Can you get to sleep easily? Or does it take a while, maybe even hours before you can get to sleep?
If you read the title of this post, then you may be wondering about what this ‘OFF’ switch is all about. At least that’s what I call it, my ‘OFF’ switch. Simple. Right? Just turn your brain off. Okay, maybe not THAT simple but more on that later.
First, let me explain what brought me to this very easy simple method. For years now, when I go to sleep, I sleep. Impossible you say? That’s what I thought for many years growing up with insomnia. I will admit at some point in my early twenties, life was good and stress was low and during those years, I could fall asleep almost instantly and wake up the next day ready to go. It baffled my husband how I did it and even I myself didn’t even really know. I called it my ‘OFF’ switch. I would tell him “It so easy just go to sleep, let go and that’s it! Wake up the next day!”. To him, it was not quite so simple. As with many people I would talk to about this subject. Many would tell me they would give the world to get a good nights sleep.
But then it happened, I couldn’t fall asleep! One night… I tossed and turned the entire night! Then the next night was the same. Then the night after that and the night after that. Where had my ‘OFF’ switch gone? I just couldn’t find it and I couldn’t understand. Suddenly, it wasn’t so simple. My ‘OFF’ switch was broken 🙁
At some point later, I’ll estimate a couple of years at least. I was going through a tough time and following a recommendation I decided to attend DBT group therapy. In the end, group therapy is not really for me, which was no surprise. However, there was one trick one young lady there mentioned that stuck with me. One of the reasons it stuck, I think, was because the coach (or the person leading the group) mentioned that the technique, although it worked for this girl, would likely not work for most people because it required too much focus. Well, I’ve never been normal in any way so his comment only attracted me of her method even more. I tried to see his point of vue but also hers. So I decided to try it out for myself but tweaked it slightly but… not really (I’ll explain soon). And I GOT MY OFF SWITCH BACK!!! I was so happy and although I had a slight process now, it was still such a simple method and I was able to fall sleep quick again and sleep, the entire night. FINALLY!
So what did she say and how did I tweak it?
She said that there was lots of noise in her house and in order to fall asleep she needed to focus on something else. So she would follow these steps:
Breath in (count one in your head)
Breath out (count two in your head)
Breath in (count three…)
Out 4
Keep going until you hit 10, then start back at 1 again and repeat the sequence.
If you lose count, don’t worry about it. Start back at one or wherever you want. The point is that you don’t need to worry about anything and you can’t do it wrong.
If you end up at number 35, don’t freak out! It’s fine! Nobody got hurt, all is good. I promise. Just go back to one again when and if you want to. *see below about letting go.
Breathe NORMALLY, comfortably. No need for deep breathing.
Now, for the little add-on tips to bring this method from relaxing and refocusing to actual sleep.
One thing to note first, is that what I’ve noticed, at least for me, is that I have less ease sleeping when I try and counter or fight my thoughts. Acceptance and release are keys here.
Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com
So here’s how it goes, during these steps, while I’m counting, eventually my mind wanders, I no longer have focus on the numbers. This is where I simply let go and follow wherever it brings me with complete RELEASE and ACCEPTANCE of where it goes. I really love this part as I know (even consciously as it happens), that I’m off to my limitless dream land.
It’s important to not even think about what you’re thinking about. And I know that sounds like it makes absolutely no sense but hey, it’s the best and only way I can think of describing it. Just like Elsa says in Frozen “Let it go”. Or as I would probably say “just go with the flow”. If you notice you start trying to oppose, judge or otherwise counter your thoughts (or mind wandering), start counting again. Simple… At least to me…
Not convinced? You’re not alone. Most people I explain this method to, don’t believe me and explain that it’s not that simple. The only thing is, that none of these people have ever tried it! Then just this past holiday season, I went back to my hometown for Christmas and was having a coffee with my very first childhood friend. I was home and people knew me, especially her. She knew that most of what I say is always tried and tested. She also trusted that my method was at least worth a try. A week later, as I met with her before flying back home, she said she had something to tell me. I asked what was going on, she looked pleased. She said she couldn’t fall asleep the other night and she remembered my tips, she tried it out. She said she couldn’t even remember falling asleep and woke the next morning. She was stunned at how easy and effective it was! This helped me have hope that this may work for others. Thus why I share this with you today.
