Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Bad dreams

The sigh of all the seas breaking in measure round the isles soothed them; the night wrapped them; nothing broke their sleep, until, the birds beginning and the dawn weaving their thin voices in to its whiteness.
~Virginia Woolf


I had thought about talking about sleep for Wellness Wednesday, but I am actually typing this after having only been asleep for an hour and a half. I woke up violently, dreaming that politics was about to literally make me throw up (I wish I were kidding!). So clearly, I am not ready to talk about how to get a good night's sleep. Maybe a better topic would be how to calm yourself down after a bad dream or anything that makes you need calming down.

Of course, staying away from the computer is a good idea. I've been reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and I should probably be cuddled up with that right now instead of here. The irony of me wanting to write about sleep was too great to ignore, however. Here's what I'm using (but not the whole thing! I need to go back to bed :-) ):



I'm not sure this next one would work if you actually play piano because you would probably be too distracted by his technique etc., but I find this view mesmerizingly soothing:



4 comments:

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

I agree, Tabatha. Sleep can be challenging anyway, but lately, even more so. I had a frightening dream last night too— not involving vomiting, though it did have to do with politics. (I'll email you.) I adore that sea turtle video. Would love to have that playing 24/7 just to keep me relaxed throughout the day!

HWY said...

The sea turtle music is definitely relaxing and would be great at bedtime. Hard, though, to get up from a bad dream and put it on! I use the breathing exercises you recommended a while back and that seems to help after a bad dream.

Tabatha said...

Breathing exercises are a terrific option! I use tensing and releasing sometimes also. In this case, staying horizontal wasn't doable, but I hope that never happens again!

Mary Lee said...

I think my dreams are trying to heal me. I've dreamed vividly twice of swimming strongly, and I had another dream about caramel.