Insomnia Tip: Prepare for a Restful Night with Evening Rituals

Wonder why you can't wind down at bedtime? Do you wish you had an ON/OFF switch like a computer to shut your mind and body down after a jam-packed day? You try zoning out in with HBO or computer games, and you're still jazzed when the lights go off.

We don't operate like computers, we operate like... people. Animal-like creatures who are connected deep to nature and the rhythms of the day. We need dusk to transition to the quiet of night.

We don't get a natural dusk in our wired world. So we have to create our own transitions to end the day. I call them Evening Rituals.

Evening Rituals turn your doing day into a being night. They create the foundation for sleep, rest, and tomorrow's creativity. They honor how your body needs quiet and dark (night) as well as activity and light (day).

Evening Rituals can be simple habits or special activities. In them you acknowledge that your day is done. Evening Rituals help you:

• Relax into your body --and remember that you have one
• Instinctively soothe yourself, even when your mind is racing.
• Let your unconscious mind set the stage for sleep, rest, and renewal--even if you can't sleep as well as you'd like.

If you have a routine at night, you've started on the path of Evening Rituals. Let's look at some ways to connect more deeply to rest--and perhaps sleep. Let go: Exhale all the air out of your chest. A-l-l-l-l-l-l the air. It releases the day's stress. Let the next deep breath flow in naturally. Darken down: Dim the overhead lights, and turn on a lamp. As your home darkens, you increase the release of melatonin from your pineal gland. Reduce the buzz: Turn off the television, computer (especially the monitor), VCR, lights, GameBoys. Rooms are calmer when computers are off. Prepare for tomorrow: Do a few morning tasks--put out clean breakfast dishes, lunch containers, and ground beans for coffee--to have less to worry about at night.

Prepare your body: Relax your body as you do your routine tasks: Stretch as you change into your PJs. Massage your cheeks as you rub cream on your face. Brush or run your fingers through your hair to shake off the day. Appreciate your body--even the parts that you wish were different--for how it functions.

Prepare your room: Straighten the bed or turn down the sheets. Spray a mist of rose water to clear the air, or warm some aromatherapy oils. Lavender, camomile, neroli, rose, and marjoram are all very soothing.

Put yourself to bed: If you're not ready to give up the television (melatonin or not) cuddle in a favorite blanket, keep the volume down, and watch something soothing--a taped show, a video, or something easy to turn off. Don't watch the news--it's designed to keep you up. Or better yet, read--it shifts you to a night mind.

Put yourself to rest--or sleep: Turn off the light and cuddle into your sheets, your skin, your self.

Evening Rituals may immediately relax you, or it may take a few days or weeks to take a deeper hold. Repeating a ritual each night teaches your unconscious mind to remember that it's "dusk." Then your body increases release of melatonin while your mind bids the day goodnight. You discover a night of renewal and even deeper sleep. Enjoy your nights!

© Creative Insomnia, Sondra Kornblatt 2003-2006

Sondra Kornblatt developed ways to help insomniacs renew when they can?t sleep in her program, Creative (and Restful) Insomnia. Do you feel stressed when you can't sleep? If you're still awake after alternative cures--or a visit to the doctor--you can still mimic the benefits of sleep. Creative Insomnia helps you renew at night, develop your inner creativity, and greet the day refreshed.

Sondra is also a seasoned freelance writer focusing on wellness and health. Get a free E-book on Creative Insomnia when you sign up for the newsletter at http://www.creativeinsomnia.com.