insomnia cure

"Eye Spy a new development" and "a new discovery"
(This week's theme by A little bird told me.)

I've been so tied up with other stuff recently that I've missed quite a few weeks of "Eye Spy Sunday" :(
But I'm jumping in real quick this week to try and get back on the wagon, so to speak. I'm combining both topics from last week and this week.

My discovery/development comes in the form of a cure for the insomnia I've been stuck with since early in the year. You know those nights where there's so much stuff running through your mind, and despite being drowzy, it just won't let you slip into sleep? Well I've been suffering from those for the past few months, getting increasingly upset and short-tempered as a result. Then when I do fall asleep around 3 or 4am, I dream thinking thoughts, so I don't end up feeling like I've slept at all.

To shut my thinking brain up, I tried lots of things;
- reading until I was just about asleep
- more exercise during the day
- stretching for 1/2 hour before bed
- listening to soft music on my ipod in bed
- listening to guided relaxation on my ipod in bed
- I even resorted to sleeping tablets for a few nights, (but didn't want to fall into that habit)
... but as soon as I turned off the light, or the ipod, my mind would flick back on.

Until... the new development / discovery. It's listening to books on my ipod in bed. It's working a treat! It's different from music and relaxation tracks because you're forced to concentrate on the story which doesn't give you mind a chance to wonder. I can keep listening until I'm asleep, then just rewind a little the next night to catch the bits I missed out on.

I'm listening to Mansfield Park by Jane Austin. It's a free download.

It's ideal because of the perfect mix of a gentle slow moving story, with having to concentrate to keep up with new characters, etc. Because the readers are volunteers, each one has a different reading rhythm, and accent, which forces you to concentrate to catch all the words too sometimes. Although it can be a little odd hearing such a british book being read by a very heavy southern American accent (like Forrest Gump's mum), it's always a surprise to see who'll be reading the next chapter.

Anyway, it's really working for me. I've got my yummy mindless deep sleeps back, and I'm becoming aquatinted with a new literary classic at the same time. It's great!