Welcome to this month’s edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives? Every month a group of seven bloggers share their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific prompts. It’s been so interesting over the years to see the different ways each of us interpret the topics.

A good night’s sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle…but how many of us really have good sleep habits??

NOT ME.

I used to be A Great Sleeper. I’d lay my head on the pillow and boom I was out til the alarm went off in the morning. But then due to some emotional stress (aka A MAN) my wonderful peaceful sleep pattern was shattered…I couldn’t fall asleep, I couldn’t stay asleep. I was exhausted. For years. I did have a brief 2-month respite when a doctor prescribed me Ambien, and that was magical. Within about three weeks I felt so rested and CLEAR, it was like I’d been living in a fog and the fog had lifted. It was pretty amazing. But all good things come to an end, and after two months the doctor said if I wanted to continue on it I’d have to go to the sleep center for an overnight sleep test. No thank you. I believe the concern was that my insomnia was due to sleep apnea but I know it wasn’t. But that was the end of glorious Ambien for me. And then I went several more years, trying everything under the moon – Nyquil, OTC sleep aids, melatonin, a glass of wine or warm milk at bedtime…nope. Eventually I learned that the ingredient in allergy relievers  that makes you drowsy is diphenhydramine, so I got some generic Benadryl that contained that…and like magic, it worked. I’d set my phone alarm for 6pm, and take 2…so that around 9 or 10 I was good and tired and could fall asleep easily…and stay asleep.

My friend pointed out that my good sleep also coincided with me starting Welbutrin (anti-depressant), and eventually I was able to wean off the allergy pills and still sleep well.

UNTIL KOREA. Of course, I also wasn’t taking the Welbutrin consistently the first three months I was here (in a misguided effort to make the supply last longer), and then not at all for three months after that. I would go to sleep alright at a normal time, but around 2 or 3 am, I would wake up and not be able to get back to sleep…til maybe 5 or 6…but at that point it was too late to get much sleep. Sometimes on a weekend night I would sleep through the night, or on school breaks I would get quite a few good night’s sleep. I think it was “going to school” anxiety that was keeping me up.

So, I was able to buy Benadryl online once since I’ve been here…but after that it was no longer allowed…and it can’t be shipped in from another country, like through Amazon. So even on the Welbutrin since June, once that bottle ran out, I was back to getting only 3-4 hours sleep a night.

Until my ANGEL FRIEND from the US brought me a bottle when she visited Korea (you can carry it in, you just can’t ship it through the mail)…so right now I’m on an okay sleep pattern. With assistance.  Thank you, my friend 🙂

My sleep routine?? If I’m at the computer, I stay awake until I can’t keep my eyes open…or, if I’m in bed, until I’ve dropped the phone on my face three times..and then I call it a night. That’s a routine, right?

I did recently learn a little hack…if thoughts are running rampant through your mind, keeping you from falling asleep, there’s a way to shut them down. And I’ve been doing this recently if I do wake up in the night, and I fall back to sleep pretty quickly.

I pick a word – calendar, let’s say. Then you just lie there with your eyes closed, thinking of all the words you can that start with the letter C. If you get to the point where you can’t think of any more C words and you’re still awake, you do the same with the letter A (then L, E, etc., you get the idea). I’ve never gotten past the second letter! It keeps your brain engaged so no worrying thoughts can get in – it’s sort of like the counting sheep method but I can count on auto-pilot and still have intrusive thoughts at the same time. This keeps your brain just active enough that other things can’t get in….so that’s my tip.

I wish I was really conscientious and did things like wash my face or do a face mask or write in a journal or meditate or something but yeah, no. I want to keep doing what I want to do til I literally cannot stay awake and then I climb into bed, say “ahhh, bed is good,” and go to sleep.

I will say this: I am very particular about bed linens and pillows. I can’t afford the best best but I always get the best I can afford. My favorite is woven 100% cotton (just like with nightgowns). Not flannel, not t-shirt weave, not micro-fiber. The kind of cotton that is lightweight and has body so it is light on your body and sort of..stands away from your body, if that makes sense – creating little pockets for air-flow. When something is too drapey, and like follows the contours of my body, there’s no space for airflow and I get too hot. I splurged on nice linen bed linens a few years ago, and while I loved the look of them, they were too warm for me. I saved them for the coldest part of winter.

My comforter is also lightweight primaloft, which is a vegan down-substitute. It’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I can’t bear a heavy blanket on me for sleeping. It’s PERFECT. I have it here in Korea with me.

I have never had a perfect pillow. I’ve SLEPT on perfect pillows (down or down substitutes or blend) – at hotels and relative’s houses. But when I look up the pricing, I just can’t do it. I prefer the feel of loose fill vs like a memory or styro-foam because they can mold to my neck/shoulder shape without overheating me (like memory foam does).

Oh, I have to FALL asleep on my left side…but I always wake up on my right side.

I Do Not Understand Pajamas. How do people stand sleeping in a waistband? I can’t stand any constriction…even (at the risk of TMI) my nightgown comes off when it’s time to get into bed! Sorry. NO. CONSTRICTION. Not night clothes, not heavy blankets, NOT SOCKS (omg how???).

Okay, ending this here, ha ha. You already know too much.

OH – if there’s an animal…share the bed with them. They like that 🙂

Take a look at my friends’ blogs as well, maybe they can put you to sleep better than I can, ha ha ha! Ooh, that sounded bad. You know what I mean.

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own