If You Have Trouble Sleeping, This May Help

Do you have trouble falling asleep at night, because your mind is still so active? Or do you wake up very early in the morning and can't back to sleep, because you start figuring on what to do after you get up?

Lack of sleep can be a real nuisance and reduce the ability to function well. Here is a mental trick that has helped me many times.

When trying to sleep, I catch myself thinking about some topic and I visualize grabbing hold of that thought, pretending it is some physical object and throwing it in a trash can or dumpster that is conveniently placed nearby. When I lived in Africa, I observed night watchmen keeping themselves warm at night with a fire they started in an old 44 gallon oil drum. So, I sometimes toss my unwanted thoughts in there and imagine the flames shooting up and sparks flying when I do so. It's a pleasure to watch!

Sometimes, there are thoughts that I consider important and want to revisit later. In that case I imagine a closet with shelves. I carefully place the thought on the shelf and then close the door. I continue discarding or filing any new thoughts that crop up until I fall asleep. It generally works like a charm.

Sweet dreams!