Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
As you pointed out, that might make things more difficult @Alan-John. As the expert on yourself and your own experience, what ideas do you have to deal with that swing of two hours on those two or three nights each week?
@Karima87 — Being afraid of going to bed later is totally understandable, and I wouldn’t usually suggest a sleep window of much under six hours or so. In what ways is going to bed earlier helping you move closer to where you want to be?—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.
Being in the hospital is going to make sleep more difficult. Do you have any idea how long you’ll be there for?
It might be difficult to implement an appropriate sleep window while in hospital. Instead, you might want to consider going to bed (or giving sleep the opportunity to show up) only when you feel sleepy enough for sleep (finding it hard to stay awake) and seeing if you might be able to maintain a reasonably consistent final out of bed time/getting the day started time in the morning.
A sleep window is a very small part of the overall picture when it comes to moving away from the insomnia struggle, so I’d encourage you not to put too much effort into trying to make that perfect — especially in a hospital environment!
As for feeling anxious about wakefulness — that might be coming from your brain trying to protect you from what it believes to be the threat of being awake at night. As for why it thinks being awake is a threat? That might have been learned (through no fault of your own!) from the repeated and ongoing struggle that comes from trying to resist wakefulness at night.
That’s just one idea, though. And you are the expert on you. What are your thoughts on 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.
Things sound hard for you right now, @Karima87.
You are afraid to get out of bed and you can still get out of bed when you are afraid to get out of bed.
You are scared you’ll never overcome this and you can still overcome this when you are scared you’ll never overcome this.
All the thoughts and feelings you are identifying come from your problem-solving brain doing its job of looking out for you.
You always get to decide how to respond to those thoughts and feelings. How you act when they show up.
And your response might be what determines how much power and influence they have and your level of struggle.
You mentioned that you try not to panic — what have you learned from that strategy?
—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 sharing @Ryno84 🙂
You know that you aren’t alone, that the insomnia struggle is hard, and that your experience is not unique or unusual.
You are an action taker. You are a problem solver. As you wrap up Week 1 you feel reassured that you are on the right path forward.
You have a powerful awareness of what fuels insomnia — which is, ultimately, all the understandable effort to get rid of it. With that awareness, opportunity reveals itself.
Sleep is losing the power and influence it once held over your life, thanks to the changes you are making. Those changes aren’t always easy — change is hard. You’re doing it anyway because change matters to you.
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.
It’s good to have you here and I look forward to reading what you learn as you work through the course and share your insights in the forum 🙂
—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 are taking action! Over the coming weeks and months you are going to be making change happen. You will be experimenting and learning — and that will move you closer to where you want to be. I wish you all the best on your journey!
—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 are the expert on you @jdon60 — my goal as your guide is to help you explore the workability of your current actions and how they are (or aren’t) serving you and moving you closer to where you want to be 🙂
—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 Lin and thanks for sharing your reflection that things are improving. You’ve learned a lot over the past couple of months!
You’ve added an extra hour to your sleep window as an opportunity to rest — and that additional time feels good (and sometimes includes some sleep).
When you wake during the night (which is a normal part of sleep), you are choosing not to check the time. And you notice your mind firing up and generating thoughts, like all human brains do (they really are thought-generating machines)!
It sounds as though your experience tells you that you cannot control what your brain chooses to do.
With that in mind, perhaps trying to stop thinking or otherwise quieten your mind is something that might be making things more difficult? It’s like the more you try to silence your mind, the louder it can become!
And, if nothing else, the active effort required to resist might be the opposite of the passivity that sleep wants before it shows up.
What might an opposite approach to resistance and control look like, and how might you benefit 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 are responding in a workable way — with kindness, acceptance, and refocusing (rather than harsh self-talk, resistance, battling, and struggling).
And, the more you practice that response, the more skilled you’ll become and the more like “water off a duck’s back” all those symptoms might become.
I would also add that if you are concerned by tingling in the arms and legs, it might be a good idea to speak with your doctor about those symptoms.
—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’re describing hypnic jerks — a common phenomenon which involves sudden sharp movements as we are drifting off to sleep.
So, in one way those jerks are a reminder that you can (and are) falling asleep. And, when combined with a lot of experience of struggling with sleep, they might be followed by your problem-solving brain firing up to protect and prepare you for the battle it predicts is about to come next.
As the expert on yourself and your own experience, what have you tried doing in response to those jerks and that rush of adrenaline — and what have you learned from what you’ve been doing?
—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’ve been practicing observing your leg twitches before getting up and marching around. What have you learned from that different response? In what ways, if any, does it feel more workable to kindly and curiously observe rather than jump out of bed and nonchalantly march around?
—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.
If your intention is to make a certain amount or type of sleep happen, that might be more aligned with CBT than ACT.
If your intention is to use a sleep window to avoid chasing after sleep and avoid spending an excessive amount of time in bed (where it’s hard to do other things that truly matter), that might be more aligned with ACT than CBT.
There’s also a middle ground here — going to bed at 10:00 PM even though your sleep window doesn’t begin until 11:00 PM (for example) because you’re finding it hard to stay awake is different compared to going to bed at 8:00 PM no matter what in an effort to get a certain amount or type of sleep.
It sounds like you are finding a kinder, more flexible approach — that doesn’t involve trying to manage or control sleep — is the right way forward for you. And, with that in mind, I think you’ll get a lot out of the course, @tahmad.
When you say this kind of ACT-aligned approach “works”, what do you mean by that? Because if it means making a certain amount or type of sleep happen (or not experiencing certain thoughts per feelings) that might not be true acceptance — although you are the expert on you and I am not always successful at mind reading 😜
—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.
Not feeling sleepy is not unusual — especially if sleep has been a struggle for a long time.
You shared that you will wake some time between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM so we know that at some point you are falling asleep — does sleepiness show up later, once in bed, or does it not seem to show up at all before you fall asleep?
On average, how long would you guess it takes to fall asleep when you go to bed at 7:30 PM and what time do you get out of bed to start your day each day?
—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 @richarlk 🙂
Yes — once enrolled in any of the course options you can book one-off 40-minute phone/video coaching sessions with me (subject to availability). There is an additional charge for those, which is currently $299 per session.
I hope this helps, and I appreciate everyone’s contribution to this thread!
—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’ve been through (and are going through) a lot.
You are taking medication and your sleep still isn’t great. In what ways — if any — would you benefit from not implementing what you are learning in the course until your mood is better or you have eliminated medication?
—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.
