Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Elevated sleep

As not demonstrated here by the Whippet:


I've had trouble sleeping deeply for years now. Especially in the summer. I have devised all sorts of cunning black-out blinds and curtains, but they just make the room stuffy. I was waking up at 5.30am and just not able to get back to sleep.

Then on holiday, I was sleeping like this:


Well, not literally like that, I had a bed not a manky old sun lounger cushion. I also had two pillows. What I mean is, I slept - actually slept - really deeply.

I always used to have two pillows, but my husband's family are "one pillow" people, so a few years ago I switched to one pillow, with a second one just to prop me up in bed to read, which then got chucked on the floor at lights-out.

Since getting back from holiday, I just haven't been able to get comfortable in bed. One pillow didn't feel right but two pillows gave me a crick in the neck. Finally, I swapped my pillows around so the softer one was on top - still slightly elevated, but not so much as to give me a crick.

Bingo. Sleeping like a baby, or a Whippet...and a lot of very strange, vivid dreams, just like I used to have. I can even get back to sleep after 5.30am.

Is this peculiar to me, or has anyone else found being slightly elevated helps them to sleep? After years of insomnia it feels like a bit of a breakthrough. And how do other people sleep through the dawn chorus?!