18 June

The expression "I can't sleep" is spot-on. That "I" never sleeps, you can't make sleep happen. It's the trying that is the problem, I've found that there are a million ways of trying to sleep, some more sneaky than others - you're sure you're not trying to sleep, but actually you are in some subtle way. Let the bed do the work, just as you let a chair do the work of resting you. You don't sit in a chair and then try to 'rest', you just sit. If you're wound up or anxious, it may take a while for the bed to do its work, and then you need patience - don't wait for sleep. Just rest. Give it time, I couldn't better the late, great Dr Claire Weekes: "Don't be too concerned because you are tense and can't relax. The very act of being prepared to accept your tenseness relaxes your mind, and relaxation of body gradually follows. You don't have to strive for relaxation. You have to wait for it...Let your body finds its own level without controlling, directing it."