Today is Friday, May 19, 2023. As we continue- from last week-moving towards dreams, aspirations, goals, we may better understand our best awake and rest times. We offer a pre-sleep tool.
Think about this: During awake hours, there are lots of experiences and thoughts and feelings. The brain and mind are appropriately busy. Worries and fears about the future may surface. Future dreams, plans and action items develop. Where does all this go? What happens to it?
Sometimes, the start of sleep is delayed due to the brain and mind trying to sort through the day and prepare for the future. It does not want to forget anything important, but it does not know what is important and what is not, so it might try to cycle through everything and that can interfere with sleep. Good news, you can train your brain to rest by creating a ritual before you need to sleep.
DGoV (Daily Gift of Vitality) Activity: For this next week, before your desired sleep time, perform a brain dump. Write down everything on your mind in a notebook so that you can return to it in the morning. Let your brain watch you writing down all the things on your mind so that it can be reassured that you will not forget it and that you can return to it and organize your thoughts tomorrow. Then, when you are ready tomorrow, return to it and review your brain dump. Your mind will have solved much of it overnight while asleep. With regular practice, over time, your brain will learn to let your brain rest when you are ready to sleep.
A quote by Queen Rania al-Abdullah, “We are stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share.”
Thank you to Gregoire Jeanneau for sharing this photo.
With gratitude and appreciation for all beings,
Naomi Parrella, MD & Fran Lee, FNP
Daily Gift of Vitality 