Insomnia
something on my mind is keeping me awake
What the fuck am I doing up and about at one in the morning, drinking coffee? Something is on my mind, disturbing my sleep. When I find out what it is I’ll kill it.
Actually, I know what’s bugging me, and that isn’t helping at all.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
that moon is from long ago
and very far away
Better Sleep
true happiness means getting enough good sleep
insomnia is subtle torture
Sleeping well is vitally important to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Conversely, insomnia is stressful and will eventually make you ill.
Scientific surveys tell us that most people require between 6 and 8 hours of good sleep every night.
You can’t store sleep up in advance, but you can make up for lost sleep afterwards.
For good sleep you should go to bed at the same time every evening, and get up at the same time every morning.
Sleep medication only works for a little while. One should never take sleep aids for longer than a couple of weeks.
Smokers will never get a settled night’s sleep until months after they quit.
Booze may send you to sleep, but thereafter it ruins your night’s rest. Drinkers will never get a settled night’s sleep until they have had a little sobriety.
Drinkers will tend to have vivid and sometimes disturbing dreams.
Caffine in coffee or tea has very little effect on sleep.
Eating late at night will prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. Don’t eat within two hours of going to bed.
The blue light from your phone or tablet will stop you from falling into deep REM sleep, the kind of sleep we all need.
Watching TV in your bedroom late into the night will prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.
A lack of real daylight during waking hours will prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.
Plenty of fresh air and exercise during the day promotes good sleep.
Bedrooms should be cool, dark, and quiet.
Your subconscious mind should associate your bedroom with only two things; sleep and sex.
Some say they can get by on 2 or 3 hours sleep a night. And that the only time they have problems is when they are trying to sleep. All I know is that early to bed and early to rise make one healthy, wealthy, and wise.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
don’t spend too long gazing at the moon
that’s for lunatics
Random Jottings ~Nightmares
nightmares are your subconscious mind’s way of getting your attention
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unrequited love is the most beautiful dream
and the worst nightmare
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a dragon is never your worst nightmare
that would be a woman
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your nightmares are as faithful as your own shadow
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at night, your worst memories can never be held at bay
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I still get childhood nightmares, but now I can remember them
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in my worst nightmares, I have no mouth, and I must scream
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
in my waking dreams there are nothing but dark lonely regrets
Scenes on Sunday ~ Nightmares
Nightmares and insomnia are not so much fun, it gets a bit depressing
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
everything seems better in black and white
Overcoming Insomnia
the night is the hardest time to be alive and all alone
It’s the wee small hours of the morning, I’m still in hospital, I still hurt, and my mind is racing ~ small wonder I can’t sleep. There are some other reasons I’m wide awake; not so long ago I was drinking heavily, the nurses are still giving me a bunch of medication at bed-time, including antibiotics, EPO, and a strong painkiller ~ these meds knock me out for a while, but that isn’t real sleep. Add to that I’m dozing during the day, getting no exercise, getting no fresh air, and I’m seeing no natural daylight to speak of.
All of which leads me to consider what it is we need to get the 6 to 8 hours of good sleep a night we all need if we want to be healthy in body, mind, emotions, and spirit.
- We need natural daylight, preferably sunshine and fresh air, to reset our internal body clock. If we spend all day in artificial light, only emerging from our homes and workplace when it’s dark, then our body clock is screwed.
- Do not drink too much coffee or strong tea, or eat chocolate late at night, the caffeine screws with our brain chemistry.
- Do not self-medicate with booze. Do not drink too much alcohol, especially avoid the couple of glasses of red wine in the late evening. Better still avoid getting blasted late at night and passing out. Alcohol is very bad for you, and you can take that one to the bank.
- Do not eat late at night. You should not eat within a couple of hours of going to bed.
- Drink plenty of water, even if it means you have to get up in the night to pee.
- Avoid looking at your computer / tablet / smart phone within an hour of going to bed, and do not keep your device on the bedside cabinet. The blue light screws with your brain’s idea of when it’s night and day.
- Your bedroom should be very dark and fairly cool. If you are sweating in bed, or throw the covers off, then your room is too warm.
- Avoid sleep medication. Even herbal sleep aids are bad if you use them for longer than a couple of weeks. Anyway, any sleep medication loses its effect after a few weeks and you will need stronger and stronger doses.
- Do not take the problems of the day to bed with you. Before you go to bed spend 20 minutes or so just relaxing and emptying your mind.
Some say that they get by on very little sleep at all. And that they do their best work at night. All I know is that I can step into the night and dream of adventures with the Lady I Love.
Bon nuit et bon rêves. Dormez bien mon amour.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
watch the dark moon rise
and make a darkling wish
Anxiety and Insomnia
I’ve never heard of a cat that suffered from insomnia.
But, then again, I’ve never heard of a cat that suffered from anxiety, depression, and a total lack of self-confidence.
Given that it’s two o’clock in the morning here in England, and I’m awake writing this blog, you might say that I’m suffering from insomnia.
As it goes, I haven’t slept well since the garret was broken into and I had some important stuff stolen. Having your home burgled is a much more upsetting experience that I thought it could be, until it happened to me.
