LIGHTS OUT

Black-out shades have been installed in my bedrooms, and I am thrilled that the fancy lights hanging in the trees, shining up into my apartment, will no longer keep me awake at night.

My son and daughter-in-law have a beautiful forest, that acts like a backyard, at their home in Virginia. As far as I know, none of these majestic trees are growing lights. Even Architectural Digest Magazine has denounced the practice of lit-up trees. They go so far as to say that lighting your trees won’t boost the sale of your house, and I might add that nocturnal animals don’t like their sleep disturbed anymore than I do.

Darkening my room solved the problem, but there are many people who have trouble sleeping.
An article by Erica Pearson in the Minneapolis Star Tribune deals with, “Ways To Help You Sleep.” Since I was a little girl, I have always been aware of “The Power Nap.” My Father often had evening meetings, so he would take a lie-down everyday for about 20 minutes.Then he’d come out for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, and resume his busy schedule. For a  long time, I enjoyed the coffee and cake part, but only recently, I, too, sometimes take a little snooze in the afternoon, so I can stay up until 10 p.m. like the big kids do.

According to the article, in some businesses  power napping  has become an amenity on the job in order to”boost productivity.” I’m not sure I’d enjoy going to an  office and having to wake everybody up. However, I have been doing this in department stores for years. Lots of those clerks resent my being there in the first place. As a matter of fact, I have often gone into a store, looked around, and shouted, “Is anyone here?” only to listen to the echo of my own voice. No one ever told me they were napping to “boost productivity.”

Dr. Michael Howard, a sleep medicine doctor says, “Humans are natural nappers.” He adds, “Napping takes practice.” I guess it’s like playing the piano. I tried to play the piano, and my Mother used to say, “Esther, haven’t you practiced enough?” Only after three teachers did they find out it was me. So how does someone practice napping?  Closing your eyes is a good start.

Meditation is also recommended. A person should practice breathing. In the article it says that, “Breathing is very important if you want to get to the next step.”  I would add that  breathing is also very important if you ever want to wake up. This is also called, “mindfulness.”

The next step is to take inventory of your body parts. I really don’t understand this, but I do know that if they are all there I would sleep better.

The next suggestion is that you focus on something such as a spider crawling up your window. This leads to the final step, “Show compassion, and loving kindness.” Killing the spider does not accomplish that step.

Sarah Moe, a sleep healing specialist suggests, “ Say, three things aloud that you want to accomplish tomorrow as well as three things that you are grateful for.” This should help you sleep. For instance:

I want to remember where I parked the car.
I want to go to my accountant and have him tell me that I don’t owe the government any money.
I want my umbrella to open when it rains tomorrow.



Gratitude:

I am grateful that I am in bed and not outside in the rain, since my umbrella won’t open.
I am grateful that my accountant isn’t in jail anymore.
I am grateful that my son parked my car for me—even though he forgot to tell me where it is parked.

So now, some of your worries should be relieved, and the gratitude should have relaxed you. At the end of the article  it says that if you still can’t fall asleep,“It’s okay to whisper.” I guess that means..Do not disturb anyone else.

Shh!

Esther Blumenfeld