Insomnia: Improving Our Sleep
by Master Lee Feng San Shifu
Translated by Sophia Lui
Edited by Ric Meyers
Today’s modern society is filled tension and stress. As a result, many people suffer from poor quality sleep. Nonetheless, a proper method of training in Qi Gong can effectively improve the quality of our sleep, even reducing our sleep time, thereby strengthening our body’s ability to recover.
I believe many people have the experience of waking up refreshed in the morning, but starting to feel drowsy towards the afternoon; when evening approaches, their lower limbs begin to feel swollen and heavy. These are all due to the effects of gravity because having been active all day, our veins have trouble sending blood back from our lower body to the head and heart. Therefore after a long day, all we can think of is to hit the pillow immediately and roll over to sleep.
However at this hour, our body is not completely relaxed and calm yet. If we lie down immediately in our beds, blood shoots up quickly to the head and the arteries will start pulsating non-stop. Our pulse also quickens up correspondingly. On top of all these, our extreme fatigue will cause us to have lots of dreams, thereby affecting the quality of our sleep. As a result, upon waking in the morning, we will not feel at all rested and refreshed.
Therefore it is suggested that prior to bedtime, we do some mild exercises, and if that could be Qi Gong, all the better. After that we should sit for a while before slowly lying down. In this way, we will find it easier to fall asleep. At this moment, it is also best not to think about daytime matters. But if thoughts do come, do not resist them either for the more we try to suppress them, the more they refuse to leave. If thoughts do come, allow them to come and leave by themselves. In this way, we will be able to stay calm and relaxed. Try this method before going to sleep and see how much our quality of sleep will be improved!
“ Practice Qi Gong before bedtime; sit still to calm our minds; stay relaxed and we will enjoy a good night’s sleep .” — Lee Feng San Shifu