My daughter was born an animal lover. She spent much of her day snuggling up to our kitten, Baby. Her little fingers would pull and tug at Baby’s feather-like fur. Baby was much too tolerant for his own good. I read her stories about cats, dogs, goats, pigs- whatever I could get my hands on. So when a local farm advertised a petting zoo event, I knew we had to go.
I put on her little blue jeans, soft pink sweatshirt, and tiny gym shoes and we were off. Her smiling face beamed in the rear view mirror. We meandered through the country roads outside of Gainesville with majestic oaks veiling us from the hot Florida sun. The net-like Spanish moss hung and swung above us as if it was dancing to the 80s music wafting through the fall air. As I turned my head to check on Sarah, I saw that she was sound asleep.
She remained that way through the entire farm visit. From the car to the stroller, amongst the people and animals- she never opened an eye. In fact, I didn’t hear a peep from her until we pulled into the driveway at home. She had missed the whole event!
If only…. if only I could sleep so soundly.
Recently my sleeping patterns have been far from ideal. I either fall asleep way too early, and then am up half the night, or I can’t fall asleep until it’s almost time to get up. At a recent yoga class I attended, I think I may have stumbled onto a new approach.
Dr. Carrie Demers had several scheduled workshops at ‘The Yoga Sanctuary’ ranging from understanding aging, to inflammation, to keeping your mind sharp. But the topic that truly caught my interest was about sleep. According to Dr. Demers, the main reason we have trouble falling asleep is because we view it as another check on our list for the day. Instead, we need to surrender ourselves to being still and quiet.
Watch and see what you think, it may make a world of difference! Let us know your thoughts! Any sound sleepers out there?
Great article! I’ve been trying different techniques to help me sleep, and have had some success with one I tried recently. Instead of telling yourself to sleep, or saying anything in your mind at all, just watch your thoughts instead. If I can remember just to watch my thoughts, I go to sleep faster.
Watching our thoughts and not ‘catching’ them is a great idea! 🙂
Love your story about little Sarah! So sweet! I can see how Dr. Demers ideas would help. I’ll have to think about the idea of winding down an hour before bedtime…that’s a real commitment! Her voice was very soothing and I am feeling Sleeeeepy 🙂
Yes, an hour of winding down would take some getting used to. I like the idea of shifting our thinking and surrendering to sleep!