I fixed my sleep by applying Morning Pages to my night owl sensibilities
I’ve always been a big fan of Julia Cameron’s famous Morning Pages, but the thought recently crossed my mind: why wouldn’t the benefits apply at bedtime too?
Those benefits are why I try to get the pages done every single morning. For the uninitiated, here’s how Cameron defines Morning Pages in her bestselling The Artist’s Way:
“Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages* they are not high art.
“They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only.
“Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page…and then do three more pages tomorrow.”
I put my own little spin on it, too. I use one of the pages to do a 4–2–1 journal, something I picked up from my favourite quit alcohol guru, Craig Beck.
On that page, I list:
- 4 things I’m grateful for
- Send love to 2 people
- Make 1 manifestation request
The top benefit of Morning Pages for me is I feel like they “clear the decks” in my brain of all the crap rattling around in there so I can focus. The 4–2–1 process also gets my day started with feelings of positivity and gratitude.
As an ADHD person, getting all those random thoughts out and onto the page really does free up some brain energy and clarity to take on other tasks (like writing this article!).
Sleep problems
A couple weeks ago, I was up late and struggling to get to sleep.
This is not uncommon for me. I’m a night owl and, aside from short periods of time when early mornings have been a necessity, I always have been.
I remember when I was in elementary school, I would be up until 2 in the morning reading sometimes. Both of my parents have always been night owls as well, so I come by it honestly.
My sleep and health have improved 10x since I quit drinking alcohol 77 days ago (at the time of this writing), so I was already on the right track. I’ve also drastically reduced my caffeine intake, though I’ve had more than a few slip-ups there.
I do have a meditation practice that calms my mind, yet at the end of the day, I still sometimes have racing thoughts — the same kind I do away with using Morning Pages.
So that night, sitting up late, I thought to myself: “if Morning Pages have all these calming effects, why not import them to my bedtime routine?”
Introducing: Night Pages
I went down to the basement and got my Morning Pages book and a pen and went back up to my bed. I then simply went through the Morning Pages routine after midnight.
It was crazy how much it helped.
I was yawning and barely keeping my eyes open by Page 2, and I could literally feel my mind slowing and calming as I went through the process.
As with the 4–2–1 in the Morning Pages, repeating the process right before bed helped me end my day with gratitude and a positive spin.
Although I haven’t yet made Night Pages a part of my daily midnight routine, I do try to do it whenever I run into trouble dozing off.
I would definitely like to bring the same consistency to those pages as I have for the morning ones though, because I really do feel like it makes a big difference for a restless mind.
If you’re having trouble falling asleep and have yet to find a solution, I would definitely recommend giving Night Pages a try.
And then be sure to come back to the comment section and let me know if it worked for you!
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