Get To Sleep Tonight

I used to have problems sleeping. I was always tired and if I accidentally dropped off during the day for so much as five minutes I wouldnít be able to sleep the following night. Then a friend told me a trick he used to use and I adapted it slightly. Since then I have always been able to use this technique to get to sleep.

To start with, think about your breathing. Keep it regular and slow. As you breath in think to yourself ìseaî and as you breathe out think ìshoreî. Get a rhythm going. While youíre doing this imagine youíre standing at the edge of the sea looking down at your feet. As you breathe in and think ìseaî imagine the small waves running over your feet as a small wave breaks and then, as you breathe out and think ìshoreî imagine the water retreating back to the sea. See the water as it goes back towards the sea and see the sand that is left behind. Feel that your feet are now on their own little mounds of sand as the sea has washed the surrounding sand away. Repeat.

Now, if youíre like me youíll be thinking of a hundred other things at the same time. Maybe trying to work out whatís for tea, how to pay off your loan, youíve just remembered the kids need a packed lunch for school the next day, mentally writing a presentation. Perhaps youíve just finished work, itís late and you havenít had time to wind down properly so your head is swimming with figures. Whatever it is you need to concentrate. That might sound silly ñ having to concentrate to get to sleep. The natural reaction is to try and relax but if you relax all the worries come flooding back and make you more anxious. You need to concentrate on just two words.

It doesnít matter if you canít keep your breathing regular. What matters is that you say ìseaî and ìshoreî to yourself as you breathe in and out. Really concentrate. Think the words as loudly as you can to drown out all the other stuff that keeps coming back to you. Also try to see the little waves lapping at your feet and then the sand as they go back out again. Concentrate as hard as you can on keeping the breathing, the words and the pictures all together. Donít try to add anything else. Donít try to count how many times you do this before you drop off. Just keep with the breathing, saying and seeing. It should soon settle into a rhythm but you might not notice. Youíll probably be asleep.