Ideas to help you sleep at night — Part Two
Good Morning!
I hope you slept so much better last night. The next technique is one I tried earlier this week. It really did help me sleep soundly. I woke up feeling more rested than I have since news that we must work from home.
This technique comes from an article written to help counselors with our own self-care. The article appeared in the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health 5:109-124, 2010. Written by Jane Warren, Michael M. Morgan, Lay-Nah Blue Morris and Tanaya Moon Morris this writing exercise has five sections. It is written as if you were doing a physical workout. By using that image, it helps a lot of folks get past their hesitation about writing. I mean who doesn’t want to do “sit-ups” with a pen and paper?! Let’s get started.
Warm-Up
Start this level by setting your timer for 3 minutes. In this activity the writer completes sentence stems. Some sample sentence stems include:
Love is …
For me, to be happy is …
My two biggest fears are …
Three wishes I have are …
I …
To stay healthy, I can …
When I am bored I can …
Do not overthink how you complete these. This is a simple warm-up. Have fun.
Sprint
Set the timer for 5 minutes. Write continuously without pausing, rereading or evaluating. As you write, notice your breathing patterns. Use your answer to one of the sentence stems as your topic or write whatever comes to mind.
Sit-Ups (My favorite!)
Set the timer again for 5 minutes. This time complete two lists. The first is a To-Do list. The second is a list of all the creative things you would do with a square of colored molding clay. I tend to have to make myself leave the “to-do” list. Notice breathing again. There is a significant difference between the breath when writing out obligations and must-do’s as opposed to the expansive creativity of the second list.
Yoga
Now that your creative juices are flowing, it is time to engage in writing about whatever is troubling or challenging you. Set the timer for 10 minutes. Focus on a specific challenge or current fear. Let your writing flow. Your writing may turn into a letter, a poem, song lyrics or a short story. Many times, simply writing out situations and feelings brings peace. Other times you may realize you will need to revisit this topic at another time. Honor the work you have done so far and give yourself permission to move to relaxation.
Relaxation
Set the timer to 10 minutes: however, this section may go longer. Allow yourself to write about something positive that brings you peace. It could be a description of something fun that happened today. It could be descriptions of things you are grateful for. This is another place where it is OK to use any form, whether it is journal style, poetry or even a letter.
I have used this technique several times in the past year, especially when there was a situation that troubled me so much I could not sleep. I’ve found insight I did not expect as I wrote. I also found that by engaging in the Warm-Up, Sprint and Sit-Ups most of my “yes-but” objections disappear, and I am more likely to listen to the Holy Spirit’s quiet inner voice by the time I get to the Yoga.
Next time I’ll share some ideas using art. Get those crayons ready!
May God’s Peace abide in you tonight.
Blessings,
Vicki