This is no secret to anyone who knows me. In fact, there were years upon years growing up when my Wish List for Santa was a list of books. Or, to make it easier on him, a gift card to B. Dalton would do. I'm flex that way.
But as I grew up, got married, had kids, my opportunity to read has dwindled. But a few years ago, I decided to reclaim reading.
You see, I was having trouble falling asleep at night. I simply could not shut my mind down. I couldn't stop thinking about never-ending to do lists. Questions ran through my mind like so many stock prices on a ticker tape.
Did I remember to turn the coffee maker on?
Was there money in our teenager's lunch account?
Did Joshua practice enough violin this week to be able to fool his teacher tomorrow?
Why Jordan would think it was OK to put a dead snake on the kitchen table? (More about that one later.)
You know ... day to day stuff like that.
I never had trouble before. Why was I having trouble now? Then it hit me. Movies, baseball and music. Before Herb and I married, I would fall asleep to a movie I'd seen dozens of times before or, if God was smiling on me and it was baseball season, an Atlanta Braves baseball game.
I had also spent many years listening to music as I fell asleep. I got to the point where I could tell you which song would be the last one I would hear before drifting off.
(Just FYI: When I was listening to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack at bedtime, it was during "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues." My favorite song was "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow," so I would fall asleep immediately after it ended.)
But Herb requires silence to fall asleep. Complete and utter darkness and silence. So my TV watching and music listening had to stop. And with nothing to replace it, my mind just kept going long after my body shut down.
Until I started reading before bed. All of a sudden, I could sleep again. Oh joy! Not only have I rediscovered my favorite thing in the world, now I have to do it! Every night! Or else!
My new-found sleep technique has been an on-again, off-again source of consternation between my husband and me. At bedtime, I know that he is just waiting on me, and that puts pressure on me to wrap it up quickly. He is waiting on me, and I am waiting until that magic time when I have read enough to shut down my mind, knowing that elusive sleep will come. And I know that some part of him was wondering if I was just trying to allow some of my pre-marriage, night-owl tendencies to break through.
Can you imagine my joy when I found an article on the Internet that backs me up? (And you know, if it's on the Internet, it must be true.) It starts out just talking about how good sleep is the best way to recover after a workout. Then it goes on to give tips on "Sleeping Like a Pro:"
1. No screens within an hour of bed.
2. Use blackout curtains.
3. Read a fiction book for 30 minutes before you go to sleep.
4. Easy on the coffee.
Wait ... what was that #3? Read? Before bed? And read fluff, no less?
Holy cow! It's not just me! I have an article from a trainer that proves it. And if it's from a trainer and on the Internet, then it's practically gospel.
I am falling asleep fairly quickly and easily with regularity now.
And my husband is jealous.
No comments:
Post a Comment