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You are seeing things in a new light because of the actions you’ve taken as you worked through the course.
You are living a values-based life, independently of sleep. You are closer to the life you want to live because of your commitment to values-based action.
As you continue to do that, fatigue and sleep is less likely to be labeled as a problem that your problem-solving brain needs to focus on and try to “fix”. That gives those things the opportunity to take care of themselves.
You’ve reclaimed your life, Shelley — and that’s all down to you!
—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.
Pretty much everyone wants to feel good and not many people want to experience difficult thoughts and feelings. That’s probably why it’s so easy to get stuck!
Your superpowers of curiosity, honesty, and self-reflection have revealed that action is what matters, @janiceannmckeachern!
You’ve also learned that trying to control what is out of your control uses energy and attention that could be used to take meaningful action — and pulls you deeper into a struggle.
Taking action and learning from what you are doing is a reflection of progress. I wish you all the best as you continue to move forward!
—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.
Hello Helene and thank you for sharing the changes you’ve noticed!
When you wake early in the morning you find yourself feeling completely alert, even though it feels as though you haven’t had enough sleep. And, there’s nothing particularly unique or unusual in that.
Waking during sleep is normal and, if your brain detects what it thinks might be a threat (and when we’ve struggled with insomnia it can identify being awake as a threat) it’ll generate alertness so you don’t fall asleep in the face of danger!
This is a part of your brain that might be out of your control. If it was in your control you might switch it off (or leave it switched off) by accident and then get eaten by a bear in the middle of the night!
Perhaps the way forward might involve exploring how you could help “train” your brain — through action — that being awake isn’t a threat. If you were to do that, how might you get started?
—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.
Thanks for the great question! You would be out of bed by the end of your sleep window no matter what time you go to bed at night and no matter what sleep looked like that night.
So, as an example, if your sleep window is midnight to 6:00 AM and you go to bed at 3:00 AM or don’t fall asleep until 3:00 AM, if you are observing the sleep window you’d still be getting out of bed at 6:00 AM.
Does this answer your question?
—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.
As you consider the opportunity to implement a sleep window of 1:00 AM to 7:00 AM you are reflecting on your experience and wondering whether such a change is worth the risk.
Perhaps you don’t want to make a change — and that’s OK, since you are the expert on yourself! In what ways does your current sleep window serve you right now?
—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.
Ups and downs come with any journey — and just as nobody experiences the day they want to experience every single day of their lives, nobody experiences the night they want to experience every single night of their lives either!
It’s impossible to return to square 1 unless you return to all the actions you know don’t work! Even then, you’d be further along than square 1 because you have the knowledge and experience of what helps you experience all this stuff with less struggle.
When you experience it with less struggle, less fighting, less resistance, less avoidance — you can then refocus your energy and attention on actions that reflect your values and move you toward the life you want to live.
The tools are at your disposal. Actions are always in your control. What do you want to do in response to what’s happening right now?
—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.
Hello Molly!
Thanks for letting me know that my reflection on what you shared helped you identify the progress you’ve made and the work you’ve been doing.
You are responding to the difficult things out of your control with mindful awareness — and that seems to be a more workable strategy compared to resistance and battle. And, since mindfulness is a skill, it makes sense that it’s going to require ongoing practice and that practice will come with ups and downs!
I wonder, too, in 100 years from now as you reflect on the life you lived — will you be remembering all the times you didn’t feel anxiety and all the times you got x hours of sleep? Or, will you be remembering all the things you did and experienced?
—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.
Thanks for the great question! The W part is about noticing where any thoughts and feelings that might be present are showing up in your body.
Some people, for example, notice anxiety as a heavy weight in their stomach or as stiff shoulders (and you’ve noticed that sometimes it shows up as tension in the back of your neck — and not necessarily at night).
Not everyone notices something every time — or even ever. It’s more about opening up and giving yourself the opportunity to notice if and where those thoughts and feelings are showing up in your body.
You might not notice anything and that’s fine. And sometimes you might and that’s fine, too! You’ve still done the step and you can move onto the next A in AWAKE when you are ready 🙂
Does this answer your question?
—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.
You raise a great point here that is worth clarifying!
Thoughts are great distractors and every human being gets distracted by their thoughts from time to time.
So, it’s not about “not allowing” thoughts to distract you. It’s more about noticing when you are getting distracted and refocusing your attention so you can be present and do what matters even when they show up. And, the action of refocusing is often required over and over again as you learn that skill.
The NOW exercise is intended to help with this. If you’ve played around with that, what have you learned from that?
—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.
It sounds like you might be getting stuck because everything you are doing is aimed and trying to make a certain amount or type of sleep happen — and your experience tells you that sleep is out of your direct control.
For as long as you are actively resisting wakefulness and trying to make sleep happen, you might not be able to truly surrender or experience all this stuff with less struggle.
Are you able to remember a time when sleep wasn’t an issue or a concern? What did you do back then to make sleep happen and what insights does that reveal?
—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.
Great questions!
Ultimately, there’s no perfect or “right” way to do this. The only requirements are to write down three good things that happened and why they happened.
The goal is to expand the focus of your attention so you are better able to notice the good stuff that is present, even when things feel really difficult.
Since the human brain is hard-wired for “doom and gloom” mode, it requires practice to notice and appreciate the positives that remain all around us.
The “why” part can also help us identify how our actions influence what we notice and appreciate, too.
So, with all that being said, here are what some examples might look like:
* I heard some birds singing because I stopped to observe nature
* I enjoyed a great dinner because I took the time to cook for myself
* I appreciated the warm water in the shower because I took a moment to be present
* I went for a walk because exercise is important to me
I hope this helps! If I can offer any more guidance on this, please let me know!
—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.
Hello Cata!
You are taking action to move away from sleep medication, even though it’s hard. What makes getting rid of the medication important to you?
Since your problem-solving brain’s main job is to look out for you, it’s naturally going to generate lots of difficult thoughts and feelings when you embark on a journey of change — because change is scary and new.
Problem-solving brains aren’t positive. They focus on the negative. The doom-and-gloom. The worst possible scenarios. Because that’s what keeps you alive. It would rather sound an alarm and get things wrong than not sound an alarm and get things wrong!
It feels unsafe to have those thoughts and feelings and when they show up you are safe.
What are you currently doing in response to those difficult thoughts and feelings when they show up and what are you learning from that?
—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.
Your current sleep window is 8:00 PM to 3:00 AM, which is seven hours long. What’s behind your thought that you might be doing the sleep window incorrectly?
—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.
Welcome aboard 🙂
You have identified that putting pressure on yourself to make sleep happen only makes it more difficult. You also shared a powerful insight that when you aren’t trying to make sleep happen — and if you are genuinely trying to stay awake — sleep is more likely to come to you.
As the expert on yourself, what might be the most workable way to respond when you notice yourself putting pressure on yourself to perform sleep?
You have been falling asleep on the couch and you’ve been falling asleep in front of the TV — and those are actions that don’t move you closer to where you want to be. If your goals are to fall asleep in your own bed and to fall asleep without the TV on, what might a first step toward that goal look like?
—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.
Going to bed later has given you the opportunity to rediscover that sense of true sleepiness (rather than just fatigue). It has also given you more time to do things like watch TV or potter around doing little jobs.
It’s more time for you, rather than more time for struggle.
Although you felt hesitant to reduce the amount of time you allot for sleep, you took action anyway and in a way that felt right for you. You are making change happen and you are learning from what you are doing.
I wish you all the best as you continue to work through the course, Wendy!
—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.
