common system and place them in a specific time period. Soon you will learn to postpone any problems until the next “alarming break”.
2. Transfer painful thoughts from your head to paper
What if the “alarming break” did not help? Or the day was so tense that it was not possible to relax and fall asleep? A round dance of thoughts without stopping is spinning in your head so that you, God forbid, do not stop worrying about something important. In this case, they need to be “unloaded”. This technique is best used before bedtime, trying to catch everything that has settled in my head.
For ideas that deserve special attention, it is good to start a diary. But you can do without a diary, do not paint everything by points and not finish offers. It is not necessary to write thoughtlessly, sublime and competently. Even fragmentary thoughts scratched on a napkin will work. The main thing is to transfer them to paper so that the brain is convinced that you have not forgotten anything. You can tell him: “Don’t worry! Everything is recorded, we will do it tomorrow, when there will be the right moment “.
3. Lose scenes
You have noticed someday how to rapidly rush thoughts? The fact is that the brain is a speaking device trained to instantly select words and compose stories. In fact, all our thoughts are short stories with which we comprehend the world. It is worth losing vigilance, how the brain is taken to be raped at a frantic speed, jumping from the topic on the topic. Fortunately, we can switch to a different type of thinking, not as in a hurry as the one set by default, and it is called imagination.
It is much easier to regulate the speed, playing the scene in the mind. Imagine how you walk around the rooms of a large house or go from wood to wood along a winding forest path. Try to completely plunge into the plot, use all five feelings. What the forest looks like? It is warm and dry or blows fresh breeze? What smells here? Take a look at the leaf – what color it is? Spend it with your fingers – what do you feel?
When
you do this, images occupy a space that the brain is usually in a hurry to fill in randomly reasoning. From time to time, he will distract you from contemplation of pictures. This is fine! Do not resist your thoughts and do not try to throw them out of your head, it is like fighting the notorious pink elephant. They caught a thought-thank the brain and again direct your attention to the sheet that they looked at.