Invoking a Good Night’s Sleep and a little Reiki Rest
Reiki trained or not, a good night’s sleep is not far away with a few tips and helps around the subject of sleep.
Of first importance is recognizing and acknowledging how incredibly vital and important sleep is to our well-being, mentally, physically and emotionally. One of the first signs and results of any illness is sleep disturbance (lack of sleep) or the need to sleep more than usual. Our sleeping state indicates our waking state; improving one improves the other. If we look at how we sleep we will get a different understanding of who we are in waking time.
Do not take sleep for granted.
We all tend to think, on some level, that sleep is a naturally occurring thing and that we will go to sleep at night because that is what humans do. If we hang in there long enough, the body will give up and sleep for us. If it doesn’t, we take or try something to help us sleep.
Improper sleep may be a medical condition that needs good attending to. Imbalances in hormones, vitamin deficiencies and sleep apnea are a few of the physical culprits robbing us of rest. A sleep analysis or a visit to a good functional practitioner or holistic provider may assist in giving our bodies the physical capability to sleep well. Trauma and PTSD are sleep destroyers and will need professional help to move through towards a healing night’s rest. We take our daymares to bed with us where they live in our sleeping and dreams. Again, our sleep is showing us our waking state.
Taking our sleeping seriously and working with sleep patterns to bring balanced rest with all its healing power is an important responsibility we have to ourselves. Sleep doesn’t just happen, we make it. It is the result of our living. The patterns we weave in the day run clearly in our sleep.
What does happen during sleep is amazing. The mind, body and heart crave the time to refresh and renew. The mind downloads its day, unraveling its knots and fixing its holes, the heart clears the system undisturbed, removing toxins and bringing fresh and regular oxygen and renewing the cells without being called upon to perform any daytime duties. The body uses minimal resources – allowing muscles and systems to restore and heal. Healthy, healing sleep is our true fuel for living.
Whole sleep is also the path to deep connection
with spiritual states and beings who guide and nurture us with love. The other night my departed Aunt Shirley appeared very naturally and calmly in my dream and we held an important conversation. I was never close with this aunt but heard stories of her from my mother’s point of view. She was the oldest and first of my grandmother’s daughters to die from Alzheimer’s disease. The direct contact with her through the dream was an unexpected gift, bringing peace, knowledge, and a sense of connection I was never able to have with her in life. It was a deeply wonderful dream.
Sleep holds many blessings for us if we are not terrified of it or troubled over attaining it.
How to enhance and support the healing power of sleep?
First – honor the space and the time.
Honor the time – you have your own unique biological clock. Get a sense of it and move with it as much as you can. It tells you when your mind is awake and when your body is ready to rest. Listen to it. Go with your natural rhythm as much as possible.
Honor your space. Taking care of our physical sleeping space shows our acknowledgement of its importance and its value in our lives. Clear the bedroom of clutter. Fill your closet and dresser with clothing that has meaning and utility and beauty for you. Discard what does not. Think about the things that are in your sleeping space and make them important and conducive to your living and sleeping. The bedroom is where we prepare for the day and where we retire at night. Our sacred space for rest, ease, personal expression, safety, and comfort.
Value your bed. How is your bed and bedding? Is climbing into bed a wonderful experience? Is it comfortable, properly supportive for your physical needs, providing a nurturing, healthy and esthetically pleasing experience for your senses at the end of the day? You deserve this space to rest. To lie down in peace and renew. I have heard that as we spend more time in bed than in our cars that a bed should be replaced at least as often as we replace our car. Vehicle for living, vehicle for sleeping. An interesting thought, but in any case, assess your bed.
Clear your space. Clear the bedroom! Regularly. We all accumulate and discard ethereal debris as we sleep. Fresh air from open windows, physical cleaning of the space and spiritual washing with sage or oils, along with vibration – that of a singing bowl, chimes or drum – help to release stuck energy that builds up like dust in the corners of our rooms, moving in and crowding our dreams. Clear it out at least once a month – more often if you are going through difficult times.
Clear yourself. You wash before sleeping to clear away the dirt of the day. Take a mental, emotional spiritual wash as you clean up too. Shed the day and the stresses and unhappy incidents and emotional memories of the day as you shed your clothing. Let the physical act be a symbol of the inner discarding of the day’s events. See how there may be some lovely thoughts like beautiful jewelry or a favorite handsome watch that you may take off lovingly and put carefully away. Others may be like overworked clothing that desperately needs a wash and you can’t wait to get them off – discard them into the laundry bin and let them go. Some get carefully folded for another days’ wear, but not tonight. For tonight they are gone – put away with care after examination.
The greatest power for healing we can bring to sleep is intention.
Realizing that sleep is something we create and exercising our power in our waking state to set intention for our sleeping state is a simple and extremely effective sleep aide. Once the day is cleared, your space is created to honor yourself and your sleep, set an intention for your sleep. What do you want or need tonight as you rest? What is your heart calling for? Take a moment to give that deep beautiful breath of release and see what your soul says about your need for sleep tonight. Dig deeper than I am tired and need to go to bed and let the thought surface before you. See it and affirm it. Tonight my muscles are tired. I set an intention for deep refreshment as I sleep. Tonight my heart is heavy. I set an intention for healing and comfort as I sleep. Remember the old prayer: “Now I lay me down to sleep…” this is not falling asleep, it is intentional laying down of the day to sleep, rest and renew.
A word about intention. Intention directs energy and purpose. You are not responsible for bringing about the intention other than to take the simple step of going to bed after setting it into your mind. It is a gentle set, not a rigid instruction. Like tying off the tiller after setting the compass point or passing the steering to the night crew after setting the course.
Do not take a troubled mind to sleep. Meditate with it, releasing the pressure of thoughts that may have clung through your discarding process. Then set an intention to clear your mind of that which is not healthful for you as you sleep – ask for help to do this. There are wonderful beings ready to assist you in your sleeping. But they are very polite. You need to ask. (“ I ask the Lord my soul to keep” this is not a fearful ask to prevent loss of soul but a powerful request for healing and support) Set an intention for calm and peaceful sleep and bring a beautiful scene to mind.
You may find, and want to play with, asking for guidance for any meaningful dream that your loving guides and angels or the lord or whatever spirituality you acknowledge in your life may want to share with you. This can lead to some wonderful sleep experiences. Maybe tuck a little notebook and pen somewhere near the bed to record “what dreams may come.” Most importantly release all spirit of fear and anxiety. Use an adaptation of the Reiki precepts – Reiki trained or not – to clear yourself. Just for tonight, I release all anger and fear, just for tonight, I am grateful, just for tonight, I am loved and protected. Just for tonight, I sleep with ease and peace.
Preparing for Healing Sleep
If you find this is all too much work to do to go to sleep, perhaps you are not giving yourself enough time to prepare for sleep. Change your habits and routines to give yourself space to make ready. None of this takes exceedingly long, especially once you get used to discarding the day with your clothes and cleansing your mind and heart with your teeth and face.
Intention invokes a blessing upon your sleep. You have the power to bless yourself. Do so, often. If you are Reiki trained, just let your hands fall where they are drawn to on your body as you slowly sink into those wonderful sheets, take a breath, and intentionally allow the Reiki to flow. Then follow its path with your mind into sleep. Even if you are not Reiki trained, a loving gentle touch as you allow your hands to rest and bring comfort at the end of the day is a blessing you give to yourself.
Finally, remember this type of preparation is a new habit. Keep at it until it becomes part of you. It will no longer seem a strange routine but simply the way you go to meet the blessing of sleep at night. Sleep well.
Leave a Reply