# Help...



## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Hi...This has been going on for quite a few nights and tonight is the worst -- I don't know what I did wrong -- I'm still sticking to Mike's insomnia CD every night, but this past week it didn't seem to work that well anymore... At first sleep hours were shortened, and then I needed longer time to fall asleep, and then I needed to listen to it twice, and tonight it's 3:10 now and I still can't sleep... It's not like I'm not tired -- I'm so tired that my eyes and my head hurt, but I just can't sleep







I'm not a person to easily lose confidence in things, but I don't know what I did wrong... nothing in my life has changed and I'm no more (or less) stressed out than before...







Please, Marilyn, Eric, or anyone, any idea about what might be happening to this process? I really really appreciate your help...


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi Cheri - Mike has had a few suggestions on this, but I think I may have given them to you - but he suggests getting up, going into another room other than the bedroom, and just standing there, doing nothing, no reading, no TV, no bright lights (just enough light to not trip!) and stand there (or sit if you are unsteady) for 20 minutes or sooner if you feel really tired. He says this helps to break the connection of Bed = no sleep.Also, it is very common and normal, that some folks "fight" the initial progress gained from doin hypnotherapy processes. This does not mean a failure on your part or the sessions. The subconscious mind sometimes sees any kind of change as a threat - even if the change is for the better. So, sometimes a few weeks or a month or so into it, many of us have what Mike calls "shadow fears" that the good we have accomplished is undone and that we are reverting back to perhaps even worse than before, and this is not really the case. It is the minds last attempts to hold on to the old thought patterns - usually things start to revert back to the accomplished patterns and get better and better from there - so it is nothing you are "doing" wrong or anything like that - it just happens to some folks this way.Also, even though you have said nothing has changed, sometimes things can change without our recognizing it - a comment made during the day, a worry or concern that you may have dismissed consciously, etc. all these variables can cause sleep interruption - even for folks not battling chronic insomnia - this may or may not be the case for you, but it can enter into things. Sometimes I have stuff go on during the day that I don't really "address" and then at night stuff comes to me about it.I would say for now - take two nights off completely from listening to your CD session -just take a total break - it may mean some loss of sleep, but then that is no different to what you are experiencing now.The break in listening will give your subconscious a chance to assimilate what is happening, and also break any connection with listening to the session and not sleeping - it could be that sometimes things latch onto the session itself temporarily, and the break would take care of that.Your next option would be to email Mike directly and ask him for any thoughts beyond this that he might have once you have tried the above - break two nights, then resume on the third night - and give it three nights of listening to see if it shifts back to helping you again. Then if you still are having problems, contact Mike.But above all, don't beat yourself up about it - this can be normal stuff going on and nothing you are doing wrong - the only thing I can think of that maybe you could do wrong is overlisten to the sessions - more often than suggested (usually Mike says you need 6 hours between repeated listenings) but with insomnia, I am not sure about that as much as with the IBS program.Hope this helps, and don't give up - you know it has helped you before, it can help you again, don't be discouraged.And - off topic - I love your quote from Einstein. Profound.Take care sweetie!


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Hi, Marilyn ~~







Thank you SOOO much for writing back! I had about 3 hours' sleep total and been feeling like a zombie -- your reply truly restored my full confidence in myself as well as in the CD. THANK YOU!And thank you for explaining how the subconscious "fight" the initial gain -- that's exactly how it felt like for me! It was like my mind stopped listening although my ears were there... It's good to know that I'm not the only one who run into this problem. I'll definitely follow all your suggestions!Now that you mentioned that someone said something during the day could be a source of stress, I just remembered my hub trying to tell me an alien abduction story -- I generally like sci-fi stuff, but this time I got creeped out and didn't let him tell me. I completely forgot this! That's probably why nothing worked last night... And I did over-listen...By the way, I tried Mike's suggestion before... somehow (I must be a real odd person) it didn't work that well for me -- like, being alone in a darker room totally freaks me out... I know it's illogical, but I'm afraid of the dark -- sometimes I have to leave a bright light on if sleeping alone (that's when hub snores and i sneak out to another room)... and doing nothing usually sends my imagination racing -- it's like it's not my brain and I can't control what comes from it... Would it be still OK if I turn on the light when standing in the room?Thank you again so, so much for your encouraging words and for putting my mind at ease! I REALLY appreciate your help especially it's not an IBS-related question.







CheriP.S., And thanks for liking the quote!







Einstein is my favorite scientist


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi Cheri - Of course you can have the lights on in the room - I just meant not every one blasting and glaring - you know - you don't want to trigger yourself into thinking "daylight and morning time" - a normal room lamp or two is fine - whatever your comfort level allows. It is also normal for the mind to be racing and thinking of things - a trick for this is before bedtime, just jot things down on a notepad by the bed of anything that is on your mind, or that you need to deal with the next day, etc. - not a big long thing - just a few lines or so, and for many folks that "takes it off your mind" - the physical act of writing it down on paper with pen or pencil. The CDs won't help with being freaked out by being alone in a dark room - that is another issue altogether! I am the opposite - I am like dim lights and the night. But if overall, the being in the other room doesnt help you, then the only other thing I can think of is white noise - like a fan, or even a recording that has white noise in the background - this can be soothing for some people. Hope that helps - OK - I think these are attributed to Einstein -







"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton) "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Thank you SOOOOO much, Marilyn! I'll do everything you suggested. (Plus I'll ditch the sci-fi channel esp. before bedtime for a while, 'cause that was what sent my mind racing -- not the usual daily chores, but stories and mental pics







... how dumb of me -- never occurred to me before that this was related







)Thanks a bunch for the quotes! Love them, love them, love them! The first one REALLY made me laugh!!


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