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Lie still in bed

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Re: Lie still in bed

#111

Post by lamontcg »

haswell wrote: post #91
nerdchum wrote: post #25

This may work for non-neurotic people but laying still in bed is when the demons in my mind come out to play and remind me of all of my problems.

I’m pretty high on the neurotic scale. Two things that have helped me immensely: 1) I turn on an audio book that I love and know well with a 30 minute sleep timer. Recently this is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It doesn’t keep me awake because I already know the story well. But it keeps my mind occupied enough to avoid the rumination. Podcasts don’t work for me because it’s new material. 2) Guided Yoga Nidra…

I use soccer podcasts. Not American pundits who like to argue with each other loudly, but brits who don't raise their voices, yapping about teams I don't have any particular emotional connection to, with nothing particularly insightful to say about them...

Re: Lie still in bed

#112

Post by lost_tourist »

I find that my diet affects my sleep as much as anything. I eat lower carb (one carby meal a day allowed, others are "keto" style, I just never could give up carbs completely, I always ended up backsliding) and having a regular sleep schedule, 6-7 hours a night is fine. If I'm just "eating whatever" (and I love carbs and junk food) I'd have to sleep 9-10 hours or I would be a wreck the next day. One thing I have always been blessed with was being able to go to sleep though, only the most stressful times in my life have I ever had insomnia.

Re: Lie still in bed

#113

Post by baq »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #53
toddmorey wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Podcasts have been a godsend for me. I can’t lay in silence, either, because then my mind just races. But with a podcast you can just close your eyes and listen. It almost takes me back to my parents reading to me. Science / nature podcasts work really well. I avoid true crime, social issues, politics, tech, or work topics. The Ologies podcast is amazing. There’s even a podcast called Nothing Really Happens designed…

Yep, pick one where the host has a monotone voice, and play it at 0.75x speed

try this https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001q0nq from 0:55

Re: Lie still in bed

#114

Post by nerdchum »

kaffeeringe wrote: post #32
nerdchum wrote: post #25

This may work for non-neurotic people but laying still in bed is when the demons in my mind come out to play and remind me of all of my problems.

Then you should take some time earlier and face the demons while you are not trying to sleep. You have to think about thing - if you don't do it at day-time, the brain will force you at night.

Genius!

Re: Lie still in bed

#115

Post by lost_tourist »

Labo333 wrote: post #11

There is an amazing trick that I now use almost every time I want to sleep: the 4-7-8 breathing method. I don't remember using it and not falling asleep in less than 5 minutes, whatever the stress I was in. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/16/health/4-7-8-breathing-te...

Yeah this works in a lot of situations but I've learned it as 4-8-8 like 20 years ago out of some self-help book I don't even remember the name of. Barring the garbage about "yoga mystic woo woo" stuff I've used it to calm down in all kinds of situations that were stressing me out. Not sure about sleep though, as I've rarely had issues getting to sleep, waking up is the tough part.

Re: Lie still in bed

#116

Post by Swordfish12345 »

The biggest problem of our modern age is the removal of agency.

We are being pathologized by pseudo-science all around us.

When people mention "willpower", everyone today is looking for a diagnosis as an excuse instead.

Some things really are as simple as articles like this.

The failing is education. People don't understand the way they have re-shaped their brains from pretty much everything spawning from the internet and tv.

Re: Lie still in bed

#117

Post by Swordfish12345 »

Androider wrote: post #76

The most negative influence on my sleep by far is from using my phone in bed, as I suspect it is for many others. Not only when falling asleep, but also when waking up reaching for the phone is too easy and robs me of any chance of falling asleep again. The only trick I've found that works quite consistently for me, is removing the phone from the room entirely. This makes my laziness work for me for once, as getting…

> removing the phone from the room entirely.

100%. Started this recently. It works perfectly if you can withstand the withdrawals!

The moment you start doing this, is the moment you have to confront how incredibly addicted you actually are to your phone and the internet.

It will feel like you are being tortured. And it's very easy to give in because the immediate consequences are quite tame (getting to sleep a bit later, little less energy the next day). But over time they add up.

I highly recommend trying it and observing your mind go crazy. You can truly start to understand addicts and what they go through.

The biggest revelation was that cold turkey doesn't work too well. Instantly cutting off access to your phone can cause you to be consumed by the desire to have access to it (moreso than you even felt before), and you lose a lot of mental energy fighting against this. Which can disrupt your work, and disrupt your sleep even more so than if you allowed yourself access to it.

I think this is the reason most people don't do it even though its such a simple and obvious advice.

Addiction.

Re: Lie still in bed

#118

Post by Swordfish12345 »

Barrin92 wrote: post #103
smeej wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the point of the article was actually about sleep at all. It was about where to apply willpower to effect any kind of habit change. It's just an example in his case that the habit he wanted to build was going to sleep earlier, which he tried to do by just lying still in bed at the time he wanted to sleep, and resisting the urge to do anything else, first for two minutes, then for four. But he applies th…

willpower is a vacuous self-help concept as you have as little control over your 'willpower' as you have over your sleep. To pick OPs example, people with ADHD often have executive dysfunction. They're unable to follow these kinds of routines because their brains don't work like this. And ordinary people too just vary in their conscientiousness (which unlike willpower is a real, measurable trait), and that is going t…

> people with ADHD...because their brains don't work like this.

You might be surprised to find out that there is actually no proof of this.

The biggest thing impacting people with ADHD symptoms is the diagnosis. It implies they have a brain disorder, and cuts short any exploration into environmental causes of their symptoms.

And an environmental cause may in fact be, simply not trying some simple advice from this article. Resolved by education.

Re: Lie still in bed

#119

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

I recently broke a shoulder blade and was forced to sleep on my back without shifting for a few months. It became somewhat tolerable but my heels would go numb from the lack of any movement. I'm enjoying the ability to spend more time on my side and change positions now.

Re: Lie still in bed

#120

Post by kbutler »

The biggest effects helping me fall asleep are:

- get some exercise during the day. 30 minutes of exercise is basically free from a time perspective, because of improved sleep

- if I need to fall asleep earlier, get up earlier

Sometimes my brain is too busy, and an audiobook with a just-interesting-enough-to-listen-to-but-not-care-about can help disengage from the thoughts of the day.

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