Tips for Insomnia and Sleep Deprivation

Everybody knows how vital sleep is for well-being, and how miserable we feel when we do not get enough of it on a regular basis. This article does not focus on the complex physiology of lack of sleep but rather looks at the mind of the person suffering from insomnia, while keeping the background physiology in sight.

While it is quite common for many people to go without sufficient sleep for a night or two, or for short periods, it is only those suffering from chronic sleep deprivation that understand the impact of broken or disturbed sleep.

Symptoms of insomnia can be caused by a variety of biological, psychological and social factors. Whatever the cause, the effect is ravaging. Insomnia is considered a disorder only when it causes a significant amount of distress or anxiety, or when it results in daytime impairment.

After the birth of my first child I slept more than three hours in succession. Slowly but surely I noticed how my body had changed from able and energized to feeling tired, tight, heavy and a painful source of discomfort. I often felt chilled when others complained of heat. My eyes were permanently red and dry and I found myself staring into space.

Even involuntary functions such as blinking and breathing became compromised, and I frequently had to remind myself to take a deep breath. After contracting flu I was surprised at my slow recovery rate as opposed to my usual bounce back after 24 hours! Not to mention the decline in my mental faculties such as reaction time, concentration span, focus and memory. Making simple decisions had become challenging with chronic sleep deprivation.

As a homeopath I routinely enquire about clients’ sleeping patterns as sleep is considered one of the seven general indicators of the overall functioning of the endocrine system. It is important not to lose sight of the body-mind connection when addressing sleeplessness if greater healing is to take place.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine each hour of the day corresponds with an organ system. Experiencing tiredness or weakness during a specific time of the day, or waking up at a particular time each night, indicates pathology or weakness in that area, e.g. the liver between 01h00 and 03h00 and the kidneys between 17h00 and 19h00.
 
From a mind perspective it seems as if there is a ‘switch’ that enables us to literally let go of, or surrender our normal busy mind. Some of us are able to manipulate this function at will while those who cannot are left at the mercy of the waking, wondering, calculating, worrying mind that those suffering from insomnia know so well.
 
LEARNING TO TRUST
Stress is the most common factor leading to sleep pathology, and as stress has its origins in the mind, training the mind to cultivate tranquility at will becomes a priceless endeavor.
 
Stress increases our levels of circulating cortisol; the higher the cortisol, the less likely that we are able to sleep peacefully. We are living stressful lives in challenging times, often based on fear and anxiety, and it becomes increasingly difficult to trust that all will be okay since our general perception becomes one of needing to be in control at all times. Perhaps this is a coping mechanism that we acquired due to unnecessary stress and uncertainty during childhood. Learning to trust in life supporting us is an essential and basic skill. Trust is the antidote to the urge to control.
 
Vigilantly scanning our environment for possible danger, we cannot imagine what will happen once we let go of our conscious control. For many people ‘letting go’ feels like relinquishing all power and control to chaos where things are simply allowed to fall apart.
 
STRESS AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
To accommodate a chronic state of anxiety the autonomic nervous system relies heavily on the sympathetic branch and the production of stress hormones like adrenalin, noradrenalin and the long-term stress hormone, cortisol. Consequently the heart rate goes up, blood pressure increases, muscles tense, the tummy turns into a knot and the immune system takes a back seat. At this stage depression easily sets in and sleep becomes a luxury or even impossible!
 
Fortunately this nervous system imbalance responds well to therapy. Craniosacral therapy, for example, applies specific pressure holds (hands-on holding positions of the skull and base of the spine) to induce a ‘still point’ in the craniosacral rhythm (the circulatory rhythm caused by the production and re-absorption of the cerebrospinal fluid). This brings the overactive sympathetic tone back into balance and changes beta brain wave frequency into theta brain wave frequency. It is during this theta brain wave state of mind that we experience deep relaxation, our bodies unwind and our innate healing mechanisms kick in. Normal sleeping patterns are often the first to be restored.
 
