It’s one of those nights when sleep does not come. There are many reasons sleep does not come easy for me, these includes, the large volume nebulizer that sits right next to my bed that I have to wear all night long and sounds like a large compressor by my head, the shooting nerve pain that afflicts my toes nightly, the joint pain in my hands, feet, arms, legs, and all the extremities, and of course, because I had a long day. Pain has become part of my normal everyday life and so has not being able to sleep well. I still manage to live the best that I can. A long time ago when sleeplessness showed up at my door I would berate myself, get irritated, and try to force myself and then that would make things worse for me. That is when I decided to just get up and accomplish a task and then when I felt tired try again to sleep. I don’t berate myself, I don’t get angry, and I don’t force myself to conform. It’s not easy to do, believe me. It makes sleep even more difficult.
Recently, I downloaded the Calm App onto my Kindle Fire. I love it. In fact, while I am typing this I am listening to the beach sounds. I miss the beach a lot. One day I will feel the sand on my feet again and feel the waves hitting my toes. I love the beach. I digress. I have found that the Calm app helps me relax and to get my mind off of things. It also helps me to focus on a project while I am doing it. It’s amazing. It also keeps the compressor noise away for a brief moment while I am trying to get to sleep.
I also use essential oils in my difuser, even though I cannot smell anything, it helps me relax.
I also use my YouVersion Bible App to read scriptures or Bible studies that I find on there. There are so many to choose from. Right now, I am reading the Bible Chronologically with a few people. I am also doing several Bible Studies. This is a great way to relax and pray and focus on God instead of not being able to sleep or my pain levels. Distraction helps.
There are so many different ways of doing self-care in creating a sleep routine that works for you. It is also important that you don’t beat yourself up too. Chronic illnesses such as Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Wegener’s, and Tracheal Stenosis causes sleeping issues. Accepting that this is part of my life and that I can learn to be flexible allows me to live well anyway. That is ultimately my goal. To live well, so that I can keep on pursuing my God given assignments on this Earth.
What are some of the self-care things you do for your sleeping routine?
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