for the past 5 weeks i've slept for no more than 4 hours at a time. granted, i know i've done this before, but this time is all the more frustrating because i have no endorphin release from nursing. i don't think much about sleep until i don't get any, then it's all consuming. when my head hits the pillow there's simply no sleep, no tiredness, no dreams. i lay still and run over my meditation techniques (i did, afterall, have all four babies naturally, using meditation and breathing to guide me through... sleep, it should be cake). but nothing.

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*blink, blink*

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i talk to everyone i know about it, hoping for an answer, and finally yesterday the answer came. it sounds so simple and honestly i hesitate to even write it because it IS so simple, but if it can help someone else struggling with insomnia, then it's worth it.

sleep ettiquette:

• everyone knows that there are different levels of sleep, but there are also different levels of wakefulness. in order to teach the body to go from awake to asleep quickly, you also have to teach the body to go from sleep to awake quickly.
• stop keeping track of how much sleep you get, or don't get. move the clock so you can't see it. before i had lasik i used to sleep with my clock ON.MY.BED. i became obsessed with how little sleep i was getting.
• rise at the same time every morning, within 10 minutes, including weekends. when you wake, immediately turn on bright lights or step out into the sun to wake fully.
• stay awake all day... this is the part that seems like a no brainer, but for me i get to my baby's nap time and all i can think about is how much i neeeeed sleep, how cranky i am, how i'm actually doing everyone a favor by just going to bed. so this is gonna take a lot of faith for me to actually make it through the whole day. i've gotta keep busy, keep myself around people--so i don't take my crankiness out on my little ones.
• exercise, eat whole foods, and get off caffeine.
• go to bed when tired, but after the kids. ;-D set a routine in the evenings to lull yourself into tiredness.

simple? yes. effective? yes.

pray for me.