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Ah yes, the early work start means your chosen sleep window makes a lot more sense to me now
Since your brain’s job is to look out for you, it’s going to generate difficult thoughts, feelings, and stories. What tends to create a struggle is when we try to fight or avoid those thoughts, feelings, and stories. When we try to control them (or our brain).
How might things be different if those thoughts and feelings could flow, could come and go, without having any power or influence over you?
Do you plan on (or have you been) playing around with thanking your brain for all those thoughts and feelings when they show up, rather than trying to fight or avoid them? Could acknowledging (with kindness) rather than battling help you move closer to a place where they don’t jerk you around quite so much when they show up?
We’ll be exploring all this in a lot more detail as the course progresses, but hopefully there’s something useful here in the meantime!
—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.
Thank you for sharing your progress with us! You are putting the knowledge into action — and committed, meaningful, and workable action is what counts, particularly when things are difficult.
Your strength of self-reflection has taught you just how easy (and unhelpful) it is to live life on autopilot and to allow our thoughts and feelings to control our actions in ways that don’t reflect who we are or who we want to be.
You are clearly gaining skill in refocusing your attention when your brain generates difficult or distracting thoughts so you can do what matters, regardless of what your brain might be saying or doing!
And, let’s not forget your ongoing practice of self-kindness. Being mean to ourselves rarely makes things any better or easier! The fact you are being kinder to yourself means you aren’t adding more difficulty on top of the difficult stuff that shows up!
Action is a great way to judge success/measure progress — and is far more helpful compared to judging success or progress based on the appearance (or disappearance) of things that are out of our control!
I wish you all the best as you continue to practice what you’ve been learning!
—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 are getting in the practice and building skill in experiencing wakefulness and difficult thoughts and feelings with less struggle, @Lshelton!
You are clearly better able to remain present (and bring yourself back to the present) when all this difficult stuff shows up and you are refocusing your attention and committing to actions that matter to you.
That’s true insomnia independence!
—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 have six months of access to the course, starting from the day you originally enrolled. And, when the six months is up you can always renew access on a monthly basis for a nominal charge — so, no time pressure; you can take your time!
—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! Completely up to you what you want to do — what are the pros and cons of celebrating and journaling great nights of sleep? And, upon reflection of those pros and cons, what feels like the right thing to do?
—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 know what you want to do, Christina! The hard part is putting it into action with committed and ongoing practice! You’ve got this!
—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 am yet to meet anyone who can permanently delete difficult feelings like anger, sadness, and fear so they never show up again — and, for as long as we try to fight or avoid those feelings, we might be more likely to struggle with them as they consume more of our energy, focus, and attention. Has that been your experience?
Your desires are totally natural, valid, and normal! Of course you want to go back to the way things were (what would you be doing more of if that happened?), and of course you want to be “normal” (although I still don’t know what normal is!).
And there’s no sugar coating that difficult days are difficult and that you don’t like experiencing heart palpitations, racing thoughts, or feeling defeated or hopeless. Nobody would!
When things feel difficult that’s because they are difficult so I would encourage you to be kind to yourself. None of this is your fault. Sleep, what you think, and how you feel are all things out of your direct control. You can only control how you choose to respond to all those things.
On that note, how did you respond to that particularly awful night and what were you trying to achieve with that response?
—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 feels great when things are going well, right? And when things are going well we have less opportunity (and maybe even less motivation) to continue practicing and developing skill in responding to difficulties with less struggle.
So, the return of difficulty is a huge opportunity to continue practicing and continue building skill through workable and committed action.
Progress is never linear. There are always ups and downs. There are times when it feels we are doing great and there are times when it feels like we are doing terribly and we should give up. There are periods (often long periods) of struggle.
That’s all normal.
What matters is how we respond. Do we give up and get pulled away from the life we want to live or do we continue on a path that keeps us moving toward the life we want to live?
