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Stress
Reducing Technique for Better Sleep #1
A main cause of sleeplessness or insomnia is stress. At least
a couple of times a month, most people feel as if they can't
fully handle something that is currently going on in their life.
This causes
stress or, in other words, increased alertness, blood pressure,
brain waves, heart and breathing rate, to name a few symptoms.
Sleeping well, or even at all, when one is under significant
stress is difficult, if not impossible, to do. The body and
mind need to be relaxed in order to fall and stay asleep.
People feel unhealthy stress levels when they believe that
they are faced with a situation that they cannot handle. In
other words, they feel overwhelmed because they believe that
they have a problem with no solution.
An effective way of managing stress is to remember a simple
truth: The vast majority of problems in life can be solved
or at least lessened. And whatever issue is causing you
stress probably has at least one solution.
If you doubt this, write down all the problems, big and small,
that you've overcome in the past week. For example, some problems
that I've overcome recently include malfunctioning email,
crickets living in my house, a sick dog, a brown lawn, a torn
shirt and a busy schedule. You probably have a similar, if
not more impressive, list than this.
And if you go back further, such as months or even years,
you could conceivably fill up a whole notebook with obstacles
you've hurdled, including some really big ones. The point
is that you are in many ways a problem-solving machine, whether
you know it or not. Or, put differently, the history of
your life consists, by and large, of you overcoming and solving
problems.
So keep this in mind when you feel burdened with stress. Doing
so will probably remove at least some weight from your shoulders,
and you'll sleep better as a result.
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