Stay awake \u2013 on purpose \u2013 tonight. You might get to see the aurora, the northern lights caused by the largest solar storm to hit our planet’s magnetic field in about 8 years. And, there might be other benefits as well\u2026 Read on\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to believe now, but not long ago insomnia was my \u201cState of the Union\u201d \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t pretty!<\/p>\n
But sometimes the answers to our challenges are almost too simple to believe. That was the case with my case of insomnia. At the end of my rope, I went to a\u201d sleep shrink\u201d \u2013 a sleep psychologist. Yes, there are such specialists. It was one of the best decisions of my life! Solution: he put me on a sleep diet. \u00a0That\u2019s right. He restricted my sleep to get me to sleep, and doing so gave me some very simple but important guidelines to follow. I followed.\u00a0 Here they are\u2026 I\u2019ll amplify them in later posts.<\/p>\n
Never nap.<\/p>\n
Never do anything during wakeful hours at night but read quietly in a chair.<\/p>\n
Restrict your hours in bed.<\/p>\n
Keep regular and routine sleep times and wake times.<\/p>\n
Make practical changes in your lifestyle.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how these principles played out for me \u2013 and changed my life!<\/p>\n
In my exhaustion I had been indulging in frequent siestas. Having only averaged 4 hours of sleep a night, I was afraid that if I didn\u2019t nap, I might fall asleep at the wheel while driving my kids to school. Occasionally, I came dangerously close to doing just that! Now I was not allowed to nap. Ever. \u00a0But the promised pay off was well worth the delayed gratification.<\/p>\n
Then he gave me some very particular instructions of what to do and what not to do when awakened in the middle of the night:<\/p>\n
1. Do not lie there more than fifteen minutes.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 If after that time you still can’t sleep, get up quietly, turn on one light, get comfortable in a chair and read a peace-evoking book\u00a0(Anne of Green Gables will do).<\/p>\n
3. Read until you get sleepy again.<\/p>\n
4. Do not surf the web, do laundry, check email or Facebook, unload thedishwasher… (you get the picture).<\/p>\n
5. Quietly shuffle back to bed.<\/p>\n
6. Repeat as necessary.<\/p>\n
I was to put myself on a strict sleep diet, called \u201cSleep Restriction.\u201d Sounds cruel, but it works. It meant that I would limit the hours I allowed myself to lie in bed. After a while, I would get so sleepy that my chances of sleep would increase. My doctor started me out on a limit of six and one half hours per night. For years I had followed my teachers\u2019 counsel that everyone needs eight\u00a0hours a night. My sleep doctor assured me that everyone\u2019s sleep needs varies, and perhaps I was one of those blessed people\u00a0that only need six hours a night. We would find out.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m embarrassed to admit that I had read all of these suggestions online (most likely during my fitful, wakeful hours in the night) and dismissed them, assuming that my solution was health-related or hormonal-related or medical-related. I wanted a fix that I didn\u2019t have to work for.<\/p>\n
Duh.<\/p>\n
I was the answer to my own prayers, but I didn\u2019t want to believe that.<\/p>\n
Is it possible that your solution is right under your nose, so obvious that you\u2019re missing it? Whether insomnia or some other life challenge, God has given us wisdom, knowledge and supernatural power to conquer them. As Paul writes in his letter to the Roman church, \u201c\u2026 in all these things (challenges) we are more than conquerors through him (Jesus) who loved us\u201d (Romans<\/em> 8:37).<\/p>\n Father, open our eyes to the solutions you have for us that are within our reach. Help us to not wait for other people to fix what is broken; help us to roll up our sleeves and get to work ourselves. In Jesus\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stay awake \u2013 on purpose \u2013 tonight. You might get to see the aurora, the northern lights caused by the largest solar storm to hit our planet’s magnetic field in about 8 years. And, there might be other benefits as well\u2026 Read on\u2026 It\u2019s hard to believe now, but not long ago insomnia was my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[27,25,30,26,31,29,28,32,24,23],"class_list":["post-18","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restful-sleep","tag-anne-of-green-gables","tag-aurora","tag-nap","tag-northern-lights","tag-siesta","tag-sleep-diet","tag-sleep-psychologist","tag-sleep-restriction","tag-solar-storm","tag-state-of-the-union"],"yoast_head":"\n