I can fall asleep very quickly.
Most of my life I have had trouble sleeping, for as soon as my head hit the pillow, my mind would start racing. It was like my brain had finally been let loose after years of silence in captivity, and wouldn't shut up. So many nights I would lay there for hours, sleepless, and unrested in the morning.
What changed was when I really started writing consistently, which is largely done before bed. and what I suspect is happening, is that the righting process is clearing my head of thoughts of the day, even if I am not directly thinking about them, so when my head touches the pillow, there is nothing left to think. I also believe that there might be a mental energy component to it also, where if I haven't worked my brain enough during the day, it will look to get its step count in one way or another.
It is even easier now.
While I find all the various implications that have affected me since the stroke interesting, they are also off-putting and sad at times, as I come to terms with the things I have lost or am unable to do anywhere near as well as prior. So, so many things. And as I have mentioned before, one of the more fascinating of the conditions is that my brain no longer creates images spontaneously. For me to see something in my head, 95% of the time I have to concentrate and "build" it there.
However, recently I have discovered one of the side-effects of this, even though I had noticed the issue occurring years ago. I get incredibly tired, within a very short timeframe, like a minute or two. It is as if I am unable to keep my eyes open, like a baby up hours past nap time and just falling asleep at the dinging table. My head gets heavy, nods and I have to use mental force to stop myself from sleeping.
But it only happens sometimes.
A few years ago, my wife and I went with friends to a symphony orchestra, and halfway through, I nodded off. Now, you might say, no wonder, but I actually like orchestras and classical music. But, as I have written about earlier, since the stroke my appreciation of all music has changed, because it no longer evokes the images, or the the feelings it once did and while I can listen, I don't get much out of it.
It is tiring.
Not the energy it takes to try and listen, even though that is intensive at times, but it is literally tiring. What I have discovered is that when I am not actively using my brain to think, it goes into a type of hibernation mode and shuts down, running compulsory systems only. It keeps me a live, but doesn't absorb much from my experience, and forces me toward sleep.
I really only started realising this in the last couple months and running tests, but over a year ago, my daughter was playing on the piano, gently testing out sounds and keys as she is prone to do. And while it isn't all beautiful, it also isn't consistent, nor always in the same kind of feel. While she names the pieces things like "Spring butterfly wings" and "Winter deep" and plays something that sounds fitting, essentially, it is just random notes strung together, so there is no strong feel to it, no image of it. I can lay there on the couch listening, and within two minutes be asleep, almost guaranteed.
My wife is all too familiar with this trait also.
But, it is interesting, because I think that this is not unique to me, but there is normally so much stimulus coming in, that we are unable to block it out. People meditate and attempt to reach a zen state by first learning to clear the mind, but once the mind is actually clear, do we fall asleep as the brain has nothing to do?
I think this also aligns with a lot of the sleep issues many people seem to have these days, because the waking hours are spent consuming content, constantly bombarded with something that might not require thought, but still keeps the brain occupied. In the not too distant past, after eight at night, there really wasn't anything else to do, other than sit around - so people went to bed earlier. Maybe that period before bed, sitting in the dark, nothing to consume, is part of our evolved routine to wind the body down, and shutdown the brain into sleep mode.
All of the advice for better sleep tends to support this, but I wonder if I have a kind of cleaner experience of just how it works, because I don't have to do anything extra to accomplish it, I have to do something less. It doesn't take force, it takes using less energy. I just have to stop thinking. And, because it is easy for me to be thoughtless (my wife knows this well also), the default position is to be mentally still. And, my brain wants to do it, because thinking is so energy intensive for me, that my brain is constantly looking for relief anyway. As soon as experience isn't of the type that I will manually generate images for, I zone out to the point I sleep.
If there was a clear your mind Olympics, I would be a contender for gold.
What this experience tells me though is two things. Firstly, it is very useful to defrag the mind through writing daily, because it gives the opportunity to process thoughts and emotions before going to bed. And, cutting down on mindless brainwork before bed, should lead to a faster fall asleep. Mindless brainwork is in useless consumption, that makes the brain process, but doesn't process much of value. The turning off of screens well before bedtime is good advice.
When there is little for the brain to do, it seems it will naturally look to rest. This might be an evolutionary feature, where the brain has developed to rest the body when it can't detect any immediate threats to pay attention to. At night when we are watching all that content stream in, perhaps the brain is forced to look for threats, even though consciously we know we are safe, making it hard to fall asleep quickly.
Anyway, while I hope you don't need to suffer a traumatic brain injury to be able to get a good night's rest, I do hope that this article today gets you thinking about ways you can design your night time to think a little less, and sleep a little faster.
Goodnight!
