Methods and Techniques to Help You SLEEP

 

Big Think has an article titled, "The 5-step “military method” for falling asleep in minutes." The main five techniques it gives are the following:

The five steps

So, what is this magic technique? Below we lay out the military method’s steps to a good night’s sleep. It’s deliberately designed to be easy and efficient, so anyone can start tonight.

1. Relax your face. Focus on your forehead, your eyes, your cheeks, your jaw, and so on. Feel the tension held in them and consciously push it away.
2. Drop your shoulders. Let your arms flop down and your shoulders relax. Imagine there is a soft, warm wind gently pushing your arms down.
3. Take a deep breath. Slowly inhale and let it out. As you do so, focus on how it relaxes your stomach. Don’t try to hold your stomach in; let it all out.
4. Relax your legs. The warm wind is back, and this time it’s gently easing your legs down. Let your legs sink into the bed or the floor. They are leaden, and the bed is soft.
5. Clear your mind. There are a few ways to do this. For instance, try to visualize some calming images, like lying by a flowing river or staring at the clouds. If that doesn’t work, try saying the words “don’t think” over and over for about 10 seconds. If you get distracted, don’t get angry; just pull your mind back to one of those two techniques.

The following are my techniques for helping me fall asleep. They might help other people as well. People are different physically and mentally and so they probably won't help everyone. Some things might work better than others. 

 

-First, pray asking God to grant you sleep [as per Ps. 127:2], His peace and His protection for your mind, body and spirit while you sleep. Ask for God's Holy Spirit to fill you afresh (Eph. 5:18) and grant you that peace that transcends all understanding (Phil. 4:7). Ask the Holy Spirit to protect you, help you sleep and inspire restful dreams. Ask Christ to send His angels to protect you physically and spiritually. Protection from physical harm [like a falling tree, or airplane, or meteorite, or tornado/hurricane], demonic attacks, and nightmares brought on by your own subconscious or by demons. Even ask Christ to send an angel or more than one to protect you as you sleep, which is when you are most vulnerable physically and spiritually.

- Stop speaking mental words silently. This is not a recommendation to stop thinking. But to stop "speaking" in your mind. Stop "talking" in your mind. Quiet your mind by switching from thinking in words to thinking in terms of images. Stop having an inner dialogue with yourself.

- Allow your mind to wander. Don't force your thoughts to be rational, logical or make sense. Allow absurd thoughts and images to play in your mind without filtering or judging them as rational or irrational, permissible or impermissible. Though, if they are immoral, then as a Christian you should change the thoughts and images. So, barring sinful thoughts like murderous, lustful etc., allow your mind to wander. If you see an image, allow it its autonomy. Let the image do it's own thing. Don't try to control it. For example, if you see a triangle in your mind when your eyes are closed, allow it to naturally change its shape or color to whatever "wants" to if it wants (i.e. as your subconscious wants it to).

- Another technique is to think of a pleasant dream you have before. Imagine it and allow it to change your mood and attitude. Allow it to draw you into that mental dream state you were in when you were dreaming it in the past. But don't force it. Think about it with the minimum amount of effort and allow your mind to drift back to a dream state. Like the above technique, if the images want to change, allow it permission to do so. You want to relinquish as much mental controls as is permissible morally.

- Don't worry or try to solve problem while you're trying to sleep. Isa. 26: 3 says, "You [i.e. Yahweh] keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Leave the problem in the Lord's hands and trust the solution will come from Lord. Trust Him to give you the answer either during sleep or after you wake up. Instead of worrying, relax and let your mind wander. For example, you're thinking about how to fix your flat tire, don't insist on thinking of the solution. If your mind absurdly thinks of a bunny rabbit replacing your tire with a large donut and inflating it with its own breath like you would an inflatable pillow, allow your mind to think it.

