How To Surrender To Slumber

Sleep is a unique function in life. It is one of the most powerful tools for the body to rest, rejuvenate and heal. To surrender to sleep is a blessing of peace and relaxation.

Unfortunately, for many people it is a challenge to get to sleep and stay asleep.

More than 70 million Americans report they have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep every night.
        – National Sleep Foundation

The purpose of sleep is not fully known, and it is still studied intensely today. What we do know for sure, though, is that sleeping regularly is essential for survival.

What is especially significant about sleep is that it has an impact on so many different levels of your well-being. In sleep the unity of the body, mind and emotions are all inter-related.

 

The peace of sleep and the way that it works with your organs, your glands and your hormones make getting a good night’s sleep very important. While your body rests, balancing, healing and restoration takes place.

 

 

Today I would like to offer you some pitfalls to avoid and some things you can do to help you get the best sleep.

PITFALLS TO AVOID

Sleep Medication

When I think of pitfalls to avoid the very first thought that comes to my mind is using medication to go to sleep.

Since I first released my guided sleep meditation in 2011 to help people get a restful deep sleep, I have observed something that I think is very significant about people when they struggle to sleep. Those who regularly use medications to go to bed are less receptive to a natural way to go to sleep. Although using medication to sleep may not be addictive, it is habituating. In fact, of those who have told me they tried the meditation and were still unable to get to sleep, 100% were regularly using medication.

It is interesting to note that among those who were using medication to sleep, most of them reported that even with the medication they still had a significant problem getting to sleep. Frequently they told me they needed increasing doses. Still, they report that even with medication they fail to have a deep and restful sleep. This shows that the habits you practice to go to sleep can have a significant influence.

The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.
        – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Not Letting Go

I often wonder what it is about sleep that is so difficult. After frequent consideration on the matter, it seems that one factor is that to fall asleep involves a letting go, or surrender to sleep. Even the common phrase to “fall asleep” implies a letting go.

Being multi-dimensional in nature, in order to go to sleep you must let go on different levels, your physical body, your emotional body and your mind. These layers of release must all take place to achieve a truly deep and restful night’s sleep. Perhaps this is a clue to ponder.

Then into the mix goes the nature of your dreams which are often a way that your Higher Self tries to guide you while you sleep.

Fear

As with so many experiences in life, fear seems to play a part in the problem with sleep. Some fear their dreams or the possibility of a nightmare. Many seem to fear the fact that when you are asleep, you are not in control.

I believe that it is an illusion that you are in control during your waking hours; however, this illusion seems to contribute to the resistance to sleep. You will sleep best if you let yourself relax your body. There are a number of ways to relax your body before you go to sleep.

Since regular rituals or habits seem to enhance the transition from waking to sleep, it is often helpful to incorporate some regular activities into your pre-sleep time. For the ease of consideration, these can fall naturally into focusing on the different parts of achieving a good night’s sleep.

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP

Here are some practical things you can do to incorporate into your nighttime pre-sleep rituals that can help you surrender to slumber.

Breathe

Your breath is a part of a complex interrelated system that is run by the autonomic parts of your nervous system. Therefore, you can use your breath and this integration of the body, mind, and emotions to help you relax sufficiently to enter into sleep seamlessly.

Breathing in through your nose and filling your lungs fully, dropping the diaphragm and filling the lungs from the bottom up to the very top lobes of the lungs and then releasing the whole breath through your slightly pursed lips, is known as a deep and relaxing breath.

These kinds of breaths signal your autonomic nervous system that you are safe and not threatened. This kind of breath, especially when repeated induces a relaxation response that can prepare you for sleep.

When you find it difficult to relax, repeating deep relaxing breaths can be beneficial. Sometimes it helps to count the breaths. For most a repetition of 10 deep breaths put you into a state of preparation for sleep. In fact, you might just naturally drift off to sleep before you have finished the count.

Put The Day Behind You

When you lay asleep it often helps to consciously create an endpoint for the day. If you consciously release the demands of the day that have been met or have been left unfinished and enter into the present moment in your mind, you are making an important step in preparing to rest while you sleep.

The past is now over. It has no more power over you. You can let it go. Between the past and the future is the peace of the present and you can use that peace to let yourself surrender to sleep.

Tomorrows tasks, tomorrows challenges, will all be there waiting for you when the new day dawns. The promise and potential of tomorrow are part of the miracle of life because that future is uncreated and not yet formed.

By putting the past behind you, you are opening to the power and the promise of a new day unfettered by the limitations of the past. You can, as you let go of the old day, be assured that anything left undone can be incorporated into the tasks of tomorrow if they are important.

Prayer

Perhaps because many of us prayed before sleep as children, or as a way to surrender the cares and concerns for which you desire help, praying to a higher power (God) before sleep is an effective ritual.

I have often recommended a gratitude prayer before sleep which in the words of the old song recommends counting your blessings instead of sheep. This focuses your mind on what is good and positive in your life, and the gratitude stimulates and activates the Law of Attraction to bring into your life more of what you want.

Meditation

A meditation, guided or self-directed, can be a dynamic tool for transitioning from your waking state to a sleep state where your Soul and Higher Self are accessible. It allows you to breathe, focus in the moment and relax. There is between waking and sleeping a fertile time when you can open your being to the impressions and guidance of your Soul.

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Because sleep is such a difficult issue for so many people, and the failure to get a restful and restorative sleep has such far reaching implications in life, sleep was one of the very first challenges I addressed when I started publishing my guided meditations. My Sleep In Heavenly Peace meditation CD remains one of my most successful, widely distributed, and reviewed products I have ever created. Click learn more here to check out this MP3 download and glide effortlessly into sleep.

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Warm Bath

Take a warm bath before you get ready for bed relaxes the body and gives you the opportunity for reflective time before you get in bed. Combining the warm bath with a relaxing meditation can be very helpful.

Affirmation

Affirmations are powerful tools that speak to your creative mind to direct the life that you desire. Using a positive affirmation before you sleep sets the creative power of your mind toward what you envision for your life.

Ultimately, let it be. What filled today is enough for today. What will come is still evolving and being created. It is enough to release the day and take the time to rest, to relax and restore yourself with the healing blessing of sleep.

Sweet dreams!

Namaste,

Genevieve

 

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Last Updated 11-13-2018

 

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