Cognitive Shuffling: A Dream Game That Might Help You Sleep

 

Cognitive shuffling: The micro-dreaming game that helps you sleep

BBC, Rachel Hosie

Invented by an academic and popularised by social media, this sleep technique has long claimed to help people switch off their busy brains. When it recently worked for me, I became curious about how exactly it plays upon the mind.

If, like me, you are an anxious over-thinker, then lying in bed at night is prime time for ruminating. It doesn't matter if I'm stressed or excited, I often can't switch off my brain. From breathing patterns to backwards counting, I've tried tons of sleep hacks. But none made a difference until I learned about cognitive shuffling. 

The technique involves thinking of a random, emotionally neutral word, for example, "cake". You take the first letter of the word, in this case "C", and think of as many items or objects as you can that begin with the same letter, such as "car," "carrot" and "cottage" – visualising each item as you go.

Once you can't think of any more words beginning with C, you move on to the second letter. I rarely make it to the third.

It's not a guaranteed fast-track to sleep – sometimes it still takes me a while – but it's made enough of a difference that I'm still using the practice a year later. As are many others: hundreds of videos recommending cognitive shuffling have been posted on social media over the last few years, some receiving hundreds of thousands of views. 

According to Alanna Hare, a consultant and specialist in sleep medicine at Royal Brompton Hospital in London, UK, cognitive shuffling is "super somnolent". It deploys a push-and-pull mechanism on the mind, she says – both pulling you towards sleep while also quietening the intrusive worries that keep you awake.

But what is it exactly about cognitive shuffling that eases my brain this way? And why does this technique seem to work for me where other options have failed, even helping me fall back asleep if I wake in the night plagued by thoughts?

Imagine this: How cognitive shuffling induces sleep

Cognitive shuffling, or "serial diverse imagining", was developed over 15 years ago by Luc P Beaudoin, an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada.

It is based around Beaudoin's theory of "somnolent information-processing". This argues that people with insomnia often dwell on perturbing thought patterns – such as worrying, planning, and rehearsing – which keep the brain alert. And that these mental processes can be countered with ones that help the brain feel "safe" enough to sleep.

Beaudoin tells me he developed the concept of serial diverse imagining (focusing the brain on a series of neutral, random images) via "a long process of guessing about the mechanisms underlying sleep onset", as well as "trial and error on myself".

When he dug into the academic literature on tackling insomnia, he became particularly interested in a practice called imagery training, which involved vividly focusing on one image for a couple of minutes before switching to another. However, he also identified a problem with this existing approach: it was too slow.

"I figured that if people have an insistent worry, they would have difficulty focusing on a single image for a couple of minutes. Better to mix it up more quickly," he says.

Cognitive shuffling is designed to mimic a mental process that occurs in the boundary between wake and sleep.

In 2016, Beaudoin and his colleagues tested the technique in a study of 154 university students who were struggling to sleep. One group was asked to use an app Beaudoin had developed that voices random words into your ear so you can hold their image in your mind's eye. Another group journaled about their worries and possible solutions (a standard, evidence-based approach to insomnia).

The results showed the image shuffling approach was "just as effective as" at improving sleepiness. Plus it also had the advantage of being able to be done lying in bed.

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Dream a little micro-dream

Cognitive shuffling works because it diverts your attention away from thoughts that interfere with falling asleep, says Eleni Kavaliotis, a registered psychologist and sleep researcher at Monash University, Australia.

"In doing so, it attempts to mimic the scattered, disconnected and random thought patterns the brain naturally starts to generate as you fall asleep."

In this way, cognitive shuffling is designed to mirror a natural process called hypnagogic mentation that occurs in the boundary between wakefulness and sleep. Beaudoin calls these hallucinatory thoughts and fleeting images "micro-dreams".

"The theory is that during cognitive shuffling the brain is in some relevant respects (not all) like normal sleep onset," he says. In other words, "varied imagery is not just a byproduct of falling asleep, it's a cue".

Intrusive or stimulating thoughts can break this positive loop. Hare thus encourages her clients to think of neutral words when cognitive shuffling, such as animals or things you would buy in a supermarket, rather than anything that might stir up emotions. "Topics like politics and work can be alerting and make it even harder to sleep."

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Is cognitive shuffling for you?