I need to find a way of working through all this.
jack collier
jackcollier7@taltalk.net
staring at a log fire doesn’t count as insomnia among cool cats
Sleep Well
Tired minds don’t plan well. Sleep first, plan later. ~ Walter Reisch
Insomnia
Not getting enough good sleep causes all kinds of problems. You lose sharpness, your concentration and memory suffers, you get bad tempered and irritable, you gain weight and look terrible. Really sustained lack of sleep is very serious; it weakens your immune system, leads to heart and circulatory problems, increases your risk of diabetes, kills your sex drive, and if it goes on for long enough it will lead to your early death.
A long lie-in at the weekend doesn’t help either. That long lie-in is not good sleep, all it will do is give you the equivalent of jet-lag on Monday morning. Changing your sleeping patterns at the weekend is bad, you should aim to go to bed at the same time every night, and get up at the same time every morning ~ no matter what day of the week it is.
Drinking too much just before bed time will not help you to sleep either ~ you might pass out and be dead to the world for a few hours, but you will wake up disgustingly early, feeling very thirsty, and looking like something the cat dragged in. It’s best not to touch any booze for an hour or so before you go to bed ~ instead drink some water, water is good for you.
Using your tablet or laptop late at night isn’t good either, the blue light fries your brain and that stops you from having a good sleep. Playing computer games late at night means that your brain isn’t relaxed when you go to bed, a part of your mind is still concentrating on whatever game you were playing. Using social media late at night is worse, part of your mind will be racing with what you’ve just learned and said.
If your bedroom is too warm, not dark enough, and not quiet enough, then you will not sleep well either. You need a dark, cool, quiet, and peaceful environment to sleep well. If your partner keeps you awake a night; snoring, being restless, or whatever, then one of you should sleep in a different bedroom.
You need between 6 an 8 hours of good sleep every single night of the week. If you get less than 6 hours sleep then you will be running on adrenaline he following day.
Some say that they don’t need much sleep, they do fine with four or five hours a night. And that sleep is just for losers. All I know is that people who don’t get enough sleep look really old.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
eating a narcotic laden apple to get to sleep might just be a bad idea
Sleeping in Hotels
Alone and on the road again…..
I’ve just enjoyed the first decent night’s sleep I’ve had in about a month, and I’m in a hotel……
In my long and mostly disreputable life I have spent more nights than I care to remember in all kinds of hotels, in most of the major cities of the world, (and some towns that would have to work hard to qualify as a bomb-site). And in all that time I never hardly ever slept well in an hotel.
One solution to ‘hotel insomnia’ is to get good and drunk….. But these days I am utterly sober.
So, what’s different this time?
I believe it’s that I’ve put my worries, resentments, and anger behind me….. And nobody can possibly sleep with a mind racing like an evil train crash.
I also believe that a few hours in the hotel pool taking the strenuous exercise of swimming lessons, and then going for long walks by the sea, also helps.
And, on a cautionary note, sharing your hotel bed with a woman you’ve just picked up at the hotel bar will not help you sleep either.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
I have never in my life ‘picked up’ a woman in a hotel bar.
Hooker, or otherwise.
Not Sleeping is Very Bad
Insomnia turns an earthly paradise into a place of torture.
If you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes of getting into bed and turning off the lights, if you toss and turn and wake up several times in the night, if you don’t wake up feeling instantly refreshed and ready to hit the ground running, then you are not getting enough good sleep.
Scientific studies show that for good health almost everyone needs 7 or 8 hours of good sleep, every single night of their adult lives. Not getting enough good sleep does really bad things to you.
Just some of the bad effects of lack of sleep are; depression, diabetes, fatigue, heart diseases, heart attack, high blood pressure, poor immune system leading to illness, impulsive behaviours, irritability, paranoia, stroke, suicidal thoughts, and Death.
All of us know exactly that some of the things some of us do from time to time will prevent us from sleeping well at night; not getting enough fresh air and exercise during the day, drinking too much booze, eating late at night, using social media late at night, not going to bed at the same time every night, staying in bed late at weekends, having unresolved issues that prey on our mind, having an untreated mental illness, having our bedroom too warm, too noisy, and not dark enough, being in a dysfunctional relationship, hanging out in bars, casual sex…..
I’ve got a bad case of the 3.00 am guilts ~ you know, when you lie in bed awake and replay all those things you didn’t do right? Because, as we all know, nothing solves insomnia like a nice warm glass of regret, depression, paranoia, and self-loathing. ~ D. D. Barant.
Some things that most of us do will disrupt our internal body clock, our circadian rhythm, and prevent us from getting a decent night’s sleep, for night after night after night. Who knew that our internal body clock is so important to good sleep and good health? If you do stuff that fucks up disrupts your internal body clock, resulting in a lack of good sleep, you will seriously damage your physical, mental, and spiritual health and fitness.
All the things that will help ensure that we will always have a good night’s sleep are so bleeding obvious that a child of 5, or 6, or 7 already knows them, instinctively.
- Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends and vacations.
