Having trouble staying asleep? Try this - I call it the spigot brain drain!

If you wake up and cannot fall back asleep, this may help.


First, realizing you are " tossing and turning," get up, walk around and shake out your body a little.


Then return to bed and stretch.  Lie in the position you would after completing a yoga session.  Flat on your back, legs somewhat apart, feet relaxed.  Your arms also should be a little out from your body and relaxed, with hands turned up or down, whichever you prefer.

 Notice the parts of your body that touch the surface you are lying on.  Start with your heels and imagine that there is a spigot you can use to empty the last of your tension.  Let it drain into the surface beneath you and then away from you into the earth.


 Do the same with your calves, the area behind your knees.  Now your thighs, your gluteous maximus.Breathe. 


 Empty your lower back, your ribcage.  Empty and relax your heart chakra and area between your shoulder blades.  Drain the tension in your shoulders, your upper arms,  the area around your elbows, and lower arms.


Empty the tension in your neck and relax your jaw completely.  Relax the area around your eyes and your cheeks.Breathe.


Now going back to your wrists, empty each finger of tension if they are touching the surface.  If they are pointing upwards, imagine you have a beautiful soft crystal in each hand, making the middle of your hands heavy.


Relax your brain, draining out the runaround thoughts.  Let your head sink into your pillow.


Now you are very relaxed in your body.  Start to divert your brain by doing some kind of counting.  Your breaths should be even, as in breathing in two counts, breathing out two counts.  Then you can go up in numbers, but without lengthening the breaths in reality, just keep it comfortable.  So, breath in 3, breath out 3,  breathe in 4, breathe out 4.  Go up to whatever number you want and then start over.  You could go up to 8, 10, 100, whatever.


At this point your mind should start to let go and dream, while you lose count.


Hope this helps- Namaste,  Lia