Insomnia

Well I really, thoroughly enjoyed doing my NLP presentation last night. I've been focussing on Keepsake Kollections for such a long time now that I'd forgotten just how creative NLP is but in an entirely different, therapeutic arena - no wonder I love it so much!

I was asked about insomnia last night so thought I'd share a slightly unusual technique with you.

If you're a sufferer, friends & family will always be able to offer suggestions they've tried before or solutions they've heard about from other people or read in books - lets face it, there's no single solution that works for everyone, just like there's no single, miracle technique to stop smoking

But as a therapist, we're taught to help you find the answers from within yourself.

So let me ask you "what do you get from not sleeping?"
The first response to that question is usually "what do you mean? what do I get from it?"
So I'd respond "what do you gain from not being able to sleep? What does it give you?"

Now once you start focussing on the positives, just some possible answers are:
a) well I do get some good business ideas when I cant sleep
b) it does give me time to review the day to see if there's anything I've forgotten to do
c) I sometimes find the solution to a problem by having all that time to consider options
... and a very honest and enlightening one some people face is:
d) it gets me lots of sympathy from friends & fellow sufferers, we have a common problem to talk about, we help each other by trying out different remedies

Once you've exhausted your list of what insomnia does for you, then you can begin to "negotiate"

So for options a-c negotiate with yourself - if I make more effort to find time to come up with those business ideas or do my daily checklist or make a pro's and con's list during the day - then I'll be able to rest easier at night

For option d, once you've come to this realisation, the very first thing to do is not beat yourself up about it. In fact, congratulate yourself for being so honest, most people aren't that brave. After all it's nice to have a common subject to share with other people. It feels good to have people sympathise with you and want to help you. And just the way celebrities argue bad publicity is still publicity, getting attention because of something negative is still attention...but now you know what it is, you have the power to change it...or decide its no longer useful to you and discard it...or realise you have something positive to share with your friends instead of something negative...

I hope this sets you thinking...but hopefully not in the dead of night!!!

So you see I gained something from being awake until 2am this morning! My NLP Practitioner side reminded me that, had this been a client, you'd have had this technique pre-planned for their first appointment!

...until next time, make love, not sleeping tablet Company profits!