Bridging Lives News September 2004 Survey Results:

Bridging Lives News:
Survey results are discussed in the article, Give It a Rest! Directing the Mind for Inner Peace
(Bridging Lives New 12/04)

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Question: When relying solely on your own innate resources, what do you do to re-direct and quiet your mind so you can experience inner peace?

Question Set-Up: It's 4 a.m. and you're wide awake. Your mind is relentlessly churning about some issue and won't give you peace. You need to sleep. You're in a situation where you cannot make sound and you cannot get up to move around. What do you do? I'm interested in techniques that you can vouch for from your personal experience as being effective for stilling the mind's chatter and allowing you peace. Solutions that are "out of bounds" include all those involving some external aid, e.g. another person, music, legal or illegal drugs, herbs, foods, drink, even water.

Reader Responses :

1. For quieting my mind – meditation.
2. I try to discipline myself as soon as I awake in the middle of the night to be aware that I am thinking. As soon as I am aware, I begin to focus on my breath.
3. I use a technique I learned with deep relaxation - I start at the top of my head, take a deep inhale, and on the exhale say in my mind, "I relax the top of my head." Next breath is my forehead, then eyebrows, etc. Usually by the time I get to eyelashes or cheeks, I am starting to drift off.
4. I breathe deeply into my belly. More specifically, I inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for 4 counts and hold for four counts. Just about any practice that involves getting out of my head and into my body.
5. If you cannot make sound and move around, the only permissible technique would be to do a lying down meditation of clearing out the mind by taking deep breathes and watching and observing the thoughts.
6. Counting my breaths - inhale/exhale to 10 and start over - basically, beginning meditation mind. Going into the stillness and accepting how tired my body is and the thought that sleep is the best medicine for right now. Sometimes position helps as well, creating some physical tension can reduce mental tension and help quiet my mind.
7. I have been working with Stanley Keleman's techniques for using "voluntary muscular effort" to consciously create variations (and thereby new choices) on old habitual responses in the body. The technique involves noticing one's posture, gestures, ways of holding oneself in layers from the inner "gut" and the outer "muscular" layers -- then intensifying those through exaggeration. Then, in discrete, conscious steps, you "disassemble" or "disorganize" that pattern, and notice what is just beneath it. It is not an effort to go to absolute calm, but to find out what impulse is being exaggerated in the mind-racing, tense state. For example, I have found "being thrilled and ready to act" lying just underneath "self-conscious judgment and anxiety." I have found "loneliness" underneath "judgment of another," etc. These less organized states then become part of a new repertoire, with practice. The question then is which one is called for at this particular time? And one of the techniques for discovering that is, as you disorganize an habitual posture, you pay attention to where there is a pulse in the body, and then tighten/re-organize just a tiny bit to touch that pulse, to hold it. With some practice, this method has started to work wonders for allowing me to stay with my experience, to feel that satisfaction, and to lose myself less in stimuli from outside.
8. Distracting myself with other 'noisy' topics that I've already dealt with.
9. Pray
10. I try to control my breath, slow it down very progressively and regularly until I fall asleep. The idea is to do so by very small steps and without tension but with a precise rhythm.
11. The first is cognitive: Set aside the issue by planning when to deal with it. For example, "I will deal with this at 9am after sleeping well." The next is body based: Begin a structured breathing and focusing exercise. I use several different ones. One focuses on breathing into the bones throughout my body. Starting at the top of the head and going bone by bone through the body to the toes. The other starts at the feet and goes through relaxing each part of my body in sequence. Another relies solely on counting breaths, breathing in to the count of six, breathing out to the count of six; that counts as "one" breath. Do it again, "two". The final is emotional: Go into the issue directly to find out what is the bottom line emotion that I'm stuck in. Using inquiry, discover what is underneath the spinning on the issue. Usually with an emotion that I'm trying to avoid, the thinking spin keeps me from the issue. This does not help me go back to sleep, but it does provide a different kind of relief.
