The Freedom of Life | Page 8

at least one might be perfectly free in sleep. But the
habits of cleaving to mistaken ways of living cannot be thrown off at
night and taken up again in the morning. They go to sleep with us and
they wake with us.
If, however, we learn better habits of sleeping, that helps us in our life
through the day. And learning better habits through the day helps us to
get more rest from our sleep. At the end of a good day we can settle
down more quickly to get ready for sleep, and, when we wake in the
morning, find ourselves more ready to begin the day to come.
There are three things that prevent sleep,--overfatigue, material
disturbances from the outside, and mental disturbances from, within.
It is not uncommon to hear people say, "I was too tired to sleep" --but it
is not generally known how great a help it is at such times not to try to
sleep, but to go to work deliberately to get I rested in preparation for it.
In nine cases out of ten it is the unwillingness to lie awake that keeps us

awake. We wonder why we do not sleep. We toss and turn and wish we
could sleep. We fret, and fume, and worry, because we do not sleep.
We think of all we have to do on the following day, and are oppressed
with the thought that we cannot do it if we do not sleep. First, we try
one experiment to see if it will not make us sleep, and when it fails, we
try another, and perhaps another. In each experiment we, are watching
to see if it will work. There are many things to do, any one of which
might help us to sleep, but the _watching to see if they will work keeps
us awake._
When we are kept awake from our fatigue, the first thing to do is to say
over and over to ourselves that we do not care whether we sleep or not,
in order to imbue ourselves with a healthy indifference about it. It will
help toward gaining this wholesome indifference to say "I am too tired
to sleep, and therefore, the first thing for me to do is to get rested in
order to prepare for sleep. When my brain is well rested, it will go to
sleep; it cannot help it. When it is well rested, it will sleep just as
naturally as my lungs breathe, or as my heart beats."
In order to rest our brains we want to lie quietly, relaxing all our
muscles, and taking even, quiet breaths. It is good when we can take
long, full breaths, but sometimes that is too fatiguing; and then we must
not only take moderately long, breaths, but be careful to have them
gentle, quiet, and rhythmic. To make a plan of breathing and follow it
keeps the mind steadily concentrated on the breathing, and gives the
rest of the brain, which has been working on other things, a chance to
relax and find its own freedom and rest. It is helpful to inhale while we
count seven, exhale while we count seven, then rest and breathe
naturally while we count seven, and to repeat the series of three for
seven times; but to be strict with ourselves and see that we only do it
seven times, not once more nor once less. Then we should wait a little
and try it again,--and so keep on for a number of times, repeating the
same series; and we should always be sure to have the air in our
bedrooms as fresh as possible. If the breathing is steady and rhythmical
it helps very much, and to inhale and exhale over and over for half an
hour has a very pleasant, quieting effect--sometimes such exercises
make us nervous at first, and, if we are very tired, that often happens;

but, if we keep steadily at work, the nervousness disappears and restful
quiet follows which very often brings restoring and refreshing sleep.
Another thing to remember--and it is very important--is that an
overtired brain needs more than the usual nourishment. If you have
been awake for an hour, and it is three hours after your last meal, take
half a cup, or a cup of hot milk. If you are awake for another two hours
take half a cup more, and so, at intervals of about two. hours, so long as
you are awake throughout the night. Hot milk is nourishing and a
sedative. It is not inconvenient to have milk by the side of one's bed,
and a little saucepan and spirit lamp, so that the milk can be heated
without getting up, and the quiet simple occupation of heating it is