As part of your natural treatment for insomnia, you will begin practicing relaxation methods on this Day 4 of the Insomnia Self Help Tutorial.
I consider relaxation methods a main part of any natural treatment for insomnia because you are essentially learning how to slow down your own brain waves without the help of a pill.
Consider what a valuable skill it is to learn how to relax on your own, without the help of synthetic chemicals.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are some times when a sleeping pill or anti-anxiety pill will be valuable to you as well. There is nothing wrong with taking medications when the time is right.
But if you are consistent in applying natural treatment for insomnia, you will find that the days you feel like taking them will become quite rare.
Relaxation is the most natural treatment for insomnia around, but it does take focus.
If you have never practiced relaxation therapy techniques before, you may well find it quite difficult to stay focused long enough. Your mind will be continuously chattering away and your muscles might even get twitchy and restless.
I assure you that if you keep at it, it will become easier and easier.
Think of any other skill you developed over a period of time, like playing a musical instrument, driving a car, riding a bike, learning to solve math problems. You didn’t become skilled overnight, did you? Persistence is the key in any natural treatment for insomnia.
Review the articles on relaxation therapy techniques to find the one you like the best. You can also try all of them, alternating as you see fit.
If you aren’t sure which technique to start with, you can…
- Begin with a simple breathing exercise. Do this for several days.
- Then start with progressive muscular relaxation techniques, which you can read about here and get a free relaxation script here.
- After you get comfortable with that, and can feel relaxation happening in any part of your body at will, try the letting go techniques in this article.
- And if you have an active, vivid imagination, why not use it for your benefit instead of sabotaging your sleep? Try the visualization technique explained here.
Because of the paradoxical nature of insomnia, you will get better results if you practice these techniques at a time when you’re not thinking about sleeping. Why?
Because as we all know, TRYING to sleep just backfires. You don’t sleep through effort, you only sleep through letting go — nearly the polar opposite of “effort.” It takes a while to get this concept into your brain cells, though, after so many weeks and months of TRYING to sleep.
So the answer is, you can certainly use any one or several of these relaxation techniques as part of your pre-sleep routine as you prepare yourself to bed.
Relax about results…
But you will only sabotage your natural treatment for insomnia if you get hung up about getting immediate results. I know how easy it is to do this. But the only way to start sleeping peacefully is to NOT CARE if you fall asleep.
So begin your relaxation therapy techniques with the idea that you are building a valuable skill that will serve you well in life, not just for sleeping.
The interesting part is, they WILL help you sleep once you don’t care if they do and just practice them for the total health benefits they provide.
Breathing exercise for quick relaxation during the day…
The reason to begin with the breathing exercise is that it can be done anywhere, anytime.
Inhale slowly to a count of 3-4, hold for a similar count, then exhale and let go of all tension.
You can do just two or three breaths if you’re feeling stressed or rushed. It is a good way to increase your concentration and “center” yourself to feel more in control.
Using Progressive Relaxation Natural Treatment for Insomnia
Progressive relaxation gives you the opportunity to experience release of muscular tension in every part of your body. Most of us don’t get this training unless we do it ourselves. Once you start, you realize it has much more value than just a natural treatment for insomnia.
It helps you become more aware of when you’re holding tension. If you continue to practice it at least several times a week, you will soon be able to identify trouble spots where you habitually build up tension. It could be your shoulders, your neck, your jaw, your forehead, stomach.
And if you keep up the practice, you’ll soon be able to release that tension almost anywhere — in your car, in line at the grocery store, or at work — simply by taking a quiet breath in and on the exhale, a quick release. Yes, you do have to build up this skill, but it’s certainly worth the effort and time you put into practice.
Letting go technqiues
The basic principal behind letting go techniques is similar to progressive muscular relaxation, only the “thing” you’re releasing is emotional rather than physical. However, since all emotions have a physical component, the “feeling” can be let go of in a physical way, similar to relaxation.
For example, suppose you are feeling frustrated. If you close your eyes and sit quietly for a moment, you can identify the area of your body where that frustration is making itself “felt.” It might be in your chest area, stomach area, neck area, and so on. It is the “sensation” of frustration that we’re trying to recognize.
Once you locate that feeling in your body, you can then let go it gently, using similar techniques you use with progressive relaxation. You can visualize steam or smoke coming out, a door or window or chimney opening up, or whatever. And you can then feel the frustration melt away.
Sometimes, of course, the feeling doesn’t want to go away quite that quickly. And that’s fine, too. If you are new to “feeling your feelings” it will take some practice before you can see the benefits of letting go of them. This can be a complex process, and you shouldn’t rush it. It is enough just to let the feeling come into your awareness.
Now then, here’s a caveat. Letting-go techniques are not for those who fear their feelings. If you think this technique is too strange, or if you try it and don’t like the feelings that come into your awareness, then don’t do it. Or at least, don’t do it right now. Continue with the breathing exercises and progressive muscular relaxation for a while. That’s what I did as part of my own natural treatment for insomnia, and it worked well.
Visualization
If your mind is busy, always scurrying about thinking up things to worry about, visualization techniques are a great way to use that mental energy for something more helpful. Many insomniacs do seem to have active, creative minds, and find the visualization process fun and effective.
The problem is, you can get so wrapped up in your mental scenario that you lose the purpose of the technique, which is to relax. That’s why it’s so important to follow the instructions as described in this article.