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I have a recent case in point of a “dip” as I like to call it.
I have recently completed the program and revisited parts of the material to build up some practice muscle memory. I have had a few weeks now where sleep has been getting so much better. Yesterday I was feeling better than I had in a while, got sleepy at night, went to bed and read for a little while.
Just as I turned out the light and laid my head down, that “doubting” voice spoke up and said “Do you really think you have this licked? I don’t think so.”At that moment I started practicing a couple of techniques, but my gut told me I may be in for tough night.
Before the program this would have set me into panic and frustration mode. Now I just accepted it, thought of some positive things, shrugged my shoulders and let it be.Today, I feel a bit heavy-headed and tired, but still got on with my day as though nothing happened.
I know that this is not a linear process so I have built in “dips” as part of my journey. When they come, they are an uninvited visitor, but I accept them in none the less.Hi Martin,
My intention for the AWAKE exercise was to calm my mind down a bit and sit with the thoughts and feelings, just get relaxed enough to rest and let sleep happen. More success would have been more focus, calm, and alertness during the day.
I did everything I wanted and needed to do which was in line with my values and goals, but it sure was very hard at timesHi all, I just had a really rough night after a few weeks of reasonable to good nights of sleep. Of course the frustration and anxiety crept back in. I have to travel for work for the next 10 days, so was a bit tense about being too tired to be on point for my presentations.
Moving toward my goals and things I want to do in the days regardless of how I may feel does help. I went on a hike with friends when my mind was saying I was too tired and weak to go. It turned out that I felt better after the hike than before.
I know the path ahead is non-linear , and dips are normal, but it sure can be immensely difficult and tiring. The stories on this forum and the podcasts help a lot in affirming that I am not alone or brokenFear and frustration seem to be lying just under the surface sometimes. For me I have generally been getting better sleep, but then a bad night will occur. This can sometimes throw me for a loop and get me thinking that the struggle is back. I try to remember that overall the trend has been getting better instead of focusing on a single night. I will readjust my sleep window slightly if sleep is not good over a few days. I am finding little tweaks rather than big drastic changes seem to work better for me. Sometimes sticking with a particular week longer has helped. I was on week 4 for three weeks and now starting week 5. Letting go of sleep panic and control has helped a lot, even in the grips of a difficult and frustrating night
Hello Tara,
I am just about to start week 2. I did week 1 twice in order to lock in my sleep window better.
I found that I have experienced two weeks of decent sleep in my 6 hour window. I was starting to feel quite optimistic about the outcome and then had a rough night last night where I got very little light and sleep.
I started to go down the “oh no, what happened” hole, but know that this is not linear process, so will just accept and roll with it. This did help my mental outlook during the day, even though I still felt quite tired and exhausted at times.
Tonight I will go to bed without any expectations as I did over the last two weeks and just let it happen. A very difficult thing to do, I know.
I did not get to my current insomnia state in two weeks so don’t expect a cure in two weeks. Just signs of improvement are good enough for now.I am still on the long road, but what is helping is not obsessing over the rigid processes. I practice sleep hygiene, and sleep windows, but not so intense as before. I tend to do everything at 110% to get results, but the case is sleep, that has not been so easy.
I’ve found that the morning routine is as or more important than evening. So, get up roughly at same time everyday, don’t hang out in bed too long after awakening, get some light into eyes as soon as I can (outside, so sun lamp), read something inspiring, some sort of exercise, decent diet, etc. I’ve found that engaging with people in the evening when possible also seems to help.
I am just re-adjusting to not getting out of bed in the night, but staying relaxed and calm. After a longer while I may get out of bed, but not doing anything to force sleep.I have tried CBT-I twice now over the last 6 months. Things got worse at first, then slightly better, then nothing. It is very difficult to follow the strict rules and rituals of classic CBT-I. I started getting anxious about following the rules to the letter which made things even worse. The most difficult thing for me is the constant getting up and out of bed all night and then never getting really sleepy during wakeful activities in order to fall asleep in bed again. I’ve been trying to loosen the CBT-I rituals a bit which has seemed to improve things. But it’s an up and down journey which can feel like you are getting nowhere
