As I was working on my online course for people suffering with sleep problems, I found something that was really disturbing. I decided to look over some of the popular self-help books about curing sleep problems, and see if there was any new books I would like to recommend to my clients.
As I read through a number of books, what disturbed me was that left the reader with the impression, that if the person reading the book wasn’t getting relief, it was because they weren’t trying hard enough. One book I won’t mention here actually came right out and said, “if you aren’t falling asleep after reading their book and doing the exercises it is because you aren’t doing it right.” Wow, talk about putting the blame in the wrong place, saying that somehow it was the readers’ fault, and couldn’t possibly be the fault of the information in the book or some other reason. Well that just burned me up.
After over 25 years helping people with insomnia, panic, anxiety and even Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Migraines, I have found most people will do almost anything to get a good night sleep. So I’m going to believe that a person who buys a book to get help, is going to do the exercises and be reading in a hopeful and open-minded state. If this has ever happened to you, where you truly were trying to make a change, but not getting the results you hoped for, it may be possible that the problem isn’t that your doing things incorrectly. It might be that either the book isn’t right for you or that there are underlying issues that need to be resolved before the exercises will work for you.
There is a simple skill that you can learn that has helped countless people to sleep anywhere, anytime they want. It is called the “5,4,3,2,1 Exercise” and I have used it to sleep easily, where ever I go. I’ve even found it worked for me while I was on a tour bus. My friends were amazed that I could go to sleep at will. And I loved being refreshed and ready to enjoy each stop on the tour.
There are a few things that are needed to do this exercise. The ability to visualize, and to pretend to be in a place that you are visualizing. Of course we use a memory of some place that was enjoyable for you.
Here is a “thumb nail” sketch of how to use this exercise: Start with a memory of someplace that you enjoy being. It can be a vacation spot, or even a room in your home that feels comfortable for you. As you visualize this place you will say to yourself 5 things that you “see.” In your own mind, you state the things you are seeing “as if” you are actually there. For example you might say, “I see the blue sky.”
The next step is to do the same for 5 things you are hearing in this remembered place.
And the next step is to say to yourself 5 things you feel, as you are in this place.
Note: When people are first learning this exercise
they might use feeling words like “happy or relaxed,”
for this exercise I would like you to use a physical feeling,
such as “I feel the warmth of the sun on my body” instead of
an emotion of happy.
To complete the exercise: Just count down from 5, To 4, To 3, To 2 To 1 thing that you SEE, HEAR AND FEEL. Do this with your eyes still closed.
After finishing with 5 things you see, hear and feel, you then say 4 things you see, hear and feel. They can be a repeat of the same ones you said in the first part (5 things you see, hear and feel).
Each time you finish you move down one level (number) until you get to one thing you see, one thing you hear, and one thing you feel. All of the thing you are seeing, hearing and feeling are from the memory or visualization, acting “as if” you are actually in the memory.
There are more detailed directions for doing this exercise, but try it out and see how it works for you. For many using this simple exercise makes falling asleep easy any where and any time desired.
If you find that you still are having problems you might benefit from the full directions, or it may be that there are underlying issues that need to be worked out. Many have found that after releasing some old stuffed emotions they are then able to quickly re-program their sleep habits.
If you have been procrastinating about doing something about these or other issues keeping you from the calm you desire, please accept our gift to you of:
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Audrey Sussman PhD began her quest to find a way to get relief from anxiety and panic after suffering with panic for many years ago. Now she is a nationally recognized seminar leader and author. Years of study and practice lead to her creating the Transformation System for the relief of panic, phobias, migraines and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Audrey’s books include ” Calm & Comfort… Yours for the Asking”, “The Power of Thought…Untold Secrets of the Unconscious”, “Stress Relief in 10 Minutes”(Co-authored with Tish Schuman). In her active private practice, clients have achieved lasting transformations.