The 7 Mindfulness Attitudes Applied to Insomnia

In these turbulent times that we have had to live in it is easy to experience difficulties in sleeping The threat system is activated in us, and this has effects on all our daily activities.

Thus, I am going to propose to you what I believe can be an application of the seven attitudes of Mindfulness (or Full Attention) to the field of sleep

Mindfulness attitudes applied to insomnia problems

These attitudes are what guide the work in therapy and have an extraordinary scope in the face of difficulties in sleeping well.

1. Don’t judge

Faced with the natural tendency to automatically label everything that happens to us in life in terms of pleasant-unpleasant-neutral, The Mindfulness proposal consists of approaching reality as it is trying not to label as often as we do.

Thus, at bedtime, we can be attentive to what is happening without already “knowing” from the beginning that we are going to have a difficult night. Taking a step back and observing how we are doing without judgment can put us on the path to metacognitive transformation.

2. Patience

In general, changes do not usually come quickly, both people and processes have a slower pace than we would like… It is usually very interesting to be attentive to see if impatience comes to visit us, it is usually a company that generates a lot of concern. As Vaclav Havel said, there is no point in pulling a developing tree upward to make it grow faster. Patience reduces anxiety and brings us closer to sleep.

3. Beginner’s mind

What would happen if we went to bed paying attention to the different sensations as if it were the first time we were doing it? There are Mindfulness practices that suggest that we pay attention to the sensations produced when putting on our pajamas, to the physical sensations when getting into bed such as the temperature, the feel of the sheets, the sounds…

Focusing on these aspects can prevent us from being predisposed to the “fight” with the bed every night. There are people who see it as a “battlefield”!

4. Trust

When sleep difficulties have been present for a long time or when we have not slept for a long time, It is common to believe that “I have something broken in my brain.” The proposal of Mindfulness-based therapy consists of trusting my sleep regulation system again, and increasing knowledge of sleep physiology.

5. Not trying hard

When you’ve seen 2:00 on your alarm clock and then 3:00 and then 4:00, you’re unlikely to have positive thoughts. The most common thought we usually have is “I have to sleep, I HAVE TO SLEEP”, and this actually complicates it even more.

The idea that usually prevails is that sleep is something that must arise spontaneously and our purpose must be to try to generate the conditions for this to happen. Thus, inducing states of calm, concentration, and Mindfulness is the most effective way for the shy Morpheus to appear and not run away.

6. Acceptance

In this ambit the word acceptance has a brutal reach Not accepting our sleep rhythm leads us to be dissatisfied, since insomnia is a 24-hour problem.

I propose two situations for you to think about different consequences: what if you only slept 4 hours but believed you had slept 8? Would you be in a better mood during the day?

Another situation, called paradoxical insomnia: what if you had slept for 7 hours but you thought you had been awake for most of the night… How would you face the day?

Being dissatisfied with what has happened (whether true or not) leads us to be stuck and upset. It is important that accepting does not mean giving up it’s more like knowing that efforts to control sleep generally don’t work and therefore making consistent decisions.

7. Let go

In this last attitude you can decide that you could let go. I make these proposals to you: preconceived ideas about sleep, stress, expectations thinking that the day will come when we sleep 8 hours in a row, worries related to sleeping… and many others!

Concluding…

I imagine your skepticism when reading these attitudes; They may sound distant, but in people who have started a process of change they are increasingly real. In therapeutic work we combine behavioral techniques to improve sleep habits, with Mindfulness and meditation work, and these attitudes are like lighthouses that guide much of the work. If you have sleep problems, we will be happy to help you! Also online.