Sleep...

I have never been the world’s soundest sleeper - I often wake in the early hours and my mind switches on like a light - but over the last couple of years I seem to have developed 3 strategies for dealing with the unwanted interruption :

1. Apply meditation techniques to clear my mind and relax my body so I can drift back to sleep;

2. If no. 1 doesn’t work, and there’s nothing special on my mind, I get up and read a book until I’m tired enough to go back to bed and sleep;

3. If no. 1 doesn’t work, and my mind is racing and/or worrying, I get up and write it all down, getting it out of my head and onto paper until my mind is clear enough to go back to bed and sleep.

It unfortunately took me a few decades to learn the fundamental importance of a good night’s sleep, and now I have changed my routines to give me the best possible chance, but as with many things, it pays to have a plan for when things go wrong, rather than hoping to miraculously find a solution in the dark wee hours of the night…