STORY OF A FORMER INSOMNIAC
STORY
OF A
FORMER
INSOMNIAC. By Anaqah Mag ⎥Picture : Pinterest
For many years I was one of those insomniacs and slept between 2 to 5 hours per night max.I could not close my eyes and would fill my nights with whatever I could: TV shows, writings, social networks etc. When you're young, being an insomniac is considered "cool" because everyone else does it, something you just laugh at or talk about as if it's something normal. Just check the Twitter hashtags #teaminsomniac. On the other hand going to bed early is synonymous with a boring person. Today I go to bed every night at a regular time from 10:00 - 10:30 max. How could I leave my years of insomnia behind me? I Hope that this article will help those currently in this situation to better understand and end their own insomnia.
MY JOURNEY
Trigger Element
I was fortunate enough to have a history teacher, Mr. C. A former military man who had become a business leader and history teacher solely for passion because he loved history and taught it. It is this incredible man who sowed the seed of my awakening with the importance of organization, self-development and sleep :
“ Your health before your homework “
Little by little each step to take me back in hand is drawn.
But how do you know the limit to when it starts to affect your health?
Relapse
I then began new and good habits, which I slowly stopped unknowingly by allowing myself to absorb my environment and situations (holidays, weekend, friends with bad habits) but especially underestimating my own bad habits : “Tonight I'm going to sleep a little later, it's okay it's the holidays” “I had a good time last night talking with this person at night, we'll talk again tomorrow night I can not wait” “Tonight I'm watching the last episodes of my series”
The moments of "weakness" are not toxic in themselves when they remain casual.
Nevertheless the fact of letting go too often, brings about the total stop of the good habit to make room for the bad ones.
It's like what I said for the Less is More Challenge to illustrate this idea: : “It's not a scoop of ice cream that will make you fat or a salad that will make you fit” Everything is about consistency and being balanced. Here I am again in my bad habits, chatting with my friends in the evening until very late with no more than 2 hours to rest. Watch a video on YouTube ("It's only 5 minutes"), then another, then another, and so on. Wake up very late in the afternoon, miss classes, going to school but being too tired to be really attentive and take notes.
The vicious circle was well and truly back.
the awakening & taking control
I really became aware of the toxicity of this (bad) habit for my body several years ago by entering the university. It was at this moment that I realized that the success of my studies and all that I undertake in my life was up to me. I had the choice: to make things easier for myself by having a healthy lifestyle or to complicate them and jeopardize my chances by continuing on this path. So I decided to make a clean sweep and resume my life in hand. It was a radical change on many points (which I will discuss shortly إن شاء الله), including my sleep. Having always been an insomniac, my body was "adapted" so I did not necessarily feel the consequences on the moment. I was young and it became a norm.The first time I failed was because I did not know myself, I did not know my weaknesses. This time I knew what had caused me to relapse and would not let even the smallest opportunity to sleep late. I had to resume a proper sleep rhythm by putting an end to these years of insomnia.
I did not know the cure for insomnia except to get to bed early and wait for hours to finally fall asleep. So I had an approach that also took me back to its base, the source: me. In making a clean sweep, I especially learned to listen to my body and to listen to myself.
In these ruins that was my life, I decided to take the time to listen again but especially to understand myself body and mind, physically and mentally.
Physically
speaking, our body is naturally not made to watch or be an insomniac or at least not over a long time. It's not something natural
Even Allah says the night is made only for rest (sleep). And we know that behind each command there is good hidden or not..*
It is thought that not sleeping is only being tired, having dark circles which is in itself "not serious" and makes our choice easier, makes us feel guilty for staying awake and revising, or even watching series - which in itself is more fun than sleeping.
*With the time and the advancement in scientific discoveries it has been revealed that sleep is essential for the health, sleep is rest, an internal cleaning which among others enters our brain which is only possible when the we sleep during the night, but also has an impact on our productivity, our mood, social life, personal etc. (If you want a specific article on the subject, do not hesitate to tell me in comments).
