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Waking up at 3am and can't get back to sleep? Here is an idea.

Iain

I came across an interesting article on a sleep issue that I have seen posted about here on many occasions - I wonder how well it works.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/best-thing-to-try-wake-up-3am_uk_6925d0f5e4b063285310c7d5

You might have heard of “cognitive shuffling,” which involves associating words which share a letter in order to stop yourself from overthinking.

This is meant to calm a racing mind and prevent the stress about being awake, which can, paradoxically, prevent you from falling asleep.

For Dr Hare, that involves “counting backwards from 1000 in sevens”.

I sometimes imagine myself cooking my last meal in enormous detail: my editor says she pictures as many nooks and crannies of her childhood home as possible.

The point is to distract your mind from worry or obsessing over returning to your slumber. 

If anyone gets a chance to try this, please let us know how it goes.

Parents

  • I have heard that counting backwards in sevens can help many people fall asleep, but it doesn’t work for me, possibly because I do this during the day, and I count backwards and forwards in other numbers and do simple mental arithmetic. I’ve counted for as long as I remember, at least since I was three years old, possibly younger, I don’t remember not counting and it is one of my repetitive behaviours that I use for enjoyment or to get me through a stressful situation, so counting serves two purposes. 

    My go to sleep technique is to use my ‘mind’s eye’ to ‘observe’ the natural rise and fall of my abdomen, without changing the irregular rhythm of each breathe, as I breathe in an out. 

Reply

  • I have heard that counting backwards in sevens can help many people fall asleep, but it doesn’t work for me, possibly because I do this during the day, and I count backwards and forwards in other numbers and do simple mental arithmetic. I’ve counted for as long as I remember, at least since I was three years old, possibly younger, I don’t remember not counting and it is one of my repetitive behaviours that I use for enjoyment or to get me through a stressful situation, so counting serves two purposes. 

    My go to sleep technique is to use my ‘mind’s eye’ to ‘observe’ the natural rise and fall of my abdomen, without changing the irregular rhythm of each breathe, as I breathe in an out. 

Children
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