Hello again Mind Body Practitioners! Today I want to talk about the importance of sleep. We all know and have experienced how getting less than 7 hours of sleep at night can affect you the next day. We all know that a good night’s sleep is essential, but, for many it is easier said than done.
The importance of getting more than 7 hours of good sleep, including deep sleep, is essential to our physical and mental health. A good night’s sleep regulates and produces the positive hormones that we need to keep our heart and blood vessels healthy. On the other hand, sleeping less than 7 hours per night is associated with developing chronic conditions and disease such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, mental stress and anxiety. A good sleep helps regulate your metabolism and your blood sugar levels while a lack of sleep can disturb the regulation of blood sugar levels which can negatively affect your mood, energy levels and mental function; just watch the movie Insomnia with Al Pacino.
Good sleep helps the mind and body relax and prevents you from releasing stress hormones while research shows that people who get less than 7 hours of good sleep are likely to be overweight. Good sleep is when our body works hard to repair injuries, physical and mental damage and strengthens your immune system which may prevent inflammation while studies show that sleep deficiency leads to balance problems which can contribute to injuries and falls. A good night of sleep makes you feel energized, alert, and focused which may help you make better decisions.
Despite all the health benefits of a good night’s sleep more than a third of American adults are not getting enough sleep. Nearly half of 18 to 29 year-olds get less than the recommended amount of sleep.
Not only that, but the total direct and indirect health cost for lack of sleep is 100 billion US dollars per year. So, as you can see sleep deficiency is a huge health problem. But what can we do about it?
There are not a lot of choices when it comes to trying to fall asleep at the beginning of the night or falling back to sleep in the middle of the night. A lot of people rely on pharmaceuticals which can cost a lot of money and often have side effects.
However, if you are looking for alternative methods or mind body techniques from the philosophies of Chi Kung, Tai Chi, and Meditation, with no negative side effects, holistic approaches that are supported by research and recommended by doctors, here are 3 sleeping tricks or tips that will cost you $$$ nothing.
TRICKS FOR FALLING ASLEEP
Many individuals have sleep issues either because they cannot fall asleep when they want to or when waking up in the middle of the night, they have a challenging time falling back asleep.
The main problem, for many individuals, is the emotional mind, or the thoughts that come into the mind when trying to fall asleep.
THE “MONKEY” & THE “HORSE” MINDS
In the philosophies of Chi Kung and Tai Chi we have two minds: the Wisdom mind or the “Horse” Mind and the Emotional mind or the “Monkey” Mind. The “Horse” mind, the wisdom says, “Now fall asleep. We have a long day tomorrow.” You close your eyes but instead of falling asleep the “Monkey” mind uses this quiet, relaxing time to start “talking” and “thinking.” The next thing you know, you are awake and have no chance of falling asleep.
The solution, according to the eastern philosophies, is to offer a “Banana” to the Monkey mind; not to answer back or add more thoughts. Stay silent.
In the Tai Chi poetry, it is said, “Train the Horse and Seize the Monkey.”
How many times have you experienced lying down, planning to go to sleep when you start thinking about something positive or negative and before you know it a second thought comes to mind, followed by a third thought. Now you are charged up and awake and cannot fall asleep anymore. Probably, by the third thought, you have generated some hormone that will keep you up.
So, what do you do?
The trick is not to let the second or third thought into your brain. You need to recognize the first thought and then stop the second and third ones!!! It is a must: you cannot let a second or third thought come into your brain!!!
But how do you do that? How do you quiet the Monkey mind? How do you prevent the second and third thoughts? You need a trick. You need a “Banana” to capture the “Monkey” mind.
LEVELS AND TRICKS or “BANANAS”
Different individuals need to use different tricks to keep the thoughts from coming into the brain.
The different tricks from the eastern philosophies Chi Kung, Tai Chi and Meditation have many levels: some are easier, and some are more challenging. The easier methods are noisier: repeating a word or a sound. They may work for falling asleep but are not as beneficial to your health as the more quiet and advanced methods.
I encourage you to first learn and then practice the different methods I offer you in this blog. See what your level is, at first, and which one works best for you. Over time and with practice move from the noisier methods to the quiet, more advanced, and challenging methods.
Start with the two easier tricks that use basic thoughts and sound to capture the monkey mind: “Counting the Breath” or the “Fire Breath.” Next, try the more advanced tricks: The “Water Breath” or “Dissolving the Internal Organs” meditation or over time and with practice try combining the “Water Breath” with “Dissolving the Internal Organs.”
For beginners who have a challenging time emptying the mind and quieting the “Monkey” mind, external sounds may work. For example, focusing your mind on a wave machine sound or listening to soft music may do the trick.
But if you are interested in going deeper into the training of learning how to quite the “Monkey” mind you may need to start with chanting, repeating a word or “Counting the Breath.”
COUNTING YOUR BREATH
I joke, “Counting your Breath” in the east and “Counting Sheep” in the west are the same trick.
By counting you “fill” your mind with thoughts of numbers so that other thoughts cannot come in. After a few minutes you may fall asleep but if you do not fall asleep after 15 or 20 minutes get up and stretch, meditate, or read for a few minutes and try again.
