If you’ve had problems with sleep for any length of time, it’s understandable that you’re concerned about your quality of sleep. But you need to realise that thinking about sleeping badly, worrying about sleeping badly and talking about sleeping badly will only take you to one destination – Sleeplessville.
Consider this – if you want to go to Spain, you think about going to Spain, talk about going to Spain and make decisions that will take you to Spain. You don’t follow a desire to go to Spain with thoughts about going to Russia.
It’s the same with sleep. If you want to sleep well, then you need to shift your thoughts towards sleeping well and start making choices that will take you there. People who sleep well never think about sleeping badly: They look forward to sleeping and have an unwavering expectation that they will sleep well.
This is one of the most important keys to improving your sleep, because how you think governs your actions and ultimately what you experience. Denis Waitley is a trainer of NASA astronauts and Olympic athletes. He sums this up perfectly: “When you go there in the mind, you will go there in the body.”
If you are ready for change, I invite you to stop focusing on Sleeplessville and turn your thoughts in the direction you truly want to go.
Try This:
Whenever you notice that you’re thinking or talking about sleeping badly – stop.
Take a deep and easy breath and as you exhale let your face, jaw and shoulders relax.
Tell yourself it’s time for change.
Then switch your thoughts or the conversation to something that causes you to feel at ease and grateful.
Tune into thoughts associated with sleeping well as often as possible. Imagine what your life would be like if you slept well every night: How you would feel, what you would do and how you would relate to others.
This is very different from wishing for good sleep. This is tuning into a sense of already sleeping well: A vivid daydream of your perfect sleep scenario – as though it is happening in the moment you imagine it.
Doing this for just one or two minutes a few times a day will shift your mood, your actions and ultimately, your sleep.