I forgot sleep - sometimes a good night’s sleep is a luxury. Long gone are the days when I don’t need to get up to pee at least twice during the night, and when I can fall asleep within minutes of lying down.
What do you do if you wake up several hours before your normal rising time, and can’t go back to sleep? Happens to me all the time, no matter what time I go to bed.
Guided relaxation. Good apps are available (free, even!). One favorite is meditation oasis. It’s not so much “deep breathing” that works, btw, it is even breathing and relaxing the muscles.
- Read a book. Takes me away from anxieties.
- Lego, clay, sewing, knitting, weaving. Making things calms and centers my mind.
Stop reading the SDMB, that does wonders to relax and de-stress me!
Drink. Play guitar. Solicit a beej from the little lady. Watch an episode of Good Eats I’ve seen a million times.
That ain’t good… You might actually want to see a doctor about this, if it happens often.
If it’s just once in a while, don’t fight it. Turn on the light and start reading a good book. You’ll get some of the benefits of sleep. Reading puts you into a light “trance” state, where your body can relax and your conscious mind is relaxed.
If you’re suffering from enough stress that you can’t read – your mind loses track of the story and starts worrying again about the car and the mortgage and tuition and crap – then you’re back to the original question: how do you deal with stress?
My advice, and practice, is to construct a mental wall around the bed and the night-time. Worldly concerns are not welcome. It’s a place for fantasy daydreaming and other light mental play, which helps lead to sleep. Instead of worrying about the car, etc., rescue the princess from the dragon, or run a 99 yard touchdown, or address a joint session of Congress. Let your thoughts be fun ones.
Tomorrow, when awake, all the problems will come back full force, but you can, at least, kick them the hell out of bed.
I have, several doctors. They won’t refer me for a sleep study because I don’t snore, or they ask if I want Ambien or the like. I don’t have any problem going to sleep; I just can’t stay asleep. Plus, I’m a recovering prescription drug addict, so that’s not a good idea.
Depends on the degree of stress. Usually it’s TV Land and a few games of ma jhong, bingo and the like. If it’s hard-core I’m relaxing as fast as I can! it’s vodka, valium and weed.
I, too, play uke – got any tips for playing a bari? I have one, and haven’t figured it out yet – causing stress :mad: :smack: 
You might be doing this as your body adjusts:
I haven’t read the whole link, but I’ve read articles where the advice is to do something quiet and calming for the interval so you can go back to sleep.
i.e. Don’t fire up facebook, the internet, or Hellstop2:The DAMNANATION or whatever video game is cool.
But Hellstop2:The DAMNANATION frankly sounds awesome.
I do completely different things to relax vs de-stress. De-stressing for me is all about the body, getting the heart pumping and the muscles moving. Relaxing for me is all about the brain, I play the piano, draw or colour-in, read, or play video games.
Breathing exercises and isometric stretches twice daily, walking, gardening, painting, music. Used to be reading, but I find I’m having to work harder at it these days. And hot, hot showers.
Serious stress? Breathing. Focus on the breathing.
Then hitting things. Punching bag is best, trees and walls next.
Alcohol combined with a distraction. Pour some booze down the throat then do something that occupies the brain until the booze kicks in.
Same here. May I ask which drugs and how long you’ve been clean?
I walk, read, play guitar or piano, or shoot pistols.
I have a nice collection of glass pipes. I sit and clean them, while simultaneously dirtying one.
I never, ever do this with my pistols. :eek:
Yoga. Lots and lots of yoga. Like, daily. Sometimes two classes.
I use an actual strop but, yes, for some reason, stropping a knife is a very zen experience for me too.