The 7 attitudes of Mindfulness applied to insomnia

These are the psychological keys on which the Mindfulness used for insomnia is based.

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

Therefore, I am going to propose to you what I think is the best way to sleep, I am going to propose what I believe can be an application of the seven attitudes of Mindfulness (or Mindfulness) to the field of sleep..

The attitudes of Mindfulness applied to insomnia problems.

These attitudes are the ones that guide the work in therapy and that have an extraordinary scope in the face of the difficulties to sleep well.

1. Non-judgment

Faced with the natural tendency to automatically label everything that happens to us in life in terms of pleasant-unpleasant-neutral, the Mindfulness proposal is to approach reality as it is, trying not to label as often as we do.We try 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 to be patient.It is usually very interesting to be attentive to see if impatience comes to visit us, it is usually a company that generates quite a lot of restlessness. As Vaclav Havel used to say, there is no point in pulling a developing tree upwards 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 we put on our pajamas, to the physical sensations when we get into bed such as the temperature, the feel of the sheets, the sounds....

Focusing on these aspects can help us not to be 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, it is common to believe that "I have something broken in my brain".. The Mindfulness-based therapy approach consists of re-trusting my sleep regulation system and increasing my knowledge of the physiology of sleep.

5. Not to exert yourself

When you have seen 2:00 on the alarm clock and then 3:00 and then 4:00, you are unlikely to have positive thoughts. The most common thought you tend to have is "I have to sleep, I HAVE TO SLEEP", and this actually complicates it even more.

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

6. Acceptance

In this area the word acceptance has a brutal reach. The fact of not accepting our sleep rhythm leads us to be dissatisfied, and to insomnia being a 24-hour problem.

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

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

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

7. Letting go

In this last attitude you can decide what you could let go of. I make these suggestions: preconceived ideas about sleep, stresses, expectations, etc.The thought that the day will come when we will sleep 8 hours in a row, the worries related to sleep... and many others!

In conclusion...

I can imagine your skepticism when you read these attitudes; they may sound far away, but in people who have started a process of change they are becoming more and more real. In the therapeutic work we combine behavioral techniques for the improvement of sleep habits, with a work of Mindfulness and meditation, and these attitudes are like beacons for the people who have started a process of change.and these attitudes are like beacons that guide much of the work. If you have sleep problems, we will be happy to help you! Also online.