My Favorite Self-Help Stuff

Sleeping while traveling… that’s something that can be a challenge.

I’m a fussy sleeper to begin with, and nowadays those planes insist on leaving at 6 a.m., which means I need to get to the airport at 4 a.m., which is earlier than I even go to bed sometimes…

So what to do?

For starters, I try to make sure that I have all my sleep paraphernalia with me, from comfy jammies to ear plugs and some herbs and aromatherapy, plus my ipod preloaded with some soothing going to sleep meditation.

Also, I like to sleep with a Euro style quilt, something that you don’t usually find at hotels, so I take one of those with me wherever I go, which usually means a second suitcase.

Of course, these days, they charge extra for even the first suitcase, and even more for the second one.  But that quilt has to come along. It means the difference between sleeping pretty well or tossing and turning most of the night.

As a result I’ve learned to travel a bit lighter than I used to.

About those herbs…

Valerian is big, some Melatonin, and hops and passion flower etc.  I’ve got one that’s called Relax and sleep that I like.

Generally, it’s a good idea to experiment before you travel…

Of course, you’d think after having gotten up at 3 a.m. the night before, I’d be too exhausted not to sleep, but that’s not something I can count on.

the most important thing: Bring everything you need to sleep comfortably in your carry on bag.  Because you can never count on your suitcase arriving when you do.  In fact,  a couple of years ago, I got stranded in Chicago — without my luggage.  No earplugs anywhere to be found, and no herbs either.

Lesson learned.

So what’s YOUR secret to sleeping well while in hotel beds etc.?

Insomnia can be a real pain. But finding effective ways to fix it can be a huge challenge. I’ve had problems with it for years, and during that time, I dug up a veritable encyclopedia of insomnia remedies.

Here, I’m going to share just a few of them:

First, calm your mind

If your mind is running a mile a minute, you won’t be able to sleep, no matter what. Or at least not easily. So do something that will help calm your mind.

a) Write in a gratitude journal

Yes, I mean it. Write in a gratitude journal a list of things you’re grateful for. The fact that you have a bed. That you have a whoe new day coming up. That you had a great cup of java earlier that day. That the sun came up in the morning and that you can feel confident that it will do the same the next day. And so on. You get the idea.

b) Pray, for yourself or others

Prayer is very helpful. It makes us focus on something greater outside ourselves and renews our faith in our higher power. Praying is especially effective if you pray for others. Here’s a way to do it.

You can either check with your church to see if you have a prayer team If so, you might want to join it. Then pray for the people on your list each night. If there’s no prayer team, just make your own list. Write down anyone you know who could use a prayer, along with what you want to pray for for each of them. Then pray for each and every one on that list. You probably won’t even remember your own troubles by the time you’re done.

c) Boring books

I mean REALLY boring books. I recommend certain German philosophers known for convoluted language. I’m not going to name names since that would be unkind, but I used to have a book by my bedside for sleepless nights, and it worked like a charm. Make sure that it’s a book that is not that interesting to you and that the reading of it is just absorbing enough that you can’t focus on anyt hing troublesome. it’s the intellectual equivalent to counting sheep.

Tomorrow… More insomnia remedies!

BTW, there’s a fantastic technique that might help you too: EFT. And you’re invited to download my FREE Easy Intro to EFT right here: http://www.easyeft.info

If you do, I’ll send you an update when I have my special edition tutorial on EFT for insomnia completed.

Meanwhile, you can also get a taste of what’s to come in my article on EFT and Insomnia.

Insomnia is bad news. Maybe you’re doing all the right things, or so you think. Your bed is comfortable, you’re going to bed at the same time every night, and so on, and you still can’t sleep. What else could you do. Take our quiz and see if you find some new things you can add to your routine.

1) Do you wear socks to bed (don’t laugh!)?

2) Do you drink warm milk or eat some turkey before going to bed?

3) Do you use aromatherapy and know which one helps you sleep better?

4) Do you play soothing music before bedtime (or even while drifting off to sleep)?

5) Do you use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to help you sleep better?

6) Do you have a few drinks to help you sleep better?

7) Do you worry that you might not be able to sleep well AGAIN?

