Zen Story

"A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him, 'Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.' Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep."

Written By Eugene Morgan

This is a powerful illustration of how in the Japanese warrior's distress his unconscious mind brought into his consciousness his Zen master's words. “Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now." This reorients him from an inner trepidation of what was going to happen to an inner peace and comfort of living in the moment. Thus, he is no longer worried about what was going to happen to him in his future. Milton Erickson calls this revivification, which means, “to bring back to life consciousness or activity,” according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. In other words, he re-experiences his Zen master speaking these words during that time in his life when he was an apprentice.

Poor Sleeping Habits vs. Physical Problem

Just as this Japanese warrior, we all experienced some form of insomnia in our lifetime. But most of us have not experienced the fear of being interrogated, tortured, or even executed. Most of our fears seemed to be more economical. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck, trying to keep up with our bills, mortgage, etc.

Insomnia can also be a symptom or sign of something physically wrong. Please check with your doctor if you think there could be more to your insomnia than just having poor sleeping habits. But for those who have poor sleeping habits, you can read on about how you can make healthy adjustments.

Stages to Sound and Deep Sleep

First Stage:

Before you do these exercises, you will need to create an environment to facilitate the sleeping process. Make sure you are doing these things outside your bedroom.

Second Stage:

Find a comfortable and quiet place to sit. Clear your mind and relax your body before you go to bed. To help you clear your mind, about a half an hour to an hour before you go to bed, you can put on soft music or sit quietly and dim the lights or close your eyes. To help you relax your muscles; basic yoga can be useful. Find a basic yoga stretch that can help release tension from your body, because to sleep soundly and deeply, your muscles need to be relaxed and thoughts cleared.

After some time your mind will begin to replace the negative thoughts with soft music. Let the music fill your mind. After a yoga stretch, your body will begin to relax. This should not be rushed or forced.

Taoist philosophy says, “The Sage falls asleep not because he ought to nor even because he wants to but because he is sleepy.”

Third Stage:

Don't let the solution become the problem. To quote Milton Erickson, “Confusion results from trying to impose some form of regimentation upon natural processes." Sleeping is a natural process. It needs to be respected. The first two stages are designed to facilitate falling asleep not to impose a form of regimentation. So if you think you should fall asleep quickly, then you have just condemned yourself into insomnia zone. The average person with good sleeping habits usually falls asleep within 15-20 minutes. For those of you who are falling asleep about the time your head hit the pillow, sleeps experts suggest, you may not be getting enough sleep.

Read this Script before you start:

"You have a lifetime of learnings and the memories of how your body relaxes. So you turn it over to your unconscious mind. Think back to when you last felt relaxed and very comfortable. The brain does not know the difference. When you begin to think about it, your body will begin to feel relax before you know it. Think back to when you last had a good night sleep, when you woke up the next morning fully rested. As you think back on these things you may notice that your breathing has changed, that your pulse has changed or the eyelids are blinking slowly. One thing is certain, is that you will fall asleep, sooner or later."