Ugh. The feeling after missing a good night’s sleep. At least 7 to 8 hours are recommended. Not the case for too many of us. When we waken, thoughts invade and we cannot go back to sleep. We go to the bathroom and cannot go back to a deep sleep.

Four stages to going to sleep:

1)         Thinking. We think what happened today and what may happen tomorrow.

2)         Aware or not, thoughts turn toward relaxation.

3)         The hypnoidal stage where we drift into sleep.

4)         Unconscious sleep where we are not aware of anything around us.

When any of these routines is broken, sleep may become difficult.  Could go on for years. People will try anything from melatonin to marijuana to alcohol to fall asleep.

Doing drugs becomes dependent upon the drugs. People lose their ability to fall asleep on their own. What follows: Drug usage escalates, leading to less satisfying sleep.

The strategy for someone having difficulty getting to sleep is to skip the thinking stage. When the person gets into bed to go to sleep, he must begin visualizing the fantasy stage, which . needs to be thoughts associated with relaxation.

Develop a fantasy stage by thinking of a true experience where you really were relaxed. Use your own experience because you already associate that occasion with relaxation. It is important to maintain that fantasy-thought process. Eventually it will draw you into the hypnoidal stage and then into unconscious sleep.

Self-hypnosis is a good way to make sure your body is relaxed. Relaxation occurs when there is an absence of tension in the muscles. Sequentially tense and release the muscles in the different areas of your body. Start with the area of the feet up through the knees. Tense, then release the tension.

Moving in Sequence

Concentrate on the thighs through the hips, again tensing and releasing the tension. Bring your focus to your abdomen, chest, and shoulders. Do the same, followed by the areas from your shoulders down through the arms and hands, all the way to your fingertips. Lastly, do not tense the mouth and jaw.  Simply release any unnecessary tension there.

The next three steps replicate the body changes experienced by anyone entering hypnosis. Take a really deep breath, hold it for a moment, slowly exhale. (The brain and body require more oxygen to enter hypnosis.) Create a swallow (pretend to swallow something.) Roll your eyes up (eyelids closed, looking up into the forehead). This causes the eyelids to flutter, replicating the Rapid Eye Movement of sleep.

Several options are available for the next step. Visualize your fantasy stage.  Or concentrate on your breathing. On the exhale, repeat a series of words, peaceful, restful, sleep or beautiful, deep, restful, sleep.

With either option, you should have hypnotized yourself. That state of mind will draw you into unconscious sleep.

What would cause a person who has fallen asleep to suddenly be awake? The usual culprit is toxic worry. When we are worried about something that will occur the next day or an important issue in our lives, it can interrupt our sleeping through the night.

This is similar to children who are excited about Santa coming on Christmas Eve. They have difficulty getting to, and maintaining, sleep.

Considering that toxic worry can trigger us out of unconscious sleep, a good strategy for maintaining sleep is to give ourselves a suggestion when getting into bed. Say to yourself, “I refuse to worry during my sleep state. This kind of worrying accomplishes nothing. I deserve my peaceful, restful, sleep.”

Sometimes, we do wake up in the middle of our sleep, whether for the bathroom, a pet disturbing us, a change in room temperature, a loud noise, a light going on or off. Toxic worry.

An excellent strategy for getting back to sleep is to concentrate on your normal breathing. (You are controlling your thoughts.) Become aware of how your normal inhale and exhale actually feel. This takes practice. Begin repeating a series of words only on the exhale, peaceful, restful, sleep or peaceful, deep, restful, sleep.

This repetition prevents you from going back into the thinking stage. You could also think of this repetition of words as a substitute fantasy stage. With practice, you will be back asleep within five to ten repetitions of the words.

Hypnosis can help you to gain a good night’s sleep. See a hypnotist who can help. Happy dreams.

Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net