Answers: The correct answers are given below. Check how yours match up.

1) Yes. Socks? Sure, it sounds like a joke, but try it. A lot of people find that it helps.

2) Yes. Warm milk and cooked turkey contain Tryptophan, an amino acid that has been found to help people sleep better.

3) Yes. Aromatherapy can really help you go to sleep. Good oils to start with are Lavender and Jasmine. But also try combinations. Look online for a very powerful aromatherapy product called Zzzonked!

4) Yes. Soothing music can also be very helpful. Look for subliminal versions of sleep inducing music, for example Steven Halpern’s “Sleep Soundly.”

5) Yes. EFT can help you enormously with overcoming sleep problems. It can help ease the problems that prevent you from sleeping in the first place, and then it can also alleviate the anxiety that might prevent you from falling asleep.

No. You’d think that drinking alcohol can make you sleep better, but that’s deceiving. While it may help you go to sleep more quickly, you’ll soon wake up again. It causes problems with the sleep cycle. Instead of an alcoholic night cap, try herbal tea, such as Sleepy Time.

9) No. Worrying about not being able to sleep can start a vicious cycle. Use stress relief resources to handle the stress, and then stop worrying about it. If you really can’t sleep, get up and engage in a boring activity (NOT involving computers or television) until you get sleepy again. You should also give EFT a try to help you ease those worries (see above).

And if you’d like to give EFT a try, you’re invited to download this FREE Easy Guide to EFT to help you tame your stress and overcome your insomnia. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a very powerful yet also very easy technique that can make a big difference.

Elisabeth Kuhn is also the author of Instant Stress Relief Strategies, which currently comes with a FREE downloadable stress relief hypnosis audio. For more information click here: Instant Stress Relief Strategies WITH Hypnosis Audio

Do you have trouble sleeping? Insomnia is no fun. Take this quiz and find out what you could do to sleep better.

Just answer these quick questions with a Yes or a No and check the answers:

1) Do you go to bed at the same time each night?

2) Do you have a bedtime routine that’s soothing to you?

3) Do you make sure your bed is comfortable?

4) Is your room dark and quiet?

5) Does it have a comfortable temperature?

6) Do you drink coffee late in the day?

7) Do you worry a lot or are you under a great deal of stress?

Answers: The correct answer is given below. Check how yours matches up.

1) Yes. A regular bedtime is important. It teaches your body to go to sleep at the time you usually go to bed.

2) Yes. A comfortable bedtime routine does the same thing. It could include a cup of warm milk, some soothing music, a relaxing book, writing in a journal, or even a few minutes of meditation.

3) Yes. Your bed needs to be comfortable for quality sleep. Make sure your pillows offer the right kind of support for your sleeping position.

4) Yes. This is very important for quality sleep. If noise is an issue, try earplugs. If light is an issue, try covering it up if it’s in your room (lights from alarm clocks) or get drapes that keep the light out better if it’s coming in from the outside.

5) Yes. A comfortable room temperature is also very important. if you find you have cold feet, wear warm socks. In fact, try that in any case — it helps a lot of people fall asleep faster.

6) No. Caffeine can keep you awake. Some people are affected by it for hours. Remember that cola drinks and even chocolate and tea have caffeine. Avoid them after lunch and see if that makes a difference).

7) No. Stress can keep anyone awake. If your life is stressful, get some resources that help you reduce your stress so you can sleep. Once you sleep better, you’ll also find that you’ll be more productive, which might reduce stress further.

How did you answer? Give yourself a point for every Yes answer to Questions 1-5 and a point for every No answer to Questions 6 and 7. Then put some of the tips you may have missed into practice.

Want help with your sleep? Get my free Stress Tips report here: Stress Tips Report

Better sleep? Less stress? One depends on the other, and if you’re plagued either by insomnia or excess stress, you’re caught up in a vicious cycle, also known as a catch-22.

So what to do?

Not sleeping enough makes it harder to cope, and that will increase your stress. And being stressed can keep you from sleeping, right?

Ever spent a night fretting about something, an upcoming exam, bills, a job interview, your kids, your health? And the next day, things only got worse, and you were dog tired.

