Forced Meditation and Insomnia Fix

Everyone knows the benefits of mediation. I have tried mediation many times and it just did not work for me. I could not get my mind to settle down.

 ‘Open your mind and let all the thoughts go…’

Yeah right. My mind has a mind of it’s own. My husband tried mediation with me once at a ‘Survivor Camp’ we attended together. He kept falling asleep. I have never seen anyone fall asleep so fast. Literally the moment this guy's head hits the pillow he is out! Must be nice...

I have insomnia. Now some of the ladies at my church warned me that as you get older it is harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. I agree with this. I can lay in bed for HOURS literally trying to fall asleep. My body is exhausted but my mind is humming along with no end in sight.  In addition once I finally fall asleep I wake up at 4 am almost every morning rearing to go. I just love waking up in the morning, looking around and saying to myself ‘I bet it is 4am’ and yep the alarm clock acknowledges what my brain already knows.

This makes me angry. This is so unfair! I really could have used this ‘need for less sleep’ when I was pulling late nights in dental school, when I was dealing with a newborn infant or when I was pulling 18 hours days trying to get my dental practice off the ground! Things have slowed down for me now. I don’t study until 2am anymore, my 17 year old sleeps through the night and my office practically runs itself!

I am done – I want to sleep!!!

But no…my brain disagrees.

Like I said before my brain as a mind of it’s own. I feel like a trinity-not the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit no instead I am the mind, the body and the soul. Unfortunately these three components quite often fight for supremacy day to day. My mind thinks my body is still 18 and can work tirelessly. My body argues with my mind constantly telling it that YES I have had enough food to eat and NO I cannot run that last mile. My soul just wants to rest….just for eight straight hours.

Well my soul and my body got together and found a way to shut my mind up AND get a couple good hours of sleep. It is simple. When I can’t sleep I simply sit up in the bed and – do nothing.

I just sit there.

Yes my husband is snoring away and I am sitting up in the bed –doing nothing .  My mind is elated! All these thoughts go through my head ..on and on and on. Have you ever heard a pre-teen girl talk? I have one living in my house right now. They can talk – and bounce around from one subject to the next without a break.
Well my mind obviously never reached the teenage years. On and on the thoughts rage – from one subject to the next.

However if you ever have the time to just sit with that teenage girl and let her ramble on there is an end to the talk.  It will end eventually. She will run out of things to say – eventually.  Especially if you let her rattle on night after night.

The mind will quiet too.

At first it may take 20 minutes but as the nights go by the mind will have less to say. The trick is don’t lay down and try to sleep once the mind quiets. No – just like trying to walk away from that teenage girl before she is done talking– the mind will conjure up more thoughts. NO you must sit there –

just sit there.

Until you begin to doze. Then you can gently lie back and curl up in the blankets. I call this forced mediation with a twist because it results in a quiet mind and a sleepy body even if only until 4am.

Let me know if it works for you.