Sleepless in Madrid

So many challenges. So many worries. Too many thoughts.

I do not sleep well.

As a matter of fact, I sleep quite poorly.

I have tried to give up on coffeine, practicing sports before going to bed and even to get medical support (counting sheeps always made me nervous).

Finally I have found a couple tricks to address this issue and I am happy to share them with you.

THE "POWER POD"

Every night I get into bed with a wooden acorn. It represents a potencial rover, the one who is inside it and inside each one of us. And It is how I like to think about myself, the better person I can be and become every day. I hold it in my hand and think about what was the best thing, for small it might have been, which has blessed me during the day. Not only this forces me to be thankful for it, but it also helps me to positively close my day. It is about the attitude with which I jump into sleep and that, with a little luck, if I can sleep all night, welcomes me in the morning. It is my "power pod", my amulet, where I deposit all the good I have in life. We could call it mass mindfullness: easyer than meditation and very tangible, even for the skeptics...

WRITE IT DOWN AND LEAVE IT THERE

Chances are that the above mentioned threesome (challenges, worries and thoughts I am afraid) comes back to wake me up at inappropriate hours. It is really frustrating and hard to cope with. Going back to sleep is really hard: in the middle of the night perspective is relentless. I have learnt that the only effective way to woo sleep is to ignore it. I keep a notebook and a fountain pen on my bedside table: It is surprising how writing down what worries me helps me to accept it and to find effective solutions for it. Reading the sleepless conclusions in the morning casts an all new light on them. And letting go of that burden, laying its weight on paper, helps to sleep again. And rest.

Have a great day. And a great night too!