Why You Can’t Sleep at 3AM And What To Do About It

A number of years ago, I started showering at night. I don’t remember if it was because I was training for a half marathon then and would come home from a night run sweaty, smelly and sated, in desperate need of a good washing. Or maybe it was because my mornings were filled with getting three kids up and out the door and any few extra minutes of sleep became more precious than a better hairdo a morning shower may bring. Either way, over time, I created a ritual that I would look forward to all day. A few savored moments to myself in a hot shower washing off my day before climbing into fresh sheets for sleep.

It meant something. And still does.

Not long after, I was awake again in the middle of the night ruminating over some perceived problem that had hijacked my thoughts. I’d stare at the clock, wide awake, counting down the hours or minutes until my alarm was scheduled to go off and silently willing my mind to shut off and my body to go back to sleep.

But no amount of begging. Or turning in bed again and again to a more comfortable side. Or fluffing my pillow for the eighteenth time ever worked. My sub conscious was having its own party with some event from the day I couldn’t get past, and I didn’t want to be on the guest list.

It finally occurred to me that maybe our minds and emotional bodies need the same type of cleansing before sleep that our physical bodies do.

What we experience during the day stays with us. It leaves its mark on our emotions, our energy, and our minds. For better or worse. Unfortunately, it’s the “worse” events that leave us puffy eyed and foggy the next morning.

But, we can fix that.

If we set aside ten minutes at night before we go to sleep - ten intentional undistracted minutes- to consciously “dump” our negative experiences, worries, fears and regrets into an imaginary bucket, we would all feel a lot better.

Make the commitment to sit in silence. Fill your body with light and find the areas that are claiming your attention.

Don’t judge it.

Don’t dismiss it.

Embrace it. Recongnize it. Tell yourself “I got you” and focus on that spot. Because this is where the “stuff” that keeps you up at 3am has collected and it’s waiting for you to grab hold and clean it out. Throw it into your imaginary bucket and let it be destroyed outside of your field where it can no longer affect you, where you no longer give it space, and where it belongs.

The past is over. We can’t go back. Let the energy go and move forward.

Some nights there may be one area that needs to be cleaned. Others fourteen. 'Take what comes, giving your subconscious a much need relief and your energy field some much need healing and love.

Trust me.

You’ll wake up more well rested and thank yourself in the morning.