March 18, 2019
Howdy folks! Thank you for tuning in…or even just skimming what I post here.
For reasons (relevant at some point in the past), we still adhere to the twice-yearly time change. The spring-forward one just happened - this one always brings me annoyance since I feel strongly about getting good sleep and I am not super “in” to doing things that cause discomfort for no clear reason. This time change touches both these aspects for me.
Sleep is an element of our lives and it often comes up as a challenge throughout the lives we live.
Currently I am struggling with getting a full night of sleep and though it ebbs and flows, I find a couple actions I take help me sleep better and to go back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night (worrying about whether I have the right props to work with a new client later in the coming day, for example).
The first thing is to, even briefly, stretch my legs before bed. I even do it in the bed sometimes. Sit in staff pose upright with legs out in front of me and just sit up straight; I come forward slightly. Or while standing up (on the floor is the best for this one) bring feet hips-width apart and point toes straight ahead; make an upside down L by bending the upper body from the hips and holding onto the bed or pushing into the wall and staying there for a minute, or 2 or 5!
And, when I wake up in the middle of the night (freaking out because I have been in Chicago for almost 4 years and still am figuring out my new life!), I have found lying on my back especially helps as I listen to my body breathe…literally listening as the breath goes in and out of my body. This actually almost always works! I wake up later-on like oh my gosh, that totally worked…I went back to sleep!!
If the stretching and breathing stuff sounds like a little more than you can undertake now, consider whether you've had too much caffeine during the day and/or whether you ate food just before bed...changing these practices by having less caffeine and no food for 2-3 hours before bed might help too.
As we all know a good sleep feels pretty great! And now at least you know you’re not alone (which might feel relieving to know) if you’re having sleep issues.
And this time-change-hooha, I could live without it, but until then gaining an hour each fall and losing an hour each spring can continue to help me learn more about myself in this world ;)
Best to you and take care,
Emily