[Mark60]

By nighttime demons I mean the things that come into your mind after waking at night. I’ve had problems with insomnia for many years, and my biggest problem is getting back to sleep when I wake in the night – and I always wake in the night. And when I wake up my brain clicks into gear, thinking about worries or past things I did or didn’t do. Once this process starts, I find getting back to sleep is impossible.

[Scott]

Hi @Mark60,

Waking is a normal part of our sleep cycles. Waking up in the middle of the night isn’t really the problem, it’s when you begin to fight/avoid those anxious thoughts, as you describe, that can make falling back to sleep more difficult. Since most our thoughts are unhelpful and our struggle with them isn’t beneficial, have you considered allowing those thoughts to come and go as they want without giving them the attention they’re seeking? For instance, if you wake during the night and negative thoughts arrive, welcome them by saying, “Thank you, mind” and begin focusing on your breath or something more enjoyable instead. It’s a technique that certainly needs to be practiced consistently but over time I believe you’ll find your relationship with your thoughts improve. The more you struggle with your thoughts, the more intense and frequent they usually become.

Hope that helps,
Scott J

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