I’ve been experiencing some really crazy sleep patterns for about the last week or so. I keep attributing all my body’s weird issues to lingering effects of a year spent overseas. But maybe it’s not. Or, at least, maybe that’s only part of it.
I’ve been going Dairy/Gluten/Yeast free since New Years (with the rare-but-occasional girly meltdowns into chocolate). I’ve also been supplementing my diet with multivitamins, oregano extract (blech), olive leaf extract, and a yeast cleanse in order to get my body back under control. I really prefer homeopathic and natural path remedies to illnesses or physical issues, so I’ve found that diet control and body cleansing really work for me. My hippie roomie Mary Alice also made me a vial of different essential oils that, when combined altogether, make for a grounding, calming scent that you rub on the soles of your feet, on your heart and cervical spine, and the insides of your wrists before bedtime. It’s called “Peaceful Child” and was a recipe created by a woman whose son had Tourette’s and Oppositional Defiant Disorder and nothing else would ease his stress. It’s also helpful for people who suffer from PTSD, anxiety, insomnia, Autism, and a variety of other restless neurological issues. It’s a totally organic, non-chemical-laden, homeopathic way to deal with what I believe I’m dealing with: a strange form of insomnia.
Here’s what’s been happening: I usually get into bed around 10 pm, maybe a little earlier, maybe a little later. I read a book until I get sleepy, which usually takes about 20 minutes, and then I fall into a blissful coma, certain that I won’t be waking until morning. Around 2 am, every morning, my body wakes up with joy and enthusiasm. Good morning, world! I am here!
…
It’s not a pleasant experience, let me tell you. I struggle to stay in bed with my eyes closed, and to quiet my mind in order to force myself back to sleep. Anytime between 4 and 5 is usually when I fall back asleep, and then I oversleep. Before these episodes started I was usually up-and-at-em without an alarm between 5 and 7 am, and I liked that very much. Now with these nasty wake-up sessions, I’m usually finding myself awake between 8 and 8:30. Which is dumb, and my day begins by feeling already wasted. This has been going on for a little more than a week now.
even though I sleep in one of these at night… thanks, world race
So what’s wrong with me? What’s up with my body being all “Let’s wake up at a weird time and then never go back to bed??”
Mary Alice thinks she has come up with the answer. She read an article awhile ago about “first sleep” and “second sleep”. I actually found it this afternoon: What “first sleep” and “second sleep” can do for your mood. I also Wikipedia’d it.
The former article talks about the primal circadian rhythms that the human body is naturally supposed to abide by and what happens when we don’t. Both articles state that humans should fall asleep with the sun, wake up nearish to midnight, stay awake for an hour or two doing quiet, relaxing activities such as journaling, meditating, or praying, and then fall back asleep until the sun rises. They say that this particular way of sleeping “probably played a large role in helping people to regulate stress naturally.” Which sounds fabulous to me!
So maybe there isn’t something really wrong with my body. Maybe there is something really right. After spending the last 5 months of the World Race with little and definitely unreliable electricity, a nutrient-poor diet, and tons of sunlight, coming home to a lack of sunlight but tons of artificial lighting, noisy and distracting television, internet, and heavy food choices makes for a restless Central Nervous System. Also while being on the Race I never had to worry about what was next. I may have wanted to know all the time, but I wasn’t searching for a job or wondering how we would pay the bills. Now those things are a legitimate reality. So on top of crossing multiple time zones, moving into permanent winter with a record-making amount of snow fall and little sunlight, attempting to find a job, pay bills, and buy food, perhaps my body is simply trying to do what my mind has been struggling to do: find a natural way to deal with stress. For my mind it’s homeopathic remedies. For my body it’s finding a way back to a primal sleeping/wakefulness rhythm. So maybe I’ll embrace this new sleep pattern and use the waking time to draw a little closer to Jesus, maybe do a little yoga, maybe journal out some feelings. Maybe I don’t mind this new-found extra time.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
i love night time