12. My doctorate focused on fitness, sleep, and well being. I have some tricks that I use - both self discovered and gleaned from prior reading. Usually, what is recommended when this happens, and it's not uncommon every so often, is to get up and do a "reset." Start the sleep ritual over again. I have multiple examples and suggestions along these lines. But these would require external activities, and so - at least for the question you've raised - they would be "out of bounds." So - when unable to engage in out-of-bed activities before returning to bed, I usually do the following: 1) Grab my notepad and pen and scribble one word thoughts on a list. It helps to brain dump and, because it's dark and I haven't turned on a light, I'm using one-word prompts rather than trying to write full sentences where I can't see the page. 2) In the absence of a pen and pad, which are usually by my bed, I anchor key words to fingers. For example, if an issue is work related and I have a huge "to-do" looming, I'll gently pinch my pinky and attach a single word to it. Then do the same with other words for each of my fingers, usually these relate to other "looming" issues. In the morning, I re-touch my fingers. I write down the word that comes up. From there, I can better tackle the issues. These techniques both focus on a "dump" of sorts. Rather than ruminate, I park my thoughts and know that I'll be better able to handle them in the morning. That's a trust thing for myself, I've learned. I trust myself to park the thoughts. I trust myself to handle the issues. Parking the thoughts is almost like giving them to someone else to hold for me for a few hours. Additionally, the following somatic relaxation techniques work - they help focus my mind on my body and the support it feels in bed, thereby helping my psyche feel supported, as well: 3) Progressive relaxation - starting with my toes, I clench and release them, allowing them to feel the stress drain and the warmth come in. I do this with muscles up my legs, torso, arms, neck, eyes, and forehead. I allow myself to feel warm and heavy. My thoughts go to warmth and my breathing - 4) Breathing - concentrating on breathing sets up a kind of cognitive dissonance, as well. Because a person cannot hold two opposing thoughts/feelings, I concentrate on breathing in a four-square method (count to four inhaling, count to four holding, count to four exhaling, count to four holding, count to four inhaling, etc.) Yoga teaches such techniques; the mind stills when the body is enlivened with calm. 5) I know that the issues look larger at night; fretting or feeling depressed usually abates when I remember an analogy I use with other people: When it's foggy and overcast, it's hard to see the sun - naturally. It's not uncommon to feel like the sun is ever going to come out, BUT I remind myself that it IS sunny somewhere and it will be sunny here again. That is, the problems seem like they'll never end, but they will and things will get better at some point in the not-too-distant future. In summary, I isolate the issues and make each one as small as it can be. I make a plan for dealing with each one individually - a mountain is climbed a step at a time. I also recognize that problems are better solved with an outside perspective. So part of listing and planning is to explore the outside resources I need. That, in itself, is a way of reaching out and reminding myself that I'm not alone and needed take on the magnitude of the problems in isolation. Even when I'm alone (and certainly it's harder when caught in a loop of rumination), I find a way of going to a place of connectedness. It comes through the support I feel physically and psychically through "brain dumping" and body warming - letting go and reaching in, in order to reach out.
13. First I make sure my shoulder blades are in the correct position -- that is, I'm not "hunching" my shoulders and collapsing my chest. The best sleeping position for this is to be lying on my back. Then I breathe slowly and deeply, through my nose, if possible. As I count my breaths, I notice how my chest and belly rise and fall. I'm usually back to sleep before I get to 10.
14. Sometimes just doing deep breathing, inhaling through the nose, exhaling through the mouth, or just sitting still and focusing on my natural breath. Sometimes, if something is bothering me, I may write it in a book that I keep to myself or weigh pros and cons by writing the pros vs. the cons for a decision.
15. I find that if I concentrate on what my body is feeling first (i.e., warmth, cold, tight, sore, etc.) and specifically try to improve the physical aspect of what's happening, then I can move on to address the mental and/or spiritual discomfort. Sometimes my physical solutions include "cooling off" by removing the covers, and beginning a series of deep-breathing and relaxation exercises, focusing on the areas that are tense. My spiritual response is usually prayer, combined with mental responses such as "positive self-talk." It ALMOST always works for me because the combination of these three areas will bring my mind back to the reality of what I can control, what I can't -- and more importantly -- how much better I will feel if I can relax and try to sleep. The oxygen returns to my body as I slow down my breathing, and I can usually drift off to a better sleep without any further interruptions.