When it comes to sleep techniques in general, what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. "Different people respond to different strategies depending on how they experience stress and relate to their thoughts," Kavaliotis says.

The classic idea of counting sheep doesn't work for many adults because we're able to think about other things while counting, Hare says: "It's not sufficiently counter-insomnolent because we can multitask."

Yet neither is cognitive shuffling "a silver bullet that works for everyone", says Beaudoin.

Shuffling it up

If cognitive shuffling doesn't work for you, there are other options you can try.

One strategy is "cognitive refocusing", which involves intentionally replacing unwanted, anxiety-inducing thoughts with more pleasant, non-stimulating ones.

Another is being mindful of your thoughts while lying in bed, watching them objectively and without judgment.

And if you're someone who feels like your worries are going round in circles, research suggests that writing to-do lists before going to bed can help.

Some people also don't like cognitive shuffling at all, Hare says. They can find word games confusing and difficult, or simply prefer number-focused techniques.

That said, Hare has seen success anecdotally with her clients. And Kavaliotis thinks that you can work on sleep strategies like you'd train a muscle. "The more you practice, the stronger it can become and easier it can be to use," she says.

A game-changing technique?

Beaudoin hopes that cognitive shuffling's online popularity means that it's helping people, but says it still needs more research. He would like to see studies comparing how it works for people who occasionally struggle to fall asleep (something he calls non-clinical insomnolence) as opposed to those with clinical insomnia. As well as studies comparing cognitive shuffling to other sleep techniques, such as mindfulness meditation.

Although cognitive shuffling has become a staple nighttime technique for me, sometimes it works better than others. When I'm particularly anxious, I have to work harder at it and it takes longer. But Hare says you shouldn't worry too much about the odd night where it takes you a long time to fall asleep. 

"Nobody sleeps from the minute they get into bed to the minute their alarm goes off every single night, that's not normal," she says. "If you're falling asleep the minute your head hits the bed and sleeping through the night, you're probably a bit sleep deprived."

However, if you're struggling with your sleep on a more frequent basis and it's impacting you in the daytime, there may be an underlying problem that's worth seeing a doctor about.

Chronic clinical insomnia requires more than just word games. But, for me, cognitive shuffling has been a game-changer.

For trusted insights on health and wellbeing, sign up to the Health Fix newsletter by senior health correspondent Melissa Hogenboom , who also writes the Live Well For Longer and Six Steps to Calm courses. 

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Identify 3 Good Things Each Night to Boost Happiness

 Identify 3 Good Things Each Night to Boost Happiness

By: Katie Kerwin McCrimmon,  UCHealth 

  

People can boost their positive attitudes and resiliency while reducing harmful self-criticism through a daily exercise called “Three Good Things.” 

Is it possible to become a more positive, hopeful person?

Yes. Research shows that by deliberately focusing on good things in your life, you can become happier.

Embracing optimism and your role in making the world a better place is a valuable tool.
A simple tool called ‘Three Good Things’

Dr. Annie Moore helps her patients boost their positive attitudes and resiliency while reducing harmful self-criticism through a daily exercise called “Three Good Things.”

It’s a simple exercise that can take just a couple of minutes each evening before bed. Highlighting Three Good Things each day can yield long-lasting health benefits.

Moore is an internal medicine doctor at CU Denver Internal Medicine Group near Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. She is also a Professor of Clinical Practice at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and did a fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona. Integrative medicine doctors are trained to focus on the whole person and partner with patients to help them adopt lifestyle changes that can make them healthier.

“We look at root causes for health problems, in addition to giving patients a diagnosis and treatment plan. We hope to understand why a patient gets an illness, especially a chronic illness in the first place,” Moore said.

Researchers in positive psychology tested ‘Three Good Things’ and it worked

Dr. Annie Moore

Moore first learned about the Three Good Things tool when she worked at Duke University Medical Center. Experts there encourage health care workers to use Three Good Things to prevent burnout.

Happiness researcher, Dr. Martin Seligman, pioneered and tested the Three Good Things tool. He and his team at the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center did randomized controlled trials to measure the effectiveness of simple interventions that might make people happier. They published their findings in 2005 in American Psychologist.

