You must log in or # to comment.
i scroll lemmy… yeah i should stop doing this
Not sleep. shrug Seriously, I’ve tried every trick in the book and a boatload of medication, even the medicine didn’t work longterm.
Yay, crippling insomnia!
Have you tried getting regular exercise?
I’ve tried every trick in the book
but have you tried the first trick in the book?
Bully my brain
This, apparently.
Yup. It is currently the time for sleep, and yet here I am.
What I always do: read and/or write.
Night is often much quieter than the rest of the day, which makes it perfect for quiet activities like reading and writing. And in the early morning I can even stop reading/writing in order to listen birds singing which is even better… before the roaring motorized traffic cover their tiny voice for the rest of the day (yes, I do live in a busy city).
Hearing the birds waking up is usually how I know I’ve gone from staying up pretty late to staying up really late. I am listening to them right now. It’s pretty :)
It is, indeed :)
Whatcha reading? I just finished The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin. I already feel like I need to re-read it because it is dense but I’ve just picked up The Language of the Night so I’m gonna finish that one first. I’ve known about Le Guin forever, she’s always on the lists of notable sci-fi authors, but somehow I’ve never read her stuff until now and I think I’m hooked.
I just finished reading of Cordwainer Smith first volume of his Instrumentality of Mankind. I read it in a French translation I was given, not expecting much out of it, I was almost decided to just give to a friend of mine but then decided to give it a chance, just reading a few pages to see what it was all about and if it was any good… I could not put it down. Most of the time, I was very much impressed. It’s smart, it’s bright, deeply humane, and very imaginative too. It was subtle or not so subtle, depending the story. And most of the time it was very well crafted. I felt like a moron to never have read anything by this dude.
I liked the book so much I picked the next 3 volumes of that set… in their French translation, like the first volume I just read, as I was unable to get my hands on any English print edition.
This evening, not sleeping, and alone in our new but yet unfurnished apartment (save a few books, obviously), I started re-reading of The Hobbit, this one in its original English ;)
What a coincidence, Le Guin speaks very highly of Cordwainer Smith in The Language of the Night. Gonna have to give him a go soon.
Does she? Had no idea, but that may not come has a surprise they both shared the same ability to create entire worlds that were so effing convincing :)
Take more melatonin and try boxed breathing exercises. Keep trying until i fall asleep or morning comes.
Melatonin just makes most people super drowsy during the day.
Most people do take it without any preparation and in too strong dosages. Basically using it as a high dose stand alone sleeping pill rather than a sleeping aid in conjunction with general sleep hygiene, which starts already during the day.
Like if i have to resort to the last method, i will be drowsy during the next day, but it’s better than being completely sleep deprived.
That sounds a bit presumptive.
Like most supplements, if you already have enough of whatever thing then taking more wont be beneficial.
Not really presumptive if you’re aware that like 99% of the adult population are disrupting their circadian rhythm, and natural melatonin production, with screens and artificial light.
But yes, like any supplement, don’t take it unless you have a deficiency.
Try low dose children’s gummies; they don’t make you drowsy the next day.
Boxed breathing? Tell me more 😊.
You’ve heard of the sandman, right? Well, now you know why marital artists punch buckets of sand
Just a variation of general breathing exercises.
Created to calm the body and nervous system down, generally used to help with anxiety, stress, insomnia.- Breathing in while counting to 4(roughly 4 seconds).
- holding breath while slowly counting to 4.
- breathing out while counting to 4.
- waiting for 4 seconds before breathing in again.
I found putting a number of seconds on it made it much harder for me because I was concentrating so hard on breathing exactly x seconds. Just making it even and slow worked much better. YMMV
I don’t necessarily subscribe to this belief but there are certainly purveyors of breathing excellence who would tell you that the count for each side of the box is important.
I agree that counting is challenging.
Yeah completely fair, just slowing down and controlling breathing is good enough for me as well.
Usually just get up and go on with my day. Most of my work is flexible hours anyway.
To fall asleep?
Think Sa on inhale and Ha on exhale can work, or I count backwards from 100 in Spanish, starting over when I forget where I am. Yin yoga is good too, forward folds calm the nervous system.
To do something else, when it seems sleep is not possible or desirable? Emotional stress? Get out of bed & go for a night walk, or even a run. Exercise. Get physically exhausted if possible.
All the most effective stuff you can do to get better sleep is done ahead of time (like daily exercise, not spending time in bed when not sleeping, keeping a sleep schedule, avoiding caffeine/alcohol etc), so if I get to that point there isn’t that much to be done. Getting up and doing something nonstimulating other than lying in bed for ten minutes can help a little bit sometimes. If there’s something in my sleep environment that is abnormal and it’s possible to correct it that will help. Lowering the temperature can help.
Fully agree, that part helped the most with improving falling asleep time and sleep quality.
More melatonin and breathing exercises i referenced in other comment are for those abnormal, one off occasions and usually the cause can be pointed back to some daily activity.
Yeah, tbh I also take .5mg melatonin before bed regularly and add a valerian root tablet on top of that occasionally
Same, 1,9mg of melatonin, but if any of the preparation during the day isn’t on point. That melatonin does absolutely nothing. With the preparations It’s providing a slight push to speed up falling asleep.
Meditate
Make up stories in my head.
Rub one out.
Practice meditation.
A good night is when I do all three in order :-)
Make up stories in my head.
This is super effective to help get to sleep. Just waking fantasies of being a superhero, or in a zombie apocalypse or being super rich. Any fictional narrative to keep the mind from wandering to racing thoughts or stresses. Gets me to sleep every time.
make food, wrap up in soft blankets, talk to strangers on the internet. might as well at least be comfortable if I can’t be unconscious
I used to just do hobbies until physical exhaustion would force me to sleep.
Now i sleep 9 - 14 hours on the regular 🤷♀️ Don’t fuck up your circadian rythm kids
If it’s a song looping and keeping me awake: I picture myself rising up above the earth to the vacuum of space where there is no sound and drifting off in the silent void.
Otherwise the go to is picturing my mind and consciousness as a submarine on the surface of wakefulness and I let myself slowly sink beneath the waves of sleep.
