I told the doctor I was overtired, anxiety ridden, compulsively active, constantly depressed, with recurring fits of paranoia. Turns out I’m normal – Jules Feiffer

This is one of the quotes included in the I Can’t Sleep journal a friend gave me.

If the problem hadn’t become so common, and the affects of not sleeping (or not sleeping enough) hadn’t so curtailed my energy, or even the enjoyment I derived from my daily life, the sentiment would probably get a bigger chuckle.

I have read related statistics. I know I am not alone. Most adults are sleep deprived. I’ve been told that most women my age (whatever that means) should expect needing to make do with fewer hours of shut-eye than they used to get when they were thirty-somethings.

I’ve tried pharmaceuticals, Chinese herbs, melatonin, hormones, yoga positions, salt baths, supposed sleep-inducing teas, spraying my room with lavender, and sworn tips offered my friends and wellness experts.

Some things have worked, or worked to some extent, for a period of time. I’m conscious of when my mind might be churning with a thought that I can’t seem to let go. I know this happens occasionally but obsessive thinking only accounts for a fraction of my sleepless nights.

I have experienced stretches of time that I would have no problem, and I couldn’t tell you what was different in my life between one week and the next.

Probably many wouldn’t believe in such things, but I’ve worked successfully with an energetic healer. By helping me dissipate the charges of past traumas, at times, I found a secret narrow corridor to the grand ballroom of dreams.

When my most recent strategy no longer worked, we conferred.

“Turn your bed around,” she said. “Sleep the other way.”

She had theories about magnetic fields and alignments. I didn’t mean to dash her suggestion, but I felt compelled to explain that I couldn’t try this.

“I can’t move my bed to the other side of the room or re-arrange my furniture,” I went on. “I can’t put my bed on the opposite wall because I can’t cover the door to the bathroom -– or to my closet. I can’t put my bed along the side walls because there’d be no room for the dresser.”

“So leave your bed where it is and sleep the other way,” she said. “Place your head towards your bathroom and south wall and your feet towards the north wall.”

I did and damn if I didn’t have one of the best nights of sleep I could remember having in recent years. For the past few nights, I’ve found restful sleep by placing my pillow (and head) where my feet used to snuggle under my comforter.

OMG the world seemed to change for me.

I contemplated the importance of finding right alignment with the earth and took pleasure in considering how I had become a tourist in my own bedroom. From a small change, everything looked different.

And that was good.

Instead of behind me, hanging over my bed, when I woke up during the night, I saw a favorite piece of framed art at my feet. While unable to make out the image, its glass covering looked like a shimmering reflecting pool with my room lit only by the red display of my clock radio on my night table; now, also at my feet.

Instead of tossing and turning between the sheets, I turned 180 degrees and everything became still.

Being able to change your orientation or look at anything – the other way – is no small thing.