“I love sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?”
Ah… sleep. Finally, a time for quiet, reflection, peace and uninterrupted… wait, what?
Uninterrupted and obsessive thoughts? Really?!
Do you recognize this scenario?
The six to nine hours of sleep that we are hopefully getting every night are key to maintaining our physical and emotional health.
This is our opportunity to rest, recover, and perchance to dream.
Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison both used half sleep moments to solve big questions. There are vast resources available in our subconscious for healing and deciphering the world in general.
Which brings us back to the question “how is your sleep?”.
Is it a time for recovery and creativity? Or are you stuck in a stress loop thought pattern.
In all things mindful, awareness of the process is the first step to freedom. We can choose our thoughts. The last thoughts that are on your mind before sleep will be the ones that play on your subconscious sound track all night long.
With that in mind choose wisely. Create a plan for going to sleep with an uncluttered and peaceful mind.
Here are some ways to make that happen –
· Keep a small notebook by the bed.
If you think of something that needs to be done write it down and let it go.
It will be there in the morning.
· Shut down all electronics 30 – 60 minutes before sleep
· Find music and/or literature that uplifts and fills the senses with beauty.
· Listen to a guided meditation to emotionally unwind and clear the mind.
We shift through different states of consciousness in our waking hours as well as when we sleep. Understanding the process automatically gives you more control.
Beta is our awake and alert state and the part of the mind that is the ‘driver’, controlling the mechanical motions in life.
When you slip into daydream mode you shift into Alpha and depending on the thoughts hanging out in your subconscious these can be pleasant dreams or anxious and fearful ones.
Theta, a meditative state, is a blissful dreamy state of consciousness that carries us into and out of Delta, deep sleep.
Setting the scene for a healthy night’s sleep prepares and guides the mind into peaceful and restorative dreamscapes, giving mind and body a needed break from daily stress.
If you don’t choose your thoughts they will choose for you!
Sleep well and dream big.
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