One way to break through that cycle is to break it somewhere.

By finding a way to cut down on the stress, you may well be able to regain your ability to sleep well.

And when you sleep better, you can cope with your life a lot better.

Here are a few tips:
1) Keep a notepad by your bedside.

This will help tame your overactive brain. Whatever worries you might have, just write them all down. You’re basically turning them over to your notebook (or the Universe, or God), where they will be where you left them, but probably less daunting.

And your brain actually goes to work on them once you go to sleep, so you might even wake up with a solution.

There are other techniques that will help you break through that cycle. There’s EFT, of course, and if you attended the EFT summit I wrote about recently, you’ll know all about that.

Look for my free ebook soon.

Then, there’s also the Sedona Method, a slightly different approach. Some people swear by it, and I found it quite helpful myself — and I still use it, though overall I personally prefer tapping.

You can find out more about it here (just click on the link):

Have Boundless Energy and
Sleep Soundly with the Sedona Method.

It’s easy, and you won’t need any tools really, other than the audios until you get the hang of it.

What else?

Meditation.

Yeah, right. If you’re stressed, how are you supposed to meditate?

Okay, I admit it. It’s not exactly easy, but it IS extremely helpful. And you don’t have to make it more complicated than necessary. Here’’s the easy meditation method recommended by Abraham:

Sit (or lie) comfortably, close your eyes, and take deep, slow, comfortable breaths. And just focus on thhose breaths, in and out, in and out, one after the other.

If you mind should wander, just gently bring it back to your breath. Do that for about ten minutes, and you’ll be a WHOLE lot less stressed.

It’s best to set a kitchen timer though so you won’t have to try to check if the ten minutes are up yet — or worry about going to sleep.

Unless, of course, you’re doing this at the end of the day. In that case, by all means, leave the kitchen timer turned off and just keep breathing and focusing on your breath, and before you know it, you’ll …. wake up.

Hope this helps.

For a LOT more Stress Tips, check out my Free Stress Tips Report or get my whole manual with Instant Stress Relief Strategies, which currently comes with a FREE Stress Relief Hypnosis audio!

Have Boundless Energy and
Sleep Soundly with the Sedona Method.

Sleep more! Doesn’t that just sound like the anti-resolution?

Not in my book. I find it incredibly difficult to “find” the time to get enough sleep. and yet, I am getting every more aware that I MUST make it a priority if I want to remain productive — and healthy.

Which makes me wonder why in the world I’m typing this at 2:30 in the morning?

So much for that one. But now, I haven’t REALLY officially resolved it, and messing with my sleeping patterns is always a bit of an ongoing struggle.

The thing is sometimes I’m more alert and awake late at night than I am at other times of the day, and it seems like such a waste to not take advantage of it.

Meanwhile, once I do go to sleep I tend to sleep like a baby (or a log), which I suppose is a good thing. It wasn’t always like that.

A few years back, I had a huge problem with insomnia. I threw all sorts of things at it, from herbs to aromatherapy to soothing music and even the occasional prescription drugs, and STILL had trouble.

One thing that finally fixed it, literally overnight, was the Mind-Body-Spirit meditation from the Quantum Touch Supercharging workshop I took. I literally fell asleep lying on the floor, in the middle of the meditation exercise we did in that course. Twice! How embarrassing.

But I figured I was on to something. when I did the meditation that night after going to bed, I never made it half-way through before I went to sleep. And when I woke up in the night, I just continued where I left off, and zzzzzzzzzz

It still works. On the rare (very rare) occasion that I make it all the way through, I just start over, and I don’t think I ever made it through twice without falling asleep.

Oddly enough, I can do the meditation with my eyes open during the day and it will NOT make me fall asleep, so I even do it sometimes while going for walks. It has a wonderfully energizing effect then.

How does it work?

You can find out the details in the Supercharging Quantum Touch book by Alain Herriot (sp?)

Basically, you visualize yourself being bathed and literally soaked in a series of 12 colors, from white to purple, indigo, copper, silver, gold, yellow, green, blue-green, blue, magenta and mother-of-pearl. There’s also a special breathing pattern, but I never mastered it and simply do slow breathing while I do the exercise.

