Sleep can be problematic in recovery. Here's what works for me
- Get to bed at the same time each night
- Get up at the same time each day
- Give yourself up to eight hours in bed each 24-hour period
- No coffee or other strong caffeinated drinks after 9.00 a.m.
- Exercise vigorously every day or at least go for long walks
- Spend plenty of time outside each day
- Nap briefly, if necessary, during the day, if unable to continue
- If necessary, nap more than once
- But do not sleep for extended periods during the day
- Do a step eleven review (page 86) in the late afternoon
- Consult with someone else if necessary
- Make sure all open questions are settled before the evening starts
- Make sure all held-onto matters are handed over before the evening starts
- Go into the evening with no preoccupations
- No tea or other weak caffeinated drinks after 6.00 p.m.
- No sugar after 6.00 p.m.
- No media or social media after 6.00 p.m.
- No conversations with enervating people after 6.00 p.m.
- No texting, messaging, or emails after 8.00 p.m.
- No screens or enervating material after 9.00 p.m.
- Be in bed a while before going to sleep
- Read something interesting but difficult
- Read until unable to take anything else in
- Only then turn the light out
- Rather than trying to sleep:
- Imagine somewhere peaceful where you can meet your Higher Power
- Talk to your Higher Power there
- Do not dwell for one second on anything dark or disturbing
- Promptly turn over anything dark or disturbing for God to deal with
- Do not allow anything troubling or banal from everyday life to linger there
- If such comes in, visualise God dissolving it to nothing
- Let the imagination construct an entire country there
- I repeat: do not try to sleep
- Instead, let sleep come when it is ready
- Come to be disappointed at how quickly sleep starts to come
- If restless or scattered, memorise prayers, Bible passages, poetry to recite over and over
- Use this to block out dark or disturbing thoughts
- Accept the possibility of being (partly) awake for (some of) the night
- Say: the worst of this is the opportunity to pray for hours
- Do not compound the ‘problem’ of not being able to sleep with upset about it
- In other words let it be OK that you can’t sleep
- At least you’re lying down and resting the body
- Even in a (partly) sleepless night there is some benefit
- If you’re really wide awake, read with low lights for half an hour then try again
- Do not get up, pace, drink coffee, call people, or otherwise perform daytime at night
- Observe the above consistently and eventually the cycle resets itself
- The body knows how to look after itself, as does the mind, if you let it