Mindfulness

[Mental Fairy]

Hi Beany Boo

I did yoga blindfolded on the weekend to see how well i listen and move the body and its balance.
So hard, but wow did i learn a lot. It takes so much more focus that i saw how little i do focus.
Very revealing.

[Beany Boo]

It’s coming up to a week now of sleep hygiene improvement.

It’s been a good week.

Things I didn’t expect:

• Became easier to let go of stuff

• Navigating relationships was much less stressful even at difficult points

• Easier to change my mind

• The urge to rush or avoid mistakes became much less

[manuel_moe_g]

Fantastic to hear, Beany!

(My own sleep hygiene is terrible, I wake in middle of night having to go bathroom, and putting back on my CPAP mask seems suffocating, so I end up sleeping in easy chair to spare my wife my snoring)

[snoringdog]

Yes indeed. Sleep! Sleep!

Ate some hot chili the other night after a stressful day on the road. And had one too many beers...
Tossed and turned with acid stomach, waking every two hours...

And the mind was racing with truly doom-laden thoughts of death and such. OMG!
And then gone (for the most part) by daybreak.

Whew!

[Beany Boo]

Thanks all

You get it

[Beany Boo]

I forgot to add, also new:

• I’m making snap decisions/sacrifices about what’s important to me, to hit the deadline on time

• I instinctually accept I am going to feel sad (again… at some time, soon) but that that is not something I need to avoid, control or hide

[Beany Boo]

I just read some common sense advice about sleep;

1. Don’t make decisions in the evening or spend it collecting information towards decisions
2. Reserve the evening for what genuinely gives you pleasure; a novel, a bath, a hobby
3. Spend the evening, as best you can, calming your body and mind and letting go, before sleep

[Mental Fairy]

Hi Beany

Yes agree, I find night is not a good time for making sudden changes or decisions as the brain doesn’t seem to take in the full reality.

Example: we should get 5 bird houses and put them along the fence!
Now I have 7 bird houses and have to find them places to mount!

[Beany Boo]

Thanks MF

[Beany Boo]

So I’m into the second week of working on sleep hygiene. It feels like being sensible on the one hand and on the other, meeting a primal need.

Today I can let there be angry, sad or afraid without moving to turn them up or down. I can stay where the feeling is, until it becomes safe to let something happen for more than just a few moments.