Mindful Rest

A comfortable bed, pillows and blankets is a race only half won. To achieve mindful rest is something achieved by many contributing factors! Mind control, relaxation techniques, ambience, dietary habits and more can contribute to a persons quality of sleep. I have found in my own experience that implementing breathing exercises, navigating thought and dietary habits mostly help me to get a better night of rest. For some the pressures of daily life and haunting of living in the past can have a tremendous effect on their ability to unwind. This is where navigating thought comes in to play. To clear your head space, might call for repetition of thoughts such as “this is my time to rest, tomorrow with rest I will take a new step towards managing my life, but for now I need rest”. Others might repeat thoughts such as “I forgive myself for my mistakes, I will rewrite the ending, and rest now”. For those who eat late at night, you may be suffering bad dreams or waking up feeling fatigued! I believe that habit can be quite taxing, similar to shutting the car off but turning the key just far enough to play the radio; you’re killing your battery. Perhaps all systems should be down for proper rest. I have found that not eating at least a hour and half prior to rest helps me a lot. A third practice I personally utilize to promote better sleep is “breathing exercises”. I center and relax myself by counting the seconds which I spend inhaling and exhaling. Beginning with a count to three, I inhale at the speed which I count until I reach three and repeat that on the exhale. Normally I go up to 6 and then I restart until I don’t. As a teenager and young adult I suffered night terrors and as a young adult the weight of a guilty conscience. As an adult, usually trouble sleep comes from the stress of my personal goals and whom depends on me! For one it may be a work load, for another maybe an ill parent or child. Regardless of your “why” I hope something from this article can become your “how”. I learned my techniques from a stay at a yoga retreat in Massachusetts about 7 or 8 years ago and have been applying them ever since. I personally do not think sleep just magically happens, I think it takes methods of self conservation such as good dietary habits, directing the traffic of your thoughts, and relaxation however you are able to acquire it. Yes, there are over the counter chewable gummies, syrups, teas and more that you can use to release more melatonin or other “relaxing sensations” however you may find that these maneuvers are free and organic. Self care is also a nice cushion to a persons confidence and overall health, you can take pride in intentional practices to enhance your sleep; yourself. No guilt to bare about costs or concerns to be had about additional ingredients or exposures of anything that requires purchase. I was very fortunate to have the experience I did at the retreat in Massachusetts and will continue to share my strategies with anyone looking to remedy less than restful “rest”. I believe these things to be helpful to teach to children and apply to ourselves as adults. I am not a licensed Somnologist, I speak from first hand experience that has done a great deal to help me rest better. If anything you’ve read comes to help you personally rest better as well I hope you pass it on! Rest well!