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Best guesses are all that’s needed 🙂
—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, Sudu — and thanks for the great question!
I would suggest reflecting on the sleep window every week or two. If you find that you are regularly filling it with sleep or any wakefulness during the sleep window is restful wakefulness rather than a struggle and a battle, then you might start your sleep window 15-30 minutes earlier and reflect again in a week or two.
I hope this helps — there’s also more information on the sleep restriction resource page.
—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.
Sleep outside of your sleep window would probably be considered a nap.
—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 it comes to sleep, there are no action-based requirements — sleep happens when we’ve been awake for long enough and it happens best when we remove all effort to make it happen 🙂
Whether or not the action you shared was “right” can only really be answered by you, since you are the expert on yourself!
Something that might help you reflect is this — is going to bed at 8:45 PM aligned with the kind of life you want to live? If so, how can it be a problem? If not, perhaps that might be pulling you away from 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.
Thanks for sharing! I wish you all the best for the future 🙂
—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 moving forward with flexibility and self-compassion. You are taking action and practicing ways of dealing with nighttime wakefulness and difficult thoughts and feelings with less resistance and less struggle. You are building skill in experiencing all this stuff in a way that reduces the power and influence it has over your life.
Your superpowers of self-reflection and honesty taught you that resistance (although understandable!) wasn’t a workable way forward. You took some of the core concepts shared in the course and adapted them in a way that was meaningful and helpful for you (such as imagining yourself offering anxiety a cup of water, coffee, tea, or even some cookies!).
The focus of your attention has expanded as you focus less on sleep, less on what you are feeling, and more on your values and what you are doing. You are regaining control over your life and giving sleep the opportunity to take care of itself.
Your progress is down to your own superpowers, your own commitment to action, and your own growth mindset.
Thank you for sharing!
—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, thoughts will continue to happen — for as long as you are a living, breathing human being! As you shared, acceptance isn’t easy. It’s a skill that requires ongoing practice.
You are taking action, you are learning from what you are doing, and you are moving in the direction you want to be heading. That’s all down to you — I was merely your guide!
—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 Michael! Ups and downs come with any journey and it’s so easy to get pulled back into a struggle — that’s often a well-trodden path! And, regardless of what’s happened (or what’s happening now), you still get to decide how to respond from this moment on. You have all the power.
Based on what you’ve learned from the course, and from your expertise on yourself and your own experience, what do you feel is the best way to respond when sleep doesn’t happen as you might want it to happen?
—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 don’t no why but I can’t seem to stop my bad thoughts even when I have good nights”
Perhaps that’s because thoughts (good, bad, or neutral) cannot be directly or permanently stopped? And, if that’s the case, for as long as we try to control what our experience tells us is out of our control, we might continue to struggle.
—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 invite you to share some of the ways you are doing better without referring to how much sleep you are getting — because that might help you stay focussed on action-based change. And, action-based change is always within your control. Your actions are what move you toward the life we want to live (true success!) or pull you away from it.
PS: As mentioned by Natalia — nothing unusual or abnormal with having a night of less (or no) sleep from time to time. What matters is how you respond when things don’t happen as you might want them to happen (and what you learn along the 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.
Sleep drive builds with every minute of wakefulness so giving yourself less opportunity to sleep will create conditions for sleep drive to build. That’s no guarantee that sleep will happen when (or how) you want it to happen, though.
You are the expert on you and in my experience, chronic insomnia is not exclusively a sleep drive problem. It’s far more about the ongoing struggle that comes from trying to make sleep happen.
—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 can sleep in bed at home, you can sleep anywhere — even upside down in the International Space Station 😉
Something seems to be different when you give sleep the opportunity to happen elsewhere and I can’t say for sure exactly what that might be. Some ideas, though:
1. Your brain is more alert in a new environment.
2. You are putting more effort into making sleep happen in a new environment.
3. You are trying to fight or avoid wakefulness and certain thoughts and feelings when you are in a new environment.Which, if any, do you feel are influential — and what do you feel is the best way to respond?
—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 point you raise there! Any action that is intended to make a certain amount or type of sleep happen is a sleep effort — and sleep efforts don’t work (if they did, insomnia wouldn’t exist).
So, if you take herbals because you believe they are good for your health and that is an action that reflects your values then there’s no problem!
If you take herbals in an attempt to make a certain amount or type of sleep happen — well, that action might be setting you up for a struggle and reinforce the idea that nighttime wakefulness is a threat that your brain needs to be alert to protect you from.
Another example: if you practice a sleep window to help you move away from chasing after sleep and to free up more time to live life (rather than spending an excessive amount of time in bed) then there’s no problem.
If you practice a sleep window in an attempt to make a certain amount or type of sleep happen, you might be setting yourself up for a struggle because you are trying to control something that’s out of your control.
The intention behind our actions is key — because that intention determines whether our actions are workable or not. Whether they reflect who we are and who we want to be. Whether they move us closer to the life we want to live or away from the life we want to live. Whether they keep us tangled up in an ongoing struggle or whether they help free us from an endless (and often exhausting) struggle.
—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 to Week 2 🙂
Your awareness is growing. The focus of your attention is expanding. You are making changes based on what you are learning. You are committed and you are curious.
Anxiety might disappear when you wake early and it might reappear when you wake early. Anxiety is a bit like an itch — sometimes you’ll feel it and sometimes you won’t. One thing is for sure though — you’ll feel it again at some point (and you have complete power over how you choose to respond).
In Week 3, we’ll be exploring how to deal with daytime difficulties in more detail — and you can definitely practice the AWAKE exercise during the day, in response to difficult or unpleasant physical feelings in the meantime (such practice can also help you build more skill for when you practice at night, too).
—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 uncovered a couple of powerful benefits that can come from implementing a sleep window — an awareness of the time you allocate for sleep (and, by extension, the time you allocate for living life) and, very often, more time to do stuff that matters.
Those insights have only revealed themselves thanks to your willingness to take action — even when action is hard. And, I suspect such insights were easier to tease out thanks to your superpower of self-reflection!
Change is happening because you are making change happen. Thanks for sharing and I wish you all the best as you continue to take action, continue to learn, and 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.
