What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night with thoughts racing and heart pounding? Maybe you’ve had some unsettling dreams or worries and fears are spinning your thoughts out of control.
If you’ve ever had a restless night, either unable to get to sleep or waking up and unable to fall back to sleep, you know how frustrating and discouraging it is. Add to the initial stress of being awake, the worry about not getting enough sleep, and being tired the next day and it seems to swirl you into a black hole of negative thoughts.
Don’t despair!
This happened to me recently and I want to share with you 4 effective tips that I have used over and over again. Try one or try them all and see what happens for you!
Count your blessings.
Instead of counting sheep, start at #1 and list as many things that you can, that you are grateful for. Even go there in your mind. It can completely distract you from what woke you up in the first place.
For example, I’m grateful for:
- Lying on a warm, sunny beach. (Living in a land-locked State, it’s been years, but I remember what it felt like).
- hugs and kisses from my children. (I loved the smothering of kisses when my children were little).
- hugs and words of appreciation from my teenagers and young adult children.
- a good husband who works very hard to provide for us.
- a crystal prism that shines rainbows on my walls.
- naturally curly hair.
- a warm, cozy bed.
- etc.
Have a calming, essential oil by your bedside
Lavender, Chamomile, Ylang-ylang, Clary sage, or a relaxing blend. Apply the oil to your wrists and breathe deeply (maybe while mentally listing your blessings).
Turn on uplifting, background music
Have the volume on low and set a 10 or 20-minute timer. Here are two composers I’ve found whose music is very healing. http://jimolivermusic.com/ or http://markromeromusic.com/
Read high vibration words
Words carry vibration and energy. Both written and spoken words have the power to harm or heal. Their vibration affects your energy. When you are distraught, reading high vibration words such as scriptures, poetry, positive affirmations have the ability to change your brain state.
Andrew Newber, M.D. and Mark Robert Walman, in their book, “Words Can Change Your Brain,” declare:
“By holding a positive and optimistic [word] in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action. And as our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain. Functions in the parietal lobe start to change, which changes your perception of yourself and the people you interact with. A positive view of yourself will bias you toward seeing the good in others, whereas a negative self-image will include you toward suspicion and doubt. Over time the structure of your thalamus will also change in response to your conscious words, thoughts, and feelings, and we believe that the thalamic changes affect the way in which you perceive reality.”
In short, words can literally change your brain.
These suggestions work because they raise our vibration. We still our minds and allow positive, more truthful thoughts to replace the lower vibration thoughts and energies.
One last comment.
Don’t confuse raising your vibration with waking your body up. Lower vibrations, created by negative thoughts create unease and anxiety. They activate physiological reactions in your body that keep you awake.
Rather than dwelling on the black hole of negative/scary thoughts, change your vibration. Open yourself to light, to the calmness and peace that can come from changing your thoughts and raising your vibration. Peace and calm then follow and you can then drift peacefully off to sleep.
Hope this helps!
With love,
P.S. I’d love to hear any of your sleep-help successes of what has worked for you. Share in the comments below.
