Ni, Insomnia and Introversion

[moonlit_reveries]

I know a handful of people who prefer Ni as dominant/auxiliary
function who also have insomnia or naturally prefer to be awake either
very early in the morning or very late at night. I know insomnia can
be caused by many things, but in this case I attribute my own insomnia
to Ni.

In this post, I'm going to share some of my personal
Ni/Insomnia insights. Does anyone else relate or agree with them? I'd
also like to know if what I'm describing is indeed Ni. I know I'm new
to the functions, and I've been working on wrapping my mind around Ni
and what it encompasses and how it works in my life, and I'd love to
know if I'm getting it right.

For me Ni seems to work best when both my mind and my environment is
as calm and as still as possible. It is in this stillness when I get
my most brilliant insights and ideas and my mind usually gets that
calm when I'm sitting in bed trying to fall asleep or meditating.
Outer stillness is important too because if there's a lot of noise or
people around it can often drown out my inner voice and inner visions.
(another issue with this is that when there are a lot of people
around, I automatically go into Fe-mode and focus my energy outward)

I equate using Ni with gazing within a very still pond deep within me
and instead of seeing myself, I see a very clear vision. Outside
noise/chatter is like people throwing stones into my pond and it
obscures the vision. For this reason I feel quite dull when I don't
get enough alone time and frustrated and defensive if my alone time is
intruded on by interruptions and loud noise. And a Ni vision often
flashes across my pond for just a moment but then fades away, so if my
pond is blurred by chaos, I often miss a profound insight as a result
and I hate this. When I lived in a noisy dorm, this was probably my
biggest annoyance and getting my quiet time disturbed can actually
bring out a very ugly side in me. During one of my moments of
frustration, I wrote this short little poem (not my best but it
captures my thoughts on this subject.): Thief of silence by Moonlit-Reveries at All poetry
I was rereading this poem a few weeks ago when I started to think of
Ni in relation to insomnia. And it actually lead to the inspiration
for this post. Most of my poetry was written in moments of stillness.
Feel free to check out my page and any of my other poems if you'd like to.

I'm sure other introverted types can relate to this, and I'd be
curious to find out if there's an equivalent of this need for
stillness for Ti or Fi.

When I'm living in a noisy environment, I find that I need to stay up
very late to get the stillness I crave, and I feel I'm more creative
and insightful at night, and I just discovered that the nature of Ni
is the reason why.
And when I am struck by a brilliant Ni vision I get so excited and
energized about how I can apply it to my life. This excitement keeps
me up longer and then when I wind down some more my mind gets still
again and another vision flashes through me and I get excited and the
cycle continues over and over.
Of course this can really mess up my sleep schedule but c'est la vie.
I'm also out of tune with my body's need for sleep so this can help
perpetuate insomnia. I fell into this horrible loop when I was in the
dorms and the only way I could fall asleep was exhaustion.

Was what I described Ni? And did it sound like Ni as a dominant
function? Do people who have Ni as a dominant function need such
specific conditions and stillness for Ni to work optimally, or would
they be able to access it more readily, even in moments of chaos?

(I'd
like to know because,to some extent, I'm still fiddling around with my type
preference and what I know now is that Ni Se Fe and Ti are functions I
like to use. I'm just having trouble putting them in order...so in the
back of my mind I'm considering ENFJ/ISTP/ESTP as distant possibilities even
though I'm still sticking with INFJ because it seems like the best fit
from my perception)

~Ilana

 

[Sniffles]

I'll have to read this over when I'm able to better read. Right now my mind is beginning to go AWOL.

I can say that I too often suffer from insomnia. In fact this past week I've been having trouble falling asleep, and it's been negatively affecting me at work.

 

[comicsgurl]

This is extremely insightful, actually (no Ni pun intended). I suffer from insomnia as well, and my environment is normally extremely chaotic - and I find solace at night in the still and in the quiet times.

But honestly, if I could actually go to bed at a decent hour and wake up early, my favorite time is between 4am and 6am. It's very still, the birds begin to chirp, and there's a special hush in the world that can't be duplicated at any other time. Oh, it would be such *heaven* for me if I could live in a mountainous area of the country and wake up at 5am to write, to read, or to ponder. But I suck at that right now.

It's pretty funny. At this point in my life I'm working as a "dorm mother" (aka hall director) and it's frustrating for me. There is no quiet. Even in the summertime when most students are away, we have loud, noisy summer camps...so I share your pain. What I'm going to try to do is to find at least three hours I can claim as my own. But unlike you, my Fe doesn't get in the way when I have to be more extroverted. When I'm disturbed, all Fe goes right out the window and Ti takes control - but that's another story.

 

[Thursday]

I hate to wake up when the sun is too shiny
however
4-5am, i feel jovial
and i usually don't wake up spiritually until its 6:30 pm

 

[nolla]

Your theory fits the development of my insomnia. I was 15 and never left alone since I had 4 brothers and I didn't want to be the kinda guy who has "no tresspassing" sign at the door. There was always at least one of them around. So, I was mostly thinking at night. Then it became a habit and goes on. It doesnt help that I live with couple of roommates at the moment, but its nice to have people around, so I'll have to deal with the lesser evil. Besides, the thinking has been very useful for me, so the insomnia isnt something i lose sleep over.

 

[entropie]

I just read the topic so I do not know what is going on. I promise I am going to read the full one, but at the moment I am pretty much too intoxicated.

The best cure to Ni insomnia is an Ne boy-/girlfriend. I speak from a first hand experience.

After being talked to death, you are going to laugh at insomnia.

 

[moonlit_reveries]

This is extremely insightful, actually (no Ni pun intended). I suffer from insomnia as well, and my environment is normally extremely chaotic - and I find solace at night in the still and in the quiet times.

But honestly, if I could actually go to bed at a decent hour and wake up early, my favorite time is between 4am and 6am. It's very still, the birds begin to chirp, and there's a special hush in the world that can't be duplicated at any other time. Oh, it would be such *heaven* for me if I could live in a mountainous area of the country and wake up at 5am to write, to read, or to ponder. But I suck at that right now.
.

Thanks! And that's exactly what I'm doing right now, winding down from chaotic day and spending some time in my inner world.

What you described would be heaven for me too. I'd just love to take a walk around 5 or 6 and just enjoy the stillness and I'd write and ponder whatever comes to mind. In fact, I think I wrote a poem idealizing that time just before dawn.

 

[edcoaching]

I was in a seminar with a bunch of Ni advanced type users. Two of them knew each other really well and one (INTJ) started teasing the seminar leader (INFJ), "Tell us about your days in the New Zealand French Resistance."

No, there wasn't a NZ branch of the French Resistance; this guy had fantasized his role as a child down to details like, "If I steal 3 cookies, mom will know there are French Resistance fighters in the hill above our farm [in NZ]. I can only have one..."

Then others in the room started admitting to their internal childhood fantasies and it came out that several (including me) still sometimes tap into those fantasies to overcome insomnia.

going to a set fantasy or working on a story line that you already know half the plot for or imagining a favorite place are all good ways to turn off the butterfly-mind tendency of Ni when it's working on an idea. Great cure for insomnia. Embarrassing if others tapped in but...

 

[Nonsensical]

I have trouble sleeping, I will wake up for no reason in the middle of the night, thoughts flowing through my head as if on a long river with no end or beginning....I sometimes suffer from anxiety, and it will make it so that when I am in the state of waking up, not consciously awake, but almost, I will feel as though something really bad has happened, and the thought will linger until I can finally realize nothing of the such has happened..