Just Keep The Change

How to Sleep Your Way Out of Pain and Into Better Mental Health

Posted: 16 Apr 2012 09:03 AM PDT

I am a big believer of the power that our subconciousness holds – so big a believer actually that I believe it is the key to solving most, if not all of our problems.

Whether it’s physical or psychological, if you know how, you can harness the unlimited power of your subconcious to deal with anything you want it to.

There are tons of ways to do it, with some being a lot more complicated than others. Today we will talk about the easiest one, and my absolute favorite: sleeping.

Sleep your way out of pain

Sleeping is in many ways crucial to our health and well-being, yet many people seem to not take it too seriously.

Getting a good night’s sleep can make all the difference in the world when it comes to taking dietary decisions (eg. keeping your hands of that muffin) and dealing with pain.

Even though all the physiological benefits from a healthy sleep are more than worth talking about, today the subject is pain, and more specifically pain related to break-ups and heartbreak.

Getting dumped or breaking up sucks – that is definitely not a secret.

But how to deal with them in the best possible way is a secret, and it is by no means an easy task.

Even though there are tons and tons of things that you can do (and not do!) – you learn all about them in my comprehensive guide to getting over your ex, the ex-girlfriend solution – to make a break-up quicker and filled with less pain, one of the most efficient things you can do is to get really good sleep.

When you are well-rested, your mind handles unpleasant thoughts in a whole different way than if it is tired and vulnerable. The thought of your ex-girlfriend kissing some new guy suddenly doesn’t bother you – where as if you were tired that same thought would have thrown you off completely from what you were doing and made you feel at unrest for hours.

Accepting what you can’t accept

In addition to making you able to handle bad thoughts, and real situations too, for that matter, getting a good night’s sleep can also help you both accept and get over things that otherwise seem to not want to be accepted or gotten over – all through your dreams.

Why we dream is something that we don’t have a definitive answer to, but my personal belief (and that of several scientists, too) is that we dream to handle our everyday life more efficiently.

Dreaming helps us by steering us in the right direction, organizing our thoughts and yes, even to accept the things we can’t change and throw out the things we don’t need.

Getting the maximum benefit from dreaming is closely related to getting it from sleeping – which you get by getting consistent quality sleep.

How to get all the benefits?

So now you easily see why getting quality sleep can make a huge difference, but how to get it?

What amounts to quality sleep is individual, but there are criteria which are almost universal.

Here are 5 tips:

Feel safe and comfortable in your bed. A good mattress and a comfy pillow are well worth the money.
Rather have your bedroom a bit too cold than too hot.
Not just go to bed, but sleep before midnight. I actually like sleeping before 10.30, but I also wake up pretty early.
The earlier you go to bed, the less sleep you need, but opt for 7-8 hours.
Wind down at least half an hour before sleeping. Shut off electronics, dim the lights and relax. Writing a diary, reading or having a soothing conversation seems to do the trick.

That’s it! Of course there are more things to it – I for example always sleep better if I have been working out that day, but these are the basics. If you follow the tips, the benefits of better sleep will be instantaneous. And over time you will feel like a brand new person – stronger, happier and better prepared for both the big and the small challenges in life.

Experimenting with what you find the most effective way to sleep according to your specific lifestyle is something that I really recommend, though. It took me years to figure out, but I really thrive on getting up as early as five or six in the morning. The only way to know what works for you is to try it for a while and see how it feels.

Also, don’t forget to check out my articles: 15 Good Practices for Getting a Good Nights Sleep and Dreaming About Your Ex-Girlfriend – What Does It Mean?

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Tuesday, 17 April 2012