Restlessness

For the past week and a half, I have been having trouble sleeping. I am not suffering from insomnia (the sleeplessness I have dealt with before) but lately, I fall asleep, but I do not stay asleep.  And then when I do sleep, I have strange dreams. The dreams I have are what baffles me the most, nightly fantasy adventures filled with magic, vampires, shape-shifters and other mythical creatures. I want to know what these dreams mean, why am I feeling restless and how I can best channel the energy that I have at nights and use them in the daytime.

Each night, I toss and turn, and when I wake up I am disoriented and tired. Sleep is important and unlike some persons I know, I am not a night owl, I need rest in order to avoid being crabby and miserable in the day time. It is strange that this sleep disruption is happening now when I am actually doing a “Sleep Better” challenge (journey) in the Fabulous Motivation app. I have been enjoying the application’s use of repetitive challenges to alter behaviour. So far, I have succeeded in getting up earlier, drinking more water, exercising and eating more fruits and vegetables. But the sleeping prompts such as disconnecting from the internet, making my room dark and quiet and meditating seem impossible.

In an attempt to figure out what is causing the strange dreams and the disruption in my sleep, I have decided to start to journal daily, in morning and at nights before bed, to see if I can note any patterns in my thoughts that may point me towards restoring my peace. During my teen years and even before, perhaps, I think, I used to record my thoughts, feelings and fears religiously until into my early 20s when I stopped after my private thoughts and feelings were read and used against me.  I have since been wary of diaries and journals but now I feel it is safe to return to writing and tracking my thoughts and recording my experiences.