Getting a Good Night’s Rest

One of the most underrated skills in life is the ability to sleep.  Most people struggle with insomnia or other sleep disorders when life is “normal”.  In survival, you are often sleeping outside in less than optimal conditions, wet, tired and hungry, surrounded by the unfamiliar sounds of the night.  How well do you think you would sleep if you were in a true survival situation?

Much of the problem, if there isn’t an underlying medical condition, lies in the inability to turn off the mind and truly relax.  We spend so much of our day in stressful situations that demand more of our time and energy than we are willing to part with, and then when we lay down at night, the busy thoughts continue.

Fortunately, getting a fire started and building a shelter can be quite tiring and draining.  This will help you fall asleep simply because you are exhausted.  However, the situation that placed you in survival mode to begin with may continue to bother you as you try to sleep.

Here are a few things that you can do to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.

First, make sure that you have as comfortable a bed as possible.  Whether you are sleeping on leaves or the boughs of evergreen trees, do a good job and try to make it at least four inches thick.  This will not only insulate you from the cold of the ground and help reduce heat loss by conduction, but it will also help to level out rough spots underneath you.

Second, as many of the Native Americans would do, dig a shallow place out in the ground for your hips or buttocks to rest in.

Third, roll up a spare shirt, jacket or pants if you have it, to make a pillow.

Fourth, don’t drink too much water before going to bed.  Your bladder will wake you up in the middle of the night and demand that you do something about it!  An exception would be if you are going to use your bladder as an alarm clock.  I understand that some of the Native American Scouts, knew just the amount of water to drink before bed to wake them up after a certain amount of hours of sleeping!  However, if it’s cold outside your shelter, and you are trying to get a good night of sleep, you don’t want all that fluid inside of you that your body has to try and keep warm all night.

Fifth, don’t use the restroom too close to your campsite.  The smell and salt of urine as well as the odor of bowel movements will attract deer and other animals to your site.  Keep the odors, flies, animals and the possibilities of disease away from your sleeping area!  Always dig a cat hole and bury bowel movements!  Never use the restroom within 100 yards of a stream or water source!

Sixth, cook and prepare your food a good distance from your sleeping area.  You don’t want to attract predators to where you are resting peacefully!  Don’t bring food into your camp. Period.

Seventh, give all your problems to God.  Praying before bed is not just for children.  You need the spiritual comfort that comes from being able to talk to the Creator of the Universe!  Just knowing that He is in charge of the situation and that you can trust Him to work it out can make all the difference.  You see, when you have a real relationship with God, you may be lonely but you aren’t really alone!  This last step can be practiced right now, wherever you are.  Often, we carry burdens and sorrows from the day that would be better given into the hands of God!  So, how about it?  Before you go to bed tonight, why don’t you try to give your life and all your struggles to Him?  You may just be surprised how well you sleep!

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PS.  Friend us at our Facebook Page – WayPoint Survival.  You can also check out my other websites where you can set up training for many of these skills at www.waypointsurvival.com and look at and order my custom knives at www.benderknifeworks.com.

James B