Coping with insomnia

"The LORD gives to His beloved in sleep" (Ps 127:2).

We need to cooperate with the gift of rest.

Cast your cares upon the LORD.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest."

These are the guidelines I'm following which have given me some relief:

- I can't force myself to sleep. I can only let sleep overtake me.

- I can't fall asleep and at the same time be conscious that I am asleep.

Allowing consciousness to dissolve is what the art of falling asleep is all about.

- I try to go to bed at the same time each night.

- I have installed f.lux on my computer to dim the screen at night and brighten it during the day.

- I turn off the computer and TV well before bed time.

- I lower the lights while ending the day and getting ready for bed.

This allows melatonin to do its job.

- I sleep in total darkness.

I can't darken my room sufficiently, so I use a sleep mask instead.

- If I wake up and need to move around, I keep the lights as dim as possible.

- I do not turn on the computer or TV in the middle of the night.

- I keep a tape recorder or note pad near my bed so that I can keep track of things that are bothering me. I believe that if I pay sufficient attention to the feelings that trouble me, then they will become less troublesome. Feelings are energy for action. I can't act and rest at the same time, so I have to let go of the feelings.

- I make an agreement with myself that I don't have to stay in bed if I don't want to, so long as any activity I undertake while trying to become sleepy allows me to become sleepy — praying a rosary or a chaplet, reading, writing notes to myself, sitting in my recliner with blankets and pillows in case I want to sleep there, etc.

- If I decide to stay in bed, I console myself with the thought that I am resting even if I am not asleep. It is amazing how often this restfulness becomes real sleep without my being aware of it.

- I will usually pray some simple chaplet (Divine Mercy, St. Philip's Chaplet) or the Jesus Prayer in the middle of the night to keep anxieties at bay. I "say" the words mentally, not out loud, and I don't resist falling asleep in the middle of the prayer.

- I have a goal for how long I want to spend sleeping or resting. If I get close enough to the goal, I don't quibble about another hour or half-hour of sleep.

Links

• Wikipedia, "Sleep Hygiene."
• University of Maryland Sleep Disorders Center, "Sleep Hygiene."
• Australian fact sheet on sleep hygiene, PDF.
• "Sleep Deprivation Epidemic."