Waking up anxious

[Sanzon]

I can only once remember waking up feeling refreshed. I do suffer from sleep apnoea, but have worn tape over my mouth to encourage nostril breathing which helps a little in regards to energy levels. My dreams are always Pandora's boxes and frustrating, and i have troubles leaving my dreams behind mood wise. I always feel like I need to stay in that space becausw i havent digures things out or sorted it out. Hence, I always wake up feeling anxious.

 

A yoga practice of salute to the sun will stir things up for me & make me more anxious. I would say I am an anxious person overall but present myself and act pretty chilled. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on what I may do to being myself back into balance when I get up? I have no experience in Taoist practices, but keen to try something out.

 

Thanks.

[Gerard]

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Edited September 13, 2013 by Gerard

[JustBHappy]

Good suggestions.

 

I would recommend not focusing so much on what you do when you get up, but rather what you do and don't do before sleeping.

 

I have found that adding a second meditation session at night before I go to bed helps my sleep, my dream lucidity, and how I feel upon waking up. Even if you can just rest the mind while in a decent meditation posture for a mere 10 minutes I bet it will help. If you can do 30-40 minutes, then all the better but start small and slowly get into it.

 

I would avoid tv, passionate discussions, and news a few hours before sleeping and be mindful of what you expose yourself to on the internet at night.

 

In the morning try some of the "hold a posture for many minutes and breath yoga" such as iyengar, not the modern crank up the heart rate style yoga, then have your meditation session at night right before you go to sleep.

[mike 134]

I can only once remember waking up feeling refreshed. I do suffer from sleep apnoea

 

that says it all right there. Putting tape in your mouth isn't gonna cut it. Go back to ur doc, u might need a machine that pumps air into you at night to keep things open.

[Birch]

Aside from Mike's suggestion (a good one). I can only tell you what I do and what works for me is to take the time to wake up. Just like there's a transition from waking to sleeping as you fall asleep (hypnogogia) there's another one from sleeping to being fully awake. Some people with disturbed sleep also have difficulties with the transitions (so if you have apnoea, that would disturb things quite some) and IME sometimes a 'bad' dream is all it takes to make me wake up anxious with no real awareness of the content of the dream but awareness of the state of my nervous system. So basically I've learned (still learning!) to wait it out. Usual caveats of awareness etc. I know it's tempting to kick myself into 'get over it' mode and force a shift but I'm trying this way. I don't know which is 'best'.

 

 

[Apech]

I can only once remember waking up feeling refreshed. I do suffer from sleep apnoea, but have worn tape over my mouth to encourage nostril breathing which helps a little in regards to energy levels. My dreams are always Pandora's boxes and frustrating, and i have troubles leaving my dreams behind mood wise. I always feel like I need to stay in that space becausw i havent digures things out or sorted it out. Hence, I always wake up feeling anxious.

 

A yoga practice of salute to the sun will stir things up for me & make me more anxious. I would say I am an anxious person overall but present myself and act pretty chilled. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on what I may do to being myself back into balance when I get up? I have no experience in Taoist practices, but keen to try something out.

 

Thanks.

 

 

I'm wondering if fasting or dieting might help. Also look at sleep patterns ... how long do you sleep for ... do you sleep alone or do you have a partner. Even changing where you sleep or the orientation fo your bed might help. It is also likely that whatever is going on in the rest of your life, daily routines or pressure at work for instance is involved. You might need more physical exercise/fresh air ... and so on.

 

Try to disrupt whatever habitual patterns you have and see if your sleep quality changes.

[de_paradise]

This is an extremely common problem among modern people. Everyone gets dreams that lift up the fears and anxieties stored away in the subconscious mind. Generally speaking, a typical person resolves this by jumping up and filling their day with activities which has the tendency to push away or down those anxieties and fears. Our society does this so much that "busyness" is equated with "good", even pointless busyness.

 

"Disciplined and controlled on the outside, you are often nervous and insecure on the inside" This is a "cold reading" statement by PT Barnum, a statement, that if I told anyone, they would think I am a fortune teller. See how common it is.

