So….reading.
I love reading.
Always have, always will.
Lately I’ve been discussing with my doctor (I’ve been doing
some cognitive behavioral therapy to help with my social anxiety) some sleep
issues I’ve been having. We also
discussed my love of reading and how I should do it more often.
But….there are only certain types of books that I can read
during certain times of the day. I
started reading before bed, but I noticed something. Whenever I read fiction books, specifically ‘present-day’
fiction books (not historical fiction), they keep me awake. Or it takes me forever to fall asleep
(because I’m thinking about the book), then when I fall asleep, I dream about
the book. Which is usually not
good. A good example was ‘The Girl on
the Train’. FANTASTIC book. But….when I finished (one evening before I went
to sleep), I had horrible nightmares that basically put me in the plot of the
book (if you’ve read the book, you’ll know why it was very disturbing to be IN
the plot in my dream). I was up most of
the night. I would wake up, and then
when I would fall back asleep my dream would pick up right where it left off. It threw my whole week off and I just couldn’t
get caught up on anything (due to tiredness and lack of sleep).
So…no more fiction for me before bed. I allow myself to read those books during my
lunchtime at work. That’s it. I keep my current book in my desk so that I’m
not tempted to bring it home and finish it that evening if it’s really good.
So…what can I read before bed and any other time? Pretty much everything else. Historical fiction, non-fiction (on any
subject – biographies, history, health, etc.).
My doctor is an avid reader as well and has given me a few good
suggestions already about non-fiction books that were either biographies or
history that she loved. For some reason,
I don’t have any issues with those types of books keeping me up at night. I don’t have as many dreams as I used to and
am sleeping better.
I also bought a lavender candle (Mrs. Myers) that I light as
soon as I started my bedtime routine. Lavender
is a calming scent. At first I thought it
was too strong, but I must be used to it, because now I love it and I think it’s
helping. (My husband blows out the
candle when he comes to bed a short while after I do).
Thankfully our bedroom is usually picked up and clean, but
if it’s not, I try to do that before bed.
A clean, calm bedroom really helps me to relax and be able to fall
asleep.
So between being selective about my evening books, my
candle, and always having a clean bedroom, I hope to get my sleep health back
on track!
