h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That's okay hun, I figured you were hard at work.

May watch the second half of Dances with Wolves tonight. Or maybe a netflix.

I'm doing pretty good, ya know! This is my fourth day of daylight wakefulness!

I am really very proud of you, you know.

Aww, thanks.

*Wnaders in, to thread at 1a.m here in Eyeland...too tired to catch up on entire backlog!

I've found that since being here, i seem more ablle to get into relatively 'normal' sleep patterns, probably a combination of being more physically active during daylight hours, having no curtains (drapes) at window...though i do have a fine cotton red Indian print thing all round my bed; that means i sleep in a womb-like cave, but when sun comes up, it's fine enough to let the light in, which wakes me up gently.

Then i try & get up, feed animals, do boring household stuff, think slowly what is happening today; if P is also up we have breakfast together & depending on how i feel, either tackle stuff around house/farm/garden; or i may just go back to bed for another couple of hours (which gives him some peace to get on with 'his stuff'; we tend to distract each other

I seem to get a lot done in the early hours now & don't get fussed if i decide to get extra 2nd snooze in late morning. I am incredibly lucky that P totally understand the sleep thing & also i'm not usually tied to Set Times to Be There etc; plus it's quiet here.

My Doc in France once said to me "Two hours of deep sleep when *you* want it; at whatever time, not Society's timescale of what's Normal, will do you more good than 8 hours of tossing & turning at the Right Time"

In my case, that's true, if i do snooze, it's invariably two hours & i wake refreshed & raring to go. I'd say; listen to what your individual body clock tells you, keep a sleep diary, see what influences you: food, drink, stress; physical activity, whatever.

Over the past few weeeks i have finally managed to sleep without a light on all night; mainly 'cos P installed reading light over my bed (within the cave!) & i've been setting a sorta routine of going online to wind down (yeah; i know, it's supposed to do the opposite! for an hour or two, then going to bed with a ...inevitably i nod off within a few minutes. Yes, routine is important; but it has to be a routine that's suited to YOU, not one imposed upon you.

My bed in my room is a bunk bed, so it was easy to make it into a warm, red cave, which really helped. When i sleep in P's place, his is blue & open to the green outdoors, very different, but also very natural space, being woken up by birds feeding their babies at sunrise, lying watching the trees etc is so lovely!

*You are feeeliiing sleeeeepy*

zdt

Hiya Terri! There are many reasons I want to get on to a daylight schedule. I need to be able to go to the grocery, get my mail, take out the trash, and things like that. Also my niece exercises with me during the day. In the summer time it's not so bad because I can get at least some things done in the early evening while it's still light. But in the winter time, I'm practically housebound. Hopefully that will change, as I'm determined to make a switch.

I'm glad to hear that your sleep schedule has been more "normal" too. It sounds like you are going about it in the right way.

It's looking good!

Well done.

Ah me. A little after 8am, and I am awake. Hope I can stay up.

Too bad Edward you're going to be offline for a while!

Went back to sleep for a little while, but back up by 10:30am. Fighting the sleepiness.

Had some cereal. Took my shower. Winding down.

Keep on keeping on!

The trick is not to feel like a failure if it doesn't work out straight away.

And try that relaxation download, you hear?

Hi Edward!

Got up today at 8:30am and stayed up till 4pm. Took a 45 minute nap, then got back up. Trying to stay up till about 9pm.

Well done you! The important thing is not staying up late.

Speaking of which...nite nite

Sleep well, and thanks for checking in on me.

JEllen, would you mind posting link(s) to downloads that I could potentially burn for you? If you did before I can't figure out which link to follow. Once I have them I will mail (along with W&G) after confirming your address.

I don't know how to link to an individual post. But I can go back and find the post numbers for you. BRB

Okay, here's the link to the website that Ed recommended. There are three exercises -- Deep Breathing, Relax Through PMR, and Relax and Sleep. I'd like to try all three, pretty please.

http://www.umw.edu/cas/psychservices/resources/relaxation_exercises_downl1.php

I'm reading a book by Janey Lee Grace right now; "Imperfectly Natural Woman" & in the section on sleep probs, she recomends this site:

http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/home/

Apparently they do a Sunray alarm clock, which slowly, gently, wakes you up over around 20 minutes, so you get a nice sunrise effect; if that fails, it's followed by a gentle peeping sound until you awake & switch it off (*not an evil ringing or beeping, guaranteed to turn me into a monster for the entire day!*)

You seem to be doing really well

zdt

Hi Terri!

Thanks for info.

You available to chat on google?

Feeling very tired and discouraged. Went to bed at reasonable hour last night. Got up at 11:30am. I'm doing pretty well, but I still want to go back to bed SO BADLY.