16. I breathe deeply. I reframe the issue by going in my mind to the biggest perspective. I switch channels and think of very pleasant experiences--remembering all good.... I sing in my mind. I take a Shaman's trip through already established "tunnels".... I open my heart and send love. I remember that negative thinking is very powerful and that positive outcomes come from positive visualizations. I invoke the Mother image and rest in her arms. I sit next to the Father image in a beautiful outdoor space. I retrace the labyrinth in my mind. I imagine traveling to the stars. I bless my body.
17. Well since I can't get up and have some warm milk, and waking up at this time frequently happens to me, I would do the following: Assume the Yoga "sponge position" - On my back shoulder blades together, palms up, lower back pressed into the bed. Then I start with my toes, then feet, ankles, legs, all the way up my body. Each body part I direct in my mind to relax. As I feel the sensation, my body automatically takes in deep breaths of air further increasing relaxation. I continue this all the way up and usually do not get as far as my head because I drift off to sleep. It is similar to meditation but instead of my mind racing at first I have a focal point - my body. Really feeling each part relaxing, and taking in more air deep into the muscles. IT WORKS FOR ME.
18. I utilize the same techniques used in the yoga pose svasana. I turn my gaze inward, toward my heart and focus on my breathing and allow my body to relax. Waking up like that frequently leads one into a vicious cycle of frustration and wakefulness. My allowing the body to relax and focusing on the breath, stillness often leads to sleep and even when it doesn't the body has the ability to rest.
19. I do Cranial Sacral Therapy on myself.
20. I definitely was the victim of this mind chattering and still am to very small extent. So before I go to bed I read my book which takes my mind of work and to another world. However sometimes, this technique doesn't work, any suggestions?
21. This (early awakening/sleeplessness) happens to me frequently when I have a lot going on. I used to meditate, and I could focus on my breathing to quiet my mind and relax. But I stopped that practice years ago (unfortunately). What works the best for me now is to make a mental list of a few (3-4) things I can do in the morning to 'fix' or 'address' some of the concerns that are bothering me. I assure myself that I'll remember the to-do's and I try to see the positive outcome or resolution that will result from my actions.
22. This does not happen too often at all, however last night for whatever reason, I did not fall asleep right away. Usually a few minutes after lying down I am out. It was not 4am, but more like midnight, and I did find myself thinking about the day's events, wondering why I was not sleepy. I have a couple different responses, techniques if you will to deal with this. Last night I chose to just let my mind run as it wanted to, figuring that soon it would tire and I would fall fast asleep. Luckily it was not long before this was the case. In other instances when this has happened, I have prayed, conversing with my creator peacefully, not aloud. In essence what happens in this situation is that a shift in control of the mind. By praying and thanking God, I take over control of the conversation in my head, which usually also works to put me fast asleep. But as I stated I hardly ever have problems falling asleep.
23. This happens to me often. When my mind is restless with "listing out the things I need to get done" or concerns on my heart, I just do one simple thing. I pray. I start praying for those around me, for families and individuals that are struggling, and for the things that are burdening my heart. Always...and I mean always a soothing peace comes over me and quiets my mind and heart allowing me to drift back to sleep. Of course praying is simply talking to God the creator of the universe who has a deep understanding of everything I experience because He has been here, walking among us, giving Himself up for each of us because He loves us fully and completely. A relationship with this God is the foundation of the peace that comes from praying to Him.
24. Counting sheep has been scientifically proved effective -- it focuses your mind away from whatever's bothering you and is calming. I normally count my breathing and try to slow it down.
25. 1) Quiet meditation. 2) Masturbation (for folks that are quiet). Not as strange as it seems; the process redirects blood away from your brain to the other "entertained" parts (double check with biologist) leaving you a little light headed. Close eyes during that light-headedness and that will usually do it.