- Try using "Brain Tapping" to help you fall asleep. See these video here:
                https://youtu.be/A5dE25ANU0k                https://youtu.be/8wWpA8o6IGg

-Take advantage of the fact that sleep cycles are completed every (approximately) 90 minutes. There are different stages of sleep and the last stage ends after every ~90 minutes. It's been shown that waking up at the end of a sleep cycle makes a person feel more fully rested than waking up in any of the other stages of sleep. That means the best time to wake up is approximately 90 minutes, or 3 hours, or 4 1/2 hours, or 6 hours, or 7 1/2 hours, or 9 hours after you actually fall asleep. Set your alarm to wake up around one of those times.

-Take advantage of the reality of your biological circadian rhythms. When you are in a habit of sleeping at the right time and at the same time as well as waking up at the right time and the same time every day, then your body adjusts to that and helps you naturally get sleeping at the right time, and helps you naturally wake up at the right time. So, make it a habit to sleep and wake up at your scheduled times. Your circadian rhythms can help you or hurt you. Use them to your advantage, rather than allowing them [sic] to be used against you to your disadvantage. Remember, evil spirits understand that sleep is an important part of your usefulness, effectiveness and health (physically, mentally, spiritually). So, they will seek to disturb your sleeping patterns and your ability to get the daily and weekly rest you need.

 - If you wake up because you need to urinate, don't turn on bright lights. Otherwise you will restart a new sleep cycle, and you might have a difficult time falling back to sleep. Find a way to be able to walk to the bathroom and use the toilet, wash your hands and then go back to bed without turning on bright lights. Maybe set up an alternative dim light source you can turn on or even carry to urinate.

-Scientists have said that another way to help you fall asleep is by dropping body temperature. So some take a shower before going to sleep and/or wearing something that will keep you cool while you're in bed.

-The last technique might not help some people. Some people might become uncomfortable or feel vulnerable cooled down or not sleeping with a blanket on. Some people feel more comfortable sleeping with a warm blanket on.

-In fact, some fall asleep sooner and get more rest with a weighted blanket. Or in a sleeping bag. The weight and constriction might work because it might be simulating being in the womb. I don't know. But some people swear to weighted blankets or confining sleeping conditions like in a hammock or sleeping bag.

-When your alarm wakes you up, don't set it to snooze. Sleeping again restarts a new sleep cycle and after the 5 or 10 minute snooze you won't feel very rested afterwards when you do get up. So, stop using the snooze button.

 -If you drink coffee for breakfast, it's been said by scientists that you should delay drinking coffee till after 90 after you walk up to allow your body to naturally deal with the chemicals of sleepiness. Then, when you do drink your coffee after 90 minutes, you won't feel the crash a few hours later that often accompanies drinking coffee to wake you up.

-Consider breaking your sleep into two stages, or the "Two Sleeps." See this article on the topic HERE. Recently, it's been discovered by historians and other scholars that in many periods of human history people had two stages of sleep separated by a time of waking up and doing some light activity like reading (or whatnot) for a short period of time. After the light activity, they then proceeded to go back to sleep to finish off the rest of their planned sleep.

-Make sure you have fresh air in the room you sleep in. Lack of fresh air can keep you awake. Have you ever sleep with the blanket over your face and then wake up suddenly? That's sometimes due to the fact that your body recognizes that it's severely depleted of oxygen and has too much carbon dioxide in the bloodstream and therefore forces you to wake up in order to get some more oxygen in your system. So, always sleep with the blanket away from your face. Those intense dreams you have when your face is covered is because your brain is trying to keep active and alive despite the low oxygen content in your body.

-Make sure to be well hydrated before you go to sleep. That way you don't get intensely thirsty and wake up in the middle of your planned sleep. Hydrate in advance enough to so that you urinate excess water before you go to sleep. If you hydrate immediately before going to sleep, then you're obviously going to have to wake up to urinate later. Also, keep some water near your bed when you sleep. So that if you do get thirsty, you don't have to walk far to get a drink. The water is within arm's reach.

