Another night when sleep seems far away…
I have got various techniques for coping when sleep is hard to find, including getting out of bed, making a cup of tea, some toast (with peanut butter and a slice of tasty cheese), or writing down what I was thinking about, so I don’t forget that really important thing that has popped into my mind and is keeping me awake.
Another technique is to try to slow the rate of thinking down, in order to allow the brain to switch off. But somehow, it doesn’t always seem to work
Sometimes, lying in the dark, I rehearse the conversations I would like to have, and would have if the timing was right and by the time I fall asleep, they are perfect…, just unsaid.
Last night, further distraction from the joy of sleep was intermittent rain: sometimes large, and widely spaced drops (so it seemed) which smacked the awning outside our window, and at other times short downpours thumping down to replenish the parched earth. In the distance, thunder rolled and the humid conditions which have prevailed over the past few days finally came to a climax and we got some rain. And I stayed awake.
In the wee hours of the morning, one other sleepless night, some years ago, I heard someone on early morning radio advise that one should count backwards from 33 down to zero, and start again from 33 every time the mind wanders.
I have tried this technique, and now use it in French rather than English, as it makes me concentrate more
Trente trois, trente deux, trente et un…..
zzzzz
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