The problem explained:

In reality, it is quite normal to wake up in the middle of the night. Sleep is composed of cycles and when you reach the end of a cycle, you are more alert and the slightest noise or the slightest unconscious stress can wake you up. The real problem is when you have trouble getting back to sleep quickly.

In most cases, it is anxiety and stress that prevent you from sleeping.

This can be anxiety related to your concerns or to a difficult day ahead. It can also come from the fear of not getting enough sleep: You think you do not have time to go back to sleep before waking up or you’re anxiously anticipating the sound of the alarm.

Fear is not only a psychological phenomenon. Fear and stress activate what is called an alert state, a physiological mechanism characterized by a hyper activation of the autonomic nervous system. Neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine are released, which contribute to the stimulation of the central arousal and keep you awake.

Goals:

• Rebalance your autonomic nervous system to break the vicious cycle of stress and anxiety that keep you awake.

• Let go.

• In the long run, help you regain confidence in your ability to go back to sleep quickly. In fact, you know how to fall back asleep immediately, but the fear of not succeeding or anxious thoughts block you.

How Dodow helps you:

Dodow cannot prevent you from waking up during the night, but it can help you fall back asleep quickly!

• By breathing long enough at the Dodow rhythm (6 respirations per minute), you stimulate the baroreflex, a small physiological mechanism that restores the balance of the autonomic nervous system. Thus, you will quickly pass from the alert state (activation of the sympathetic nervous system) to the resting state (activation of the parasympathetic nervous system), the same condition which you are in during digestion: slightly drowsy.

• Synchronizing your breathing to a light pulse at a slow and steady rhythm has a hypnotic effect (the phenomenon is similar to watching a pendulum). Thus, after a few minutes you are able to let go and sleep.

• After a few months, you will regain confidence in yourself, you will realize that your body knows how to fall asleep alone, when the mind or anxiety do not interfere. You can then take the place of Dodow!

The Problem Explained:

The problem is two-fold:

• When you are consumed by your thoughts and they either excite you or scare you, neurotransmitters are released which have side effects including sending a signal to the brain to stay awake. It’s as if you are watching an exciting movie, making it difficult to fall asleep.

• You can be more or less attentive to your thoughts sometimes they can be let go, but often they seem real. The problem is somewhat similar to sound sensitivity. You can either be aware of sounds, or not pay them any attention. When you go to bed, if you are too attentive and alert, the slightest thought can keep you awake.

Goals:

• Create a diversion which will occupy your mind with something far less stimulating than your thoughts.

• Become less attentive, less alert, and ensure that you are unaware of your thoughts. In a theater, the goal would be to physically move you from the first to the last row, where the scene is much less clear and details both auditory and visual fade.

• Let go.

How Dodow helps you:

Dodow is not a miracle product, but a clever tool which promotes sleep by regulating nervous system functioning without the side effects often encountered with many sleep aid products.

By focusing on the light signal and synchronizing your breathing to its pace, the majority of your attention will be occupied by something far less stimulating than your thoughts.

• By breathing at the Dodow rhythm (6 respirations per minute), you stimulate the baroreflex, a small physiological mechanism that restores the balance of the autonomic nervous system. Thus, you will pass quickly from the alert state (activation of the sympathetic nervous system), to the resting state (activation of the parasympathetic nervous system). In this state you will be much less sensitive to stimuli, whether external (noise, light), or internal (thoughts). Dodow allows you to release your thoughts and finally relax.
  

Trivia: In Russia, a scientist named Pavlov found that upon putting dogs in empty rooms, where nothing could stimulate their curiosity, they fell asleep immediately. Dodow reproduces the same effect in your head.

The Problem Explained:

A difficult breakup, the loss of a job, or temporary depression is often accompanied by insomnia. We must act quickly before insomnia becomes "conditioned" and it continues even when your worries are finally behind you.

The biggest problem is often associated with stress, which causes sleep problems. Stress has physiological consequences that result in an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system. Your body is ready to face a dangerous situation, you are in what is called the alert state, which is characterized by the release of neurotransmitters that keep you awake by stimulating your sympathetic nervous system.

Goals:

• Let go by occupying your brain, which will keep you from rehashing your problems.

• You pass from the alert state, where arousal and vigilance are stimulated, to the resting state where you are less reactive to all your worries, as if you were lightly anesthetized.

How Dodow helps you:

• By focusing on the light signal and synchronizing your breathing to its rhythm, you will occupy much of your attention with a more relaxing activity instead of rehashing your problems. As a result, you give less attention to your anxious thoughts. On the other hand, the regular pulse of light has a hypnotic effect. Thus, after a few minutes you are able to let go and sleep.

