Midfulness

I was speaking with a social worker friend the other day who was discussing some good techniques to help getting to sleep. Like most people who know me, know that im pretty wired most of the time, i worry alot- particularly when it comes to exams, and especially when its a Physiology and Anatomy exam; and i do find it quite difficult to get to sleep sometimes. As a child i could never sleep. Ive always slept better during the day, although in saying that Ive never really liked night time so im not sure why i cant just sleep and get it over with. ThePartner on the other hand can sleep anywhere at any time, and loves to sleep. In fact his eyes start to get red and droopy if he hasnt gone to bed. Anyway, she suggested a technique called Mindfulness based on Buddhist principles. I have heard of it before but had never really bothered to look into it enough to use it. Alot of psychologist and the like prefer the good ol' trusty CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for clients who are worried, or in a nut shell for people needing to change their negative thoughts. Im not an expert in this at all so i could be a little out on my facts, but Ive never really looked into it because i thought it was a load of nonsense, if i say dont think about the word pink spotted elephant, can you really not think about it? and i know that it works for alot of people and its very popular with many therapists, but this mindfulness thing doesnt try to get you to change your thoughts, rather it help you in a sense to accept and distract from the worry.

So when you are sitting in traffic, running late, there are no green lights for you, its peak hour and you havnt made dinner for the family, in fact there is no food in the house, the kids need to be picked up, and the dishes need doing, instead of getting into a negative thought pattern that leads you to thoughts like, im a bad mother, im a bad wife/partner, damn the government for crappy traffic lights that never change, damn the husband for never helping, im just a bad person etc etc. Stop at the "im running late" and ponder the idea- ok, im running late, yep im running late. Then take a breathe, im running late and well, im running late and there is not much i can do about it at this moment. Then... close eyes (not in traffic of course), or focus mind and slowly try to list 5-10 things that you can see- a car, a bird, a person, your hand etc... then list some things that you can feel-  your hand clenched on the steering wheel, you seat belt on your neck, your foot is itchy etc etc, and then slowly a few things you can hear- the wind, the crappy pop on the radio, the car next to you... and you can repeat things if you hear them more than once.

It seems so basic and common sense, but in the moment of stress and frustration ive never really thought about doing something like this, and it really does seem to distract from all of those yucky negative thoughts that can turn quite toxic if you focus on them for too long- and honestly the stress starts to release and sleep is made much easier at night. Im going to give it ago and see how it works, and i will look into it a little further so will post any more interesting info i can find.