In addition, one realizes the magnitude of the problem and its toxicity only when one goes out of this vicious circle, not when it is there. When one realizes these dangers by being in them it is already too late (health has been affected etc.) See this as an example :
Your health is contained in a bottle and every time you stay awake to revise, watch a movie / series at night no matter, you empty and swap some of what you have in this bottle against this series or those revisions that you have to do. When this bottle empties it will mean that there is no return (-the death).The question is to know is this business, this offer, this market, this exchange, that you make every night really worth it? Is it truly fair? To exchange a thing like our health that we have once, which is not bought, so not found on the market and who when lost is incurable against a series, homework, money ? In this way everything becomes clearer and this exchange becomes ridiculous.
When we truly love each other and want the best for ourselves, we do not inflict what is bad for us, even a small dose of toxicity, we do the contrary. Mentally
speaking insomnia is not due to our body not wanting to sleep but to ourselves who do not want to sleep, we keep ourselves awake. That conscious or subconscious decision.
I realized that the problem was not my body but me. I made this choice subconsciously that had changed over time into a habit. I had in the past an insecurity, an anguish that held me firmly for years, of which I was conscious without being aware of it but it had been huddled deeper and deeper in my subconscious. This anguish was that of not having enough time. I could not or did not want to go to bed at night because I did not accept that I did not have enough time and did not finish what I had to do. That's what I thought "not having enough time". Whether it's time for me, doing what I wanted, etc.
Sleeping was a failure for me, a real waste of time when I could do all these things instead.
By making this choice consistently, a result was offered to me: watch a little more at night. 1h is then transformed in 5h clusters on my sleep. Until that turns into a habit.
I do not even know where this bad habit started, probably early, but I remember when it stopped.
Let go
One of the main steps I realized was listening to myself more often, understanding where the problem came from, but mostly letting go. You must be aware that sleeping is not a failure but a rest, a break that my body needed. That every thing must be done in its time and that the night was made only for sleeping. It was hard to postpone until tomorrow, why postpone until tomorrow when I can do this thing now?Or even think. I was thinking about countless things, from the choices I made, from the relationships I had, to the problems that could arise from them. Try to see things differently. Everything is a thing of the past and thinking about it again and again will not change anything.
Letting go is also that, accepting that everything is done and that thinking about it again and again in our bed will not change anything.
Another decisive step in my stop with insomnia was to be more organized.
This allowed me to manage my anguish of "I do not have enough time" and no longer thinking before going to bed because everything was already organized. Same for problems and others. Take the time to organize and write on paper what you want to accomplish the next day, how you can fix something in the short and long term, what is more urgent in priority and make notes for the secondary.
If you, like me, need everything written, you can even organize per hour (ideal for revision for example).That is to say from 9 am to 10:30 am I will review this part etc. Of course when it comes to organization be realistic and indulgent with yourself. Little by little, everything in its own time. You will not be able to do everything you have in mind in one day, when you are not realistic you think you can do everything in one day, which is not possible and creates at the end of the day the frustration. This frustration that will feed your insomnia when you get to bed with thoughts such as "I did not do this today" "tomorrow I have to do that" etc. Free your thoughts and your mind by writing everything.
Nothing should be serious or important enough to keep you awake. Be more organized to do each thing in its own time and do not reduce your sleep time.
You could not do this thing today, do it tomorrow or the next day: NOTHING IS SERIOUS. Sleeping (EARLY) must be your top priority!
It is important to de-dramatize each situation, be balanced and have the sense of priorities but especially sleep. Take the time to listen to yourself, find out what your insomnia is hiding and treat it at the source so you can get back to sleep.
Be patient and indulgent with yourself, nothing is serious, no one is perfect and you have the right to make mistakes. Learn from these mistakes, take what you can take, get up and move on.
Listening to yourself,
letting go,
accepting,
organizing,
being realistic and indulgent,
nothing is serious !
Anaqah Magazine