FryingMan

I had some success returning to sleep last night that I'd like to share and comment on.

I had bedtime at around 00:00, and wakings at: 03:00 (recall), 04:25 (no recall),
At around 04:45 I realize I'm not making progress back to sleep. I don't feel drowsy at all. There's no "sleepiness" waiting for me at the exhale of relaxing breaths. I think that's an important signal that sleep is not near, or I'm mentally "holding on too tight" and need to do something to change up the situation and shake this hidden tension loose. Just lying in bed and continuing to relax is not going anywhere.

At about 30 minutes of not sleeping I decide to follow the advice given in several places: get out of bed. You do not want your mind/body to associate being in bed with being awake. I decide to do a "proper" WBTB. Sit in a rocking chair about 20 minutes with eyes closed, working on incubation and visualisation. Move to kitchen, warm some milk & drink it, sit there (all the time in the darkness as much as possible). Massage my jaw muscles (typically the major tension holder in the body). Do some relaxing breaths and find some drowsiness there on the exhale. Decide I'm feeling a bit more drowsy, if not super sleepy, so I go back to bed at 06:00. My alarm is set for 07:30, in the past this knowledge would keep me awake but I ignore it and do not sweat it. I don't "try to sleep", I just try to totally relax more and more deeply on each exhale. Try to maintain the relaxation on the inhale (it seems to receded a bit on the inhale for some reason). I'm sure I can make one more sleep cycle with dreams before the alarm sounds.

back to bed at 06:00 slept fairly quickly, waking at: 07:36 (alarm) (recall)

Back to bed (not main bed, alone, cooler room) at for nap at 09:00 (not too long falling sleep, surprisingly lots of drowsiness on exhale), wakings at: 10:12 (recall) (also not long getting back to sleep after 5 minutes of voice journaling in bed), 12:14 (recall + lucid dream!)

What do I mean by "relaxing breath?" Well, an inhale/exhale that is just a little bit longer than sleep breathing. Not really a big deep breath, just a little bit longer than a normal breath. Inhale as normal, but when exhaling try to imagine all tension melting out of everywhere in your body and mind. Try on each breath to go deeper and deeper, becoming more and more relaxed. I even tell myself these words sometimes (a form of sleep hypnosis induction). Sometimes I constrict my throat a bit to provide a little bit of resistance and sound to the exhale.

This is very encouraging: I'm having more and more success with this technique. With each success come more confidence in my ability to go back to sleep, reducing back-to-sleep stress. For those times where nothing works, get out of bed for a while to shake things up. Sometimes, your body / mind just may not be able to sleep, just know that this won't last forever. As a last resort try something like melatonin. Traditional techniques like warm milk can really help, too.

Eat a small snack if you've been up for a while, it's hard to sleep when hungry.

Make sure the temperature is comfortable for you, this is very important for me I've found. Keep a thermometer by the bed and record temperature at bedtime and waking time and record in your dream journal how well you sleep for that temperature.

If can't sleep for 30 minutes, get up, go to another room, do somethin quiet, come back to bed only when fleeling sleepy.

Do not eat, read, watch TV, in bed. Only for sleep.

Go to bed at same time of day every day. And get up at same time every day.

Avoid naps.

Morning exercise is best. No closer to bed than 3 hours before.
Establish bedtime routine (warm drink, shower, short read, meditation)
Yoga/meditation/relaxation before bed.
Melatonin/Valerian. Melatonin should be cheap. Valerian can be taken every 4 hours.
Eat small bedtime snack: complex carbs, small bit of protein w/tryptophan and calcium. Avoid sugary, all carbs snack.
Calcium helps brain use tryptophan to manufacture melatonin!!!
Low sugar dairy products. Nuts. peanuts with skins, whole almonds (for more fiber), walnuts, pecans, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, pistachios, red peanuts with skins
Ground flax seeds is a big source of tryptophan.
The best bedtime snack is one that has both complex carbohydrates and protein, and perhaps some calcium
For dinner and bedtime snacks, eat a meal or snack that is high in complex carbohydrates, with a small amount of protein that contains just enough tryptophan to relax the brain
Stop working on any task an hour before bedtime to calm your brain.
Don't discuss emotional issues right before bedtime.
Avoid large meals two hours before bedtime. A light snack is fine
Valerian becomes more effective over time, so it's best to take it every night for a short period of time. Start with the lowest dose, then increase over several days' time. Valerian is considered safe to take for four to six weeks.
eat bananas, avocado, peanuts, almonds, figs, and milk-based drinks, all containing tryptophans, a precursor for creating melatonin which regulates sleep.[2] Some snacks to consider include: cookies and milk, sliced banana with chopped dates, and wholegrain bread with lettuce
Plain nonfat yogurt for best calcium. Then cheese, milk,