Try warbling a tune to bring on sleep
Try warbling a tune to bring on sleep
By A. Jo Seng Bie
BANDUNG (Antara): Before going to bed Jos Usin sings,
sometimes whistles, and makes continuous small movements with
both his hands.
"The recipe comes from God," said Jos Usin, 84, who fought
insomnia for one year.
"Now I am really free and can sleep soundly," he said.
After one or two hours, or sometimes after only half an hour
when he is very tired, he falls asleep and wakes up refreshed in
the morning.
Usin, author of Pernafasan untuk Kesehatan (Breath Your Way to
Health) and Sikap Tegak Tinggi untuk Kesehatan (Upright Attitude
for Health), says his activities before sleeping help blood
circulation to feed the brain.
When a person moves his hands -- like rubbing one's body or
moving one's hands when one is cold -- his whole nervous system
works and invites sleep when the body is naturally tired.
Whistling and singing makes him happy. "Beautiful memories and
old songs come to mind," he said.
Apart from feeling happy and having regained the capacity to
sleep well, he says the light movements are useful to strengthen
his muscles in old age.
Although falling asleep takes extra effort, beginners may even
need one to two hours, Usin thinks the price is far less than
resorting to sleeping pills.
The pills do not entirely solve the problem and doctors, in
Usin's experience, also tend to increase the dosage for patients
who become to sleeping pills.
The way to liberate oneself from the grip of insomnia a la Jos
Usin is recognized by Prof. Rusli Lutan as common sense, like the
benefits of rhythmic movements and breathing in Waitankung and
tai chi.
The professor of physical education at the Training School of
Sports and Health Education of the Bandung Teachers Institute,
says that inner healing is necessary to cure insomnia alongside
executing rhythmic movements of the body and respiratory tract.
Bastinus N. Matjan, an expert in sports medicine, who teaches
at the same institute, said Jos Usin's method is more effective
than taking sleeping pills.
"An insomnia patient can sleep after taking pharmaceutical
products, but the soundness of his sleep is only 25 percent," he
said.
Physical activities like singing, whistling and moving the
body result in the body automatically responding with the need
for rest.
"If Jos Usin says that the movements of his mouth and his
hands are effective in freeing him of insomnia, that is very
true," said Matjan, "Because movements of the hands make the
heart active in pumping blood to the whole body and the brain."
Insomnia, he says, is caused by various physical and
nonphysical factors like stress and depression. Whistling
stimulates the lungs to breath in oxygen and to expel carbon
dioxide optimally. Added with isometrics and regularly taking
walks, exercising and practicing long spells of breathing,
whistling and moving the hands are effective in curing insomnia,
he added.