In their experiment, the researchers randomly assigned participants to try one of six interventions including a control group that simply wrote in journals about their childhood. One group did the Three Good Things exercise each evening for one week. Then, researchers measured how all the study participants did over time. One month after the study subjects wrote down their Three Good Things each evening for a week, participants “were happier and less depressed than they had been at baseline, and they stayed happier and less depressed at the three-month and six-month follow-ups,” the researchers found. Click here to see a video in which Seligman describes how Three Good Things works.

Harsh self-criticism harms health

Moore started using Three Good Things herself at Duke and brought the practice with her when she came to Colorado in 2015. In addition to benefiting personally, she likes using Three Good Things with patients who are especially hard on themselves.

“It’s extraordinarily common that we hear a loud inner critic among our patients,” Moore said. “Through what they say, they imply, ‘I’m not good enough. I’m not meeting my own expectations.’”

And, says Moore, that negativity “impedes progress” toward improving health.

“The more you feel like a failure, the more you’re going to fail. The goal of Three Good Things is to build back confidence and increase motivation to help people feel more empowered to take positive actions in their lives,” Moore said.

How does Three Good Things work?

So, how exactly does a person use the Three Good Things tool?

The concept is easy, and individuals can personalize how they use Three Good Things. The researchers who first tested Three Good Things required study participants to write down three things each evening. By doing the exercise toward the end of the day and before bed, they felt that participants would sleep better.

Moore doesn’t always write hers down, but when she has in the past, she has enjoyed going back to read previous lists.

Also, in order to count a deed as one of your Three Good Things, you need to embrace your role as the director of your life.

“The core aspect of this is that it’s something we made happen or were actively involved in,” Moore said.

So, if the sunrise was beautiful, you can enjoy that, but can’t list that as one of your Three Good Things since you didn’t play a role in bringing on a new day or turning the sky pink and orange.
Not a gratitude journal; Three Good Things requires intention and action

Moore said some people misunderstand Three Good Things as a gratitude journal or a way to appreciate blessings. Certainly, it’s great to be thankful, but Three Good Things is different.

“This requires more intention,” Moore said.

To be effective, you must recall actions you took, such as: carving out time for exercise, calling a friend, picking up groceries for a neighbor or skipping an unhealthy habit like smoking a cigarette.

“The role we have in creating positive choices is a critical aspect of this,” Moore said. “The empowerment and resiliency benefits come from recognizing our role in how we think and act.”

Some people only do the exercise for one week, and that’s OK. But for others, it becomes a cherished daily practice.

“We see positive outcomes,” Moore said. “The idea is that once you notice the positive things you do, you’ll choose to do more, and you will see more positive things others do as well. This requires action on a person’s part to see the positive, which is critical to resilience.”
What if I’m feeling hopeless?

For anyone who feels they have severe depression, call your doctor or seek immediate help elsewhere. Anyone who is having suicidal thoughts can get help 24/7 through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

For most people, it’s normal to feel somewhat depressed during major life events, natural disasters and pandemics. Using Three Good Things won’t erase sorrows, Moore said. Rather, it’s a practice that can help people cope better.

“We can say, ‘This is terrible and tragic.’ And, at the same time, at the end of each day, we can also say, ‘There were Three Good Things in which I participated to make my work and the world better.’”
Who can benefit from Three Good Things?

Everyone.

Moore sees some patients who are coping with difficult, genetic health challenges. They sometimes feel hopeless.

“They might say, ‘I have high cholesterol. No matter what, I’m going to have a heart attack and diabetes. I’m going to die young.’”

Moore tells them that while acknowledging they inherited a tough genetic deck of hands, they can also improve their health and their lives.

“They can start to feel more empowered to minimize the genetic impact, understanding the majority of health outcomes are lifestyle-based. A lot of people are defeatist these days. There is a balance between owning health challenges and maximizing our health choices to live the best life we can,” Moore said.

She also sees patients who have avoided going to a doctor for years because they are embarrassed about their weight or they are dealing with addictions to alcohol or drugs.

Or, an older patient might be struggling with balance. A patient of any age who has had a tough surgery might be depressed about a difficult recovery.

For people in these circumstances, one good thing to celebrate can be as simple as getting out of bed.

And, we can all do good things to fight social isolation.

“You can write a note to a friend or arrange an outdoor lunch. Taking the initiative to have some social contact is great,” Moore said. “The list of ideas for good things is endless.”

