#sleep tips
Things you should know about Sleep Paralysis
Before I begin, you ought to know what sleep paralysis is. When you sleep you go through two cycles, REM and NREM. REM stands for “rapid eye movement” and during this phase your body is completely paralyzed but your eyes are moving around under the lids. NREM is “non rapid eye movement” and during this time your body moves about but your eyes are still. You need to go through both cycles numerous times for a proper nights sleep. Sleep paralysis occurs when you wake up during REM and can be alarming to someone who isn’t used to it. But don’t worry, as someone who has gotten it chronically since I was a young child, I am going to teach you how to get through it.
First of all, you might feel like you’re suffocating, but don’t panic. You don’t have control of your body right now, and that includes your lungs. When you sleep, your breathing is heavily decreased. So just calm down, it’s ok, you can breathe.
Don’t be idle! So many people just lay there and expect sleep paralysis to go away. But that isn’t how this works. You MUST wake yourself up and yes it will be uncomfortable. It feels like reactivating your nerves, so it isn’t pleasant, but it isn’t really painful either. Just get through it, and try to move, you could be stuck for HOURS if you don’t.
On that note, there are ways to make the waking up process easier. Try to move one part of the body at a time. Maybe start just trying to move your finger then slowly progess to “waking up” the rest of your body. Also if you simply can’t get whatever part to move try somewhere else. I have had times where I tried to move my arms but they wouldn’t budge, only to find out that moving my head was much easier and woke up my entire body.
Don’t immediately go back to sleep! There is a very high chance that doing so will make you return to sleep paralysis. I have made this mistake more times than I’d like to admit, so it’s ok, but still, get up. You don’t have to do anything big, maybe just go grab some water or read a little bit (or whatever else you feel like) before attempting to return to sleep.
For the love of god DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES!! You’ll hallucinate.I’ve seen some weird shit when my eyes are open, and although I’m usually too preoccupied to be scared about the surreal demonic shit I see at the foot of my bed, for lots of people it’s terrifying, so I recommend that you keep your eyes shut.
Sorry it took so long for me to make this post! I’ve been kinda busy. But I sincerely hope this helps. Don’t stress over sleep paralysis, you’re going to be fine and once you have it for a while it becomes more of an inconvenience than an emergency. Sweet dreams!
If you ever have trouble sleeping at night, here’s a few tips to help:
brew a cup of chamomile tea
relax your muscles in a lavender Epson salt bath & light some incense
play a soundscape(click for rain on leaves) & darken the room
apply a calming lotion to your skin while giving yourself a gentle massage
If all else fails, try taking melatonin supplements. They’re easily found in the vitamin aisle of most grocery stores. I highly recommend only starting out with 3mg first!
It always guarantees me a good night’s sleep when I do all these things so I thought I’d share in case anyone could use the tips. Sleep tight, everyone!
Meditate! It helps calm me down and relax so that sleep comes that bit easier
This article has been copied from here.
I’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression since 2015. I remember feeling numb 24/7 and always assuming how to act and respond around everyone else. It went on for several months. Then, for a while, it seemed to go away. I thought life was great. I thought I was back to normal, except now that I look back on it, there can never again be normal. At least not the kind I was familiar with. Then last year, during December 201 7 it came back with a burning vengeance. My life entered turmoil and my mental state eventually drove me to the hospital.
Ever since I’ve been actively working to not have a repeat. Yes, I still fall back into my old patterns, but with these few tips, it’s been easier to get out.
Get Creative With Lighting
So, earlier this summer on a trip to Barbados I purchased these beautiful grey curtains that also acts as blackout curtains. They help block out light at night allowing me to sleep… and also enable my habits of cocooning myself to hibernate when I get depressed. Yikes. My room gets all the sunlight during the day which can make my head hurt when both curtains are pulled to each side. Therefore what I’ll do to get sunlight and avoid granting myself the privilege of total darkness during the day, I only open up one panel, or I pull both to the middle leaving the outsides of the window exposed.
Snack Attack
Another thing I’m prone to is undereating. Naturally, if I don’t eat every two-three hours, my naturally low blood pressure drops and I get dangerously lightheaded. When I’m experiencing an episode of depression I eat like one meal a day. One thing I’ve found helps is keeping a container of biscuits/crackers in my room along with juice boxes and other snacks that are easy for me to stomach when I don’t have the will to eat.
Plants
No matter how I feel, I always find the energy to take care of others rather than myself. A good and bad thing rolled into one. However, once I realised this, I decided to invest in some plants. Rather than taking care of my fully capable and not so grateful siblings (sorry, not sorry) I decided to invest in plants. Watering my plants and making sure they’re thriving, in turn, motivates me to get at least one thing I’ve been putting of doing, done.
Self Care Box
I’m definitely contemplating making a post solely about this. What a self-care box is, is a box (decorative, cardboard, plastic) that you fill with items to please/soothe your senses. Some items I have in mines are, play doh, a colouring book, coloured pencils, body oil, aromatherapy hand sanitizer, chocolate, a glitter globe…. and that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.
Journal
This isn’t something I do every night although I would like to. I tend to journal if I’m really caught up in my head, or I need to talk to someone but I don’t have the courage to say the words out loud at the moment.
Get A Hug
Although I love hugs, I have to say I don’t give or receive them quite often. However, if I’m in one my sad-depressed episodes, copping a hug from my older sister or most commonly my mum makes me feel a little bit better.
Alternative Routine
This can go for anyone. My idea of an alternate routine is instead of going to whole nine yards when it comes to say taking care of my face, I substitute steps. I’ll clean my face with a face wipe and micellar water before following through with toner and lotion. When I don’t have the energy to brush a full two minutes, floss, then use mouthwash, I cut it down to a quick brush and finish off with mouthwash. You still get the basics done, even though it’s not in full.
Basic B…
My closet is fairly simple. I have a few printed and trendy pieces, but for the most part, my clothes are in neutral colours ( white, grey, black, beige). Regardless of how I’m feeling I can pair a casual look or a more sophisticated look using shoes and accessories. It eliminates some of the headaches of what to wear and when I’m not feeling up to life I still look like I tried which helps me feel a little bit better.
Take A Walk
This one only works for me when I’m aware that I’m slipping into a depressive episode. If I notice I’ve been exposed to a trigger, and I go take a walk it definitely combats the urge to just give in about 60%. 100% if I take a walk with my mum.
If some of this is still too much, I focus on getting some fresh air and sunshine, even if that means sitting next to the open window with the sun in your face. I find sitting in the sun improves my mood to no end and generally makes me feel better!
When I’m not feeling great I tend to overeat but I eat absolute rubbish or whatever I find in my apartment. To combat this I try and keep fruit in as well as small packets/cartons of what I call anxiety snacks e.g. small packets of cheese and pepperoni, chocolate soya milk, crackers, hummus etc.
I’m in the process of making a self care box, but so far it consists of my favourite fluffy hot water bottle, the aforementioned snacks, a special big bottle of water ( STAY HYDRATED), a colouring book, a few sketch pens, my favorite books, my little aromatherapy bottles, and my counting beads!!!
