by DK Brainard
I wrote about my journey to being a good sleeper in the post about my new brainwave/hypnosis MP3. In this post, I want to share some tips and tricks that have really helped me become a really good sleeper. Here are a few sleep hygiene keys I’ve picked up in two or three decades of obsessing about sleep:
Keep a small bowl of salt on your nightstand.
This is one of those old wives' remedy that just works. The salt seems to draw off negative thought forms and keep astral entities from hanging around your head, should some find their way into your room at night. Just remember to change out the salt every once in a while and energetically clear the bowl you keep it in.
Stop astral traveling.
If you often wake up feeling exhausted despite “getting plenty of sleep,” you may be spending way too much time astral traveling at night. Those of us with sensitive, empathic, creative, or psychic gifts tend to be susceptible to wandering away from our bodies in the middle of the night. I didn’t realize how common this was for me until people started contacting me telling me how I’d showed up in their dreams. I’m not against astral travel, but if I’m going to be cruising around the world at night I want to remember it in the morning!
The simplest way to keep your spirit and body together at night is to command it. You have to be willing to give an order here; polite requests and suggestions don’t seem to work. (Remember there are all kinds of entities out there that will gladly siphon off some of your energy if they can lure you out of your body and into the astral realms.)
As part of my falling asleep ritual, I typically say something to the effect of: “I command my spirit to stay with my body all night long so this animal body can enjoy the perfect amount of rejuvenating, refreshing, healthy sleep.”
Ditch the phone and other electronic devices.
Unless you’re on call as an emergency services provider, you probably do not need to have your cell phone, tablet or other mobile device in the bedroom at night. Your phone emits radiation even when on airplane mode, so if you absolutely can’t turn it off and leave it outside the bedroom, at least don’t have it anywhere near your head.
The same goes for any active electronic devices, such as a plug-in alarm clock or clock radio. For best results, these should be banished from the bedroom. At the very least, turn any electronic devices in the bedroom all the way off.
Turn off the wi-fi router.
If you can connect to your home wi-fi network in the bedroom, then it can connect to you while you're sleeping. Even if you turn off your mobile devices and leave them in another room, your wi-fi router is still broadcasting into your bedroom as long as it's on. Unplug it and start it up again in the morning!
Shield your home's electricity smart meter.
Utility companies are on a mission to replace old school analog electric meters with digital "smart meters." These little devices are super convenient for your electric company but they are not only antennae for cellular signals, they also emit crazy levels of dirty electricity.
"The SMPS function [on most smart meters] emits sharp spikes of millisecond bursts constantly, 24/7...This constant pulsing of high frequencies, in addition to the RF function, is causing not only interference with other electric and electronic equipment in many homes with smart meters installed, but also is causing havoc with biological systems in its field of exposure." (Source: New Critical Problem with 'Smart' Meters)
This Santa Cruz company makes affordable Faraday cages designed specifically for smart meters. We noticed a big difference after installing one on our home's smart meter.
Don’t wake to an alarm!
I wish I could remember the name of this sleep researcher whose site I stumbled on years ago. He had a super practical and scientific outlook on sleep. His number one rule for healthy sleep was: “Never wake to an alarm.”
I realize this isn’t always practical advice, but it’s more doable more often than many people think. You can train yourself to wake up at the time of your choosing without an alarm and it's so much healthier for your body to awaken at the right moment in your sleep cycle than it is to wake up at an arbitrary number on your phone or alarm clock.
Honor your unique sleep rhythms and needs.
We all have unique rhythms and these rhythms can vary widely depending on the season, the age of life we're in and other factors like health, diet and exercise.
There's a lot of societal programming to indoctrinate us with the belief we need "at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night"or we'll gradually undermine our health. What keeps you healthy is getting the amount of sleep your body needs in the timing and rhythm that's right for you.
For example: I have a lot of Pisces clients who are night owls. These people often carry a lot of baggage from a lifetime of being shamed and chided by family, friends and others for not adhering to societal sleep norms.
But guess what? Pisces is the sign most often lacking in natural psychic boundaries. They tend to start feeling good right around the time the people in their city or community have fallen asleep or numbed out for the night. Why? Because the psychic vibes, emotions, and discordant mental energies around them have subsided, this is the time of day when many Pisces (and other sensitive/creative types) start feeling like they can think clearly.
Many of my Pisces clients are self-employed. They don't need to get up at 6:30 am every day to get to the office on time. Usually my work with them around sleep is helping them give themselves permission to keep a sleep schedule that works best for them.
I think many people are victimized by the social programming around sleep. If you find it hard to sleep eight hours in a row every night, I highly recommend doing some inner exploration and working with someone who can help you clear the subconscious fear programs that tell you that you are damaging your long-term health by doing what feels best for your body.
And yes, in an ideal world, I think we would all tend to go to sleep when it gets dark and wake with the sun. But we don't live in that world; at least not yet. My research and self-experimentation has shown me that each of us is unique and the more you can align your sleep habits with your own personal rhythms, the better you're going to feel and the healthier you'll be.
One thing I've found to be really helpful in this regard is getting in touch with your BRAC cycle. Knowing the duration of your personal BRAC can dramatically improve your sleep quality whether you're on a biphasic schedule or just going through a period in your life where you can't always sleep as long as you'd like.
My new sleep hypnosis MP3 You Are A Really Good Sleeper can help you reprogram your subconscious to put you in touch with the part of you that is already really good at falling asleep and staying asleep in the way that is healthiest for your unique body and circadian rhythms. Listen to a sample and learn more here.