Two days after our interview, Gudrun Klein (gudrun-klein.de) packed her bags. It goes from Hamburg to Mallorca. On a cruise ship, and not for the first time, she gives lectures on her special topic: Sleep Well. Even undisturbed sleep is obviously not guaranteed, even in ultra-relaxed holidays with a view of the open sea. "One in four adults is struggling with sleep disorders," says the psychologist. And no luxury can be greater for those seeking sleep than a restful night. In her new book "Finally sleep well again" (southwest, тВм 17.50), the expert not only explains the nature of sleep, but also gives many new tips. And above all, it shows us two things: that the frustrating wallowing in bed at night is often nothing other than a call for help from the soul, and that such a small Neanderthal still sets the pace in us. WOMAN: You can not fall asleep, either right at the beginning or later, when you wake up in the middle of the night. Everyone knows this feeling, but some do not know it any other way. Small: Yes, unfortunately. It is a fact that sleep problems increase. A quarter of all adults are affected. Of course, this has a lot to do with today's working conditions and how tense we all are. Sleep disorders usually arise in a stressful life situation. This can be stress at work, a family or financial problem, lovesickness, but also something positive about being in love, a wedding preparation or a house building. WOMAN: Then you take the worries and the stress to bed with you … Klein: Right, because we often do not have the time during the day to deal with the problems. The soul gets on in a very clever way this time then at night. Suddenly we are awake and thoughts rattle and rattle in our heads. WOMAN: So the soul takes its right, but we sleep badly for that. Klein: One night, two nights in which we sleep badly, that's no problem. But if we find no room for processing for a long time, then this clever mental mechanism becomes a problem. There are more and more nights together, during the day we are tired. The nightly mindset is not really productive. At night, the brain is programmed to save and does not work solution-oriented. WOMAN: What exactly is stored there? Klein: Everything we experienced during the day. We need that so we can remember it. The experience is stored during the day, so to speak, in the main memory. At night the long-term storage is served. The saving is in the dream phase off, which makes up the last two-thirds of the night. If the soul has not been able to do something during the day, it will stay on hold at night. We will not save it. WOMAN: And what do you do now? Small: First Chance: Place your Block & Pen next to the bed. Write down what moves you. Only in broad terms: trouble with the boss, worries about building a house … It's like a signal to the brain: it's stored. You get out of the loop. But please do not turn on the light, that disturbs the sleep hormone melatonin. WOMAN: And the second option? Klein: I call that: Listening to my thoughts. Take five minutes for yourself one to two hours before bedtime. Sit down, watch out for your breath. How to inhale and how to exhale. Pay attention to what thoughts and feelings you are moving while watching the breath. These are exactly the ones who would come up at night. But now you are still solution-competent, you can decide what to do with the one that has come up. WOMAN: Do you have a good chance to sleep through the night? Small: Yes. Whereby going to sleep is such a thing. It is helpful to know that it is normal to wake up at night. Even people who claim to have slept through deeply and were often awake. But who has no sleep problems, falls asleep again. In the morning, these people forgot that they were awake, maybe even went to the toilet for a short time. In the case of primitive peoples sleeping in the open air, it always happens that one person always wakes up, watches for the fire, hears that everything is quiet, lies down again and goes to sleep. This ensures optimal protection for the whole group. The next time you wake up and lie awake, imagine: I just have to look after the fire. (laughs) WOMAN: There's obviously some wrong expectations when it comes to staying asleep ? Small: Definitely. The people who have sleep problems are immediately aware: Now I am awake. Oh god, now it starts again. They are immediately wide awake because they stress themselves. But the body's stress response is there for movement, flipping, or escaping. Those who expect themselves to be able to sleep peacefully expect the impossible. The Neanderthal man has rested only after a physical Abreaktion. WOMAN: That is, if nothing else helps, do sleep seekers have to "escape"? Klein: My patients have to do that sometimes. Once up the stairs in the stairwell run