What do you think about just before you go to sleep?

[caty]

Do you go over the events of the day? Do you run a mental list of what you want to accomplish the next day? Do you fantasize?

I make the mental list--which is probably why I'm an insomniac!

[Ariana Celeste]

1. I fantasize about stuff I want to dream about.

Doesn't usually work but I've found it's the fastest way for me to fall asleep.

[XboxWarrior]

10. works fer moi

[XboxWarrior]

17. hit it twice........

shameless kick.

[flamingyouth]

2. My boyfriend.

Who lives 2,000 miles away.

[samplegirl]

3. Usually

about my parents who have both passed.

[yorkiemommie1]

4. well, i pray for my daughter's welfare

and the last thought is for our nation. sounds corny, but it's true. i send out a big HELLLLP!!! to all the good forces in the universe.

[Ksec]

5. I try to think good stuff

when Im zoning out. If I think disturbing thoughts I cant sleep.

[bigwillq]

6. I try not to think

Whenever I think and it's usually that mental list, I never fall asleep.

If I fantasize, then I get horny. So I try not to do that either.

:D

[AlienGirl]

7. I fantasize about completely non-real-life stuff

I have to shut off all thoughts of reality or I'll get squirrel brain and stay up, so I fantasize about stuff that puts me in a particular state of mind. I can't really describe the emotion I need to feel in order to go to sleep; there doesn't seem to be a word for it.

And I really *can't* describe the content of my fantasies. :evilgrin:

Tucker

[Moochy]

8. whatever is on BBC world service :)

That makes for some interesting dreams... usally about something horrible the leader of zimbabwe has done.

Curse you Robert Mugabe!!!

[hippywife]

9. When I fall asleep

I'm not usually thinking about anything specific. No problem falling asleep. But I wake up in the middle of the night (every night) and do the first two and can't get back to sleep. So then I usually come downstairs and read DU or do crossword puzzles to keep from disturbing the husband until my eyes get sleepy again.

I would kill for an uninterrupted night's sleep but I think it's a menopause thing that has been going on for a coupla years now. :eyes:

[Wapsie B]

11. Positive thoughts.

I go to sleep fantasizing about the future. No lists though. That would make my mind too active.

[XboxWarrior]

12. huh?

kick

[Wapsie B]

13. Affirmations is what I was talking about.

[SnowGoose]

14. I raise my antenna!

Ok, language will never really convey the reality of my subjective experience, but here goes.

I'm an agnostic - in that I really don't think we have the information necessary to KNOW about the meaning of life (if there is one) or the divine or whatever. But on an emotional level, I FEEL something - a self-aware or purposeful universe, if you will. And in my subjective experience, it's like a stream of blue electricity constantly flowing a few feet above us.

When I go to sleep, I imagine a kind of antenna, or umbilicus coming out of my spine, and going straight up into the blue light. It's like plugging into a recharger/detoxifier. I can never seem to keep that mental antenna up during the day, because there are so many distractions, but when the lights go out, and my day's work is done, I send up the antenna.

If you've ever thought you might be about to die, you'll know what I mean when I say that in this state, the crap of daily life seems like some silly child's game, and I seem to "remember" what life is. I remember that, amazingly, I'm made out of regular atoms - no different than those that make up my pillow, but somehow (and probably only for a brief period of time) am aware of my own existence, and that makes me feel unspeakably grateful.

Sometimes I'm overcome with worry about how things are in the little world of mankind, and don't 'send up the antenna'. Those are shitty nights, and I try to avoid them. But most nights, I'm just thankful that I got the privilege of experiencing this existence for another day.

Wow, reading back, it sounds like I'm some kind of sappy new-ager, but I'm really not. I'm a skeptic, a scientist in training, and don't reckon that there's anything for us after we die. I guess I just feel a lot of gratitude for the chance to experience this life, and to see all the beautiful things there are to see here.

Sweet dreams, DU, it's time for me to brush my teeth and send up the antenna.

[Radio_Lady]

15. Count backwards from 1,000 as far as I can go --- all silently (almost)

My husband says I mumble it sometimes...

Nine-hundred and ninety nine
Nine-hundred and ninety eight
Nine-hundred and ninety seven
Nine-hundred and ninety six... etc.

Dr. Art Ulene on NBC told of this technique many years ago.

He said he never gets past 500 --

Neither do I.

[Glorfindel]

16. The planet Venus...

as an untouched tropical paradise of the Cretaceous/Jurassic eras with the requisite flora and fauna - and its retrograde motion with the sun rising in the west and setting in the east, and a small human settlement on a Manhattan-sized island, allowed to observe the wildlife but never to interfere....falling asleep in a good mood is easy.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................:boring:

[caty]

20. I'm going to save this and read

it every night before I go to bed. Better than a sleeping pill.;(

[spacelady]

18. I think "i wish I would fall asleep already!"

[ZombieNixon]

19. One of three things

1. My girlfriend
2. The latest seemingly unsolvable bug in whatever computer application I'm coding at the time (this is a good one, as the solution invariably comes to me in the shower the next morning)
3. Just stay up really late working on said unsolvable bug until I start falling asleep at the computer and then hop into bed in order to keep myself sane

[ghostsofgiants]

21. I just contently listen to whatever music I have playing...

And try to keep my head clear.

[Jersey Devil]

22. Going deep to right at Yankee Stadium

It works every time. I am up with 2 runners in scoring position (I don't make myself a pig by making it a grand slam) with the Yanks down by two in the ninth and I hit a low, inside pitch (I am a lefty and thrive on them) deep to right and I hear John Sterling saying, "It it high, it is far, it is goooooonnnne."