Trouble Sleeping

Put Your Overactive Mind To Rest  

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Some people say they don’t have trouble sleeping and just claim to have an overactive mind, but the two are effectively one of the same. An overactive mind will keep you from dropping off to sleep quickly and it will cause periods of waking throughout the night. Truth is, you weren’t born with an overactive mind, you may think a lot, perhaps more than most, but your mind should still be conditioned to relax at bed time. The problem is that many of us have forgotten how to fully switch off. 

Bad Sleep Is a Modern Problem

In the modern day there are a number of things that cause our minds to become overactive; money issues and relationship problems are the two main culprits, another is a heavy workload that we just can’t detach our thoughts from. Our caveman ancestors didn’t have trouble sleeping because of money or relationships issues, they only had to worry about food supply and shelter; both of which were usually readily available in some shape or form; thus sleeping issues simply didn’t exist. Our lives are complicated and we generally think more than ever, in fact, the average person has over 50,000 thoughts per day! No wonder we have trouble switching off.  

Start Sleeping Better Tonight

Meditation and even yoga still sounds slightly ‘new age’, and for men it sounds a little silly. But put your ego or preconceptions aside for a second. Seven years ago I would have laughed at the thought of myself doing stretches of breathing exercises, or even listening to a CD of waves washing ashore to relax, but don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.  

Tonight, half an hour before you start preparing for bed, sit crossed legged on a rug or cushion, close your eyes, sit up straight and deep breathe slowly. Imagine all your thoughts leaving your mind as you breathe out, and imagine the air you breathe in is pure and untainted by stress related thoughts. Do this for a few minutes and increase the time as the weeks go by. This exercise is great before bed and at any time in the day when you feel overloaded with excess thoughts and high brain activity.  

When you get into bed, as you close your eyes, imagine your favourite relaxing place to be. For example; this might be a tropical island, so picture every aspect of the calming scenery; the coconut trees, the blue sky, the sea breeze, the white sand…Seamlessly become part of the picture, forget your trouble sleeping and drift away into the background… 

If you liked this article you might want to better your sleep further by picking up a copy of my book Six Steps To Sleep Now.

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