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Welcome to the forum! How are you currently working on reframing difficult thoughts and feelings such as fear and anxiety?
—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.
How do you feel you might be able to practice being more accepting of all this difficult stuff?
—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 experience sounds difficult and not unique or unusual — you aren’t alone!
It sounds as though you’ve decided to start implementing a sleep widow so the amount of time you allot for sleep is a bit more closely aligned to your average nightly sleep duration. This can help move you away from chasing after sleep — something that can make it even more elusive!
Good luck and do let us know how you get on with it!
—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.
When you wake during the night, how do you respond to that wakefulness? Do you have a reasonably consistent out of bed time in the morning?
—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.
There are countless triggers for sleep disruption and temporary periods of sleep disruption come with being a human being.
If it sticks around when the trigger is no longer relevant (or obvious) that’s usually because of the changes we might have made in our approach to sleep — the things we’re doing to try to fix sleep or get rid of wakefulness.
With sleep, the more we try, the more difficult it can become!
—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. Moving away from chasing after sleep can be a helpful way of freeing ourselves from the struggle. And, sleep can still happen even if we use screens and even if we experience difficult thoughts and feelings such as stress, worry, or anxiety. Trying to fight or avoid this difficult stuff is what can make sleep really difficult!
—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’re definitely not alone!
It sounds as though you’ve tried lots of different things in an attempt to get rid of insomnia and make sleep happen — perhaps all the trying might be contributing to the problem you are experiencing? I wonder if your experience suggests that sleep cannot be controlled?
How did you make sleep happen before you experienced insomnia and how was your approach back then different to your approach today?
—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 you are falling asleep without warning during the day (especially if this happens at times when you need to be awake) I would encourage you to discuss that with your doctor.
What might be happening is that before your sleep window begins, there’s no effort to make sleep happen — and perhaps you aren’t putting any pressure on yourself to sleep. As a result, you experience a strong sense of sleepiness (and are also more likely to experience sleep). Perhaps there might be a useful insight in that experience?
—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 difficult, no doubt about it. As you know from experience, you cannot control sleep — and, like all human beings, there are things in your life that you wish weren’t there and that you cannot control, either.
So, you have a choice. Do you continue to do the same things over and over again, things that you know from experience do not work, that can create a struggle that can make things even more difficult, that can consume more of your energy and attention and make it harder to do things that matter?
Or, do you acknowledge the presence of difficult stuff that cannot be controlled, be kind to yourself in return, and then do things that keep you moving toward the life you want to live — even after difficult nights and even if you have dark circles under your eyes?
Your mind will always think — thinking isn’t the cause of struggle. Trying to fight or avoid certain thoughts and feelings sure can create struggle and make things more difficult, though!
Have you picked up any ideas from the course that might help you continue to practice responding to this difficult stuff in a workable way?
—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! Shifting your focus (and identity) toward actions you can control, that are aligned with your values, and that keep you moving toward the person you want to be and the life you want to live sure can be helpful 🙂
—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.
Do you think there’s a possibility that you feel really sleepy earlier in the night because, at that time, you aren’t trying to make sleep happen or perhaps putting pressure on yourself to sleep?
I only asked about your use of medication since, from reading your post, it sounded as though it wasn’t doing anything for you. You are the expert on you, Norm!
—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.
I’ve moved your post from the public forum to the Week 1 client forum, Norm 🙂
How long have you been following that sleep window of 1:00 AM to 7:00 AM?
Do you have any idea why you might feel so sleepy earlier in the night and then that sleepiness seems to disappear when you go to bed?
Based on what you shared in your post, how is the zopiclone helping 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.
Hello Brad!
If setting an alarm for 5:15 AM helps you live the kind of life you want to live and if the only reason you don’t want to set an alarm is because you’re trying to avoid feeling anxious, you might want to ask yourself whether that’s a workable behavior (we’ll explore “workable behaviors” in more detail as you continue to work through the course).
If you’re waking naturally at the time when you want to be starting your day and the lack of an alarm isn’t preventing you from doing things that matter or that move you toward the kind of life you want to live, then there’s probably no need to start setting an alarm now.
Does this help?
—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, Frank!
You can spend as long as you like on each letter — it’s not possible to spend “too long” on one part of the exercise. It’s all good practice for building skill in moving away from the struggle.
You can practice the AWAKE exercise in bed or out of bed, whichever you feel most comfortable with. I think that most people probably practice it mainly when in bed.
—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.
I’d suggest discussing this with your doctor. In terms of the approach of when/how to move away from medication, I don’t usually see a big influence in terms of the chosen process or timeline — some clients go cold turkey immediately, others taper immediately, others go cold turkey a bit later on, others taper a bit later on. Some taper quickly, others slowly.
The only time I see it posing more of a challenge is when medication is used contingently — when no clear plan is in place and medication use varies according to how each night goes, what happened on previous nights, what is coming up on future days, etc.
So, having a clear plan in place (whatever that might be for you) is usually more important than the plan itself.
I hope this helps!
—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.
