I went to what is called a "polarity therapist" a few months ago, for help with coping with the shooting at my school, Umpqua Community College, and losing a beloved kitten about a month before that. I was unfamiliar with what it was, but basically (as I explain it, as an amateur), it's about putting your body in balance with itself.
The left hand has a negative "charge," the right hand a positive "charge." The left hand is associated with calming one's system down, the right with adrenaline and gearing your system up ("fight or flight"). Some people may not believe all this, but she really helped me, so it works for me.
The middle finger, interestingly enough, has a positive charge, the pointer a negative charge. The fingers alternate, with the thumb being neutral. There was so much that she showed me, but since this article is about sleep, I will talk about what has helped me with that.
One trick to calm down your nervous system, whether you're going to sleep or not, is to place your hands, right over left, in the center of your chest, and rest them there. Since the left is negative, and the right positive, the left hand will calm you down, and the right, on top, will let you know that you are protected.
This has been a problem for me, when sleeping, because I start out on my stomach, though I always wake up on my back. But for the past few days, I've been doing this anyway, moving my hands over a bit or stopping when my fingers get numb. Sometimes I have turned over on my back, too, though it is not the most comfortable position for me.
I still have trouble with anxiety, when I first lie in bed (most of the time, it's hard to tell what I'm even anxious about). But at least now, I know that I won't always have anxiety; it will change in a few minutes. I have put off going to sleep for a long time, before, staying up very late, because I was afraid of lying there and being anxious or grieving. I still have problems with the negative emotions, lying in bed, but now at least I know the anxiety will end in a few minutes.
And doing this is soothing. Try it right now. It is soothing to put right hand over left, over the center of your chest--over your thymus, which is one of the most important pieces of your immune system. I think it helps your immune system, to soothe and support your thymus, and give it lots of love.
I have just discovered I could still do this while lying on my stomach a few days ago, and so I don't know the long-term results yet. But this has helped, so far. I do this sometimes when I feel anxious, whether I'm lying in bed or whether I'm awake.
I still stay up a little late, later than I want to theoretically--but for the past few days, I have been more rested than I'm accustomed to being. I have had more restful sleep, even if I don't yet get enough. And I always had the feeling that tiredness contributes to my anxiety, which makes me not want to go to sleep, because I know that I'll just lie there and be anxious--so that the more tired I was, the later I stayed up, ironically. I have a feeling that being more rested will actually make it easier to go to sleep earlier.
In any case, this simple hand placement--right over left, center of chest--has made me feel much better physically and emotionally. And I'm hoping that it will create a cycle of feeling good physically, mentally, and emotionally, which will lead to me feeling better and better.
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