Nov
23
Mulling over the day’s events is a surefire way to prolong the agony of insomnia. Avoid doing it—and don’t listen to the news too close to bedtime, either. But do try thinking yourself to sleep using any one of many forms of relaxation therapy, including the Relaxation Response ( MEDITATION AND RELAXATION), autogenic training or self-hypnosis. Autogenic training, in which you concentrate on feelings of heaviness and warmth, is a potent sleep aid.
Through mental suggestion, the “heavy” muscles actually do relax, and the “warm” flesh receives better circulation. Experiments performed by sleep specialist Richard R. Bootzin, Ph.D., of Northwestern University have shown that in just one month, daily practice of either autogenic training or progressive relaxation resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the time it took to fall asleep.
Self-hypnosis has also been shown to help people fall asleep. Research from England showed that insomniacs fell asleep faster by hypnotizing themselves than by using either a drug or a placebo. Some of the volunteers had learned to put themselves into a trance by picturing themselves in a “warm, safe place—possibly on a holiday someplace pleasant” .