[Johniee]

I have been having sleeping challenges for mire than 10 years. I am a Christian & at first, I thought it was a spiritual issue.
I had read about the value of sleep to my health & every time I imagined that I may not sleep, I become excessively anxious & the more I try to cool the mind and dismiss the thought, the worse it becomes. I would end up tossing on the bed the whole night while my partner is in dreamland. This in itself adds more pressure and I come out of bed the following day very tired and without appetite. This thought of not sleeping is so powerful that once in a week, I will have 2 nights of not sleeping. I feel trapped by my own thoughts. The thought of not sleeping brings very negative emotions like pain in my chest and fear and lots of sweating- very uncomfortable and the night becomes very long. On these dark days, I do not think of anything else a part from why I cannot close my eyes & grab some rest. The nights when I sleep are normally very sweet & the following day very fruitful, full of energy.

Thank you.

[hiker]

Hi Johniee, you write that “I feel trapped by my own thoughts.” I went through insomnia for a very long time (does not mean you will, at all). But it took me a lot longer to realize what you have already discovered.

As a Christian myself, I wondered if I was spiritually troubled, how could God let this happen, etc. I finally concluded that I don’t know. I think that is where faith, and perhaps more specifically trust come in.

Anyway, I do know that believing in God does not mean we do not avail ourselves of remedies beyond prayer. Some Christians think seeking out mental/emotional health remedies is a sign of little faith. You may hear this line of thought from believers who have not (yet) gone through some of the tough problems life can throw at us.

Martin’s course, as well as videos and other info on this site, is focused on what you describe—-that we can get swept up in our thoughts, so much so that we think our thoughts are all we are.

A similar avenue is mindfulness, which I know sounds like a fad, but actually it has been around for about 3,000 years. A couple of good and free sites: mindfulness northwest.com and palousemindfulness.com

Sometimes Christians and other religious people think mindfulness and meditation are contrary to their religion. If you explore it, I think you will find this is not the case at all.

Take care.

[Author]

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