In my life, sleep is the number one way I can either improve my self-care and nurture myself or defeat my self-care and deplete my energy, peace of mind, and productivity, all in one fell swoop.
When I am rested I am more resistant to stress. My body is more flexible and willing to work, my head is clearer and more focused, I feel happier and more at peace, and I am kinder to myself AND others.
When I’m overtired, on the other hand, my body and emotions feel more fragile. Unexpected twists can send me into a hurricane of nervousness, my mind is clouded, and I’m much less likely to be nice to you OR me.
I know this. I’ve known it for some time. So you’d think I consistently get enough sleep to make sure the first scenario happens every time, right? After all, I AM the “self-care coach”, my self-care must be perfect, right?
Well not so much.
In addition to writing about sleep, I have to mention another self-care concept here, to explain why I’m a bit tired today. The concept is SELF-SABOTAGE.
The dictionary definition of sabotage is “an act or process tending to hinder or injure” or “deliberate subversion.” Why the hell would we sabotage ourselves? That is a complicated answer. And a simple one. we choose.
Sometimes it is so frightening to imagine changing, growing, or making conscious decisions that we deliberately hinder our own efforts. We make decisions every minute of every day. Our life depends on us. These are intimidating thoughts. And doing things the way we’ve always done them feels safe and comforting.
I know that I will feel much better if I sleep well. And sometimes, for whatever reasons, I don’t choose to “feel good.”
And when self love and common sense win out and I AM able to do what I need to do to get a good night’s sleep, I am rewarded.
Aside from the benefits I’ve already mentioned, a good night’s sleep can also have specific rewards for us creatively. A few months ago I came across an article titled “Does a good night’s sleep make you smarter?” (www.msnbc.com, in the “Health” section). The article described an ongoing research project at the University of Luebeck in Germany, which has determined that good sleep not only makes us smarter and better problem solvers, but also more creative!
The article notes that “history is peppered with incidents in which artists and scientists have woken up to make their most notable contributions after long periods of frustration.”
In other words, when we’re wrestling with a problem in the hours before bed, our brains are still working on the problem while we’re sleeping, and the answer might “show up” in the morning!
Therefore, the more time and restorative we have, the more time our “sleeping brain” has to work on the problem our “awake brain” has been struggling with.
This is related to the common spiritual practice of praying, before going to bed, for the solution of a problem, or to the self-help practice of writing a question on a piece of paper and sliding it under your pillow before going to bed.
So what’s stopping you from getting a good night’s sleep? How do you sabotage your efforts? Overwork? Television? Internet browsing or gaming? Food, drink or other substances that make it difficult to sleep? Irregular sleep habits?
Here are the five things that work best for ME to get a good night’s sleep.
1. Turn off the computer and the television an hour before I would like to sleep. This gives me time to relax, calm my thoughts, and prepare for sleep.
2. Get up early on weekends. This means I don’t stay up too late or sleep too much on the weekends. I try to keep my bedtime and wake up within an hour of what I do during the week. Otherwise I spend half the week readjusting and life is too short!
3. Give up caffeine. Even before quitting completely, I really had to limit my caffeine and “just say no” anytime after 5:00 pm or the caffeine affected my sleep that night.
4. Breathing techniques and other relaxation exercises. Just a few minutes of deep breathing can calm me down and put me to sleep right away.
The simplest tips are to focus on breathing from the belly (diaphragmatic breathing) and to focus on long exhalations (exhalation is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for relaxation).
5. Setting the scene with music. I use music both when I’m winding down and getting ready for bed and when I’m going to sleep. I have experimented to find the music that best does the job for me; this is obviously a very individual choice.
I recommend instrumental music or vocal music without words or sung in a language you don’t understand (so you don’t get mentally stuck on the words while trying to fall asleep). Wind instruments (I like the shakuhachi flute) are nice as the natural breaths and pauses the player makes can mirror your own deep, slow breathing.
Have you ever woken up in the morning (or in the middle of the night!) with a solution to a problem, a new song idea, or another creative spark? That sounds like the work of a good night’s sleep!
This article originally appeared on the Muses Muse Songwriter’s Resource website (January 2005) http://www.musesmuse.com.
(c) Copyright 2005, Genuine Coaching Services.