Question:
I try to have a WILD a lot.
I never succeded in getting in to an LD or OOBEing.
I have Insomnia, the one that takes me hours to fall asleep.
What should I do?
Answer:
The first thing I would do is work on solving your insomnia, as
a good sleep cycle is important IMHO for all dream work.
Besdies that, you do have a few options. The best thing for
me is to use the nap technique. When you finally do get to sleep,
wake up 90min earlier, and think about your intentions to LD (ie, how
cool it would be, what you want to do, where you want to go, etc.)
Then just lie down and what your breating, or relax your body in another
way. The important thing about LD is to ALLOW them to happen, and not
FORCE
them to happen. This is the hardest part. Setting your intentions does
not mean stress and straining. You just relax into the process.
I have periodic bouts of insomnia. The best thing for you to do is to
get a book or other source and educate yourself about sleep, insomnia,
and cure techniques. I'm sure you could find something on the internet.
Many different things could be causing your insomnia. Possible
causes: alcohol, getting more sleep that you need, taking 'cat naps'
that are too long, irradic sleep routines and schedules, daytime stress,
phisiological causes, inability to relax, etc.
But if you're like the vast majority of those who have occasional
bouts of insomnia, the problem can be easily corrected with a little
self-education. I'll list a few tips:
Don't sleep too much.Try to get a little bit less sleep every night
than you think you need. That way you will feel sleepy when you hit the
bed.
Stop drinking alcohol. One glass of wine, two beers, or a couple of
small shots of liquor 'may' be allright (to relax you), but alcohol can
also act as a stimilant. And the length of time between when you drink
and when you try to sleep can also be a factor since the stimulant
effects of alchohol are highest right after you drink it. It varies from
person to person. To be safe give up alcohol intirely until you can
determine how it affects you personally with regard to sleep. Alcohol is
generally thought to 'inhibit' sleep.
Get in the habit of avoiding using your bed or bedroom for anything
but sleeping (within reason). For example if you study for hours in bed,
you may build up stressful associations with it. Your mind may have a
hard time getting out of 'study mode' and into 'sleep mode'.
Don't stay in bed for more that a half-hour (check with the experts)
if you are not able to sleep, otherwise you will start associating your
bed as a place of 'sleeplessness'
not of sleep. Get up, read, watch TV, anything. Once you start getting
sleepy go back lie in bed again.
Try to develop a regular sleep routine. Go to bed and get up at
roughly the same time every night.
Avoid caffine. It affects all people differently. For most people
their morning cup of coffee has 'burned off' by bedtime, but others may
be affected differently. If you drink a lot of tea before you go to bed,
'that' can make it difficult to sleep.
But most of all, educate yourself about sleep, insomnia and cure
techniques. There are sleep centers that would probably send you a free
pamphlet on how to cure insomnia.
Before you take some of the 'insomnia cures' too seriously, check to
make sure they corespond to latest research on sleep disorders.
