Hectic (lifestyle):

Help needed to slow down

Enthusiastic to the point of obsession/addiction

Capable of many things and clever thoughts

Time to put the plan into action

Interested in everything, but not one focus

Calming does me a power of good.

The mind works all the time we are asleep. I wake early, and try to get an extra half hour's sleep. To no avail: my brain is cranking up like the central heating boiler, and will not switch off.

Unlike the central heating boiler, I can't rush downstairs and alter the settings on the control box, switch to the "Off" button.

For some time, I review plans for the day ahead: this to do, a phone call to make, mustn't forget. But as we have guests staying, I can't pad downstairs to make a cup of tea. There is a dog in the living room, who will wake and then that will be it... owners say he doesn't settle again. So, I sip the water from the glass by my bedside, aware of my husband's peaceful breathing as he sleeps on in the marital bed, and do the acrostic above, using the first letter of my chosen word, hectic, to start a thought on the matter.

My current hectic lifestyle provides the skeleton for this simple exercise. We used to give acrostics to the pupils at school to do quite often. Today, it helps sort out some of my brain fog, and stops me going into overdrive. I have taken hold of the reins, and "held back the horses", gaining a measure of control over whirring thoughts.

What ways do you use to help your mind relax when it is too crowded?

How effective is this in relaxing you for the day ahead?

I'd be interested to know what methods others try when sleep evades them, and the mind is galloping?

Sally

A Moodscope member.