Seeing as I’ve had but one person actually try this simple method, I’d love to know if this works for others too. Comment below if you’ve tried it and how it turned out for you.
Share this with someone you know who may benefit from this simple trick.
A poem I wrote last night. It came to me while washing dishes. Kind of odd as I havent written anything close to a poem since high school. Thought I would share this new found creativity with you:
“We are brought into this world…
Without knowing what we’re told…
Then we’re thrown into a system…Without Wisdom
Its so frigid and cold… It’s like prison
They taught us in school… How to follow the rules
But they took us for fools… And didn’t give us the tools
They put us in a box… Filled with corners, walls and blocks
They taught us about history… And left out a big mystery
They had to tell us those lies… So they could keep their disguise
We were then told to continue… Or there would be no venue
It’s almost as if… They try to kill the purpose in you
They gave us food that was mutated… And soil that was depleted
To give us medication… With no alternative solution
They kept our name… And then gave us a number
Turned it into a game… So that they didn’t blow their cover
Making incredibly sure… We never ponder nor discover
The many truths that they kept… Never left to uncover
They say it’s the 2 percent… Who don’t struggle to pay rent
The only problems is… That it’s a private event
And you need to get in… If your planning to win
If you’re goal is to win… There’s just one way to get in
It’s too bad the only option… Is to be part of the corruption
Why do we fear… Holding near and dear?
It’s because we are taught… To steer clear… And fear
If only we could find hope… We might be able to cope
And break free from all the lies… And ties
If only we could realize…
And start to compromise… And empathize
Remove our programming… All the brainwashing…
And stop following…
Now if only we could see… Just how amazing we can be
Just maybe we could find… The key to unity
Maybe even free… All of humanity
You see, our body holds… The key to the untold
Please… Take the chemicals away
Our body is made to heal… In it’s own way
The only reason it doesn’t?
Is ’cause BigPharma doesn’t want it!
How long can we deny it?”
I knew very little about Feng Shui but as I was learning reiki, studying more about crystals and getting back into Tarot and Numerology, I figured… why not? But then again, I am a Thinking Type. So of course, I believe it when I see it or experience it myself. Much of this kind of thinking is what brought me to where I am today, I need to know and understand the unexplained and unknown. That’s when I decided to delve into learning abit about Feng Shui.
As with all things, I like to get informed before acting. I like to know different methods and techniques, see what’s most suitable for me, not for everyone else. What makes sense to me, is what works for me. Just as what makes sense to someone else, is what works for someone else. So I had a Google binge and looked up all the different ways of approaching Feng Shui.
I was introduced to all kinds of new words like Bagua and Luo Pan. I noticed 2 different ways of calculating my homes Bagua, Classic and Western. I studied both enough to be able to determine which connected with me best. A Feng Shui Bagua is basically an energy map of your home that determines which areas of your space are related to different aspects of your life. I chose to go with the Classical as it went more based on direction rather than just based on my front door. Because the direction of my house is relevent since the direction does ‘exist’, I really felt like I should take that into account. The western method seems to focus more on just the inside of the house not really taking the direction of the house into account as much as with the Classical method. This decision was not too much of a surprise to me as I tend to like learning the classic methods when I begin something new. Get the root info first, you know? I mean, how can you truly know something if you are basing your knowledge on modified ways? This is also the way I went with reiki, learning the original Shiki Ryoho Method of Healing developed by Dr. Usui.
I then started my Feng Shui journey by learning how to calculate the Bagua of my home using the Classic method. I found this video to be very helpful and it was a base to my learning.