I would also add that there’s no such thing as failure. That’s because, no matter what, there’s always something to be learned.
What did you learn from taking the Ambien for the 3rd time in your life — and how will you use that to continue moving 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.
There’s nothing unusual with waking 11 times during the night. Waking during the night is a normal part of sleep, so this isn’t really covered during the course outside of the sleep education components already covered in Week 1.
One potential concern with multiple nighttime awakenings would be sleep apnea — and, if you took a sleep study, this would have been diagnosed (or not) at that time. Did you receive any such diagnosis of sleep apnea or share your concerns about those awakenings with your medical team?
—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 — you are clearly absorbing what you are learning with an open and curious mind and you are then doing the most important part. You are taking action. You are getting the practice in!
And, thanks to your commitment to action and your growth mindset, you are learning a lot and moving closer to where you want to be!
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.
Thanks for sharing your experience and insights, Woody.
When does your chosen sleep window start and end, and how much sleep would you say you’ve been averaging over the past couple of weeks?
It sounds as though you might still be attached to the idea that you need to make sleep happen — so, there might not be any struggle when you are awake at night but for as long as a certain amount or type of sleep isn’t happening, perhaps there’s going to be some ongoing disappointment and a bigger focus on sleep?
When you wake at night (which is a normal part of sleep) and you aren’t struggling with that wakefulness, I can’t think of any better way to respond — can 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 @Despina and thanks for sharing!
Nights like those you described can be really difficult and they can come with a lot of difficult thoughts and feelings, too. It’s great that, in the presence of all that difficult stuff, you were able to notice and reflect on some of the good stuff that was still present. That’s a really helpful skill that can help you expand the focus of your attention.
Your strengths of self-reflection, curiosity, and open-mindedness are also clear to see. Thanks to those strengths, you realized that you have been chasing after sleep (which is totally understandable!) and that awareness helped you realize how that can make things more difficult.
As your mind does its job of looking out for you it’s going to generate lots of difficult and uncomfortable thoughts and feelings and it’s going to come up with all different kinds of stories and predictions, too. And all that stuff can pull you away from where you are and what you are doing. It takes skill and ongoing practice to remain present (or bring yourself back to the present) when your brain is generating difficult or distracting messages!
Acknowledging whatever you are thinking and feeling can be a helpful first step to moving away from struggling with whatever you are thinking and feeling. If you find it helpful to laugh in response, go for it! You might even thank your brain for those messages, too — since they are evidence that your brain is looking out for you.
If naps help to keep you moving toward the life you want to live (you aren’t withdrawing from life or doing less of the stuff that really matters to you because you need to nap) then how can they be a problem? Of course, longer naps or naps taken later in the day might mean less sleep at night due to reduced sleep pressure — but maybe that’s worth the occasional tradeoff?
Finally, as a reminder, the sleep window is nothing more than a tool that can help us move away from chasing after sleep by doing things like going to bed earlier or staying in bed later. What probably matters most is going to bed when you are sleepy enough for sleep/ready to go to bed (rather than because you are desperate to make sleep happen) and getting out of bed at a reasonably consistent time in the morning.
I hope there’s something useful here and I wish you all the best as you continue to work through the course!
—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! I wish you all the best with the course
—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 often takes effort, especially at first — and that’s the point since the goal here is to build skill in noticing (and acknowledging) the good stuff that’s still present, even when things are difficult.
I would suggest aiming to come up with 3 new observations each day — copying and pasting the exact same thing over and over again might not help you practice building skill in noticing the good stuff around you!
As @Lambo suggested, these don’t need to be big or complicated things. Breathing can be an example. Noticing a bird can be an example. Seeing a tree can be an example. Drinking or eating something good can be an example.
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.
Hello Jasmine and welcome to the course!
What is your goal with the sleep window? What are you trying to achieve by implementing one?
I also noticed that the end of your sleep window is quite early, at 3:15 AM. How did you choose that time?
—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.
