Midnight Monkey Mind
Thoughts sabotage the best laid plans for sleep
It’s 4:07 a.m.
My eyes fly open and focus on those big red digits on my alarm clock while my brain snaps to attention like an Army private jumping up from her cot after hearing the bark of her commanding officer.
Thoughts spin through my mind like a pet hamster’s plastic wheel — silently whirling round and round during his midnight marathon.
I try to convince those thoughts inside my head that, really, the best thing they could possibly do at this hour is relax, snuggle into this cozy bedding with me, and get some much-deserved rest. They insist, however…
- that it is time to remember all the things
- construct all the plans
- bring up all the doubts about questionable past interactions
- solve all the problems that are arising, or might arise
- re-hash old conversations with wittier and more intelligent dialogue
- consider what skills to include on my next résumé, etc.
In the course of one wee-hour bout of insomnia, I…
- carried on a mental conversation with my ex-husband questioning his judgment around his idea of an equitable settlement agreement
- crafted some of the terms of my counteroffer
- silently rehearsed lyrics of the song I think would make the perfect first dance at my son’s upcoming wedding
- planned what day I should sweep and mop the floor before holiday company arrived
- considered how large a ham to buy to feed them all
- pondered what I could do to keep the squirrels from knocking over my pansy pots and digging out the flowers every damn day
- wondered if the plumber took the old sink away so I won’t have to coordinate a special trash pickup
- realized I should try to schedule a carpet cleaner to come next week…
You’d think this stuff would eventually bore me to sleep!
I take the whole sleep hygiene thing seriously. I know I need to be in bed near the same time every night. I limit screen time the hour before. Strategically, I stop eating three hours before bedtime so my body isn’t trying to digest when it should be resting. I stop drinking liquid at 9 p.m. so my bladder can make it till morning. I keep the room temperature cool. I use a sleep meditation app that talks me down into slumber each night. I take a nightly sleep supplement and herbal sleep tincture that help keep me at rest all night — most of the time.
Sometimes this wonderful cocktail of sleep aids still cannot defeat the 4:07 wakeup call inside my mind.
If it happens more than two nights in a row, I pull out the Delta 8 gummies. But then, there is the worry that at some point those will not do the trick either.
I think I need to investigate feng shui-ing the bedroom next. I’m sure that could help. I’ll Google that today, then at 4:07, I’ll be able to plan out how to re-arrange everything in the room.
Cathy is an Ayurvedic health coach, yoga and meditation guide. She provides mature clients with customized, 1:1 holistic wellness guidance to help them reduce stress, relieve pain, manage chronic conditions and prevent age related disease. Her writing covers ways to live, breathe, eat, communicate, love and simply be — well; plus whatever other topics are on her mind.
Follow her work on Medium @cathyreadsandwrites
Her website: www.FindBlissYoga.com
Her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@blissyogawithcathy1253
