What do you do to calm down?

[Anonymous]

Like someone else, I have discovered audiobooks are fantastic at sending me to sleep. They shut the mental chatter up pretty well, as I find it hard to think when I am listening to someone talk. The books work much better than music, which I used on and off through my life with irregular effect. Music does not shut my brain up like audiobooks do.

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[billd]

I hadn’t thought of audio books for a long time, but krazykat (not so crazy after-all maybe) got me to thinking – years ago, when taking a trip for one of the only vacations I’ve ever taken in my life, I popped in what we knew back then as a cassette tape – books on tape. A cassette tape is a little plastic case with a thin mylar film coated with oxide and reproduces sound. It’s small enough to fit into a pocket. Music even used to come on tape. I guess I’m aging myself here……..

anyway, it was like krazy said – I really got into it – and my mind was clear, the story interesting, and the drive was not tiring. I did quite well.

It’s not like music at all………. hmmmm…….

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[Anonymous]

We’re off topic again, impossible to control on an ADD forum, I guess.

LOL, just yesterday I was thinking how old I am because I used to use (and record with) cassette tapes. I even remember using reel-to-reel tape 😯 I guess I was wondering how we are going to preserve history in the future, will we all just toss out our memory sticks and computers as well? Embeded microchips in our brains?

I recall nanu nanu but didn’t like the show, I guess he was too off-the-wall for me. Anyone remember the rinkydink club or the stupydoop club? I thought of that the other day but couldn’t remember what show they were from. Maybe we need a memory lane thread!

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[Anonymous]

One technique that is useful for me for falling asleep is a kind of body scan. There are lots of ways of doing it, but this one helps calm down the body or the mind or both (since they are connected, you can use one to calm the other).

Laying down on your back, arms at your side a comfortable distance away from the body, and palms up, feet relaxed and a comfortable distance apart (a few inches, or hip-width or whatever feels good to you).

Start breathing in, imagining you are breathing through the soles of your feet all the way up to the crown of your head.

On the outbreath, imagine that you are breathing out through the left side of your body, down the shoulder & arms, left torso, left leg and out through the left foot.

On the next inhalation, again, imagine that you are breathing through the whole body, from the tips of your toes all the way up to the crown of your head.

On the next exhalation, change sides, imagining that you are breathing out through the right side of your body, down the shoulder & arms, right torso, right leg and out through the right foot.

Repeat the sequence – on your inhalations, breathing through the whole body, foot to head, and on your exhalations, breathing through the body head to foot alternating sides on each exhalation.

You can start to imagine that, on your inhalation, you are bringing fresh energy and prana (life force) into your body, from foot to head. And on your exhalation, you are sending waves of relaxation (the breath is a wave) through your body, releasing tension out through the feet. Feel the limbs and body start to relax and release, and get heavier.

Imagery is helpful but not necessary. Keeping your focus on the breath is.

If the mind is too busy, focusing slowly on the breath moving through the body will help to calm it. If the body is too restless, focusing slowly on the breath moving through the body will help to relax it. I know ADDers will have difficulty with focusing, but at night going to sleep, a few minutes may be all that’s required.

If I’m not having one of my poor sleep nights, this will get me off to sleep in a matter of minutes. And if it doesn’t, I’m so relaxed that I’m getting a rest anyway.

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[Anonymous]

I used to use relaxation techniques once upon a time. But when I need them the most (when I am most stressed) is when my brain just keeps butting in with all sorts of thoughts. I know there are relaxation CDs and audiobooks around (the ones which talk you through the process, not just music or “relaxing” sounds), which would probably help more than self-directed relaxation in instances where brain chatter keeps interrupting the process.

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[Author]

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