Hello,
My name is Sean Ramsden and welcome to this short lecture,
Techniques for Better Sleep.
Sleep disturbances or problems can be caused by mental issues or by physical issues.
The primary cause though of sleep issues is normally the mind.
We can use the analogy of a spinning wheel.
The more the mind is revving,
The more the wheel spins.
The more the mind is calm,
The slower the wheel will spin.
The aim therefore is to not allow the wheel to spin too quickly.
So the first technique used for better sleep is daytime ease.
What this means is that during the more stressful hours of the day when we're running around or we have a thousand things to do or we are stuck in traffic or we're late for an appointment,
Is to do all this at ease.
To not let ourselves get revved up,
To not let ourselves get too excited,
To not let ourselves get stressed by it.
If you're going to be late,
You're going to be late.
There's no need to get upset or stressed about it.
So this daytime ease is step one.
Step two is not eating too late.
If you eat too late,
Your stomach is full.
And when your stomach is full,
You're certainly not going to be able to sleep well.
So it is normally recommended that your evening meal is the smaller meal and you have it approximately three hours before you go to bed,
At the minimum two hours before you go to bed.
This will allow your stomach sac to be empty.
And with a stomach sac that's empty,
You will find that sleep will be easier.
The third technique is warm feet.
There is a few reasons behind having warm feet before you go to bed.
One is that it sends the energy downwards.
And the second is that it's just uncomfortable to sleep with cold feet.
So if you have cold feet,
It's worthwhile putting them in a hot bucket of water for five to ten minutes before you go to bed.
The fourth technique is eating yogurt in the evening.
Yogurt,
Of course,
Has a sour taste,
Which is a contraction mechanism in terms of the yang chi of the body.
In Chinese medicine,
It is paramount that the yang chi goes back downwards for there to be rest.
Activity means that yang chi goes out,
A little bit like the opening and closing of a flower.
The flower opens as the yang chi moves outwards,
And the flower closes as the yang chi moves back down inwards.
It's the same thing with the seasons.
Winter,
The yang chi is inwards.
Summer,
The yang chi is outwards.
We want to contract the yang chi back inwards.
Yogurt can help do this.
The next technique,
Which is number five,
Is called making the list.
Making the list means that you write a list before you go to bed or in the evening or even in the late afternoon,
Which is best,
Of tomorrow's activities.
Therefore,
You can go to bed and forget about everything that needs to be done tomorrow because you already have a to-do list.
Number six,
No smartphones,
No TVs,
No stimulating movies or any such activities before you go to bed.
The blue lights of laptops,
TVs,
And iPhones and other smartphones are stimulating lights,
And it is not healthy for the body.
It is also very common with the white bright lights that the body is mixed up in terms of it's not sure is it daytime or nighttime.
This,
Of course,
In turn can affect the dripping of the melatonin.
The next technique is using a relaxation sleep technique.
One of the things that is important while you lie down in bed is to take five minutes to prepare yourself for sleep.
What this means is that you lie down in bed looking upwards,
So that means you're on your back,
And you just take a few minutes to just allow the entire physical body to relax.
When you allow the physical body to relax,
You will notice that you start to get a sinking feeling.
It is this same sinking feeling that you'll feel in the seconds just before you fall asleep.
It is also recommended that once you've done that,
You roll onto your right side.
Right side is a field position,
It's also a safety position.
It also means that you're not putting pressure on your heart.
So this is the optimum sleeping posture.
Now,
The tenth technique is used if you wake up during the night a lot,
Because this is another problem for people,
That they may fall asleep easy,
But they wake up very easy too during the night.
To do this,
One needs to just relax.
You shouldn't start thinking about tomorrow's activities,
But instead you should just gently and mildly just be aware of your breath.
This technique can help people fall back asleep again.
I hope these techniques are useful to you and help make your sleep quality better.