I should probably explain what brought me to Feng Shui in the first place. Although all my new found spiritual learnings and reiki had helped me in many aspects of my life, my relationship with my husband was struggling. We loved each other dearly but kept hitting snags in our communications together and in many areas we could just not find a point of cooperation and understanding. This was a huge problem as we both knew we loved each other so very much. Something was off… In fact, something was off since we had moved into the house we were living in. I started to realize that I may have found the key as to why!
This led me to my first ‘experiment’. And I say ‘experiment’ because although I put complete trust in believing, I really like to see results to prove the theories and methods I adopt.
The first thing I noticed was something about our bed. I discovered during my research on the subject that our bed was in what they call the ‘mortuary’ position. Which was probably not the best thing for our relationship. Just the name of the position seems to say it all! Not only was my bed facing the door but it was perfectly aligned with the door!
Then, I read about the importance of a firm steady headboard. Well, we had no headboard! Hmm, things were starting to make some sense. Reality was, our headboard, if anything at all was a window! Our bed had been in that position since we had moved in. I had wanted to move the furniture around in the past but my husband was reluctant saying that the bed ‘looked’ good where it was. I asked him to make a compromise and try out something new for just one month. If he didn’t like it, we could change it. He agreed that it was worth a try.
We started by moving the bed around to a better position in the room. We also tried to make sure the flow was good both esthetically as well as energetically. We tried out best to make sure there were no poison arrows pointing at the bed noticing there were many. Once complete, we were pleased with the room. Things were getting better but the huge change happened when we finally purchased a proper bed. We had forgotten that our bed frame on the floor was but a temporary fix when we had moved in. Buying a real bed with an actual headboard was what made a major impact. Our place of sleep was finally a well positioned, relaxing, welcoming place to be. Things were better for my day to day but also in my relathionship, it was great! Up until a few weeks later…
My powerful discovery
About 3 weeks later, I started having trouble falling asleep, even when using “My ‘OFF’ Switch”. Almost every aspect of my life seemed to be struggling as well. I felt like crap and had trouble getting through each day. About 2 or 3 days into my streak of ‘not so great’ days and nights, I started to question what was going on, on a more energetic level. That same evening, as I went to go to sleep I noticed something. Something so small and seemingly unnoticeable but it really was ‘Eureka!’ to me. I had found it! At least, I would need to test to be sure but I was pretty sure I had found it! A poison arrow pointing right at me!
When we reorganized our room, I had intricately placed all items on my dressers and shelves in very specific ways as to not have any poison arrows pointing at the bed. I remembered very specifically how I had placed a certain piece of decor. And somehow, it must have got hooked one day, just enough to turn it oh so slightly at a different angle… But none the less it moved and what I believe is a very strong poison arrow, was pointing right at me! The culprit? A little wooden statue of a ballet dancing couple. The poison arrow was the females pointed toes, the arabesque position had her toes pointing right at me! I decided this would be a great time to test it out and see just how much of an impact Feng Shui really has. So, I repositioned it to its original angle and went to bed anxious to see how the night would go. I woke up the next morning, after a full nights sleep! I hadn’t slept a full night for days!
A few days later, I was mentioning this discovery to an acquaintance, he mentioned that I should try moving it again and see what happens but in a way that I wouldn’t know it moved. This was so it would not impact my perception of things, like the placebo effect. So I had my husband move it without telling me to see if I noticed. Which of course, theory proving right, he moved it without telling me and within a dayof that, I noticed something off. I went to bed and looked, he had indeed done his duty and had moved it witout telling me. I asked when he had done that and he said a day or so ago.
Did this mean that something so small as a pointed toe could influence my sleep and life in tremendous way? Did this prove Feng Shui? Well, I can’t really answer those questions for you but I can say one thing…
I now try and pay more attention to things like pointed arrows. I did make me realize that there’s more to how we place our furniture and which colors we choose to add to a room, than just making it look nice. This experiment has also led me to move onto working on other areas of my house, such as the living room which falls in the areas of health, family and wealth. More to come on that later on…
