Oh for Sleep to Embrace Me

I often find it very difficult to sleep. Case in point- it's 330 in the morning, and my best activity is writing about my insomnia. It's that or lay here counting imaginary sheep, and they are such boring creatures, aren't they?

I have trained myself over years and years of practicing meditation, to use a self-guided meditation to help sleep. I don't even recall where I learned the process, but it works every time and I learned it quickly.

Here's the gist of it: You close your eyes and get comfy. Now use your imagination. Begin to build a world of your own. When I began, I didn't know where to start, so I used a piece of a game I love, World of Warcraft. Ok, now you all know I'm a WoW nerd. Anyway, I would use the Night Elves land- purples and blues and lots of soft mossy ground.

Over about a month's time, I tried various "locations" in my head. I finally created one that I have used nightly now for a very long time. It's my own island getaway, in ancient Greece, atop a hill overlooking the white and blue homes built down the hill from me and looking out across a bay. Silks billow in the breeze, and I have a semi-outdoor patio with a giant feather bed and pillows and silks. There is the smell of salt in the air, the sounds of waves crashing, and the stars are unimaginably clear and bright. The only other light comes from torchlight on various front steps of homes. Wagons pulled by donkeys come up and down the hill with goods. I can settle into that feather and silk pile and just find peace.

Your place can be anywhere at any time, but it just needs to be peaceful! Go to Venus, fall asleep on the red dirt of Mars, pass out cold in Buckingham Palace! Where are YOU comfortable? What's your dream-inducing perfect resting place?

Sleep and dreams need to be gently guided into place. Some can just put their head on the pillow and be out (like the hubby here next to me), but many of us fight for sleep. Hopefully some positive creative visualization will help your find your place of rest.

Sweet dreams.