I have no ritual except dragging myself out of bed, barely conscious, and getting ready for work. On the weekends I reward my misery during the week by staying in bed as long as possible.

Dawn is my favorite time of day. I watch the point on the horizon where the sun rises and track it's progress from solstice to solstice. Really moving now, several minutes more sunlight now each day, enroute to the vernal equinox next month.

But to "handle" my insomnia? Because I find watching the sun rise to be a meaningful and positive experience, all good. Stress, anxiety, and negativity of any kind tends to fuel insomnia, and it accumulates throughout the day -- and often well into the night.

When it comes to routines though, what I find effective for insomnia is to treat myself to a relaxing pre-bed routine that is sleep-supportive. I wouldn't call it a "ritual" because I'm not enslaved to it, but doing the same sorts of relaxing, non-stressful things before bed helps prepare my mind and body for sleep.

I am happily not waking up early enough to watch the sun rise these days...I am sleeping til my preferred wake up time. I do however enjoy the sun sets =)

To be honest... being an introvert, my favorite thing to do in the morning is to make a strong cup of coffee, and watch the snow fall. That is just the epitome of peace to me. I thought that having a baby would take that away, but actually he enjoys sitting on my lap as we both watch the snow fall.

OK, have to post what I do before bed that just melts the stress away.

I take a soak in my hot tub, under the stars. Water temp set at about 100 degrees. Aaahh. Complete relaxation, physical and mental.

I do that just about every night.

That sounds wonderful, Hypnos. I wish I had a hot tub.

I get up early in the morning for work. It can be almost scary silent in the morning, which is great when I meditate. However, I found that I do really well when I connect with someone before I go to work, even if it is just a text to say "Good morning". It is sort of strange that this elevates my mood, especially as I work in profession with a lot of people. I am sure it is the mask I wear for work. It helps when I can smile under it.

Hey Sadie, any old bathtub will work too :-)

Gotta share another of my stress busters: music. Relaxing music, all kinds. Of them all, the first minute of this song is sure fire to just melt me away:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTQDPKs4eRE

This is a cover of the original, and while not quite as good, you'll get the idea. First 60 seconds especially. Be sure to turn it up so you can hear the crickets.

Hypnos, I hate my bathtub. I need a bathroom remodel! For now, a hot shower will have to do. Oh well, those can be relaxing, too.

Speaking of relaxing music, I often listen to this song if I need some musical company to help me fall asleep. If this song puts me to sleep (well, it's Ambien induced, but still) this song will put anyone to sleep. If not, it at least will hypnotize you, lol. It's really beautiful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrbgcpFUWN0

I haven't listened to Mazzy Star in ages! Thanks for posting that, Sadie!

Have to admit I've never heard of Mazzy Star before. Listened to the song, yeah I can see the calmness, relaxation. Unusual song. Looked up the lyrics but still can't figure out what the song is about.

It's one of those songs where you're like "I don't really know what this song is about, but I like it." I have never really thought about it too much before. I looked up the lyrics just now actually. It seems like a sad love song to a woman. Interesting. To me it's more about the mood and feeling of it.

I am trying to accept my insomnia but sometimes it is hard because I am run down during the day.

However, my ritual is eating breakfast, then taking out the garbage before 6 in the morning. The sun rises earlier now but before I can actually see the moon and that was nice. I then take a shower or a bath and then watch t.v.

One of my problems is that I can doze off standing up anywhere which screws up my sleeping even more.

I like the idea of enjoying your insomnia. It feels less stressful.

Thank you.

do you want to treat you insomna

I personally would like to treat my insomnia but this has been a 30 year struggle for me. And the bottom line places I want to go to and people that I would like to meet usually are open in the day time and not in the middle of the night.

But drugs are out of question for me. I tried aromatherapy, no television, no computer, no coffee etc... I even counted sheep.

So Andrealambert's idea of enjoying insomnia may help me to relax and perhaps in the process may help relieve my insomnia.

I hope this makes sense.