- Get plenty of fresh air and exercise. Get out and walk for an hour a day, (10,000 steps), but not too late in the day.
- Get plenty of sunlight during the day ~ tricky if you live in northern England like me, (or Canada, or Alaska, or Scandinavia…).
- Avoid caffeine later in the day. It’s a stimulant, and the caffeine in a cup of coffee will take about 6 or 8 hours to wear off.
- Do not smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant, smoking affects your breathing, you will get nicotine withdrawal through the night and wake up, you will have nightmares for years after you stop smoking. Smokers never sleep well.
- Booze. Don’t drink to much, especially late at night. A glass of wine / hard booze just before you go to bed will stop you from getting a decent night’s rest. Trust me, people who drink late at night, most nights, are three parts of the
smeggingway to being an alcoholic. - Do not eat late at night. Don’t eat anything much for a couple of hours before bed-time.
- Don’t take a nap after three in the afternoon.
- Have a relaxing hot bath just before bed-time. Light some candles, play some relaxing music, turn off your racing mind.
- Have a dark bedroom, quiet bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget free bedroom, and no
fuckingblue light from your phone / tablet / computer shining all night. - Forget all the bad things from the day, especially the ignorant
son of a bitchperson who cut you up on the freeway on your way to work. - Finally, if you just cannot get to sleep, then don’t just lie in bed fretting. If you really cannot sleep, get up and do something else instead, (but none of the bad things listed above).
One thing that some doctors say will result in a restored sleep cycle and better sleep is using marijuana, pot, cannabis. There are some serious downside risks to the cannabis user, such as; anxiety, breathing problems, poor coordination, damaging a child in the womb, hallucinations, heart attacks, impaired thinking and cognitive functions, nausea, road traffic accidents, smoking anything is a known health risk, suicide, paranoia and schizophrenia, being arrested, losing your job, and Death. All other drugs you can take to help you sleep are worse than marijuana, especially in the longer term. (Anyhow, I would never sleep with anyone who uses drugs. Come to that, I wouldn’t have lunch with a drug user.)
Some say that going without sleep for night after night is dangerous. And, that eventually going without sleep will kill you, after 11 days or so. All I know is that not sleeping is very, very unpleasant.
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Insomnia
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
you may be able to tell that I didn’t sleep well last night
Air Pollution and Insomnia
The health effects of air pollution imperil human lives.
So, you have trouble sleeping? Air pollution in your bedroom could be the reason you suffer from insomnia. If the air in your bedroom isn’t as sparkling clean and clear as the freshest mountain breeze, it’s quite likely that you will suffer from insomnia.
The clever people in white coats tell us that people living in areas with raised nitrogen dioxide levels, (for example if you live near a busy road), were up to 60% more likely to suffer from sleep deprivation than were people living in places that had clean air.
These new findings indicate the possibility that commonly experienced levels of air pollution not only affect heart and lung disease, but also sleep quality. ~ Dr. Martha E. Billings
Air pollution increases the risk of you having breathing problems during sleep ~ which will naturally wake you up, or at least give you poor quality sleep. Breathing problems during sleep have also been linked to night terrors and nightmares.
So what can you do to improve the quality of the air you breathe in your home, and especially in your bedroom at night?
- Use non toxic paints when you decorate.
- Sanitize your telephone frequently, and never use the phone late at night, or when you’ve been drinking. And, never, ever smoke in your bedroom.
- Choose hard floors over carpets ~ carpets are just a jungle of muck, dirt, pet dander and dust. If you can’t easily change your flooring vacuum at least twice a week.
- Choose solid wood furniture over composites which will give off formaldehyde over time.
- Turn your mattress frequently, use a washable mattress topper and wash it weekly
- Use allergen proof pillows, and change your pillowcases every couple of days. Change all your bed linen weekly.
- Don’t put clothes you have worn outside on the bed.
- Open the windows on breezy days to air your home.
- Buy an air purifier for the bedroom. The EPA has a guide to air cleaners in the home.
- Have air filtering plants in your home, especially in your bedroom. Choose low-maintenance varieties such as; Mother-in-Law’s Tongue / Snake Plant, Spider Plant, Garden Mum, (the garden mum removes formaldehyde, benzine, and trichloroethylene from the air), Boston Fern, and the Peace Lily. Think about a nice, green, air filtering plant on your desk at work.
Our homes are not the safe haven we think they are. Most people are adversely affecting their health just by breathing the air in their homes and offices. You too can be affected in lots of ways when you are continually exposed to the polluted air in your own bedroom, and particularly around your own bed. You may suffer problems such as; skin complaints, breathing difficulties, and insomnia.
Sleep disturbance is especially common in women, starting at their midlife. As good sleep is essential for good health, it’s important that we do something to improve the quality of our rest at night. And it behoves us to improve the quality of our sleep, starting right now.
O sleep, O gentle sleep. Nature’s soft nurse, how I have frightened thee. That though no more will weigh my eyelids down, And steep my senses in forgetfulness. ~ Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Your dirty phone may be affecting your health.
Air Purifier at Amazon
JackCollier7 
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