Day... (Lord only knows!): I'm Back!

Hello, Dear Readers!  You might remember me?  I'm the woman who used to write a daily blog about novel experiences?  Well, I'm back and ready to get back in the game.

You may have wondered what happened to me? Did my computer spontaneously combust?  Did my tequila shot experience lead me down the path of raging alcoholism?   Did I fall off the novelty band wagon? Did the novelty of this experiment wear off?  The answer to all of these questions is a resounding "No!"  I'm very happy to report that the Novel Experience Experiment is alive and well, despite the lack of blog postings.  What did, in fact, happen since my last posting was that I became buried by the depth and breadth of my novel experiences. 

As a result, Dear Readers, I've learned some important novelty-related lessons.  First and foremost, too much novelty can be ungrounding.  Since my last blog post, I have faced the following changes/novel experiences:

1.  Ended my maternity leave and returned to my private psychotherapy practice

2.  Started a new business with two colleagues

3.  Put my home on the market

4.  Searched, and searched, and searched for a new home

5.  Had a cancer scare

6.  Watched my daughter develop new skills at break-neck speed

Each of these situations has provided me with a plethora of novel experiences.  Each of these situations has also had the potential of transforming the very fabric of my day to day existence, which, at times, has put me on Novel Experience Overload.  While I have had some very fun novel experiences since my last posting, a good number of these experiences have been stressful.

Add in the fact that my daughter finally, (FINALLY!!!), started falling asleep around the same time as my son, my late night blogging was replaced with luxurious and much needed hours of sleep.  And, as I became more and more overwhelmed by the novelty in my life, I had less and less motivation to spend my free time writing about it, and increasing amounts of motivation to SLEEP.

When Season 1 of Glee was added to Netflix's streaming offerings, I was pushed completely over the edge.  The sweet escapism was too much for me to resist!  Forty-four episodes of Glee later, (and a novel experience with a roku player and Hulu Plus), and I'm finally back.  Realistically, writing a blog posting a day just isn't going to happen.  My little life is now far too hectic for that kind of pace!  However, I have missed my blog and I want to reconnect.  So I think I can commit to one blog posting a week.  My new-found Arrested Development addiction will have to take a back seat.

So, hello again!  And I'll talk with you again real soon!  Promise!

Day Seven: Sleep Deprivation and Yoga Nidra

Sleep.  It's such a simple concept.  You lie down, close your eyes for at least 8 hours and wake up feeling refreshed, energized and ready to face the day.  Right?  Unfortunately, I have not had this type of sleep since June of 2008.  You see, for some reason when I am pregnant the first symptom that shows up is insomnia.  Don't get me wrong!  It is quickly followed by the incredible, slammed up against a wall, exhaustion that most pregnant women speak of.  But as soon as sperm meets egg, I am waking up multiple times a night wanting nothing more than to be sleeping.  Other symptoms come and go, but this is the one thing that stays constant throughout my entire pregnancy. 

The actual birth of my son just made matters worse.  While he is an absolute joy, (most of the time), he is an epically bad sleeper.  Though he will be turning two in a few weeks, he has only slept through the night (erratically), since a few weeks before the birth of his sister.  And, just in time, I am back on the round-the-clock feeding schedule of my newborn daughter.  I figure that at this rate it will be November of 2013 before I will be getting a full night's sleep!

So, for a long time now, the idea of trying Yoga Nidra has been tucked into the recesses of my foggy, sleep deprived brain.  Although I was once an avid yoga practitioner, prior to today the only thing I knew about this practice is that doing it for 30 minutes supposedly gives you the equivalent of 3 full hours of sleep.  A half hour of rest equalling three hours of sleep?    That means that if I could find a mere hour and half of quiet I could actually feel like I'd had the 9 full hours of sleep a night I had come to know and love prior to motherhood?  SIGN ME UP!!!

As I woke up feeling particularly exhausted and desperate to get more rest, today seemed like the perfect day to give yoga nidra a try.  I had no idea what to expect, but I purchased the MP3 of the CD pictured above and took heroic measures to get both of my children to nap at the same time.  With my IPod ready, I lay down on my bed and...  promptly fell asleep for two hours.  I didn't even manage to hit play.  My two hours of traditional sleep potentially cost me an additional 10 hours of rejuvenation!

By some miracle, the stars had aligned and both children were still asleep when I woke from my slumber.  This time, I actually managed to hit play and settled in to be transformed back into my normal, rested self.  At first, it was very much like your traditional relaxation practice; asking you to get comfortable, scan your body for tension and try to let it go, etc... etc...  After that, it got a little freaky! 

In my job, I've experienced a lot of relaxation techniques and scripts, but this was completely novel...  and at times bizarre!  The lilting voice instructed me to rapidly switch my focus from body part to body part; a practice that I found to be effective in rapidly getting me to a deeper state of relaxation.  Then, we were to focus on feeling common physical sensations:  warmth, relaxation, COLD, PAIN.  Ummm...  What?!  Imagining that I was walking on a cold floor in bare feet or feeling excruciating pain did nothing to relax my aching muscles!  Following this step, I thought that we were back in familiar territory as the voice started to guide me through some mental imagery.  Some images were calming, some were neutral, and then some were of snakes.  SNAKES!  Really???

As the practice was nearing its end, and the voice was gently coaxing me back to a wakeful state of consciousness, my son awoke with a shriek, causing my little one to howl and i was abruptly jarred back to reality.  Several hours later, when I had my next quiet moment, I immediately started researching just what it was that I had been through.  The information I found was fascinating and I will post the most useful links in the Nerd's Corner, but in a nutshell the idea is that to prepare to attain the state of yoga nidra you are rapidly led through the phases of sleep in order until you reach deep sleep... with full wakefulness and awareness.  So the snakes and other imagery were meant to mimic REM or dream sleep!  Interesting!

In conclusion, after the yoga nidra practice I definitely felt more rested than I had in days.  However, it's hard to say whether this was due to the practice or my accidental nap!  What I can say with certainty is that the yoga nidra mp3 I used was very effective at putting me in an altered state of reality.  Alhough it was not always "relaxing" in a traditional sense, that doesn't mean that it wasn't restorative and I do feel that it was effective.  But you won't find me trading in good, old fashioned sleep anytime soon!  Not that I have any to trade in, anyhow!