Last week I read about Renee Zellweger's insomnia, but just finally got around to blogging about it. Zellweger is quoted as saying "I wake up in the night, thinking about the role and the scenes. I can't seem to break the spell." The inability to turn one's mind off is one of the chief complaints of insomniacs. Zellweger is probably also suffering from something called "on-call effect" -- when you can't get to sleep because you're anxiously awaiting the next day's events.
This is not surprising to hear about within the entertaininment industry, when crew and performers have to travel often and report for "call times" as early as 5 or 6 a.m. On-call effect is also very common with new parents, who can't sleep because they're waiting for the baby to start crying.
If you're like Renee and you can't shut your body and mind off at bedtime, you may need to initiate some sleep rituals to help you unwind. Here are a few things you can try:
1. Take a hot bath or shower before bed.
2. Try some stretching exercises to let the tension out.
3. Write your concerns in a worry journal.
Oftentimes what keeps us up at night is thinking about all our "To Do"s. If you write them down before you go to sleep, and convert your concerns into action items for the next day, you free yourself of the obligation to keep thinking about them.
-- Cure Your Insomnia Today --
