The Reverse Spin

Exercise 14: The Reverse Spin

An extract from the book Rewired for Sleep by Daniel R. Bernstein to accompany the demo video at https://rewiredforsleep.com/reverse-spin/

“First we locate where in your body you feel anxious. It might be in your chest, your belly, or your head—it can be anywhere. This will probably feel uncomfortable at first.”
“Right now,” she says, tapping her chest lightly, “it’s here.”
“Think of a time when anxiety kicked you to the curb.“
“Seeing my ex with his new thing.”
“Now give that crappy feeling a numerical value, from one to ten, with ten being worst. We’ll get rid of it soon enough.”
“Seven.”
“Notice how it’s spinning.” I rotate my arm before me as if I was rolling a wheel.
She rotates her hand in a small tight circle, hesitantly at first, in a clockwise motion.
“Now give it a color.”
“A color? Red,” she hisses.
“Now, imagine that you can bring the wheel outside your body in front of you.”
Michelle continues rotating her arm in a widening arc. Her pained expression tells me it’s time to downshift the process.
“Okay,” I say. “Now reverse the spin: Move your arm in the opposite direction as you slowly bring it back into your body. And notice if the color also changes.”
Michelle moves her hand to her chest and holds it there.
“Breathe, hold it for three seconds, and exhale. What number is the discomfort now?”
“It’s five.”
As Michelle does the exercise twice more, the discomfort becomes a tolerable “two” and the color, “fuzzy pink.” With newfound evidence that she can control the old, inner chaos, Michelle sees she has the tools necessary to regain control of her health, and her sleep. Whether she continues to do the Reverse Spin on her own or not isn’t my business. Once she becomes emboldened to take positive actions on her own behalf, they will become second nature to her.