26. I count while tossing sheep over a fence.
27. If an issue is really bothering me, I usually find it wont go away unless properly dealt with. This means facing it and then finding a way to dialog with it so I can learn the positive lesson it has to offer. This helps me find peace.
28. At 4 a.m., one successful technique I've used is counting backwards by some random number or combo of numbers. For example, I count backwards from 1000 by 7, or by 4 then 3 then 4 then 3 and so on. Just enough challenge that I have to concentrate a bit. The other thing I've done is work with an affirmation until it becomes a mantra. It wasn't intentional. For a while, I was saying, "I am beautiful, capable, and lovable," which came from a book (Ken Keyes?). I mentally repeated this numerous times every morning when I woke up and every night when I went to bed. At some point, I realized that I had done it enough that it was a comforting experience that helped me to relax. When I got out of the habit of doing it regularly, it lost that tranquilizing impact.
29. What I do is lay very still, on my back. Then I blank my mind out as much as possible and starting with my toes, I concentrate on one muscle group at a time. So I would concentrate on wiggling my toes for about 30 seconds, then move up and move only my feet or ankles, then up to my calves and all the way, one muscle group at a time to my head. Sometimes I fall asleep before I get to my head and sometimes it takes 2 or three times all the way through the body to fall asleep.
30. Breathing deeply into my belly and all other parts of my body. I imagine energy and light circulating through me and will often focus on my chakras.
31. Two ways that I try: 1) I start breathing exercise and picturing myself relaxing my body starting from my feet, toes and up to my head. 2) Visualize a relaxing point (vacation, a sunrise, etc). Then I would start a chant (buddhist). Unfortunately this chant escapes my memory. That would relax me and get my mind out of that hole.
32. I say "God, God, God, God" calmly in my mind, over and over and over again. It always works.
33. I imagine a sheep walking slowly away from me in a quiet pasture. Don't ask where this comes from; I have no idea; but it seems to work.
34. (1) Simply meditating (2) Remain lying in bed, with my left hand on my forehead and my right hand on my stomach (3) Self-acupressure while lying in bed - some combination of points including forehead, ankle, and pubic bone points. (4) Placing a pillow over my forehead and upper head, leaving space to breathe! This quiets the mind chatter, to have pressure on the physical container of the thought.
35. Feel my own presence; figure where my consciousness resides. Breathe deeply and slowly concentrating on my breathing and directing the recharged energy to every part of my being. Bask in the serenity of being.
36. During childbirth preparation class, I learned a simple visualization that sometimes helps me relax. It's called Rainbow Movie. First, close your eyes and imagine a blank movie screen. Paint it completely purple. Hold it for a moment, then fade to blue. Repeat for green, then yellow, orange, and red, or until contractions start again....
37. Deep Breathing
38. Regular abdominal breathing that leads to a form of meditation and relaxation. I use this method also with patients who have anxieties and worries, or are stressed. I also use it with the terminally ill to help them with the fear of death.
39. I know how to meditate. So when my mind cannot rest I try to empty all thought and just focus on breathing technique that I learned from Zen meditation. Also, sometimes, that does not help. I will lie in bed and tell myself to shut the whole world down. When I have convinced myself that things have to wait until tomorrow, I usually can calm myself. There are certain things that I can control and some things are out of my power. The biggest help for me is to understand what is in my power to change or work on. I don't look back in the past and fixate on things that I can't change. I am more focused on what I can do in the future. I only take one day at a time and do the best I can everyday. Sometimes things are chaotic and going in the wrong direction. I usually become very stressed in those situations. So I turn to my faith and quietly pray for peace.
40. I focus on my body and begin to move from my core, slowly and very consciously, my awareness becomes completely captivated by this internal awareness, as I move extremely slowly and sinuously from my core. The movement is very Butoh-ish, and a kind of an unwinding. My breath becomes slow and continuous, coordinating with my movement. If I don't have actual space to move per se, I IMAGINE the movement and FEEL it even though it is internal.
