Yesterday was a tough day.  I received some information that upset and unnerved me.  I was a little freaked out and totally stressed. 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve experienced night sweats.  I’ve never had them on a regular basis and they’ve never been all that severe in my case.  Last night they were brutal.  I woke up several times feeling soaked and needing to be toweled off.  I’ve never had a night like that before. 

As I slept I had some pretty intense dreams – all related to my stressful situation.  And then I would wake up soaked.  I’d often wondered if the occasional night sweats I’d experienced over the past few years had been the after effect of some disturbing dream – but I don’t always remember my dreams so I couldn’t be sure. 

Now I’m sure of a few things.  For me night sweats are directly related to stress and stress-related dreams.  They are not directly related to the temperature in the room (on hot nights I wake up feeling overheated and perspiring a bit – but I’m not drowning in my own bodily fluids as I feared I would last night).  Nor are they directly related to alcohol (although that may be a contributor) since I had a couple of glasses of wine last night – but not more than I’ve had on numerous other nights when there was no sweating after lights out.

So I’ve learned something important.  I have a better understanding of what’s causing my occasional night sweats.  Now if I could only eliminate all stress from my life! 

When I realized what was happening I tried to remind myself of Tolle’s advice to “live in the now.”  Since nothing was causing me intense physical pain at that moment I should allow myself to feel good.  It’s not always easy – depending on what’s causing the stress – but it definitely helped to focus my mind away from the negative.  Always key when inordinate stress is involved. 

This morning I made a rescheduled visit to my chiropractor (I had missed last Wednesday’s appointment due to a long running meeting).  I’ve never been so glad to have rescheduled before.  I told her about my stress and she proceeded to kick its butt.  I left her office feeling so much more relaxed and hopeful.  My stressful problem wasn’t gone – but it wasn’t holding my body in a headlock anymore – so I could address it from a position of strength rather than one of weakness.  And that makes all the difference!