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I imagine people went to bed earlier because light wasn't as abundant - it cost money or effort to fuel lanterns or fires - so it was just easier to go to bed when it was dark. I read that for a long time in human history, people would sleep twice a night... maybe they'd go to bed at 7pm... wake up a midnight, read, have something to eat, sexy times, etc go back to sleep at 2am and wake up at 6am... the one sleep a night apparently is a recent invention with the light blub.
I'm not sure that mindless brainwork is as much an issue as a sedentary lifestyle. If we don't use up energy moving our body then we'll use it up racing our brains. This is why anxiety can be relieved to a degree with exercise.
Super interesting about your brain wiring being so different now. The brain is endlessly fascinating.
Yep. I think this is a big part of it. Also, supposedly camping for a week or two with only firelight and going to bed relatively early will have a huge effect on insomniacs. Something about resetting the sleep rhythm.
I was talking in more recent times, where the "external" entertainment like TV didn't run all night ad there wasn't much on past 9pm. As the availability of entertainment has extended longer, sleep has degraded accordingly I reckon.
Can you let my wife know that this is a thing?
I have tested this in myself, so n=1, but I think that while I can burn a lot of physical energy, it doesn't mean I sleep, if my brain hasn't done much thinking. However, a strenuous thought day, and I am incredibly tired. I wonder if there is a mechanism in the body to support the brain to recover when it is overworked, forcing sleep?
Yep - everyone should exercise, same as everyone should write/ have proper discussions/ meditate etc. I think it isn't a 1:1 relief though, and perhaps is part of a network of variables that improve overall condition. Most of us are pretty out of rhythm and unaligned for our best, as we favour some activities over another, in the same way that we favour sweet over healthy food.
Hello, @tarazkp
It's been a while since I've read one of your great posts. My wife is one of those who find it very difficult to sleep deeply. I, on the other hand, usually fall into bed like an oak tree. In fact, I've been like that for as long as I can remember. Only at one stage in my life did I suffer from extreme insomnia. And it is a terrible thing.
Your state after the stroke is quite unique, not to say strange. On the one hand, it helps you sleep, but at the same time, it has taken away the wonder of seeing and feeling through your imagination. You win and lose simultaneously. Well, for those with special conditions, the only thing left to do is to accept and get used to the new reality. In my case, it is tinnitus. It doesn't even bother me anymore.
Yes, you are right, your anecdote will give me food for thought, but not when I go to sleep.
Greetings.
PS: Although my wife has tried hundreds of methods to be able to sleep soundly, sleep eludes her more often than not. Perhaps, she should be treated by some medical specialist. what do I know? What for one is a routine, for others is a feat. Nevertheless, we remain hopeful of overcoming this difficulty.
What do you think is the difference between you and your wife? Men "tend" (observational) to sleep faster than women and I wonder if it is related to what I am writing about here. Women tend to spend their time on practical tasks that are more mundane for the mind, while men spend their time on more complicated, impractical thoughts that make the brain work harder. Massive generalisation without proof, but it seems this way.
You don't know the half of it. One of the issues I now face is I have almost zero motivation to do anything at all, so everything becomes forced by obligation. I know I should or have to do it, so I do. I think it is because without the spontaneous imagination, the "future" doesn't make impact on me.
Does your wife write each day? Keep a journal about daily experiences? I reckon it is worth a try and even if it doesn't help the sleeping situation, it enriches the life in so many other ways.
I have a friend who is one of those people we always seems to be going. Either working or puttering here and there. There are always things to do or something to get done. Whenever he does finally sit and just take a minute, he is often asleep within a couple of minutes. I am guessing it is something vaguely similar. Without the medical component.
Yep. The most active people tend to be the healthiest physically, so why wouldn't it be the same for the brain? It is part of our body after all. Not saying your friend or I are healthy, but I think that "moving" is good for conditioning, and if we consider that we are physical, mental and emotional beings, moving each part in the right way likely helps them align to all work well together.
I didn't use to have any sleeping issues, but as I age I started getting them. Sometimes in the middle of the night or around 4 AM I would wake up and am unable to go to sleep. My brain keeps coming up with things to think about and I am unable to shut it off. So I would need to get it occupied with something or do something to clear it, then I am able to go back to sleep.
Write more!
It is the best thing for occupying the mind with something useful. It really is one of the core life hacks.
Oh, my mortal enemy, the long time to go to sleep. I did find that making a plan for the next day, in my mind, before going to bed, and having a chat with my wife about the day drastically reduce the time needed to fall asleep.
I even did a research with the University of Edinbourgh about this, which only marginally improved this problem. The most efficient ways to get this sorted was to go to bed around a set time, wake up at the same time every day (to catch up with the sleep after a while), not eat in bed or watch a screen (bed is only for sleep) avoid screens 2 hours before, do not eat 2 hours before and practice exercices in the morning not late afternoon. Reading also helps me, unless is a good book. All of these improve my issue a little.