41. First, I focus on my breath, letting myself find my own rhythm. Once that's clear and clean steady, I scan my body for tension. If I find it in particular places, like my right shoulder or my eyes, I imagine exhaling into those places, one at a time. Once that scan is done -- and I'm still awake -- I will exhale into parts of my body from head to toe or toe to head, again one at a time. As I exhale, I imagine the body part relaxing even more fully into the bed or whatever I'm sleeping on. I usually don't make it to the end of that, but if I did, I'd probably count sheep!
42. I used to think of a quiet little cove on an island that I visited a few times. Now, I find it more effective to use the changing lights that appear in my eyes, even in pitch dark with eyes closed. Concentrating on those changing lights, I picture a tall building where the lights become an ever changing pattern of windows in the building. It brings my concentration from things outside my myself to focusing inside my eyes, and is very effective, if I can concentrate for the few minutes to fall asleep. Otherwise, my mind wanders to life's little riddles, and I have to start my concentration exercise again. And again, if necessary.
43. Visualizing myself in the midst of a waterfall looking out at the forest around.
44. I use the 3 Gratitudes exercise from the Authentic Happiness workshop I facilitate. Have a notebook and pen or pencil at your bedside, otherwise do this in your mind. Think of three things that happened that day for which you are grateful. For each, focus on what happened and its' effect on you. Remind yourself (silently of course) of as many of the details as you can of each one. Let the images linger on each one before you move onto the next. At the end of the three remind yourself of how blessed you are to have such good things in your life. I find this helpful, because when I can't sleep it is often as a result of ruminating on the negative. Consciously remembering the positive will gently push the negative thoughts aside, and I am able to sleep; and it takes only ten or fifteen minutes at the most for me.
45. I tell myself that I have thought enough about it for now, that the answer will come in time, but now I must get the sleep I need. Then I use the well-known Relaxation Response - - deep breathing - - to calm my mind and I force myself to focus on my breathing and on progressively relaxing every muscle in my body, one leg, the other leg, one arm, etc. It's usually a battle to keep my mind from going back to the issue that is troubling me but I eventually win and go to sleep. I think the key is to actively substitute a calming behavior for the distressing one and to not give in to just letting yourself continue on thinking and thinking.
46. There are two techniques that work for me. The first starts with understanding that the root cause of such churning is very often resistance, in my mind and my body, as I try to fend off a really bad feeling, such as shame, remorse, or severe anxiety. To restore inner peace, I first let the feeling in, embrace it, focus on it, and let the emotional pain have its way with me for as long as it takes for it to subside. This usually takes only a few moments. It's painful, however less disabling than the fight to resist the pain. When I am worrying about something that hasn't yet happened, I ask myself "What is the worst thing that could happen?" I name the worst consequence, face it, and decide I can deal with it. Often the "worst possible" is: I will lose my job. I find myself saying, "Hmm ... considering the current situation, that could be a GOOD thing!" At other, more serious, times the "worst possible" can be pretty awful. I remember one time when the "worst possible" was the death of a loved one -- awful to contemplate. Once I faced the very real possibility and realized I could cope if I had to, as much as I did not want to, I was able to sleep and take care of myself so that I had the energy and wits to deal with the situation at hand.
47. Your question describes a situation I know all too well. My technique is to reset my mind to the start of the day - then I ask myself - what happened today that I am grateful for? I have a few standard sentences that I complete: 1) When I look around the room, I feel grateful for...2) I feel blessed to have such wonderful ..... 3) It's so easy to feel grateful when I think about .... The technique helps me stop the constant "churn" around issues, and focus on the positive things in my life. It doesn't always put me back to sleep, but it makes my sleeplessness more enjoyable.
