Trouble Sleeping?

I've noticed quite a few people on here lately indicating that they are having problems staying grounded: Having feelings of disconnection from your body, daydreaming excessively, feeling out of control, insomnia, excessive anxiety.

So I thought I would compile this brief list of practices that can help to bring us back down to earth, so to speak:

The main way that we stay grounded is through our root chakra and, the lessor known, earth seed chakra.

The earth seed chakra is our shared energy point with Mother Earth and can be visualized as an earth brown energy point located roughly at the base of your feet. This chakra is what binds us to this planet. Every component of our physical body comes from the earth, thus, that energy is both part of us and part of the earth.

The root chakra facilitates the transfer of energy from the Earth to the rest of our system. It can be visualized as a red energy point located at the base of the spine. It is red because that is the lowest frequency of light (energy) and is closest to the frequency that Earth's energy vibrates at.

In order to stay grounded we must regularly balance and energize both of these energy centers. The way to do this is the same as with all energy work: Intent. However, since our physical body is the part of us that comes from the earth, manipulation of the body is also important (The body is basically how we put our intent into physical form).

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The easiest way to ground yourself quickly is by physically connecting with the Earth:

• Lie on the floor (sitting is also ok, but the more body contact the better), briefly focus on your heartbeat or breath (in order to center) and then feel your body merge with the ground. 
• If you cannot easily get onto the ground, take off your shoes and firmly plant your feet on the floor.  Imagine your feet becoming roots and pulling you down, deep, into the warm embrace of Gaia.
• Do some gardening. Get your hands into the soil and really feel the energy and connection with nature.
• Put on something that comes from the earth: metals, stones, minerals, etc. Focus on merging your energy with what you are wearing.  Periodically recharge your objects by burying them in the earth for a day or so.
• Surround yourself with grounding colors.  Put on something red and/or brown and again feel the energy being absorbed into you. 
• Exercise.  Anything that gets you focused on your body and out of your head
• Sex. The root chakra is located directly at the reproductive organs. That's not a coincidence.

In order to help stay grounded even when we cannot do the above, we need to focus on balancing and energizing the grounding chakras.

Each time I meditate, I like to first go through a quick chakra energy and balance practice.  For grounding purposes, spend extra time on the first two chakras.

• Begin by focusing on the earth chakra. Imagine an earth colored sphere or gem of light.  Imagine that sphere growing brighter and larger until it fills the whole room with that color. 
• Next, do the same with the root chakra, imagine a red sphere glowing brightly and flooding the room with red. 
• Continue through rest of the color spectrum: ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) and finish with the star seed chakra which is the mirror of the earth chakra (or our shared energy point with Spirit) and is the color of golden white light. 
• Finally, in order to align the chakras, imagine the spheres connected by a taught rope and pulled fully into alignment from bottom to top.

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Finally, food can have a very big impact on maintaining grounding, as eating is directly bringing the Earth's energy into our body:

• Root vegetables: beets, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, tumeric, ginger, etc
• Fermented and preserved foods: Yogurt, cheese, kombucha, pickled vegies, wine, beer, vinegar, bread, dried fruits, soy sauce
• Red foods: beets, tomatoes, berries, chiles, etc 
• Earth's recyclers: Mushrooms, shellfish
• Minerals: salt, calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc
• BTW, pickeled red beets are like a super trifecta of grounding power, lol.

Hope this helps

Starting last week I had some bad nights. I sleep early, around 10 pm, and I sleep without dreams for a few hours, but always wake up around 2 or 3 am and then I am awake for 1 to 1,5 hours, and then have weird dreams for approx one hours. And sometime wild dreams, including family members in dangerous situation, strange fantasy like location I walk in. And then after a few days I have a night I sleep long but almost dreamless, like knocked out.

I had some a few times the last years. I try to do meditation before sleeping, or relaxing music, that helps, but not when I wake up in the night. Mainly because when my head starts up at night a lot of thoughts starting to come.

If someone has an idea to turn of thinking at night, that would be great.

And I feel really tired but also anxious or maybe unrestful inside. And that I have since two weeks.

anyone has similar feelings or issues with sleeping lately?
And I always wake up with a very dry mouth and throat. 
gr

tbs

I just posted some recommendations on dealing with the recent "epidemic" of insomnia in the other thread:

https://www.jeannemayell.com/community/postid/37462/

Hope this helps ❤️ 

@frank Thank you for sharing the tips. I literally own nothing red or brown, but I might be able to grab a skein of yarn and knit a scarf or something. It's been wonderful to go outside once a day, to press my bare feet into the cool grass and crispy leaves, but it's getting pretty cold to do that now. My husband would likely be on board with that "root chakra" work, though ... ;) Sending pleas and light into the universe daily that the fascist goldfish and his minions disappear by January, and falling asleep without dreading headlines in the morning will finally bring peace and rest to this country and around the world.

