@AloraCrimson Anxiety is one of the few things that can keep me awake. I handle it by managing anxiety in my life, learning how to avoid and process it while awake. That approach is good not just for sleep but for the anxiety itself, so it’s worth doing, but I’ve taken years of courses
If/when I am (despite that) anxious and having trouble sleeping, what can work well for me is a more intentional version of what I described before – using imagination and theater of the mind to think about another context I make up. Games, stories, situations from the past. Something more interesting than counting sheep, and then hand over control to automatic mind drift (it may take practice).
And/or using the onion-layer technique where you notice what you’re doing and thinking about at the moment, and regard that person from an external frame of mind… and then notice that person regarding that… then notice and regard the person considering the person considering the person doing and thinking what you were doing and thinking… and so on, and so on. That can give you some perspective, separation and freedom to choose not to be locked in anxiousness. It also helps practice conscious control of your state of mind.
And/or I do Focusing techniques. There’s a short little old book called Focusing that teaches a type of meditation that’s what people do when they’re getting somewhere in psychotherapy, and is good for processing stress and other emotional material. It takes practice but it’s a cheap used book which is a very practical little manual for a valuable skill.
If my body’s uncomfortable, I pay attention and change things until it is. I can’t sleep well in a car seat or uncomfortable chair or in other bad circumstances.
But I may also just be very fortunate. Both my parents have trouble sleeping well in one way or another, as do my aunts. However I did too when I was young but when I was 5 or so my dad helped by showing me there was no brontosaurus or Frankenstein in the closet and the imagination technique (which works for him but then he wakes up in the middle of the night).
Oh also another good one my dad taught me is to start at one end of your body (toes are good) and concentrate just on that part and having it be comfortable and relaxed, until it’s all relaxed, and then move on to the next part (foot, then ankle, etc). Usually that’ll put me to sleep before I get much past my ankle unless I’m really stressing about something, both from the relaxation but also from the shift of mental attention which gets my mind of whatever’s keeping me awake and lets my dream engine take over.
Oh and another thing is if you really are having an awful time trying to get to sleep or back to sleep, don’t lie there suffering too long – get up out of bed, pee, drink, and try to do something you’re too tired to do, like read something boring, or just spend some time away from bed for a bit, and then go back. Many people have a natural rested sleep schedule that involves being awake for a bit in the middle of the night and then going back to sleep. It can also be pretty nice to be awake for a bit when everything’s dark and quiet.
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