Ever have trouble going to sleep?

Visualization is a very powerful tool.

For example, when I was a grad student I had trouble sleeping because my thoughts were always running and thinking about projects I had to do, assignments, etc...that I would lose two hours trying to get to sleep. Less sleep means I can't perform as well the next day. The lost hours of sleep were beginning to interfere with my school work.

Later I heard about visualization techniques to help calm you down. What I did is that I choose a particular time in my life when I was a kid that I found myself enjoying outdoors. A time when it was calming and I was enjoying myself. The time I chose was when I was about 8 years old. I was near the base of a mountain (can't remember if it was Mt. Rainier (WA) or Mt. Hood in Oregon) during a family summer tip. I remember walking around amid the tall green grasses and tons of colorful wildflowers that dotted the mountain meadows where splotches of remnants snow higher up were melting away under the summer sun on the base of a hulking mountain giant. It was a vivid scene I still remember today.

I used that image to focus on that very serene scene I experienced when I was a boy who loved being outdoors. It wasn't easy at first. It took practice just to remind myself to focus on that image because my mind would wonder often as would the case for anybody trying to get some sleep. It took me about 3 or 4 weeks to finally get into it. It took practice, diligence and patience. I would use that particular scene in my past to help calm me and quickly go to sleep. I got to the point where I was able to get to sleep in about 15 minutes, sometimes in less time than that, too. My mind was trained to use a specific calming scene as a signal to my brain to begin "shutting" down in preparation for a sleep. It seems automatic at times that I just marvel at the simplicity of it. I'd suddenly find myself go off to la la land just by thinking about it rather than just focusing on it. It has gotten to the point where it became almost automatic. Of course, I don't realize that right before I go to sleep whether it's working but the next morning when I realized how quickly I went to sleep!

Also, I don't use alarms to wake myself up (only in rare instances when I feel the need to use a backup for an important day), either. I have always had this particular ability to "program" myself or remind myself to wake up. I have been doing this for a very long time. There's an internal clock that each of us has. You have that ability to "program" yourself on when you want to wake up. I've gotten to the point that I can wake up several minutes before my alarm would go off.

That's something I wanted to tell you about.

Ask yourself this question. What is the value of sleep to you? Do you find yourself struggling trying to get some sleep?

No pills.

No warm milk.

No strenuous exercise to tire you out.

No big meals before bedtime to satiate you into sleeping.

Just a visualization technique that works. It has worked for me for over 15 years now.

Try it. You'll thank me for it.

When deaf people live out in the country

Lately I've been seeing some irrational rantings against certain people who like living out in the country or the wide open spaces of America in the great outdoors in the effort to somehow try and use that against them. Unbelievable. I believe there are more pros than cons in living out in the country than do city living. The most obvious one is that the amount of stress is considerably less living out in the country than to deal with the crowded people, the traffic jams, higher crime rates, the increased pollution, and so on. In fact, a recent study came out saying that spending time with nature helps boost your immunity, reduce stress and increase your sense of well being.

...spending more time in nature might have some surprising health benefits. In a series of studies, scientists found that when people swap their concrete confines for a few hours in more natural surroundings — forests, parks and other places with plenty of trees — they experience increased immune function.

Stress reduction is one factor. But scientists also chalk it up to phytoncides, the airborne chemicals that plants emit to protect them from rotting and insects and which also seem to benefit humans.

One study published in January included data on 280 healthy people in Japan, where visiting nature parks for therapeutic effect has become a popular practice called “Shinrin-yoku,” or “forest bathing.” On one day, some people were instructed to walk through a forest or wooded area for a few hours, while others walked through a city area. On the second day, they traded places. The scientists found that being among plants produced “lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, and lower blood pressure,” among other things.

A number of other studies have shown that visiting parks and forests seems to raise levels of white blood cells, including one in 2007 in which men who took two-hour walks in a forest over two days had a 50-percent spike in levels of natural killer cells. And another found an increase in white blood cells that lasted a week in women exposed to phytoncides in forest air.

In short, being out in the woods or the great outdoors among the plants and trees is quite therapeutic. So, before anybody start to make fun of deaf or hard of hearing people who choose to live out in the country, consider the many benefits in living out in the country. With technology today you can easily enjoy keeping in contact with your friends, work from home, and/or enjoy being away from the mad world of city life.

Below are some pictures of Mount St. Helens, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams I took recently. These are the mountains I get to see almost everyday out in the woods whether it's working or driving around town. Sometimes I get to see all three mountains in one day or even four mountains if you include Mt. Hood from a distance in Oregon on a fantastically clear day. These are the beautiful snow-capped mountains and I never get tired looking at them. Such majestic features that can be admired up close or from a distance.

The Mount St. Helen picture I have below is an older one from last year and I have a better and more recent picture of it to upload tomorrow if I don't forget. Meanwhile, enjoy the fine scenery along with fresh air, green plants and trees, and the colorful splendor of what nature can offer you.



Mt. Rainier in late June 2010 from road 25.


Mt. Adams near the Mt. Adams Wilderness sometime in July 2010 from road 23


Mike's self portrait in the exact same location as the picture above with Mt. Adams in the background sometime in July 2010 on road 23.


Mt. St. Helens in July 2009 from road 25 vista point.