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.