What if I Can’t Fall Asleep?

If you can’t sleep while in bed there could be a couple of reasons. 
You may have napped during the day and your body now has the extra energy, or your mind may still be racing through all the experiences you’ve had during the day.

If you consistently have trouble sleeping, you should also check with your doctor, as some people may go for years with sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, and never know they have it or get treated. 

There is a good set of habits that is very helpful for insomnia! 

If you can’t sleep do the following:

1. No matter what, stay in bed.

2. Do some meditation.  Meditation in bed is an excellent alternative to sleeping as your mind will still rest (a lot more rest than staying up reading or watching TV), even when you’re awake. 

Self-guided meditations are excellent for this.  Here’s an example of a simple but very good self-guided meditation to rest your mind:

Close your eyes, take some deep slow breaths as you purposely relax your body from head to toe. 

Then imagine your bed starting to float. Imagine floating gently out of your window and into the sky. Take yourself to a beautiful place that you like. 

An example is going to a beautiful place on a mountain, near a peaceful running stream where you can lay listening to the water run, and the gentle birds singing.