Try To Stay Awake: A Paradoxical Sleep Meditation

11:42

11:42

Try To Stay Awake: A Paradoxical Sleep Meditation

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

2

This is a soothing, informative talk by Dr. Iman Fani, combined with a short guided meditation practice about the "Paradoxical Intention" method of Dr. Viktor Frankl, the famous psychiatrist, to help with sleep anxiety, rumination and sleepless loops. A gentle sleep meditation for anyone who has tried too hard to fall asleep. Instead of forcing sleep, chasing sleep, or measuring how close you are to sleep, you are invited to softly release the struggle. The practice gently turns the pressure upside down. Rather than commanding the mind to sleep, we allow wakefulness to be here without resistance. This practice is helpful for insomnia, sleep anxiety, racing thoughts at night, fear of not sleeping, pressure to fall asleep quickly, nighttime overthinking, and difficulty relaxing in bed.

Sleep Insomnia Meditation Anxiety Nervous System Thought Diffusion Insomnia Management Sympathetic Nervous System Activation Parasympathetic Nervous System Activation

Meet your Teacher

Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

Meet your Teacher

Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

Transcript

Welcome i'm dr imam fahny and this is an introduction to a special treatment for insomnia combined with a guided practice session at the end if you're listening to this you likely know the unique frustration of the sleepless loop you are tired you lay down and yet the harder you try to force sleep to happen the further away it drifts this happens because sleep is a biological process that cannot be wheeled into existence in fact the will to sleep often creates a performance anxiety that keeps the brain in a state of high alert today we are going to explore a technique from one of the most influential figures in psychology dr victor frankl the father of logotherapy treatment with meaning frankl observed that human beings often suffer from anticipatory anxiety we fear a symptom and that very fear brings the symptom to life in the case of insomnia the fear of not sleeping creates the wakefulness we dread to break this frankl proposed a radical concept called paradoxical intention essentially if you want to fall asleep you must try to stay awake in his landmark book man's search for meaning frankl explained that hyperintention the act of trying too hard to achieve something actually prevents the outcome when you lay in bed trying to sleep your sympathetic nervous system the fight or flight branch is activated you are monitoring your progress checking the clock and judging your failure this is a state of high arousal which is the biological opposite of sleep paradoxical intention works by removing the pressure to perform by intentionally trying to stay awake you neutralize the anticipatory anxiety of insomnia you take the power away from the fear of being awake think of it as a cognitive judo move instead of fighting the energy of your wakefulness you lean into it when the brain is no longer fighting for sleep the parasympathetic nervous system your rest and digest mode can finally take the wheel let's begin the practice lay comfortably on your back if you feel that familiar pressure to drift off i want you to gently set that goal aside for the next few minutes your only job is the opposite try to keep your eyes open for as long as possible do not stare intensely just keep a soft gaze on the ceiling or the darkness of the room as you do this say to yourself internally i am going to stay awake for just one more minute i will see how much longer i can keep my eyes open when your eyelids feel heavy and they will do not give in immediately gently resist say to the heaviness not yet i am staying awake notice what happens in your body usually when we try to sleep we feel tense but as you try to stay awake you might notice a strange sense of relief the struggle is over you are no longer failing at sleeping you are succeeding at being awake continue this gentle resistance focus on the sensation of the air on your eyes feel the weight of your limbs if a thought pops up about tomorrow or how tired you'll be simply return to your paradoxical mission i am just staying awake for this moment as the minutes pass you find your eyes closing involuntarily this is the paradox in action by stopping the chase you have allowed sleep to catch up to you Dr. Frankl found that once the patient stops trying to sleep and instead tries to stay awake the tension evaporates sleep which was previously a task to be completed turns to its natural state a spontaneous surrender now that you have learned the paradox of staying awake let's deepen the relaxation through a psychological inventory of your current state this isn't about changing how you feel but rather observing it with the curiosity of a scientist first bring your attention to your physical body notice where the effort of your day is still hiding is it in the corner of your eyes your jaw your shoulders instead of trying to force these muscles to relax simply acknowledge them say to yourself there is tension here and that is okay i'm not in a hurry to get rid of it next observe your thoughts as if they were a scrolling news feed when we struggle with sleep our thoughts often become sticky we grab onto a worry and won't let go practice cognitive diffusion each thought is just a data point on a screen note a thought and then gently return your focus to the sensation of your eyelids if the thought says i must sleep answer it with your new paradox actually right now i'm just practicing being here connect with the observer self in neuroscience we recognize that there is a part of your brain that is always calm even when the rest is anxious this is the part of you that is watching this exercise right now shift your identity from the struggler who is trying to sleep to the observer who is simply watching a body rest as the observer you have no deadline you have no goal you are simply a witness to the breath and the quiet by this time if you are still awake that is perfectly fine you are resting you are safe you are simply observing the quiet of the night i will leave you now with the silence if your eyes close let them if they say open let them there is no right or wrong there is only this breath this moment and the release of all effort