While listening to the news in the morning, I sometimes catch the short—minute or so—radio program That's Something You Should Know. It's not religious, but it often covers some very interesting topics. On October 7 [2009], host Michael Carruthers interviewed Paul McKenna, the author of a book on overcoming insomnia.

Now, I know nothing about Paul McKenna (other than the tips he shared on the radio), but I do know there are millions of people, such as my husband, and occasionally myself, who have difficulty falling asleep. My first thought, on those frustrating nights, is that I'm not sleeping because I should be praying. Or perhaps God is trying to speak to me. Once-in-awhile, that is the case, and God does speak to me, or I utter prayers that I find out later were very timely and significant. More often than not, however, the problem is that my thoughts are getting the better of me, keeping me awake.

When I cry out for God to "please, just make me go to sleep!" He usually replies something to the effect of "shut your mind down, Teresa, and you will!" Very much shades of my daughter coming into our room every night when she was little, distraught that she couldn't sleep. After praying for her, I would say "Just go back to bed, honey, close your eyes, and sleep!" In other words, God speaks the truth to me that I must shut my mind down, but actually doing that is another matter.

Over the years, I've heard every tip for falling asleep: sleep in a cool, dark room, don't eat or drink hours before going to bed, don't have a television in the bedroom, etc., etc. My husband and I do all those things. But Paul McKenna offered another tip that I had never heard of before.

"Describe inside your mind silently (not out loud)," he said, "everything that’s coming into your mind—all the different sorts—but you do it in a slow and monotonous tone. So you go, 'Now, I’m worrying about that meeting I’ve got tomorrow.'. And you do that over and over for about five minutes it’s very difficult to stay awake."

I shared that "super slow-mo" tip with my husband. "It's worth a try," I told him. "You haven't been sleeping well for weeks and nothing else has worked. Imagine your mind as a runaway train and you have to put the brakes on it," I explained. "Or that your mouth is numb with Novocaine and you're having a hard time articulating your thoughts to yourself."

It worked. The last three consecutive nights, when my husband has woken up, he has silently vocalized his thoughts in slow motion and fallen back to sleep. I haven't tried it because I've been sleeping just fine, thank God.

It could be a quirk, but—hey—if you've been having a hard time sleeping, you might want to give it a try. If it works for you, let me know!

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Mike Carruthers/Paul McKenna - That's Something You Should Know http://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/content/when-you-cant-sleep

Used by permission www.breakingchristiannews.com