• By breathing long enough at the Dodow rhythm (6 respirations per minute), you stimulate the baroreflex, a small physiological mechanism that restores the balance of the autonomic nervous system. Thus, you will quickly pass from the alert state (activation of the sympathetic nervous system) to the resting state (activation of the parasympathetic nervous system), the same condition which you are in during digestion: slightly drowsy. In this state, you will be much less sensitive to stress, your metabolism will slow down, the secretion of neurotransmitters that kept you awake has been stopped, and you will arrive at the threshold of sleep.

Other situations: the night before an important event such as a job interview, an international equestrian competition, end of semester exams, or your marriage.

The Problem Explained:

You only need to have problems falling asleep two or three times in a row before the question arises : " Am I going to fall asleep tonight ?" "You already imagine tomorrow's chaotic schedule. This fear of not sleeping is self fulfilling and can repeatedly lead to insomnia. The truth is that your body has not forgotten how to fall asleep, but it merely believe that you can not do it tonight and this conditioning prevents you from falling asleep.

You only need to have problems falling asleep two or three times in a row before the question arises : " Am I going to fall asleep tonight ?" "You already imagine tomorrow's chaotic schedule. This fear of not sleeping is self fulfilling and can repeatedly lead to insomnia. The truth is that your body has not forgotten how to fall asleep, but it merely believe that you can not do it tonight and this conditioning prevents you from falling asleep.

When you become aware of this anxiety and you still can not sleep, you stress yourself out even more, which only reinforces the phenomenon, it is a vicious cycle. You do you fall asleep until you have abandoned all hope of sleep and by then it is often far too late!

Goals:

• Free yourself from the goal of falling asleep that creates what is called a performance anxiety (fear of failure: in this case, not being able to sleep). You've probably noticed that it is when you give up the fight that sleep comes.

• Break the vicious cycle of insomnia and get passed the alert state to the rest state.

• To regain confidence in yourself, realize that your body already knows how to fall asleep.

How Dodow helps you:

• While doing the exercise for 20 minutes, your only goal is to breathe in rhythm with the light, so you stop fighting internally to sleep and free yourself of the performance anxiety that prevents you from sleeping. In psychology, this phenomenon is called: paradoxical intention.

• By breathing long enough at the Dodow rhythm (6 respirations per minute), you stimulate the baroreflex, a small physiological mechanism that restores the balance of the autonomic nervous system and makes you move quickly to the resting state, the same state which you are in during digestion: slightly drowsy.

• Synchronizing your breathing to a light pulse at a slow and steady rhythm has a hypnotic effect (the phenomenon is similar to watching a pendulum). Thus, after a few minutes you are able to let go and sleep.

• You will regain confidence in yourself after a few weeks and you will need no more than the 20 minute mode. You can then switch to the 8 minute mode and with a little luck, after a few months you can switch Dodow off!

The Problem Explained:

All types of stressful events put your system on alert. When you get home, you may be tense and relatively irritable. In fact, you have activated a defense mechanism called the alert state. The alert state is characterized by the hyper-activation of the autonomic nervous system. Your body is ready to face a dangerous situation. Nor epinephrine is secreted, which helps to stimulate the central arousal and keeps you awake. In prehistoric times, this physiological mechanism would have helped you avoid falling asleep in a hostile environment and being attacked by a bear, but today it will keep you awake when there is no real danger. Normally the transition from the alert state to the resting state is automatic, but the accumulation of stress slows down the process and it can take hours instead of minutes.

Goals:

• Our goal is to rebalance your autonomic nervous system and help you leave the alert state as quickly as possible. This rebalancing is essential in order to find the resting state conducive to sleep.

• Let it go by totally disconnecting from the stressful events of your day.

How Dodow helps you:

• By breathing at the Dodow rhythm (6 breaths per minute), you stimulate the baroreflex, a small physiological mechanism that restores the balance of the autonomic nervous system. Thus, you will quickly pass from the alert state (activation of the sympathetic nervous system), into the resting state (activation of the parasympathetic nervous system). The resting state is the same state in which during digestion one is slightly drowsy. In this state, you are much less sensitive to stress, metabolism slows down, and the secretion of neurotransmitters that keep you awake are stopped. Finally, you arrive at the threshold of sleep.

• Synchronizing your breathing to a light pulse at a slow and steady rhythm has a hypnotic effect (the phenomenon is similar to watching a pendulum). Thus, after a few minutes you are able to let go and sleep.

Other situations: In a hotel room after you travel to other time zones, or Sunday night when anxiety about Monday prevents you from sleeping.