48. I’ll rephrase the question to "what is effective for stilling the mind's chatter and allowing me TO GET TO SLEEP?" I give the following answer (more below on why the distinction): The most effective thing I've found is to actively and consciously engage my thoughts to think through something that is difficult enough to require full attention, takes longer than a few seconds or even minutes, but doesn't cause me stress. The thing I found that worked best was to picture yoga poses in my mind and to recite the Sanskrit names for each as I visualized going into and doing each pose. At the time I started this I knew the Sanskrit names poorly so that I had to really engage my mind to pull each one up as I visualized the pose. There are enough poses that it would keep me going a while, and it was hard enough to make me concentrate on this and forget the other chaos. But there was nothing stressful about the subject itself. I found that I would fall asleep before getting through too many poses. As I learned the pose names better, it became a less effective means because my mind could more easily think about the other chaos at the same time. I've recommended this to others, but they would have to come up with the "engaging but non stressful subject" for themselves (most didn't practice yoga). I suggested saying the ABC's backwards which I think worked for one person (too easy for many people though, and too short a sequence). This concept is like counting sheep, except counting sheep is too simple so it can't completely engage the mind and make it let go of the chaotic subjects. The reason for my changing your question is because I personally didn't think of this as giving me "inner peace" which allowed me to get to sleep, rather, I felt it distracted me enough from the stressful thoughts to fall asleep. If that's inner peace then so be it. Just getting some sleep generally helps put the chaos in perspective and decreases stress, too.
49. I focus on my breathing to quiet my mind...aka...meditation.
50. Resolving to be patient through remembering what my purpose in this world is. Handing over the worry, concern, issue to GOD. Then laying flat on my back, with arms along my sides, palms flat (down)... then focusing on my feet and along my Chi to move from my head to the ball of my feet several times. Its a form of meditation and surrender.
51. Sometimes I can't fall asleep. But two things that have worked: Saying the "Serenity Prayer" to myself over and over. Focusing on my breath - inhale and exhale.
52. Breathing. It's the number one way for me to ease myself from stress to shift. When my mind is racing it's usually doing that because there is something I'm avoiding and I've stopped breathing so that I don't feel what's really up. My racing mind is really covering up the real stuff. So breathing -doing a breath exercise called hook-ups - arms wrapped up from elbows to hand-in-hand and breathing through my mouth in with tongue to roof of mouth and unrestricted out breath) or - even just breathing deeply and fully - to the point that my breast expands upward is the best thing for me. Then I start to feel what's really up and my energy shifts (I yawn a lot as my energy shifts) and peace is at hand.
53. If it is 4AM I lie on my back, place a tennis ball [imaginery] on my belly button, gaze at it and watch it move up and down as I breathe slowly from my diaphragm.
54. Think about a peaceful setting or a good sensation that I experienced, closing my eyes, breathing, taking a word like peace or grace and imagining how does it feel to BE those words or states.
55. Well, mostly any form of meditation. I used to use this one where I would breath in and think "Love" and breath out and think "Peace". Just following the breaths and really feeling into the words calmed me considerably. Sometimes, I will do a chakra meditation as well.
56. First, I start focusing on taking deep breaths and making sure that my body is relaxed. Then, I try to imagine myself in a peaceful location (the beach, church, the mountains) and remind myself to continue to breathe deeply. I continue to think about each part of my body and relaxing it, starting with my toes and working up to my brain. Whenever I find my mind wander, I take it back to the peaceful location... and usually I am alone there.
57. I use Peema Chodrin's Tonglen Method http://www.artisticliving.com/tonglen.htm or I would chant internally songs from The Threshold Choir: www.thresholdchoir.org (It is a form of meditation).
58. Meditate, focusing on the breath, in and out. Take off covers to create a cooler temperature in my body.
59. I let the chatter chatter until it comes to an end. That is to say, I literally breathe in the chatter and breathe out the chatter acknowledging its presence and duration. Giving it breathing room so to speak allows the chatter to reach a natural conclusion. Refining this technique through multiple successions and successes shortens the duration of the chatter until it's existence fades.
60. I use a simple self-Breema exercise which is very calming, very centering and focuses on bringing my mind into connection with my body. If I cannot get up out of bed, I simply sit at the side of the bed or in bed and do the following: As I inhale, I raise my right hand, palm up, to heart level, and then as I exhale, I lower it back to my knee. I repeat on the left side, with the left hand.... inhaling and exhaling. I then raise both hands, palm up, to heart level on the inhalation, and lower them to the knees on exhalation. I continue doing this for several minutes. The effect is very balancing, calming and enjoyable!