@frank thank you!! ? 

@frank, thank you! I did not realize this was the root of the problem!

Thanks all for the tips and tricks. I have been sleeping badly as well, but also been waking up with spasms in my back for a few weeks. Could the effect in astrology and the state of the world as well have an impact on 'how' you sleep? I am wondering if I am doing something with my back/neck while sleeping. 

@frank wow, thank you, that's amazing information! 

I use lavender spray. It helps. 

So grateful for all the postings about insomnia. It has been very bad for me the past few weeks, waking up between 12:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. and not being able to fall asleep again. I have stacked different natural sleep remedies which helps but doesn't eliminate the problem. I was really wondering what was wrong with me. I have periodically struggled with insomnia, but never this bad.

When I do get to sleep, I have intense memorable dreams. I have a sister who is very talented about interpreting dreams (though tends to skew towards religious side of things), and she has helped me with dream interpretation. The messages I get have been quite relevant.

I have been aware of the intense energy and have a tendency to attribute it to anxiety, which makes me feel even more anxious and hyperawake. ? Getting additional perspective is helpful!  What a challenging time. So glad to have this forum. Thanks everyone.

I listen to this 22 minute meditation tape of Jennifer Percy's Yoga Nidra for Sleep.  It has over 3 million views. Her voice is perfect.  I've heard it so many times, that now I don't have to listen to it any more. I let it play in my head. I'm usually out in the first five minutes, but once I was so stressed that I had to listen to the whole thing twice before I got some sleep. 

Other tips:

• I also sometimes do well with a mug of hot milk.
• I avoid bright lights.  
• I try to go to bed when I first feel tired. If I stay up past that, then I start getting a second wind and that is not good.  It might be a second wind based on adrenaline. 
• I sometimes, though very. rarely, take a melatonin. But others I know take it more often.  I wonder if that is not good to do.  It may be just a hormone, but it is a strong substance.

Oh my best thing is to pretend I'm back in college and have a math test that I must stay up study for. I suddenly feel just so sleepy.

I haven't personally had any trouble sleeping lately, but for what it's worth--- on the occasion where I do wake up with the "3 AM Paranoia", I simply *remind* myself that it's 3 AM and that it is, after all, "Official Paranoia Hour".   I'll get up, go to the bathroom, drink some water, etc., and remind myself that things will look very different in the morning, because they always do (at least in my experience).  I might read a bit to distract myself. The worst thing to do is to lie in bed awake dwelling on the feelings.  

@frank  Well that explains why I am drawn to making a form of clear borscht this time of year. For anyone who would like to try it here is the recipe.. it is pleasing to eye and delicious to the palate and comforting to the soul. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/winter-borscht-recipe-1922800   I sometimes leave shreds of roast beef in the broth to enrich it.. but.. it's good with just the broth also. I always feel I am eating rubies :-)

An October baby I revel in this time of year, the quality of the light, the way the flora and fauna are behaving and doing. My last resident hummingbird of the year took off last night after a final feast at the feeder rested and sipped all afternoon at the feeder and as dusk crept over the yard lifted in flight and looked in at me watching through the window and chittered good-bye see you in the Spring and I whispered back Godspeed little one, blessings and protection go with you.

I actually bought some of the blue light filtering eyeglasses and it seems to be helping. I have had no trouble sleeping... leaving the windows wide open for the coolness and cuddling with kitties in the warm toasty bed and sending out prayers of Light and Love I drift away as I "follow" the beams of Light I am sending out. Next thing I know? it's morning! I actually am finding myself more and more at peace with each passing day.... we've got this. We can't get it wrong. We will do and be...what we came here to do and be.. no matter what goes on around us. ❤️ 

@fran Regarding lavender, I didn't realize that it relaxes, but I made some creme and added  lavender oil and I find myself slathering it all over me before bed. I love the aroma. Perhaps add it to the washing machine when I do the pillow cases too?

@jeanne-mayell absolutely! It really helps. Psychiatrists have told me it’s got properties that activate melatonin in your brain, which helps you sleep.

@fran ???