MY FINDINGS FROM “I CAN MAKE YOU SLEEP” – BY PAUL MCKENNA PART 2

January 31, 2023

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I can make you sleep – Paul McKenna

A technique for reducing stress (p104)

Rather than trying not to think about a stressful situation, try this:

• Bring the situation to mind like a short video.
• Step out from the image to view yourself and every one from a short distance.
• Float yourself further away so you are viewing the situation as a bystander.
• Drain all color from your image so it’s in black and white.
• Shrink the image and make it a lot smaller.
• Make it transparent.
• Ask yourself if you need to make any decisions about the situation, and do that now that you have reduced the emotional intensity and have a sense of distance and calmness.

Practice drowsiness (p107)

• Remember a time you felt really tired and how your body felt
• Imagine being around a group of friends that are all just as tired as you
• Notice them yawning and having difficulty keeping their eyes open
• Let yourself join in the yawning
• Imagine closing your eyes repeatedly
• Yawn again and let your mind drift, then look around again at your circle of tired yawning friends
• As you yawn more notice a warm comfortable feeling around you and let your self drift

Learning to change the tone of your internal voice is a vital part of learning to run your own mind, and helps you promote regular, restful sleep (p113)

When trying to promote sleep, make your internal voice speak at a very slow pace in a tired, gentle tone of voice. This automatically evokes a relaxation response in the body (p114).

• Say a sentence that refers to sleeping well
• Imagine how it would sound trailing off into the distance
• Change the tone so it sounds happily tired and drowsy
• Let the voice yawn between words
• Practice talking to yourself in this slow drowsy voice for several minutes before you go to bed (p115)

Systematic relaxation (p119)

Using a comfortable, content, tired, drowsy, yawning voice, say the following as you let yourself do it:  

• Now I relax my Eyes
• Now I relax my Jaw
• Now I relax my Tongue
• Now I relax my Shoulders
• Now I relax my Arms
• Now I relax my Hands
• Now I relax my Chest
• Now I relax my Stomach
• Now I relax my Thighs
• Now I relax my Calves
• Now I relax my Feet
• Now I relax my Mind

If needed repeat and try to deep you relaxing further each round

Thought field therapy (TFT) tapping – invented by Roger Callaghan (p152)

Specific patterns of rapid tapping on key acupuncture points have a rapid, reliable and predictable effect on our feelings. Using a series of taps in specific places of the body can reduce the intensity of an emotion or feeling of stress and establish calm. Studies show tapping techniques reduce stress chemicals in our body and produce states of relaxation.

With two fingers on any one hand tap the following places 10 times:

• Above eyebrow – R
• Below eye – R
• Under arm – L
• Below eye – R
• Collarbone – R
• Below eye – R
• Collarbone – R
• To hand between ring finger and pinky – R
• Close then open eyes
• Keep head still, continue tapping hand, as you look down to Right then Left, rotate eyes 360 clockwise then anticlockwise
• Hum the 1st few lines of happy Bday, then count out loud number 1-5, repeat humming 1st few lines of happy Bday
• Tap above eyebrow – R
• Below eye – R
• Under arm – L
• Below eye – R
• Collarbone  – L

Image Streaming to help you sleep Dr Win Wenger (p158)

Our minds are constantly processing a stream of images, sounds and feelings. When we describe this stream of images silently with your internal dialogue researchers have found it is almost impossible to stay awake.

• Close your eyes and giving your internal voice a slow relaxing monotone, describe to yourself whatever you are aware of
• It doesn’t matter how bizarre the thoughts or feelings are that come into your mind, just carry on describing them in a continuous stream with a monotone voice.
• Allow your internal voice to gently murmur a description of almost everything that comes into your mind
• If you are still awake after a few minutes, make your voice more monotonous and keep going

Big event coming up and your mind keeps going over it? (p170)

You want the event to go well so your mind goes over it repeatedly to make it as good as possible. When you make a list of everything we can do to make something go well, the list acts as an acknowledgement and instruction to the unconscious mind. Which reduces stress over the event.

Shattered when you get home from work, but wide awake when you go to bed? (p180) Your mind is tired from working, but your body has not had enough exercise. Exercise is very efficient at washing stress toxins out of your body, and if you do it 3-4hrs before you go to sleep it helps you sleep deeper. It helps to match your mental exhaustion with some physical tiredness.