By Kacper M. Powstawski, Powerfulslepp.com, Ahmad
6 November 2008
You're lying awake, and you can't sleep because your mind just won't stop thinking!
Why can't your mind just shut up!?
Look asleep, but do we?
Actually, as this is happening, your inability to sleep is NOT the result of your racing
mind. It's actually the fact that you're lying awake that's making your mind race!
That's a pretty interesting concept isn't it? Haha… Okay, allow me to explain.
Qiammulail: solat bangun malam memerlukan kita tidur terlebih dahulu sebelum menunaikannya
Our thoughts work in the same way as a snowball that's rolling down a hill. The snow
ball gradually gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Our thoughts work in a momentum
like fashion, meaning that when you apply focus to one thought, you usually keep
thinking about that thought, and that thought leads to other thoughts of that nature.
Wow? Make sense? Probably not, let me make it a bit clearer.
Don't Do this.
Don't picture a bright blue mini van driving down a long road with two trees on the
right side of it.
Did you picture what I just said? Naughty Naughty! Told you not to!
Ha! My point is, our mind works by continuously taking in data and processing it.
This process is often outside of your control. You cannot NOT think about a bright
blue mini van because whenever I mention it your mind has to picture a mini van to
even think about it. Often times our mind has a “mind of its own” and it will move in
directions without you being even aware of it.
“Wherever focus goes, thought flows.”
Most of us are conditioned to just think about nothing when we go to sleep, our mind
naturally just shuts off after a while and we go to sleep. However, during
stressful times, our focus is entirely different, and our thoughts continue to flow in
very un-sleepy directions. Let me give you an example, suppose you're trying to
relax when you're a bit stressed...
Your thoughts:
Hmm.... It would be nice to just be in a big park right now.
With the birds,
and the bees.....
and all the happy little trees...
I'm walking in the park, lalala... Look, there's a bench in the park,
Lets sit on it....
Hey... I'm sitting.
You know... I sit like this all day in my room too...
I don't like my job, why on Earth did I choose to study there, what was I thinking?
You know, my lecturer is inconsiderate.
I can't believe he assigned me that project.
Oh No! The deadline is in a few days!
What if I don't make it?
What will the people think of me in that presentation?
The Presentation Room... There's a coffee machine in there.
I drink too much coffee.
I had all these goals for healthy meal and I failed to keep up with them.
Why am I always a failure?
This is like that time in High School when I failed my exam.
Is something wrong with me?
WHY CANT I SLEEP?! There's got to be something wrong with me!
Our thoughts can easily turn from a walk in a park to re-living stressful situations
over and over again, simply because of this momentum concept. So what's the
solution?
It's simple:
You must focus your attention on relaxing, and not trying to *FORCE*
sleep to come.
Of course, relaxing is a challenge for most people too...
Okay, ahhhhhhh,... time to relax.
Wow! This feels good.
Mmmmmmm....
Okay, I'll just turn my head to one side there.
Yup... Relax.
Hold on, Gotta move my arm... There...
Okay you know what, I think I like the other side better.
You know, relaxing is a bit harder than I thought
Why Can't I just relax?
Okay... Just Relax...
RELAX DAMNIT!
WHY CANT YOU RELAX! AHHHHHHHHHH
Some people tends to study when other peoples asleep
leads to hours of tossing and turning! We'll deal with how to combat tossing and
turning soon.
The answer lies in focusing all your attention on getting relaxed, and focusing your
imagination on something very pleasant, that you can easily enjoy, without having to
think about it. Your goal shouldn't be to fall asleep, but to simply relax. The reason
for this is simple: The more you focus on trying to fall asleep, the more frustrated and
stressed you will become about the concept of not falling asleep, this will push your
thoughts into a very negative direction.
Make sure you are ready to wake up when the time comes!
