After months of not sleeping well I was fascinated to learn that there is a “fundamental solution to insomnia.”
I know that quality sleep is essential in allowing the body to recover from stress and fatigue and to revitalize the body’s ability to self-repair.
Many suggestions are offered to help us sleep better, such as
- creating a calm environment
- practicing a restful night-time routine.
- matching your routine to the natural rhythms of nature, i.e. daily, monthly, seasonal rhythms, etc. (This is a topic to discuss in another “Weekly Insight”). 🙂
- not eating late at night
- not using electronics before going to bed
- retiring and arising at the same time
I had always believed that there are many reasons for not sleeping well, ranging from physical to mental to emotional, so how could there possibly be just one fundamental solution?
Dr. Deepak Chopra explains,
The basic solution to insomnia
“The real solution for the sleep problems you encounter at night lies in what happens during the day. All these time periods are related, and to focus on one without considering the other can lead only to short-term solutions. Activity and rest go hand in hand, therefore we must pay attention to what happens during the day. If the period of activity is somehow imbalanced, that will be reflected in the period of rest.”
“The solution to all sleep problems lies in making the period of daily activity truly dynamic and satisfying. In other words, when you’re awake, be fully awake. This is the fundamental answer to insomnia and the solution for many of the apparent problems of life as well. When you’ve learned to experience pure wakefulness, liveliness, and dynamism, good sleep will come naturally.
He continues,
“The French philosopher Montaigne wrote, ‘When I dance, I dance. When I eat, I eat.’ It sounds so simple, but are you really there when you’re there, whether it’s a place or a moment in time?
“So much in the contemporary world undermines our ability to be truly in the present, which is a crucial element of enjoying life.
“Insomnia, which so often is filled with regrets about the past and worries about the future, is in a sense the exact opposite of living life with a present-moment focus.
“Activity and rest go hand in hand, therefore we must pay attention to what happens during the day. If the period of activity is somehow imbalanced, that will be reflected in the period of rest.”
Any imbalance in any area of your life, whether it be physical, emotional, mental, spiritual or energetic, will show up in the body and in your ability to sleep.
Though everyone’s specifics will be different, asking yourself what you need to restore balance and harmony in your life, is a good place to start in restoring restful sleep.
With love,
