Insomnia for beginners or How I spend my "awake in the middle of the night" hours.

I've had insomnia for EVER! Ok - I think I was fine as a kid, but the older I get, the worse it gets. It was super fun when the kids were little and / or I was working full time. (It was not fun). When you have little ones with schedules and needs, you just keep on keeping on and hope for a nap at some point during the day. When you have a job, no naps for you, you can just hope for a better nights sleep the next night.

There are some good things about insomnia (short term / occasional). You can spend time alone in the quiet hours before dawn, doing whatever you want! No kiddos or hubby or other obligations tugging at you. I get lots of reading done. Sometimes I write. Sometimes I watch too many quilting videos. The possibilities are endless. I know some women who bake! I don't have that kind of energy, but I do get to spend some time in the quiet. When the kids were younger, that was sometimes the only quiet I got!

Another pretty cool thing - I get to watch the sunrise. There's something calming and joyful about a sunrise. I don't generally rise early enough to see it, or if I am awake, I don't think to go outside and actually experience it. This morning I did. The kitties and I sat on the front porch and enjoyed the beautiful quiet of the sunrise.

For me, it is a feeling of complete contentment, joy and renewal. Just taking those few minutes, drinking my tea and watching the sun peak up from behind the mountains filled me with such a feeling of peace. Closing my eyes and feeling the heat of the sun touching my face, even in the chill of the morning. Glorious. I encourage everyone to try to see it. Alone. Just you and the sun. Close your eyes and let the sun renew your spirit.

The Morning Sunrise (in order of the rise of the sun)

So while I hope none of you have to deal with it, here's some tips that have helped me in the past - there is no one thing that works every time, but over time, these things have helped me. Hope they can help you too!

1. Turn off all electronics 30 minutes before going to bed.
2. Turn off all noise 10 minutes before going to sleep (except if you use a noise machine to relax)
3. Make your room DARK - cover or hide any blue lights / clock lights / tv, etc.
4. Take a book to bed with you. Read for 10 - 15 minutes before turning off the light and laying down.
5. Sleepytime tea. If you like hot tea - get some of this stuff! Otherwise, Chamomile works well too. Some people swear by Catnip tea. I haven't tried that one yet. Let me know if it works for you.
6. Take Melatonin.
7. Lay down and tense your entire body - squeeze everything really tight. Then starting with your toes, slowly start relaxing your muscles all the way up your body to your neck, then lastly your face. Breathe deeply in and out as you release the tension.
8. If your mind is super restless, take a blank piece of paper or a journal to bed and just write. This is a stream of consciousness activity. It doesn't have to have punctuation, correct grammar or spelling. Just write down anything and everything that comes to your mind. Do that for 10 - 15 minutes. You will be tempted to pull out your phone or laptop to write down your thoughts. Don't. No electronics. Just use paper and pencil or pen. If you don't want to write words, draw pictures. Doodle - whatever it is that you are worried about. If you have concerns about people reading your thoughts, burn the paper in the morning or shred it or throw it away. Tear it into tiny pieces and flush it. Whatever makes you feel safe and comfortable.
9. If all else fails, get up. Go to another room. Read or draw or bake - but no TV or electronics. When you start to feel sleepy go back to bed. Even if it's only 20 minutes before your alarm, lay back down.
10. In some cases - I've heard of people "listening" to boring or dry content to fall asleep to. If you prefer to have a tv on to go to sleep to, try, instead, to find a podcast or audio book - a biography - nothing too entertaining - and play it on very low volume, with the screen face down to eliminate the light. Find something without commercials, as that could be enough of a change to wake you / disturb you awake.
11. Take a hot bath with Epsom salts and lavender. Lavender is a relaxing scent. Some other scents to try (if you don't like lavender) are listed below.
12. Diffuse or humidify with the following scents (not all at once - just pick one or a combo you like). All of them are relaxing scents. If you use the essential oils instead of fragrance oils, you'll reap the additional benefits of the essential oils as well.

Essential Oils / Scents to soothe:

1. Lavender
2. Chamomile
3. Jasmine
4. Rose
5. Geranium
6. Bergamont
7. Sweet Marjoram

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully something there helps. And at the end of the night (haha) you'll at least get to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. Unless it's rainy or overcast, in which case - maybe watch this one? Sunrise - No sun warming your skin, but it's still a beautiful start to the day!

Hope your day (and night) are wonderful!

Best wishes!