but how do you get to sleep?
I'm sure there's something deeply pychological but I'll wait to hang my shingle.
My dh and I discovered we get to sleep in totally opposite ways. I have to think about a process, generally quiltmaking, or quilt designing, and I have to go step by step. First you pick your fabrics, then you wash them, don't forget to clip the corner....by then I am generally sound asleep. No joke, I'm out in 20 seconds max. On a bad night I might get as far as ironing the fabric or picking out a pattern!
I specifically think about a process to push out what I call emotional thoughts. Thoughts there include mostly personal stuff like is my job going ok, did I remember to do a particular task, a daughter's army status, etc. Those thoughts I worry, worry, worry over.
My dh on the other hand has to "clear out" all his thoughts. Tosses them out one by one. I was thinking that his method was totally different but maybe that's his process instead? Hmmm.....
.......calling Dr. Freud!
10 comments:
I just fall asleep. I don't know how. Sometimes I'm so tired I just crash, but most of the time I just lay there for a while and fall asleep. Sometimes I think, sometimes I don't... I usually check my alarm like 6 times to make sure it's right and I think about how important it is that I NEED to get up and not be late for work..
I close my eyes. the end. Usually I make it to the bed first, but truly, I have rarely had any problem geting to sleep. Likewise, when I wake up, I open my eyes and I'm awake. Instant on, instant off.
On the few occasions I have had to put myself to sleep, I imagine a chalkboard. I experience the whole effort of writing the number 100 on the board, put down the chalk, pick up the eraser (the big school style chamois over foam type, squishy, smooth, a little heavier than the regular kind, warm in my hand) and erase 100. Put down the eraser, pick up the chalk (white, dusty, cooler than the eraser) and write 99. Lather, rinse, repeat. I think the farthest I've ever gone was 87.
I have to lay on my right side for a while as I empty my mind. When I turn over onto my left side I fall asleep almost as soon as I get there.
Interesting question. My DH lays his head down and is out like a light. I have to concentrate on something and then eventually I can drift off. The worst part is listening to him breathe, knowing he his fast asleep and I'm not.
Oh, gosh. Start with 50 mg of benedryl, followed by 30 minutes or so of reading, waiting for the benedryl to kick in. Finally, when I feel slightly drowsy (I know; that much benedryl would put some folks out for a week.), I check for totally closed draperies, closed doors, turn on the sound machine and turn off the lights. DIVE into the bed, lying on my left side so I can breathe. Rearrange myself 10 times times around 2 pillows, and at last I BEGIN my process of going to sleep. I was an interior designer for 25 years, so my process is arranging furniture. (Space planning was my specialty, ahem. I've been converting our spacious and sunny den into a sewing studio for about two years now. Yeah, that'll happen. That's why they call them fantasies.) I mentally decorate or rearrange rooms until I finally drop off, probably within 10 minutes. This idiotic ritual guarantees me a whopping 6-1/2 hours of snore-filled sleep. My DH drops off in 15 seconds, but unlike Dorothy he rarely makes it to the bed first. He snores so loud it used to scare the children. He also has insomnia and sleep apnea, and occasional night terrors. Need I mention we haven't shared a bedroom in, oh, 15 years??? Nighttime is a freakin' nightmare around our house.
NONE of this is an exaggeration. The ironic thing is that until my first pregnancy (gee, only 34 years ago), I slept like a child.
All I have to do is put my head on the pillow. Game over.
DH scratches my back and I am out like a light in about 5 minutes. Also I must have my favorite pillow.
Dang, is that interesting or what?
Going through the process of planning a quilt is what keeps me AWAKE! I had my first dream about Wes last night but I dream about my first husband several times every week.
Generally I have an easy time getting to sleep--especially when I exercise!
Lights out is my favorite time of day but I am usually out in 20 seconds, too. I, for one, don't remember dreaming much.
What an interesting topic. So many variations. I tell myself the plot of a book I like, or think about quilting (although like Debra that can sometimes keep me awake), or recount the events of the day unless they were unpleasant. Usually I can fall asleep easily, but if something wakes me up in the first few minutes, I can't sleep again for hours.
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