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I’m not sure if you’ve seen it, but I have a video on YouTube about hypnic jerks — and there’s lots of good stuff in the many, many comments that come with that video! If you get a moment to take a look and are willing to share, I’d love to hear your thoughts and, if applicable, any insights you might pick up!
—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 long before your sleep window begins do you start to find it really hard to stay awake?
—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.
That’s quite remarkable! What changed in those three weeks, do you think?
—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.
That sounds really difficult and it sounds as though you are tangled up in the typical “vicious cycle” of insomnia where the harder we try to make sleep happen and the harder we try to fight or avoid the difficult thoughts or feelings that are associated with insomnia, the more difficult all this stuff becomes. And, the more difficult it becomes, the harder we try. And the more difficult it becomes…
So, we end up stuck. Trying harder and harder, with all the difficult stuff not getting any better (and sometimes even getting more and more difficult).
If you feel your current approach isn’t getting you where you want to be, it might be worth exploring a different approach.
When I work with clients, that often involves implementing behaviors that can help create and maintain good conditions for sleep while practicing a new way of responding to wakefulness and the difficult thoughts and feelings associated with insomnia so we can start to move away from struggling with it.
This usually involves doing things like moving away from trying to fight or avoid all this difficult stuff (since, after all, your experience probably tells you that it can’t be directly or permanently controlled anyway), acknowledging its presence, making space for it to come and go, being kind to yourself, and doing things that matter even when things are hard.
With less struggle, we free up energy (and focus, and attention) to do things that matter. And, that, in turn, can make all this difficult stuff a bit less difficult, a bit less distracting, a bit less draining, and less likely to jerk us around and push us away from the life we want to live.
As a bonus, the less tangled up in a struggle we are, the better conditions become for sleep to happen, too.
I hope there’s something useful here.
—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 can be tough when difficult nights return! And, at the same time, it’s not unique or unusual — everyone has bad nights from time to time. What matters is how we respond!
You might find this video helpful if you haven’t seen it yet: When insomnia comes back: how to deal with insomnia relapses when insomnia returns.
—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 as though you picked up a big insight there — that, even in the presence of anxiety, sleep can still happen.
The lingering worry and anxiety you described is natural and normal — that’s your brain doing its job and looking out for you. Luckily, you get to choose how to respond to those thoughts and feelings!
—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.
Yes, it’s difficult — no doubt about it! How do you currently respond to those heart palpitations and how workable is that response proving 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.
Your desire to experience “normal” sleep is understandable and totally valid — and, at the same time, trying to make “normal” sleep happen is going to set you up for struggle since you cannot control sleep!
It might be a bit like trying your hardest to stop it from raining or trying really hard to turn the moon into cheese. How workable would those attempts be?!
If you decide to go to bed earlier in an effort to make more sleep happen or to get rid of nighttime awakenings, you might be getting tangled up in unworkable efforts again — since you’d be engaging in an action with the goal of controlling something that cannot be controlled.
When you have a decision to make on things like this it might be worth asking yourself what your intent is. If it’s to control sleep or what you think or feel, you might be engaged in an effort that is likely to create struggle.
You might also ask yourself whether you’d be engaging in a certain behavior if sleep was of no concern, or if you’d be doing something if you were getting the exact amount or type of sleep you’d love to be getting. If not, that might suggest you’re getting pulled toward unhelpful and unworkable actions again.
I hope there’s something useful here!
—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.
That sounds really difficult, Bekah — and you are not alone! It sounds as though you’ve learned from experience that the more you try to make sleep happen, the more you try to get rid of wakefulness, the more difficult it becomes (or, at least, that you cannot directly control sleep). I wonder if there might be a useful insight there?
—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.
Have you discussed this with your doctor?
—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 as though you’ve discovered you cannot control your heart function — and that makes sense! So, perhaps what might be making this difficult stuff more difficult are any ongoing attempts to control what cannot be controlled (especially if those attempts take you down the path of doing things that don’t reflect who you are, who you want to be, or the life you want to live).
—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.
Frustration and fear is natural and normal — and, every time it shows up you have the opportunity to practice responding to it in a more workable way. A way that might involve less struggle, less effort, and less battling. After all, your experience probably tells you that fighting this difficult stuff doesn’t make it any easier, right?
—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, right? If only there was some kind of secret switch to turn off that hyperarousal — and yet, there’s not. If there was it might get switched off accidentally and you wouldn’t be able to respond to a real threat that required immediate action!
Fortunately, all is not lost because we can still control how we respond to that hyperarousal. If we respond by going to war with it, trying to fight it, it can become even more difficult. So, perhaps a different approach might be worth exploring — an approach that involves moving away from the struggle that makes it more difficult.
Instead of trying to fight or avoid it, perhaps it might be worth seeing if you can acknowledge it when it shows up and practice allowing it to come and go as it chooses. Perhaps being kind to yourself in return, too.
If your experience tells you that it cannot be controlled anyway, why go to the effort of trying to achieve the impossible?
—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.
Have you asked others in your house what they do to make sleep happen and how they respond when they wake at night? Perhaps there might be an insight there?
—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 sure sounds as though you’ve got an early win in there, Frank — and that has helped you recognize that you are on a workable path forward. The path won’t always be smooth but you always get to choose the direction you move in (and you can always change direction if you ever find yourself heading in the wrong direction at any time in the future)!
@Kriskin1 — As I mentioned in my recent reply to your post in the client forum, the best way of getting rid of the battle might be to withdraw from the battle! To practice moving away from trying to control what cannot be controlled. To practice moving away from the struggle that makes everything more difficult. Ideally, while also being kind to yourself — because this is 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.
