Insomnia: The Lonely Vigil

 It's three o'clock in the morning. I feel like .~
=09I have not slept a wink and I have a day
=09that is going to be busy and active. What
do I do? Of all the complaints I have received
from patients in the office, insomnia seems to
be one of the most frequent for those of us in
the older age group.
=09Sleep is so wonderful, so refreshing, and so
important, and we all need to sleep. However, as
we get older, our patterns do change, and eight
hours of sleep is not always as essential as it was
when we were younger. Also, we frequently are
sleeping although we think we have not slept ,:
=09=09~F;
because we awaken so frequently.=09,.
I have found that very often my patients and
I also can get away with what I call "good down-time." That means that I'm=
 in
bed and I'm resting. I may not be sleeping, but I find that my body is
functioning and I'm fairly com-fortable. I'm j'ust not slee ping . During =
this
time I tryto- let my mind reminisce on the good things in my life rather t=
han
the traumatic things. I try to take this time to be grateful to do some
prayers of gratitude, to pray for everybody that I can think of who is in =
my
life at the present time or in the past. I try to think about the beauties
that I have seen in my long life. If I can do this, I find that not only d=
oes
time go faster while I'm in bed, but I sometimes fall asleep. Even if I do=
n't,
I find myself refreshed and joyful.
If, however, I worry about something and begin to fret, or I find myself
angry, frustrated, or frightened about the ru-bare, not only do I not rest=
,
but I wake up fatigued and irri-table. This is particularly so if I start
worrying about not sleeping. When I put my energy into the idea that I am =
in
bed, and I am supposed to be asleep, but I'm not sleeping, all I find myse=
lf
doing is building up more and more anxiety. The more this happens, the les=
s I
sleep. The less I sleep, the more anxious I get, and we go round and round=
.
For some of my patients, it's helpful to get up and fix a cup of tea, mayb=
e
sit down and read something relaxing and then go back to bed. Watching a s=
cary
movie or reading a murder mystery is certainly no help in getting to sleep=
.
Something else that is helpful is allowing the body to be more alkaline. T=
his
can be done with a little bit of baking

Gladys Taylor McGarey, a homeopathic physician, is the author of The Physi=
cian
Within You (with. Less Steam) and the lead physician at the Scottsdale
Holistic Medical Group in Scottsdale, Arizona, (602) 9901528. For more
information, call the nonprofit Gladys Taylor McGarey Medical Foundation,
Inc., (602) 9464544.
soda in water, an Alka-Seltzer, or ten drops of Glyco-Thymoline in a glass=
 of
water. In con-junction with alkalinizing the body, taking some calcium is
helpful. Calcium helps to relax the muscles, and the body then relaxes. At
bedtime two calcium-magnesium tablets with either Glyco-Thymoline or Alka-
Seltzer is frequently as good as a sleeping pill. Other people find that o=
ne
Benadryl capsule is helpful in letting them sleep.
It's best not to eat a heavy meal before going to bed. The activity of the
intestinal tract at bedtime can be disconcerting and cause sleeplessness.
And let's not forget the castor oil pack{ Place the castor oil pack over t=
he
upper right side of your abdomen. Use heat if you're going to use it befor=
e
going to bed. Keep it on for an hour to an hour and a half while relaxing,
allowing the body, mind, and spirit to come into balance. If time does not
allow the hour before bedtime, it can be used without heat, and you can sl=
eep
with it for several hours or all night long. When you put it on, be aware =
it
has been called the Palina Christi ("The Palm of Christ"). You are placing=
 the
healing, loving, quieting, divine energy over your liver and solar plexus.
This is the area of the third chakra, where we carry stress and judgments,
also anger and resentment. So using the castor oil pack with its healing
energy over this area allows us to move into a space of divine peace, and
sleep comes more readily.

'f we watch TV in our bedrooms immediately before sleep, or if we have a
digital clock or other electrical equip-ment (such as waterbed heaters) ri=
ght
next to us, this cre-ates an electrical field around the body which can ma=
ke
it difficult to sleep. It's recommended to not only turn off the TV in our
bedroom, but also to unplug it. Move your digital clock at least ten feet =
away
from your bed. Turn off the heater on your waterbed when you're ready to g=
o to
sleep. Look outside your window; are there high-tension wires near your ho=
me?
They can cause electrical problems with your nervous system, making it
difficult to sleep. Try to make your bedroom a comfortable, pleasant place
where you like to spend time, and you'll be more apt to have a restful sle=
ep.
The most important thing, I believe, in dealing with insomnia has to do wi=
th
attitude and with accepting ourselves where we are. Maybe as senior citize=
ns,
eight hours of sleep is not necessary, but eight hours of good down-time i=
s
regenerating and replenishing.



 November/December.~l.998 VENTURE INWARD =B7 11
r.

The most important thing in dealing with insomnia is attitude and acceptin=
g
ourselves where we are.