Beta brain wave frequency stimulates us into an awake and alert modus operandi that helps us function optimally during a working day, but without the ability to switch to a sleeping theta state we become dysfunctional and suffer from insomnia. Why would some of us then have trouble switching from beta to theta brain wave frequency, or remain in a predominant beta brain wave frequency?
 
To surrender oneself to life is a challenge, and a life skill that may take years to develop. In Buddhist philosophy sleep is seen as a ‘mini death’. It involves the ability to let go completely.
 
Not everyone can surrender peacefully with equal ease. Difficulty falling asleep or waking frequently during the night may be due to various causes, many of which are physiological, like feeling thirsty, needing the bathroom, pain, endocrine problems, medication and stimulants to name but a few. This may set the busy background for an overly charged mind to spring into action.
 
How often don’t we find ourselves waking up gradually and even peacefully, but before we can turn over and drop off again, a ‘busy’ thought pops into our mind sending alert messages to the adrenals and before we know it, we are busy solving problems, making plans, replaying events of the day or revising conversations in our heads. If we do this regularly, we train ourselves into a bad habit and indeed alter our biological clocks. This influences our pineal secretion of melatonin and leads to disturbed biorhythms. Instead of waking refreshed, we feel as if we’ve overindulged the previous night!
 
If you wake up regularly from general anxiety, seek out therapy to resolve subconscious issues. I suggest energy balancing and bodywork therapies in addition to counseling. Therapies such as shiatsu, kinesiology, craniosacral therapy, body stress release as well as gentle exercise like yoga and tai chi, bypass the rational and analytical mind that is often the problem in the first place.  Also try homeopathic or herbal treatment for anxiety and stress instead of resorting to sleeping tablets and anxiolytics. These have side effects, are addictive and don’t address the cause of the disrupted sleep cycle.
 
CREATING SOUND SLEEPING HABITS
Each task we engage in requires time, attention and energy. Make a list and prioritize daily tasks. Make sure to allocate enough time to complete each task one at a time. Think of each task as a circle. If left incomplete or open, while you carry on with the next, these unfinished tasks remain in your subconscious mind during the day as a continuous energy leach. At night, as soon as our conscious mind is ready to drift off to sleep, subconscious matter tends to surface and keeps us awake. This is true for any thoughts, feelings or consciously unresolved issues.
 
Think of your mind as your personal computer. When you have difficulty falling asleep or ‘switching off’ at night, visualize yourself clicking on the cross at the top corner of each file, closing each idea, project or concern in your mind one at a time. Make sure you do the same with your actual PC before going to bed.
 
For those who are less digitally inclined, use the image of a large cupboard and close each drawer containing your thoughts, feelings and concerns. Labeling these one at a time creates distance and objectivity, which enables one to put them in a compartment to be dealt with later.
 
Aside from addressing the physical, for example making sure your sleeping area is quiet, dark and comfortable, as well as avoiding stimulants before bedtime, try the following steps to help you sleep:

• Teach the mind to switch off. With closed eyes become aware of your surroundings. Use your senses to bring your attention into the present moment. If there are any disturbing factors that you cannot change, make a conscious effort to let go and release these from your mind.
• Relax all your muscles one at a time.
• Become aware of your breathing. Make sure that you exhale completely and that your exhalation is longer than your inhalation.
• Do a mindfulness meditation whereby you clear your mind of all thoughts. Watch your mind as if it is an open clear sky. Thoughts drift by like clouds. Release the thoughts before they escalate into feelings.
• Finally imagine yourself switching off the light inside your head and feel how your body becomes heavier and heavier, sinking into the bed beneath you. Feel your muscles melt like a wax candle in a warm oven.
• Allow yourself to surrender your need to control, organize, sort out, plan, worry, etc.
• Let go of any unwanted feelings and give yourself over to trust, reminding yourself that a good night’s rest at worst helps you to look at things with a fresh perspective and at best often brings its own miraculous answers to problems.
   

References:
1. Article by Dr. Sandra Smit, contributing author for Elements4Health. Dr. Sandra Smit has a Bachelors degree in psychology and philosophy, a 6-year Masters Diploma in Homeopathy, and is a qualified craniosacral therapist.
2. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.