The concept of positive psychology doesn’t mean that you will go around feeling positive all the time.

“Some people find they are living in one ongoing negative emotional state. It can be great to balance the sadness with positive thinking,” Moore said.
How long do you have to do Three Good Things?

In the original clinical trial, study volunteers did the Three Good Things for seven nights in a row. Some continued voluntarily. Even if the participants stopped after a week, the benefits continued. Noticing good things seems to stick with us and improve our attitudes over the long term.
Do you have to do Three Good Things every day?

Yes. In order to do the activity correctly, you are supposed to do it every day for at least 7 days in a row.
Can you pick the same Three Good Things every day?

No. You need to pick new good things each day.
Do you have to do Three Good Things before bed?

Most advocates for Three Good Things say it’s best to do the exercise before bed. Focusing on good things clears your head and drives stress away, thus helping people sleep better. But Moore isn’t a purist. If a patient is a morning person and will be more dedicated to focusing on Three Good Things in the morning, then that can work too, she said.
What kind of results have doctors seen?

Seligman’s clinical trial showed that doing Three Good Things resulted in greater happiness as measured six months later. Some medical experts say that using Three Good Things can be as effective as using antidepressants.

Moore has seen excellent results among her patients, whether they have naturally sunny dispositions or tend to see the world pessimistically.

“Everyone can see the world in a more positive way. Hope and confidence overlap,” Moore said.

“You can do this on your own. You can do it with your family. It’s not going to make bad things go away. But, it does help you cope better with them.”

UCHealth Today: https://www.uchealth.org/today/

Remembering South Jersey Olympian Mel Sheppard

 

A champion to remember Mel Sheppard won the first of his 4 Olympic golds 100 years ago.

By Phil Anastasia INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Posted: July 14, 2008

One of America's greatest Olympic champions was a South Jersey native who ran his first race as a Philadelphia schoolboy.

He was a fierce competitor whose humble background and dogged determination made him a personal favorite of President Theodore Roosevelt.

He was a former street tough - a self-styled member of the "Grays Ferry Roaders" gang in South Philadelphia around the turn of the 20th century - who ran so fast and so well that U.S. middle-distance stars have been chasing his accomplishments for a century.

And they haven't caught him yet.

One hundred years ago today, Mel Sheppard won the first of his three gold medals at the Olympic Games in London. A century later, Sheppard remains the last American to win a gold medal in the 1,500 meters.

Sheppard also won the 800 meters and anchored the U.S. sprint medley relay team to a victory in those Games. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, he won a gold medal in the 4x400 relay and a silver medal in the 800.

Four Olympic gold medals, three in world-record time. An Olympic silver medal. Seven AAU national titles. World indoor records in the 600 and 1,000 yards.

All that athletic glory springing from such an unlikely background - plus an eyewitness brush with the aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic - make Sheppard one of the more compelling characters to emerge from the Philadelphia area.

But 100 years is a long time: Today, Sheppard might be the most famous athlete that most people never heard of.

"He should be our Steve Prefontaine," said longtime Haddonfield track and cross-country coach Nick Baker, referring to the late Oregon running star.

Sheppard was born in 1883 in Almonesson, a section of Deptford Township in Gloucester County. He lived there, in a twin house, for the first nine years of his life.

"What I remember most is swimming in Almonesson Lake," Sheppard wrote in his autobiography, Spiked Shoes and Cinder Paths, which was published in serial form in Sport Story magazine (newstand price: 5 cents) in 1924.

At the time, Almonesson Lake was a rural body of water popular with fishermen and young boys who would tie ropes to trees that grew near the shoreline. For most of the first half of the 20th century, Almonesson Lake was a recreation spot for boaters and swimmers, with amusement rides near the current location of Auletto's Caterers.

At age 9, Sheppard moved with his family to Clayton, and got a job "rolling jars" in a glass factory for $9 a month. His family moved to Haddonfield a few years later, then to the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia when Sheppard was about 15.

Sheppard wrote that he had jobs "pulling tacks out of shoes" and as a messenger boy, but that he also joined the Grays Ferry Roaders, a street gang that clashed with rival gangs such as the Ramcats, Pine Streeters and Race Streeters.

Sheppard wrote that the Ramcats were his gang's "special enemies, with whom we would fight when we had nothing else to do."

