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A Restless Night

Warning:
The following method for traveling beyond your body
SHOULD NOT be attempted by:

Anyone who works early in the morning.
Couples who share a bed.
Cranky folks who need their sleep.
Reptiles.
And anyone else who can't handle it.

The following method may un-nerve ya, disturb ya, and downright perturb ya. But (of course:), it may also provide you with insights that will kick-start your traveling!

It's a simple method (as I am a simpleton) based on my occasional nights of constant interruption from outside influences. A night like this may be caused by any manner o' things. But last night it was caused by these specific o' things:
_______________________

February 22, 1997
11:37pm
Well, I give up. This weather-front has everything acting goofy.

The ducks are quacking. The cat is darting this-way-then-that. Car alarms are going off every two minutes. Air conditioners keep clicking on, then off. Windows keep going up and down. Jeez. I may as well play some sleep-dep, and watch the storm roll in.

-end entry-

Refuse To Snooze

From the A.G. Traveling Dictionary:

de.prive
1: REMOVE 2: to take something away from 3: to withhold something from.

sleep
1: ZZZZZZZ 2: sir snore-a-lot 3. nighty-night.

_______________________

My friends, for one whole night, I am asking you NOT to sleep so much. This includes sleepy-bye, snoozy-woozy, and whatever else you used to call it as a child to indicate a whole bunch o' sack-time hours.

Which reminds me. Who invented the phrase, "don't let the bed-bugs bite"? That's an awful thing to say. And how about those "London bridges falling down"? And who puts a baby-cradle in a rickety old tree limb? Of course that bough is gonna break! Those dangnabit nursery rhymes warped my childhood! I'm still afraid of pockets of posies and ashes. AHHHhhhh!!!

Oops, sorry. Don't you just love when I get de-railed? Now, where was I? Oh yes. WAKE UP! Tonight is your night NOT to get a lot o' sleep.

Hmm, not tonight? How about tomorrow night? Still no good? Why don't you pick a night then? Fine, ______ (insert day) it is. You'll need time to plan anyway. Thank you for having this discussion in my head. Please get out now. You're stirring up an awful lot of dust and knocking down my cobwebs.

The Sleep-Dep(rivation) Game

I admit it freely. I am slightly off kilter. I enjoy the unusual. And sleep deprivation certainly fits into my mind-set. For, as anyone who has missed their normal hours of snooze can attest, a lack of sleep opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

Why in the world would someone willingly give up a restful night's sleep? I have no idea. I am just coming off a night like that and I'm bleary.

How To Play

The rules of sleep-dep play are simple.

Rule 1. You must find a time to play that will not interfere with your next day's agenda.

Rule 2. If you do not actually sleep during your allotted sleep periods (see below), all the better. Even if you do not sleep, you may NOT adjust the times allotted.

Rule 3. Your bed is off limits during the times that you are supposed to be awake.

Rule 4. No television or talk-radio is allowed, although any type of music that you find relaxing is fine (as are incense and candles and chimes and other relaxing-type things:).

Rule 5. You must follow the instructions below and avoid cheating. So there.

Let's Play!

Get into bed and set your alarm for 60 minutes later. Go to sleep.

When the alarm goes off, get up and splash some cold water on your face. Jump around a bit (or don't:). Drink a little juice or water if you want (please, no coffee or other stimulants).

Your focus of attention during the awake periods should be on traveling, or something similar (related to states of consciousness and awareness).

For this reason, you should either be reading about your interest or writing about it.

The reading part is as easy as net-surfing or a trip to your local library. As for the writing part, you could post a few thoughts to a newsgroup, or email a friend, about your interest. You could also start that dream/travel diary you've been putting off.

Stay up for 45 minutes.

After your 45 minutes awake is finished, go back to bed and this time, set your alarm for only 45 minutes from the time your head will hit the pillow.

While you relax off to sleep, remain focused on what you have just read or written.

Additionally (if you want to travel:), due to the faster "shut-down" of your physical body while utilizing sleep-dep, this is an excellent time to think of a nearby location that you'd like to visit.

See the location in your thoughts and go to it. ("I'm on the balcony, I'm looking over the balcony...")

As your body upon the bed moves into sleep, your focused and alert (hopefully:) mind catapults your nonphysical into the action, dictated by your desire, to go somewhere that your physical has no intention of going. (Woohoo! I just won The Extended-Sentence Award!)

When the alarm goes off again, get up outta bed and stay focused on your interest.

This schedule of awake/asleep continues with the times adjusted a bit more towards sleep-dep with each round. If, for example, you have started at 9:00pm:

9:00-10:00 Asleep (60 minutes)
10:00-10:45 Awake (45 minutes)
10:45 to 11:30 Asleep (45 minutes)
11:30 to 12:15am Awake (45 minutes)
12:15-12:45 Asleep (30 minutes)
12:45-1:30 Awake (45 minutes)
1:30-2:00 Asleep (30 minutes)
2:00-3:00 Awake (60 minutes)

And finally, at 3:00am, allow all of your focused thoughts to carry you off to sleep without an impending alarm. This period of release is often very interesting, so keep pen and paper near your bed for later entries.

And that's how you play sleep-dep. Of course, this is my delicate approach. I don't want to make you wacky, for gosh sakes. A modicum of sleep-dep goes a long way. This is especially true when you are not accustomed to it.

The focus upon getting out of your body (or any other interest:), as opposed to mental meanderings of day-to-day life or watching late-night t.v., makes this method both challenging and effective.