Low Flow

Not a care in the world.
Welcome back to the Week of Sleep...  So far, we've compiled three night-time rituals in an attempt to construct the ultimate sleep-promoting night-time routine.  KAPOW!  To review, we selected a bed time, turned down the lights, and had a snack.  Today, we're going to distract ourselves from all the stress of the day, because nothing kills a good night sleep like an unhappy homunculus.

My main sleep-time woe is a wandering mind.  I'm always thinking about what happened during the day, or what's going to happen tomorrow.  On the one hand, it's good to plan and craft strategy, but why do I always seem to do that when I'm trying to sleep?!  There's nothing that pisses off the Sandman more than some anxiety.

Maybe a state of worry is just the default: when my mind is not occupied with some task, it starts to wander.  If so, we may have to get our attention on something productive to avoid needless worry.  We've covered Flow before here at The Happy Homunuclus, so regular readers should know that getting in the zone is a great way to get into a good mood.  The same strategy can be used pre-sleep: let's get into a flow state to get our mind off all the crap we're dealing with.  However, we want the flow activity we choose to be a low energy one - we don't want to get energized right before sleeping do we?

Low Flow

Task: Complete a low energy flow activity in the 30mins prior to sleep.

Info: What to do? Well, reading is always a good idea - especially if it's a fun, fiction book. But, reading isn't the only option.  You could listen to some chilled out tunes, or knit if that's your thing.  You could do some easy crossword puzzles of sudoku.  You could flip through some pleasant photos or sketch.  Choose something that is just barely engaging, but far from stressful.  You want your mind off your worries, not frustrated by some new challenge right before bed.  Choose wisely!  The one thing I wouldn't do?  Watch TV.

Goal: Increase sleepiness with your flow activity.

More sleep tidbits:
http://inoveryourhead.net/images/sleep-is-awesome.png
http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/features/the-role-sleep-type-2-diabetes

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