Desynchronosis - get over jet lag

You've been looking forward to a well deserved holiday for a long time. You've been saving up for ages for that special, once in a lifetime treat. New clothes have been bought - check - weight loss - check, everything has been plucked, shaved or waxed accordingly. You've poured over the '10 things to do at your holiday destination' and agonised how you can fit it all in during your precious time there. You don't want to waste a minute so have made an itinerary a drill sergeant would be proud of. You get to the airport the designated three hours early at weird hours o'clock before the birds start singing and even the milkman isn't out of his bed yet. The long haul flight goes as well as expected with meals handed out and drinks dispensed at regular intervals. You try and get some shut eye but you are too wide awake and excited to do more than rest your eyes for half an hour.

You arrive at your destination feeling a bit bedraggled and desperate for a shower, clutching your itinerary which is already wrinkled from your sweaty palms having read and reread it several times on the plane to ensure you know it off by heart. On top of the 10 hour flight, the clock has also moved forward six hours so it's night time and you should be ready for bed. However, though feeling weary from the long flight you are wide awake and not ready for bed. As you have no choice but to fit in to the time pattern you go to bed and lie wide awake for hours thinking of the exciting day ahead and all you have planned. Finally as dawn approaches you finally drop off but an hour later your alarm goes off to herald the beginning of your adventure.

Groggy, disorientated and looking like an extra from the Living Dead, you bravely start your day. The excitement you felt the day before is now replaced with a half hearted enthusiasm that is hastily fading as the day drags on. You curtail the first day's activities promising yourself an early night which will allow you to begin the next day refreshed, all bright eyed and bushy tailed. You fall into bed at early evening o'clock certain that you will fall into a deep sleep immediately and will sleep a good 14 hours and wake up ready to go first thing in the morning.

Alas, as soon as you turn the light off you are lying there wide awake. Although your body is telling you it needs to sleep, your brain reminds you it's not bedtime in your real world. For the next few days until your body gets used to this new regime, you function at half mast, forcing yourself to follow your beloved, long awaited schedule. It's a case of the mind is willing but the body is weak.  

Don't despair as a solution to jet lag can be found in hypnosis. Find a therapist several weeks before you go and ask him to help you combat jet lag allowing you to fully enjoy your precious time away. He can teach you relaxation techniques and on repeating them your mind will develop muscle memory allowing you to associate the relaxation with quality sleep as and when needed. Ask for a digital download to listen to whenever you want to go to sleep. 

Ensure you choose a therapist with a voice that appeals to you and can induce automatic relaxation when you listen to his/her download as this will greatly enhance the experience for you. The more you listen to it the more susceptible you will become to associating it with relaxation and rest. Obviously this can continue to work whenever you feel the need to relax and not just when jet lagged.

"Sleep is the golden chain that binds health and our bodies together." - Thomas Dekker