- Keep electronic devices away from you body. Especially your brain while you sleep. Electromagnetic fields can disturb your sleep and health. So, you should always try to avoid EM fields whenever possible. Keep your bed away from all Wi-Fi radiation, both from your Wi-Fi internet router, and your laptop. Place your laptop, cellphones and iPads, and kindles on "airplane mode" and away from you. If possible, don't use alarm plugged into the electric socket. Or having far away from your bed. You can set that alarm clock to wake you up, or use an alarm that uses batteries that's closer to your bed/body.

- Keep your room as dark as possible while you sleep. Absolute darkness is best. If your room has light in it, the light can still enter your eyes through your closed eyelids. Absolute darkness is essential to produce certain hormones needed for sleep and bodily recovery. When your brain senses light entering the eyes, it doesn't produce the chemicals and hormones it is supposed to produce when you're fully asleep. Your brain thinks it's daytime and the sun is out, and therefore affects your circadian rhythms and therefore you sleep patterns and quality of sleep.

- Sleep paralysis during sleep can sometimes just be purely biological. Same thing with Hypnagogic Hallucinations and and Hypnopompic hallucinations. Other times, they can be spiritual attacks by an evil spirit. Same thing with "Alien Abduction" experiences. If you suspect you're being demonically attacked, invoke the name of Jesus and ask Jesus to make the attacks stop. If you're a Christian, then you can also use your authority in Christ to command evil spirits to cease and desist, and to leave you in Jesus name. See for example, these testimonies of people who were able to stop "Alien Abduction" experiences by calling on the name of Jesus HERE. See also the following article by theologian and pastor Sam Storms. I cite Storms because he's respected by both Evangelical cessationists as well as continuationists (I'm a continuationist). Some cessationists don't believe ordinary Christians have authority to rebuke evil spirits. Storms is educated enough theologically that even cessationists have to seriously consider what he's saying.  Identity & Authority by Sam Storms.

-Examine your medications. Ask your doctor if certain medications might be disturbing your sleep. It might be the medication by itself, or the problem might just be the wrong dosage. Maybe at lower dosages your sleep won't be affected. Ask your doctor to adjust or switch your medications.

- Another obvious thing is to not drink coffee or other stimulants like energy drinks right before you go to sleep.

If none of these things work, do your own research. For example, read some articles on the internet and watch some videos on YouTube for advice on getting to sleep faster, regularly and with greater rest. Go to the library and find books on the topic as well.

Atheistic Objection to "Thoughts & Prayers"

Recently it's been popular on social media to object to theists stating that their "thoughts & prayers" go out to the living victims of tragedy. Usually, this objection comes from simplistic atheists. The following meme is representative of their objection.

I got that meme from an atheistic Facebook group. The following is my response [with minor adjustments].

1. The apparent fact that the phrase "thought & prayers" instead of merely "prayers" has, from my observation, arisen after the emergence of aggressive atheism [cf. The New Atheism movement] suggests to me that that addition of "thoughts" to the simple term "prayers" was an attempt by non-theists and atheists to be included in wishing the living victims of tragedy well. Especially since, a necessary, but not sufficient, condition of most prayers are thoughts. You can have thought without prayer, but you usually don't have prayer without thought [I'm leaving aside the issue of speaking in tongues whereby one allegedly can pray without knowing what one is praying about because it's not pertinent to the issue]. Given theism, the statement "Our thoughts and prayers are for/with the victims" would tend to seem to be redundant. So, if there's any asininity to the phrase "thoughts & prayers", it might actually find its source in atheism, not theism.

