t of our experience ( our inner dialogue) that is most often just outside of our conscious awareness, into our conscious awareness, but we can then just as easily alter the structure of this inner voice, just by deciding to.

When I ask someone to imagine what that wo

From time to time someone will tell me they have been having trouble going to sleep at night. After asking them a few questions, if I determine that they are suffering from an overactive mind, listening to a seemingly endless flow of “inner chatter” as they try to get some shut eye, I’ll take them through this remarkable little sleep inducing exercise.

It’s important to understand that just as our external voice, or the voice that others hear when we speak changes in pitch, tone, volume, rate and speed, depending on our moods, states and the context or environment we find ourselves in, so too does our internal voice, or our inner thoughts.

Without fail, when I ask someone to go back in their mind to the last time they had trouble falling asleep, and then have them tune into what their inner voice sounded like as they were struggling to make their way into “la la land”, they discover that it sounded like a teen age kid on too much caffeine, talking fast, loud, and in an almost anxious tone.

Now here’s the interesting part; not only can we instantly bring this part of our experience ( our inner dialogue) that is most often just outside of our conscious awareness, into our conscious awareness, but we can then just as easily alter the structure of this inner voice, just by deciding to.

When I ask someone to imagine what that wo

shut eye, I’ll take them through this remarkable little sleep inducing exercise.

It’s important to understand that just as our external voice, or the voice that others hear when we speak changes in pitch, tone, volume, rate and speed, depending on our moods, states and the context or environment we find ourselves in, so too does our internal voice, or our inner thoughts.

Without fail, when I ask someone to go back in their mind to the last time they had trouble falling asleep, and then have them tune into what their inner voice sounded like as they were struggling to make their way into “la la land”, they discover that it sounded like a teen age kid on too much caffeine, talking fast, loud, and in an almost anxious tone.

Now here’s the interesting part; not only can we instantly bring this part of our experience ( our inner dialogue) that is most often just outside of our conscious awareness, into our conscious awareness, but we can then just as easily alter the structure of this inner voice, just by deciding to.

When I ask someone to imagine what that wo

d the context or environment we find ourselves in, so too does our internal voice, or our inner thoughts.

Without fail, when I ask someone to go back in their mind to the last time they had trouble falling asleep, and then have them tune into what their inner voice sounded like as they were struggling to make their way into “la la land”, they discover that it sounded like a teen age kid on too much caffeine, talking fast, loud, and in an almost anxious tone.

Now here’s the interesting part; not only can we instantly bring this part of our experience ( our inner dialogue) that is most often just outside of our conscious awareness, into our conscious awareness, but we can then just as easily alter the structure of this inner voice, just by deciding to.

When I ask someone to imagine what that wo

unded like as they were struggling to make their way into “la la land”, they discover that it sounded like a teen age kid on too much caffeine, talking fast, loud, and in an almost anxious tone.

Now here’s the interesting part; not only can we instantly bring this part of our experience ( our inner dialogue) that is most often just outside of our conscious awareness, into our conscious awareness, but we can then just as easily alter the structure of this inner voice, just by deciding to.

When I ask someone to imagine what that wo

t of our experience ( our inner dialogue) that is most often just outside of our conscious awareness, into our conscious awareness, but we can then just as easily alter the structure of this inner voice, just by deciding to.

When I ask someone to imagine what that would sound like if they were so incredibly sleepy, that they just couldn’t keep their eyes open, and found themselves yawning every few words, most are surprised not only by how easily they are able to “manipulate” this inner voice, but even more surprisingly, how quickly they begin to feel sleepy, even as they sit in my office in the middle of the day.

After instructing them on the importance of first altering their inner dialogue as they stretch out on their bed at night, I have them begin to imagine the sound of a crackling fireplace just a few feet from the foot of their bed. I suggest that they “listen” to the fire crackle and pop for at least 45-60 seconds, and then begin to allow an image of orange, yellow, and blue tinged flames, dancing in a fireplace to come together in their mind.

At this point, they can both “watch” and “listen” to the imaginary fireplace in their bedroom. They can now move to yet another sensory system, imagining the warmth of the fire warming the bottom of their out stretched feet.

Very few people ever make it all the way through th