Sheppard's emergence as a world-class athlete was astoundingly sudden. When he was 17, his family moved to West Philadelphia, near Fairmount Park, and he joined the Preston Athletic Club.

About the same time, he enrolled in Brown Preparatory School, in the Odd Fellows Temple at Broad and Cherry Streets. The building, erected in 1893 at a cost of $1 million, was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Convention Center expansion.

Sheppard wrote that his first race was a 100-yard dash in Washington Park in Philadelphia. He finished third.

"The longer races were more fit to my nature," Sheppard wrote.

In 1904, Sheppard won three races while representing Brown Prep at schoolboy events held in conjunction with the Olympics in St. Louis - a foreshadowing of his success four years later in London.

Sheppard qualified for the 1908 U.S. Olympic team by winning the 800 meters in the Olympic trials, which were held at Franklin Field.

He set sail for London on June 29 with about 100 other members of the U.S. team on the liner Philadelphia. He wrote that the track team trained on "a cork track on the promenade deck," and noted that javelin throwers amused themselves by tying ropes to their spears and throwing them at sharks that approached the ship.

The 1908 Games were the first to have an opening ceremony. About 2,000 athletes, representing 22 countries, competed.

There was a fierce rivalry between the American and English teams, fueled when American shot-putter Ralph Rose did not dip the U.S. flag in salute to King Edward VII. Rose's refusal became standard practice for U.S. athletes in the opening parade.

Sheppard was a surprise entrant in the 1,500 meters - he hadn't even run the event in the trials - but won his heat in 4 minutes, 5 seconds. The next day, he set a world record by winning the final in 4:03.5.

"If it was necessary to die at the finish, why, that would be perfectly satisfactory as long as I hit the tape first," Sheppard wrote. "It was the proudest moment of my life."

Sheppard won the 800 meters in 1:52.4, another world record. And he was the anchor man on the sprint medley relay team that won another gold medal.

About a month later, Sheppard and the rest of the U.S. team were invited to meet President Theodore Roosevelt at his summer home in Oyster Bay, N.Y.

"The president was particularly interested in Mel Sheppard and asked for him several times," the New York Times reported Sept. 1, 1908. "The great middle-distance runner was compelled to describe his races . . . and the president listened with great attention."

Roosevelt was particularly interested in the 1,500 meters, which he called "the greatest race I ever read about." Sheppard told the president about the event, then pulled a Moroccan leather case out his pocket and handed it to the man known as the Rough Rider.

"This is my prize for winning the event," Sheppard said of his gold medal. "I would be honored if you would keep it."

When Roosevelt refused, Sheppard said, "I have two others, and I will not miss this one."

When Roosevelt accepted, he told Sheppard, "This will be one of my most treasured possessions."

In his autobiography, Sheppard described Roosevelt's reaction this way: "The president was like a schoolboy who won his first ribbon."

Sheppard later wrote to Roosevelt asking for help in acquiring a job as a customs inspector at the Port of Philadelphia. Roosevelt's personal secretary wrote back, and Sheppard got the position.

He later was transferred to the Port of New York, and he was on duty the night of April 18, 1912, when the RMS Carpathia arrived with the survivors from the sinking of the Titanic.

From 1906 to 1912, Sheppard was America's best middle-distance runner. He won seven AAU national titles, and barely missed another gold medal in the 800 meters at the 1912 Olympics. His time of 1:52 would have been another world record, but teammate Ted Meredith edged him at the tape and won in 1:51.9.

When his running career ended, Sheppard turned to coaching. He was a civilian athletic director at military bases during World War I. He served as a field secretary for the Playground and Recreation Association of America, traveling the country to help set up leagues and playgrounds. He was the coach of the U.S. women's track team at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.

For the last 20 years of his life, Sheppard worked for Wanamaker's in New York as recreation director of the Millrose Athletic Association. He died in 1942 in Queens, N.Y., at the age of 59.

"He was kind of a rough-and-tumble individual," said Howard Schmertz, 83, who served as meet director of the Millrose Games from 1975 to 2003.

Schmertz's father directed the Millrose Games from 1934 to 1974, and was an attorney for Wanamaker's during Sheppard's time with the Millrose Athletic Association.

Looking back, Schmertz said, "In those days, everybody knew Mel Sheppard."