Do you lie in bed for what seems like hours?

Your eyes are closed and you want to sleep but you just cannot drift off into that wonderful land of dreams.

It could be that you have alot on your mind. Do you lie in bed and you find yourself thinking about the days obstacles, achievements, ins and outs, or you're thinking about what you're going to do tomorrow, or maybe you're playing through each senario of how your going to ask that guy/girl out or ask the boss for that raise you deserve.

It could be a multitude of other things but the point is when your mind is this active and you're trying to get to sleep, it's like trying to put a sqaure block through a triangle hole. It's not going to happen until it's forced. What I'm going to try to explain here is essentially forcing all that "monkey chatter" ,as I like to call it, out of your mind.

By forcing all of the "monkey chatter" out of your mind, it allows the mind to relax. The brain's synapses stop firing so often. Once the mind is relaxed and you're not thinking of everything in you life, you'll fall asleep in no time.

OK, so here's what to do:

When you find yourself lying there, mind racing at 1000mph,  trying to get to sleep, you need to stop thinking essentially, so....

1. Clear your mind. Stop all that "monkey chatter" and just wipe everything from your mind. This can be difficult, especially for people with constantly active minds. But, as with everything, if you persist you will succeed.
   
2. Every time your mind starts to chatter again, just gently guide it back to that nothingness. I sometimes find that having something push the images out of my head helps. By that I mean imagining a bulldover drive through my mind and scooping everything up and driving away with it all, a demolition ball barging through and knocking everything away, or someone pulling a screen over my minds eye so nothing can be seen.
   
3. Next, you need to concentrate on something to help stop your mind going back to "monkey chatter". It cannot just be anything. I want you to concentrate on your body. DO NOT imagine seeing your body, you need to be aware of yourself, aware of every inch of your body; head to toe, back and front, all at once.
   
4. To help achieve this you can imagine that you're filling up with water, or what I like to do is imagine a second skin is covering my body (like the mirror scene in "The Matrix" where it glides over Neo's arm).
   
5. Start at your toes and slowly fill yourself with water, being aware of each bit of your body as it rises. Slowly rise through your legs, to your hips, gut, chests, arms, shoulders, neck and finally your head. Don't forget to be aware of your back, the back of your head and the top of your head, every inch of your body. Each time the "monkey chatter" tries to come back, gently guide it away and continue with the rising water.
   
6. Now keeping aware of everything that you've just been over, empty the imagined water from your body. Sinking slowly, water level is lowereing from your head to your neck, shoulders, arms, chest, gut, hips, legs and emptying at your toes. Keep being aware of every body part after the water is gone. That's the key, being aware of your body without imagining an image of yourself. After you've done this a few times you'll be able to be aware of your body without imagining the water.
   
7. Once again, if the "monkey chatter" tries to make its way back into your mind, say "no" and guide it away. That "monkey chatter" is your enemy in trying to get to sleep. Don't think about anything else. Just continue to concentrate on being aware of your body. If it doesn't work winthin a couple of minutes don't give up. Keep being aware of your entire body; head to toe, back and front, and you will fall asleep without even knowing it.

You can also use this technique to meditate for anyone interested. If you're doing it for meditation though, do not lay down because you will probably fall asleep and that's not meditating.

Sleep well and dream sweet everyone.

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