You can get the more detailed instructions in the book or on the workshop video, which you can order form quantumtouch.com.

Meanwhile, it’s now 2:51 and defninitely time to catch some zzzzzs.

And as for my resolution… I’m working on it. Getting at least 7 hour of sleep a night, at least most nights, is the first stage of my resolution. Then work on getting to bed earlier and making my hours more regular. Update sometime in spring…

How are YOUR resolutions coming along?

Here’s the FREE 5-part series designed to help:

TurboSelfGrowth.com

And if you would like to stay in your jammies all day, all the while earning a living with a legit online business, get my FREE report that will tell you how by clicking on the banner below:

CLICK HERE to free yourself from addiction NOW with The Sedona Method.

I’ve been skimping on sleep lately. And I can tell the difference.

Ouch!

Trying to keep up with deadlines can sometimes backfire… My brain simply doesn’t work as fast when I’m tired. So trying to get something done when I’m so tired that I’m about to get keyboard marks on my forehead is clearly counterproductive.

Have you ever been there? What makes us do this? Some need for self-punishment maybe? That’s just plain silly.

The other day I came across just the Abraham Hicks quote I needed to see:

Just do your best to keep yourself in balance. One of the first things that causes Energy misalignment, is asking or demanding too much of yourself in terms of time and effort. In other words, you just cannot burn the candle at both ends, so that you are physically tired, and then expect yourself to have a cheerful attitude. So, the rule of thumb has to be: “I’m going to be very, very, very happy, and then do everything I have time to do after that.”

— Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in West Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, March 6th, 2005 #249

So what’s the action plan?

Reorder priorities….

Get enough sleep, in one piece. Go to bed at a reasonable time sleep till morning and don’t get up in the middle of the night to work on another project. Just because I can isn’t a good enough reason to interrupt my sleep. I’ll be much more effective when I get it all in one chunk.

if a deadline is really urgent, I suppose I can get up earlier in the morning. Still… the Abraham quote really made me reevaluate how I go about business.

Here are more things I plan to do:

Take a nap when I feel tired. And/or make sure I spend some time outdoors while it’s light.

Today is a gorgeous day! The way to show my gratitude for it is to actually take advantage of it, go for a walk, and enjoy that beautiful day.

What about you? Are YOU getting enough sleep?

Look out the window. If it’s nice out, take time for a walk if you can.

Have a great day.

Elisabeth

NOTE: If you click on the above banner, you’ll find a FREE gift offer.!

2009 is here, and January is already halfway over. Can’t believe how quickly this happened all of a sudden.  And I have a very apropos artlce and wanted to give you a resource list of some of my favorite self-help articles (and other useful ones) for easy reference (with quick annotation):

Another take on New Year’s resolutions:

How to stay calm (or calm down) under pressure:

http://tinyurl.com/calmnow

Get a Great Job in 2009!

http://tinyurl.com/greatjobreview

Use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to cope with job interview stress (or any other stress) (complete with step-by-step instructions):

EFT for Job Interview Stress

Sell Stuff on Amazon.com vs. Ebay and how to get the most buck for your stuff:

Sell Stuff on Amazon and make more money

Stress and the Law of Attraction, and how stress prevents you from getting what you really want:

Stress and LOA

Beat sugar addiction now that the holidays are over…

Beat Sugar Addiction

Job stress, health and consequences & what to do about it:

http://tinyurl.com/jobstresskillscareers

The ultimate (and probably controversial) stress management technique

http://tinyurl.com/BeBadSooner

And here’s a big vibration lifter:

http://tinyurl.com/gratitudearticle

Better than a sleeping pill:

Write yourself to sleep

Enjoy!

P.S.: I just counted and it looks like there are 11 of them…  The last one is a bonus!

If you travel frequently or even just every now and then, especially across lots of time zones, here’s a tip that’ll save you some grief:

I learned it the hard way (very hard) years ago when flying back and forth to Germany and discovering stopovers in Iceland (courtesy of Iceland Air):

It seemed like a good idea at the time to stop in Iceland on the way to Germany, but I’ll never do that again. Why? Compounded jet lag and sleep deprivation:

I left in the evening from Baltimore (meaning I left MUCH earlier in Richmond, got to Iceland at something like 5 a.m., and then had a whole day of “fun” in Iceland ahead of me. Problem: I can’t sleep on airplanes and I don’t function on no sleep.

