[babesjen24]

Hi there, I have no problem with my sleep for the past years until the first week of January this year. It was started with no reason just I can’t get enough sleep but last week my sleep was down from several hours to less than 2 hours of sleep every night. Just my mind won’t shut off. My mind keep on wondering around even though I’m super tired.

[hiker]

Hi, babesjen24, I think for starters it might help to see if there is anything in your life which is stressing you out, e.g. stuff at work, looking for work, school, Covid, family hassles, stress over politics, you name it.

If you go through the life situations and find yourself still not sleeping, even if everything in your life is going okay, know that you are not alone when you say your mind won’t shut off. If you stay with the forum and check out Martin’s videos, you will learn that’s what our minds do. And the videos, his course and assorted comments here will describe how rather than trying to turn off our minds, or force them to think just certain thoughts, it is more about slowing down and watching the mind—and not taking it too seriously, especially when you’re tired and all sorts of weird thoughts can run through there.

One of the mind’s least helpful shenanigans is sleep anxiety—worrying about not sleeping, so of course not sleeping, and then worrying some more about it.

Finally, know that nobody sleeps great every night. Just this week, I slept poorly one night, who knows why, just did….and then the next night, same thing. And I found myself freaking out a little, as in omg, here we go again, am I going to go back into not sleeping again, all those years lost, so tired then and here I am again, I will never get over this, etc etc.

Fortunately, I was able to summon up my long experience with this stuff and realize that it was just my mind going bonkers again, and realize that my body will eventually sleep, the same way it eventually gets hungry. Sometimes easier said than done, for sure!

btw, I had chronic insomnia for many years, but this does not mean you will, too. I had long term emotional issues to deal with. In fact, maybe this is one thought to catch: if you learn that somebody else has had sleep problems for a long time, your mind might pop up with “oh no, I am stuck here for who knows how long, how am I going to function, what is the point of all this,…….like I said, the mind can go anywhere. Sometimes it provides useful insights or remembers helpful information; other times, it just presents junk, which hopefully you can let just drift through, like a piece of a branch floating down the river.

Mindfulness is sort of trendy right now, but it’s been around for 3,000 years or so. It has helped me more than any other remedy. Some people benefit more from a structured course of study, so again you might want to check out Martin’s program. As for mindfulness, a couple of good sites: palousemindfulness.com and mindfulness northwest.com

Take care.

[Scott]

Hello @babesjen24!

Welcome to the forum! Great conversation here, @hiker! I wanted to reference a specific video Martin released a year ago relating to anxious thoughts that you might find beneficial. Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2tjMWvBaWs

I relate anxious thoughts and worry to a school bully. The more attention you give the bully, the more times he/she will continue to seek you out.

I look forward to hearing your progress, if you begin implementing any of the techniques explained in the video.

Scott J

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[Author]

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