 

Some monks and cultivators, including myself LOVE to get anxieties at night or just after dreaming because it can often reveal the cause of the anxiety. There is all this hidden junk or non-useful patterns in our subconcious minds. Once the cause of the problem is revealed, we can start to name it, express it, release it, transform it. Often its something really silly. For example, due to the amount of travelling and lugging heavy bags and merchandise through airports and public transportation that I've done in the past. I grow anxious at the thought of heavy baggage before travelling--even if I have a short trip and rides perfectly arranged, I still get anxious dreams of baggages before a trip. Heavy-baggage-phobia.

 

Step 1 is to understand what thoughts are associated when you feel the anxieties.

 

I can work with you if you pm me.

[mike 134]

Just like there's a transition from waking to sleeping as you fall asleep (hypnogogia)

 

????? HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HYPNAGOGIA?!!! I have all sorts of strange events during hypnagogia, and I am looking for an explanation. Just 2 days ago I was laying there in bed at 7AM, trying to get another hour of sleep before I have to get up for good. I entered hypnagogia, then had a really strange OBE where it started from the bottom instead of the top, I felt my feet buzzing, then it felt like they were melting, and then it felt like my whole body was melting! Then the usual ear buzzing/heat vibrating before the real OBE started. Where else have you heard of that term hypnagogia? I want to know whats going on and I need answers, thanks.

[Birch]

????? HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HYPNAGOGIA?!!! I have all sorts of strange events during hypnagogia, and I am looking for an explanation. Just 2 days ago I was laying there in bed at 7AM, trying to get another hour of sleep before I have to get up for good. I entered hypnagogia, then had a really strange OBE where it started from the bottom instead of the top, I felt my feet buzzing, then it felt like they were melting, and then it felt like my whole body was melting! Then the usual ear buzzing/heat vibrating before the real OBE started. Where else have you heard of that term hypnagogia? I want to know whats going on and I need answers, thanks.

 

I've been studying it as part of my personal interests:-) There's lots of stuff online too. The myth of the succubus/incubus also comes from there (but more intense sleep paralysis symptoms).

[GrandmasterP]

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Hypnagogic-Hallucinations.htm

 

Sorry to hear about your sleep issues Mike.

Do you drink tea or coffee a lot?

We went decaff across the board a few years ago and when we made the switch for the first week or so I did nothing but sleep.

There's more caffeine in some teas than in some coffees and caffeine doesn't aid sound sleep.

HTH

Edited February 2, 2013 by GrandmasterP

[mike 134]

That's a great link, thx. Esp this part

 

Another type of hallucination that is sometimes reported at the onset of sleep involves elementary cenesthopathic feelings (such as experiencing picking, rubbing, or light touching), changes in location of body parts (such as an arm or a leg), or feelings of levitation or extracorporeal experiences (like moving the body in space or floating above the bed) that may be quite elaborate.

 

The wiki page even mentions electrical tingles and vibrations. I bet it has to do with the temporal lobe of the brain. kundalini = temporal lobe malfunction??? No I don't drink any caffeinated beverages but I take theanine supplements to help me sleep. Theanine is found in tea and it's very relaxing.

Edited February 2, 2013 by mike 134

[Birch]

"kundalini = temporal lobe malfunction"

 

I've been wondering about TLE (temporal lobe epilepsy) as related to kundalini. The thing that clued me in was the olfactory hallucinations. As usual, could be I already have this 'issue' and that meditation only revealed it (that's the standard response:-)). I also wonder if it's (TLE) related to early trauma (I'd fall, literally, into that category with additional aggravating conditions).

 

Edit: add deja vu to the list.

Edited February 3, 2013 by -K-

[silas]

Try a subliminal meditation to aleviate anxiety.

 

Subliminal Meditation: Eliminate Blockages And Open A Path To Self Inquiry

[Sanzon]

Thanks for your replies so far. It is probably a good approach as suggested to start with the obvious, like daily habits, and work from the outside in towards th emore subtle stuff. The other tools will be helpful along the way.

 

Mike 134, the tape over the mouth is part of the Buteyko Method, which is helpful, but I will admit to not practicing the recommended daily breathing practice all to often. I did have a sleep study done where they monitored the use of a CPAP machine on me, and showed it to be unhelpful, despite being the "gold standard" measurement of sleep apnoea intervention. They had nothing to offer apart from that. It was a bit like a sales pitch in that they have the "answer", & all they need to do is have you realise you need it.

[JustBHappy]

Some people report good results with sleeping while sitting up. It sounds impossible, but you get used to it. My mother in law has slept for years with the upper body vertical. She threw out the cpap machine years ago.