61. In order to still my mind's chatter and allow peace I think about spirituality and about how Jesus said He would provide inner peace and I begin to pray for that peace. After praying, I think about times when I have felt peace such as being at the beach just looking at the waves, relaxing and relieving my mind of any stressful situations.
62. Here's one that almost always works for me -- well, I'll give you two. You know the old practice of counting sheep, well try naming the 50 states of the United States, in order! This can be either alphabetical or geographic. Bet you'll be asleep before you're done. (What this does is gives the active mind a task to focus on. It's complex enough for most people to require your full mental attention -- leaving little room for other mind chatter. What also happens, since this is a fairly boring task, the process of naming states, either by going through the alphabet, or geography, will lead the mind to freely associate -- which often leads right into a dream state! Now, here's another technique, taught to me by a priest, that almost always works to shift the mind into alpha state. Do this with your eyes closed: Breathe in and look down. Breathe out and look up. Breathe slowly and evenly. Do this for about 10 breaths. Apparently this particular breathing pattern and eye movement is used by sacramental offerers to shift themselves into a meditative state so they can deepen their connection to spirit. Seems to work for me!
63. I live alone with my Siberian Husky - Wolf puppy named Zeus. I look out the window by my bed and star watch. I touch or look into the eyes of my Siberian husky and see love. I say the words "I am loved, loved, loved, loved, loved over and over. I think of the women in my life and love them. I remember how lucky I am to be alive.
64. It always helps me to focus on my breathing to connect with my body and let go of any tension I find there. Next, if the thought are relentless ----Investigate them! In a curious and compassionate way. Are they true or accurate? Is there any exaggeration or unrealistic fear? If true and accurate, what are the consequences? What is the worst that could happen? What can you do to minimize the consequences? Usually by slowing down and looking closely I realize that the situation is not as bad as I initially thought or a problem is not insurmountable.
65. When I awake in the middle of the night, I "run my energy". It's a meditation technique I use to bring neutral earth energy to wash away the chatter. I first ground myself with a beam of light from my sacrum to the earth, I next envision energy moving from my feet all the way up to my hips. I bring cosmic energy then from my head down my back where the two energies meet and move up my chakra system and back out my head. I cycle this repeatedly until I go back to sleep -typically within 5 minutes!
66. Lying down, I take several deep breaths and try to let my body go limp. Then while continuing to breathe deeply, I survey each part of my body starting from the toes. In most cases, I can't even proceed beyond my knees before I am asleep. But there have been days when this has not worked so easily.
67. Even the busy executive, with just a little practice, will become anchored to relaxation when they focus their minds on returning to their special place. You may call it what you want, but conceptually it is the same – a focusing of the mind on the process of relaxation. People are slowly “getting” this...that stress finds us, WE must find relaxation. Unfortunately, our entire systems don’t just do it – hence the racing mind at 4am. But when we learn the relaxation, particularly when a well-created special place is included...it gives the mind somewhere to go – somewhere it likes, somewhere it has learned feels good, somewhere it has experienced as being relaxing and rejuvenating. Not unlike meditation, after we do it several times, the BODY learns to enjoy it and respond, the body begins to “go there” faster....as IT has learned what the benefit is. This can be a very playful thing to learn and teach – as it should be. Adopt what is attached to the circumstance – i.e., laying in bed...etc.
68. I close my eyes, concentrate on deep breathing, and visualize myself riding my mountain bike on one of my favorite trails. I try to visualize all the turns, hills, bumps, surrounding landscape and even imagine the amount of exertion or gear selection that I have experienced on that particular trail. When things are really turbulent in my life I may need two mental "rides" but usually, I am asleep in less than a few "miles." It works for me either when I can't get to sleep in the first place or when I awaken. I am really fortunate, though, this doesn't happen to me all that often. It seems to happen when I am on travel and get to the hotel late at night, wide awake, knowing that the day ahead requires me to be at my very best.