And, I think this is a big part of it too. I reckon a lot of the conversation that we used to have that would help us process issues and make us feel safe, has been replaced by Netflix.
Have you tried doing your writing before bed?
Sometimes. Sometimes I do it first thing in the morning, before going to work.
I think 'defrag' is a perfect word for it. They say writing a list or a journal helps so no reason why offloading on Hive wouldn't help. Hubs wakes at 3 and can't sleep as his mind is whirring so when it gets bad I put a notepaper and pen by his bed and it works brilliantly.
I don't really have e issues waking up, just the 4 am cortisol rising which seems common to woman my age. Sleep has been a battle these last five years but you know what helps the most? Being out in nature with no fucking phone.
Nothing to do! ;D
I think that nature has a lot of other aspects that help sleep, with physical energy spent, fresh air, a calming effect. It is great. A perhaps weird thing in Finland/nordics, is that babies will nap outside on the balcony/terrace - even when it is -20 :)
Haha yes I was watching some Nordic noir the other day and wondering why they kept leaving their babies outside. People would have a fit over that here - and you know we must watch out for dingos ;)
A squirrel stole my baby!
I used to have a hard time falling asleep too. In recent years, I can fall asleep right after I go to bed. If I have a disease or illness, it takes a little longer to fall asleep. However, I generally fall asleep in a very short time. I think this is because I have learned to cope with stress.
I reckon this is a big part of why writing helps, as rather than letting issues build up in the background, they get brought to the front for processing.
I admire those who sleep like that :) I have to be too tored to fall asleep like them. Otherwise, I will turn right and left several times to sleep :)
Try some non-repetitive music that is strange and unfamiliar! :D
I would forget it open then :)
Yes, as we age, the brain starts to think. In fact, as we age, our daily conflicts and challenges increase, and this causes our minds to constantly wander to other things. Children sleep easily because they are not busy, but we adults face thousands of challenges. I wish we could clear our minds like a child!
I think it might be the opposite for a child - because they are always busy even though they have no obligations. They are constantly thinking, learning, pushing themselves.
Discord Server.This post has been manually curated by @steemflow from Indiaunited community. Join us on our
Do you know that you can earn a passive income by delegating to @indiaunited. We share more than 100 % of the curation rewards with the delegators in the form of IUC tokens. HP delegators and IUC token holders also get upto 20% additional vote weight.
Here are some handy links for delegations: 100HP, 250HP, 500HP, 1000HP.
100% of the rewards from this comment goes to the curator for their manual curation efforts. Please encourage the curator @steemflow by upvoting this comment and support the community by voting the posts made by @indiaunited.
@tarazkp, It is admirable how you have found a way to deal with the challenges of sleep through writing, and how you continue to discover more about your mind and body after the incident.
**First, I want to congratulate you on your persistence and courage. Adjusting and finding ways to manage your life after such a significant event is no easy task, and you are doing an impressive job.
**Secondly, it is natural to feel sadness and frustration about the skills you no longer have. But remember that this journey is also an opportunity to get to know yourself better and develop new skills. You are reinventing yourself and that is something to be admired.
**Third, it's inspiring how you have found writing to be a mental release mechanism. Continuing this practice not only helps you sleep better, but it's also a powerful way to process and let your thoughts and emotions out.
**Finally, although your brain doesn't create images as easily as it once did, your ability to find beauty and meaning in music and everyday moments hasn't disappeared. It has simply changed its form. It's a reminder of the resilience and adaptability of the human mind.
I hope you continue to explore and find ways to enjoy life and connect with your environment in new ways. Remember that you are not alone on this journey; you have the support and love of those around you. Bella Smallsteps, a sleeping angel.
In the books Count of Monte Cristo was able to sleep anytime he wanted...But he was using drugs to achieve this. so that is not ideal.
Writing is just like motivation it keeps the minds in track, however when the mind thinks it shows you've got responsibilities
I've never had any problems sleeping, I'm very lucky like that, I'm already sleeping before my head hits the pillow and nothing can wake me.
Hive also helps me fall asleep. When I read the Hive feed until 1 am, I fall asleep well afterwards.
Writing at night is quite an idea. Although for me I do most of my writing first thing in the morning. I usually prefer not to write at all once it gets dark.
However, I also developed issues with sleep, especially when I started taking caffeine. But what I did then was watching movies. I made sure I put a movie I didn't like, so it won't draw my attention. The background noise helped me a lot back then. Because I always fell asleep less than ten minutes into the movie.
Hmmmmm this is an interesting post! I wonder if my sleeping routine also improved due to my writings on Hive. I went through a period where I had difficulty falling asleep and I assumed it was just work stress. But in the past few years, somehow I never had issues falling asleep, which to be honest, I have no idea why. Now that I read your post, this period of change coincidentally overlapped with my activities on Hive too. Maybe I could get a Silver! Hahaha.