up and down, so that the stress hormones are reduced. Yes, there are many in the stairwell at night on the way (smiles), with the justification: The woman Klein said 's … WOMAN: … and then you can go back to bed? Klein: Exactly. But you can also ride a bike in bed, if you prefer. WOMAN: But this stress is also, as you write, a major problem for chronic sleep deprivation. You are afraid that you will not be able to sleep again and therefore you can not. Klein: Yes, the problem becomes independent, becomes a vicious circle. But instead of worrying yourself, you can try to do the opposite. Ask yourself: what did my parents do when I was scared as a kid? They comforted me, hugged me, caressed me. That's exactly what helps at night, and you can do that yourself. It is particularly effective to rub a certain point above the heart and to say: even if I can not sleep now, life is safe for me, I like myself. Many sleep seekers are still negative to themselves and think: I'm even too stupid to fall asleep. The cross-arm exercise also helps to calm down. Also during the day, when you have great stress. And there are good results with a method of energetic psychology: you tap in turn on specific acupuncture points. I described that in another book. (G. Klein / M. Bohne: "Please Sleep", Carl-Auer Verlag, тВм 9.90). WOMAN: Sleep just with the mind fixed, does not work? Klein: When you fight something, it sticks to it like a gum on a shoe. That's the same with other things. If I'm upset about something, annoying me, I stay connected with it. It will hardly be possible to fall asleep by force. But one thought can calm you down: If I get up like this between half past two and four, like most people, I'll have the deep sleep phase behind me. WOMAN: Why is that comforting? Klein: Because then at least the physical recovery is already complete. In deep sleep, in the first one and a half to two hours, all organs are made fit, growth hormones secreted, metabolic processes harmonized and the immune system brought to fruition. WOMAN: When do you even talk about a sleep disorder? Small: When the condition is impaired during the day. We are tired, exhausted, irritable, unfocused. A persistent sleep disorder can trigger depression. Often, however, it also progresses depression and psychosomatic complaints. Because it is just a form of the soul to say: Something is wrong here. Therefore, in the course of a therapy always sleep should be addressed. By the way, the need for sleep is very individual and lies between six and ten hours. WOMAN: You should not, for reasons of reason, go to bed unless you're tired, you say. Klein: No, people can do that without sleep problems, all others provoke, much more difficult to fall asleep. That's why: wait until you're tired. Every one and a half hours comes such a phase. If you have passed a tiredness, you have to wait for the next one. By the way, yawning is a sign that you are tired. WOMAN: Is not that also a sign of lack of oxygen? Klein: No, that's a misconception. Yawning draws attention to transitions from waking to sleeping and vice versa. With the strong tension of the muscles when yawning and reopening we promote relaxation. You can also consciously yawn to boost falling asleep. By the way, there is a social variant. In the Stone Age it was a signal: Now the group goes to bed. The leader started it, and then it went through the assembled team as in the Ponzi scheme. Yawning is known to be contagious. It is also in the same brain area as empathy. WOMAN: Bad sleep can also be a cause of being overweight. How so? Klein: When you are tired during the day, you are often confused with hunger. We eat again and again, here's something sweet and then a snack, because we think, so bring us energy. The body would need only a break. Apart from that, lack of sleep also upsets the metabolism. WOMAN: And what if you eat late? Small: Not so good. The body wants to relax in the deep sleep phase. Eating late at night is a burden. Then the liver, kidney, etc. can not really recover because they are engaged in metabolic processes. I would say eating for the last time two to three hours before going to bed. WOMAN: Instead of eating, rather practicing a ritual, you recommend … Klein: Exactly. Rituals help us to establish ourselves in life, to feel secure. We need security, because to sleep means to trust each other. We are going into a state that is no longer under conscious control. Some people find that difficult. Rituals can help to hum a lullaby, to read a little story, to drink a sleeping tea, to think of the day and to be grateful for at least three things, to think of people whom one loves to shut the door to pray, do a relaxation exercise, straighten a hot water bottle, cuddle and do whatever else comes to your mind …