2. Those who object to people saying they are praying for the living victims of tragedy on account of the [alleged] fact that praying doesn't do anything to help beg the question that it doesn't help. They would have to be omniscient to know all the various ways God might respond to prayer in the short term, long term, the spiritual, the physical, the emotional, the financial, the earthly, the heavenly [e.g. victims of tragedy might end up getting "saved" because of seeing their need for God]. So, if anything, it's objectors to praying and prayers who are potentially being unmerciful toward the victims. If the atheistic objectors point out that theists who pray don't also do something tangible in this physical world, so what? Not everyone (whether theist or atheist) can do something tangible or financial (etc.) about a situation. Since, hard atheism [positive belief in the non-existence of all possible gods], as opposed to soft atheism [mere lack of a belief in gods], is impossible to prove; the logical, rational and merciful thing is for soft atheists to tolerate [or even encourage] theists to pray for victims of tragedy. But many atheists would rather not be that logical or rational.

3. Also, what's wrong with thought? An atheist or theist could be spending some time thinking of the victims and later come to some insight into how he or she CAN **NOW** help the victims, and even possibly prevent future similar tragedies. Isn't that precisely what objectors to "Thoughts & Prayers" are attempting to do when they object? Namely, thinking. That is, unless they're willing to admit that they are being UNTHINKING when they make such asinine objections to " *̲T̲H̲O̲U̲G̲H̲T̲S̲*̲ & Prayers".

Should We Pray for the Devil?

I saw the following meme on Facebook

The following was my response (with possible future typo corrections and additions):

1. It must be remembered that Satan sinned against greater light (i.e. knowledge) than all human beings, and probably than all other angels. He was probably one of the chief angels of God (if not THE chief; cf. Isa. 14 & Ezek. 28). He's the most guilty of all both in terms of greater light and in terms of being the greatest instigator of sin in others via temptation and lies down through the centuries. Satan probably led the angels in their falling away just as he instigated the Fall of Adam and Eve. Satan might also be the most gifted, powerful and intelligent of all creatures ever created (with the likely exception of resurrected and glorified human beings). So, Satan also sinned with greater accountability because of his superior intellect and powers.

2. It must also be remembered that grace (i.e. unmerited favor) and mercy are, by definition, not obligated. God didn't have to provide salvation for fallen creatures (whether human or angels). God would be righteous and just in never having provided salvation for either humans or angels.

3. Historic Christianity affirms God's exhaustive foreknowledge of the Future (whether Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Arminian, Lutheran, Molinist, Calvinist etc.). The Bible predicts and prophesies that the devil will not repent and has been destined for ultimate and final judgment (cf. Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10; Gen. 3:14-15; Rom. 16:20). To pray for the devil's salvation would contradict God's revelation of the future and is therefore sinful because you're denying God's foreknowledge (and if a high view of predestination is true, like in Calvinism, then also denying God's foreordination).

4. For Protestants Christ died to redeem human beings. In the context of redemption and atonement the author of Hebrews states in Heb. 2:16, " For surely it is ***NOT ANGELS*** that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham."  There's no indication of Christ dying for angels. Yes, there's a sense in which Christ's redemption has a universal effect on all creation and so in that sense Christ redeemed it by His death on the cross. But in terms of penal substitution, Jesus only died for human beings. Additionally, Calvinists generally believe Jesus only died for the elect. I'm a Calvinist and I lean toward the Calvinistic doctrine of Limited Atonement, but I'm not dogmatic on it. I still think it could be false.

5. For Protestants, we interpret the Bible to teach that sinners (whether human or angelic) by nature cannot freely come to God in repentance and faith. That's because sinners are in bondage to sin (contrary to Pelagianism). It takes God's initiating/enabling grace to touch a person for them to be delivered from bondage to sin and to be able to now freely come to God (contrary to Semi-Pelagianism which says that sometimes man can self-initiate an application of grace). Catholics and Arminians are among those who believe this. If Calvinism is true, then God's grace is not merely initiating and enabling, but it's also sufficient and efficacious. Either way, God's grace is revealed in Christ's atonement, and that atonement also graciously makes possible the redemption of sinners. But as has been noted in #4 Christ died for humans and (in all probability) not for fallen angels.