So really, I was sleepwalking through Reykjavik for hours, waiting for my hotel to allow me to check in. I did take a nap when it let me in at long last (so this is what I spent my stopover doing, mostly), then went back out etc. What with the time difference and me being a night person anyway, I went to sleep very late, only to have to get up again at 4 a.m.!

Needless to say, I felt horrible for several days once I arrived in Germany, much worse than usual (and I don’t do too well going that way to start with).

The conclusion I drew from that experience: if I ever stop over again in Reykjavik, I’ll do so on the way BACK! I’ll get there in the afternoon, and leave in the afternoon the next day. Full value from the hotel and a good night’s sleep, and I’ll arrive well-rested back home.

Fast forward a few years and to flying in the other direction — to New Zealand. It seemed like a good idea at the time to stop in San Francisco for a couple of days each time I came through. I could buy two sets of tickets, didn’t have to shell out the whole amount all at once, and I got to spend time with my friends in San Francisco, which also happens to be one of my favorite cities.

Well… I didn’t feel too good when I got back home last year after doing that particular routine. But I was too busy to really think about it (started teaching the VERY next morning), so I did it AGAIN.

This time, as I mentioned in my last entry, I was still recovering from the flu. Well… Here’s compounded jet lag and how it works going from NZ to Richmond:

Leaving in the afternoon in Wellington.  Leaving in the evening in Auckland.  No sleep on plane (12 hours or so) (though I did doze off a little a couple of times), arriving in San Francisco around lunchtime.

I totally crashed the first night, but the second one I was kept awake by non-stop hacking cough. And THEN, I had to get up early to catch the plane to Richmond (short night), and got stranded in Chicago (little sleep due to no luggage and no ear plugs AND due to having to get up at 6 to catch next plane). I got really sick all over again once I made it home.

I’m only now starting to feel better. And I have definitely learned another lesson:

When doing stop-overs on the way to New Zealand, do them going West the next time, and NOT going East. Same lesson as from the Iceland Air experience: Going East, go direct, going West, stops work great.

Maybe I’m a bit fussy when it comes to quality of sleep, but so what? Sleep is important, and I don’t think even I take it seriously enough, or this sort of thing wouldn’t have happened. I know I feel better, stay healthier, and function a heck of a lot better when I get enough of it and at the right time too.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section

Elisabeth

Do you wish you had more energy? How are you sleeping?

If life is stressful, chances are that sleep suffers. You may simply not have (or make) enough time for sleep (if so, you know what to do!).

Or, once you do go to bed, the zzz’s just don’t seem to come as easily as you may have hoped for…

What to do?

Lots of things. Here are a few that have helped me during a lengthy episode of challenged sleep a few years ago, and still do when the need arises:

1. Outsourcing your worries: Don’t go to sleep with them (as if you could!). Write them down on a piece of paper, or into a notebook, and let the universe take care of them. At least till morning. No, seriously, you’ll sleep better almost instantly.

2. Make sure your sleep “environment” is the way you like it. Dark, quiet, right temperature, comfy bed.

3. Wear socks. I know that some people joke about other people wearing socks to bed, but when it comes to sleep, they may be just what the doctor ordered.

4. Consider earplugs if noise is an issue. The world’s best earplugs are made in Germany and are called Ohropax. You can find some on Amazon.com (expensive if you buy them there but worth every penny). You can also bribe any German friends you may have into sending you some.

5. Have a calming night-time routine. Hot chocolate (or milk), calming music, boring reading and maybe some deep breathing. In fact, trying to do some meditation once you go to bed may really help. Do one where you have to focus on your breaths, and breathe really slowly. Don’t worry if you keep falling asleep in the middle of it. That’s the idea!

6. Soothing music. Stephen Halpern’s Sleep Soundly is one option. Check back for another option that I’ll have to check on first.

To be continued at some point in the future and/or in my newsletter