[SwordFerny]

Hi all,

I’ve found my way here after about a month’s worth of insomnia issues from anxiety. I’m in a cycle of getting basically zero sleep to then crashing for 6-7 hrs the next day and repeat. I’ve been watching many Insomnia Coach videos that have already helped me dial down my anxiety. I’m ready to start implementing CBT-I methods into my life.

Something I’ve noticed recently when getting into bed at night is my tendency to notice my breathing and heart rate and how this can quickly take me from feeling sleepy to kicking off feelings of anxiety and keeping me up. Does anyone have any experience with this and how I might be able to let it go?

Thanks!

[Chee2308]

Oh no please don’t do that in bed! During my insomnia, I did that a few times and actually made it worse. I was getting in and out of bed doing stimulus control all night. Because this activity is too mentally stimulating. Just go to bed, close your eyes and let your mind drift. Sometimes your mind may suddenly become conscious and jolt you awake just when you are about to drift off and it may repeat a few times until you finally doze off at some point unknowable to you, this is all completely normal. But no more counting and no monitoring. Nobody can tell the exact moment they fall asleep, it will happen effortlessly. You won’t even be aware you fell asleep until you wake up. Good luck to you.

[Martin Reed]

Have you tried simply observing your breathing and heart rate during the night without any judgement or attempts to control those things? You might think of yourself as a curious scientist simply observing and watching with interest, for as long as your mind finds them interesting.

Quite often, when we try to control our minds, we get tangled up in a struggle — because our minds will do what our minds choose to do!

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[SwordFerny]

Martin,

Thanks for your response. I think that’s a good approach to this if it pops up while I’m trying to go to sleep. It’s hard to shake the anticipatory anxiety of going to bed, even if I’m feeling pretty sleepy in the other room. I think this monitoring is part of this.

[Martin Reed]

No need to shake the anxiety but it can be useful to practice moving away from trying to fight or avoid it. As for monitoring, not much we can do to stop that from happening (I’m going to guess you know this from experience!) — so it might be useful to practice allowing the monitoring to happen whenever your brain chooses to monitor, too.

With this approach, all the stuff your mind decides to do will still happen (even if you wish it didn’t!) but the difference now is that you aren’t adding all the struggle on top!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[SwordFerny]

Thank you for the advice, Martin! It’s been very helpful for my mindset.

Even just telling myself now that I accept my anxiety has made me feel more relaxed and OK with the idea that I may have it before bed.

I’m realizing that I’ve been trying to fight my anxiety before bed and it’s made it extremely difficult to fall asleep at times. Interestingly enough when I do fall asleep, even when I wake up I have almost no problem falling back asleep. It’s like I’m so relieved that I was able to do in the first place that it’s a non issue.

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