FIRE AND WATER BREATH
Once you have mastered “Counting your Breath” and are ready to move to the next level, try the two tricks which are slightly harder:
either the “Fire” breath or the “Water” breath to quiet the “Monkey” mind.
The “Fire” breath is “noisier,” not as much as counting, but is easier than the water breath but sometimes needed to quiet the Monkey. The “Fire” Breath is done slowly in and out through the nose with a sound.
The “Water” breath method is more challenging since it is incredibly quiet. The “Water” breath is silent, quiet, long, and peaceful. No sound, yet deep. This quiet breath allows more opportunity for the Monkey mind to come in and bother you. The quieter it is, the “louder” or more distracting the Monkey mind can be. Focus on your breath. Breathe in and out through the nose. Breathe deep. Breathe soft and quiet like gentle, soft water flowing down a brook. Breathe until you fall asleep.
The harder, yet the strongest health-wise method or trick to help you fall asleep is using your mind to “Dissolve the Abdominal Muscles and the Internal Organs.”
How do I do it?
DISSOLVING THE INTERNAL ORGANS
Put your mind in the abdominal area and then move your mind deeper into your internal organs. Sense the entire area and start using your mind to dissolve the muscles and internal organs. You can use both hands or just one to gently massage the abdominal and internal organ area. Circle your hands counterclockwise, up through the right and down through the left, using the metaphor “solid to liquid and liquid to gas” to dissolve. Try relaxing, letting go, melting or dissolving the abdominal muscles and the internal organs with the help of your hands and the power of the mind. Dissolve the entire area to make it more relaxed, softer. Dissolve and strive for a feeling of transparency.
Over time and with practice you may dissolve the internal organs using only your mind without the help of your hands.
The last method for this blog is combing the “Fire” Breath or the “Water” Breath with the “Internal Organ Dissolving.”
Sleeping Positions which one is the best? Which one is the worst?
When it comes to which posture is the best for sleeping, in my humble opinion:
Sleeping on your Stomach
The worst one is sleeping on your stomach. This posture is bad for your internal organs. They are compressed, squished and your spine is out of alignment. Your neck and back will suffer. Sleeping on your stomach is a bad posture for many negative health reasons.
Sleeping on your Left Side
Sleeping on your left side is better than on your stomach, but you are compressing your heart and your spine is, again, not in alignment. When lying on your side, I recommend putting a pillow between your knees to maintain alignment in the hips and legs and to prevent the knees from touching each other and putting stress on your hips and lower back. Also, when sleeping on your side you need to make sure that you have a good pillow that keeps your neck in alignment with the rest of your upper and lower back. Once you are in position, you might want your partner to check your position and tell you if your neck is nice, straight, and lined up with the rest of your spine.
Sleeping on your Right Side
Sleeping on your right side is better than sleeping on your left side in terms of reducing pressure and stress on the heart. In this posture, again, a pillow between your knees and the right pillow for your neck are especially important. I used to sleep on my stomach until my mid-twenties. Once I understood that it is a bad posture for sleeping, I tried changing it and over time and with practice I was able to. Now I alternate between sleeping on my left and right sides.
Sleeping on your Back
Sleeping on your back is the best sleeping posture. The spine and the neck are nice and straight, free from stress or pressure. The internal organs are nice and relaxed, the lungs are wide open. You will also find that you do not need as many hours of sleep. Sleeping on your back is not easy for most but is easy for some. I always try to fall asleep on my back but if it does not work, I turn to my right or left side.
Not Just for Sleeping - Sitting and Standing Meditations
Counting the Breath, Fire Breath, Water Breath and Dissolving the Abdominal Muscles and Internal Organs can also be practiced as sitting or standing meditations.
The benefits of meditation, either sitting or standing, have been scientifically studied and shown to lead to better sleep and mood, increased stamina, endurance, toleration, less anxiety, a boost in energy levels, reduced stress, improved memory, a positive hormone production, mental discipline and more.
When sitting, sit on the floor or on the edge of the chair. Keep your spine lengthening upwards, head suspended, relax your shoulders and your face.
If you like, wrap yourself with a blanket to keep yourself warm. The blanket also helps lead warmth and energy inwards instead of outwards. When the energy and warmth are moving inwards, this nourishes every cell in your body.
Sitting on the edge of a chair
Sitting on a block
When standing, stand in a “Horse” stance or in “Mountain” Stance.
Choose one of the methods and put a timer.
Focus either on “Counting the Breath,” “Fire Breath,” “Water Breath” or “Dissolving the Internal Organs.”
When meditating, sitting or standing, start with 3 minutes and build up to 20 or 40 minutes.
Horse Stance
Mountain Stance
Sweet Dreams - Happy Stretching – Deep breathing – Calm mind – Strong Spirit
Effects of Tai Chi or Exercise on Sleep in Older Adults With Insomnia
A Randomized Clinical Trial
- Jama Network 2021
Information about the cost of sleep to our mind, body and wallet was taken primarily from: