Sleep....

Sleep is a basic need. But our sleep can be greatly affected if we are troubled by stress, anxiety or something unresolved. When we lack sleep, we cant think clearly, we get irritated and we struggle to regulate our emotions. There are so many tools and techniques out there to improve our sleep and whilst I am certain they are all helpful in their own way, there is a part of me that wonders if we should stop trying so hard. If we make sleep a chore, we are in danger of becoming anxious about sleep which is the exact opposite way of being we need to be to get to sleep! Sleep needs to be a passive experience, not a task to complete.

Having said that, there is technique that can be helpful if you cant get to sleep:

Think of a fairly long neutral word. A word that you can spell and imagine in your minds eye. For example, "Radiator." Take the 1st letter of that word (R) and think of as many things you can imagine beginning with that letter: (rat, rabbit rug, ruler, rock, etc) Exhaust that letter and then move onto the next letter (A). Keep going through the original word. You will unlikely get to the end before you bore yourself to sleep! Its an advanced version of counting sheep.