Martin Reed

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Viewing 15 posts - 196 through 210 (of 5,485 total)
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  • in reply to: Sleep problem #81562
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Sorry to hear about your 12-year long struggle with insomnia, Kaku. Is the sleep medication working for you? When your mind starts to race at night, how do you 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.

    in reply to: Am I on the right track? #81560
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Hello Dan! It sounds as though you have taken a lot from the course and you have a keen awareness of how your actions can influence your level of struggle.

    Waking during the night is a normal part of sleep. If your body needs to generate more sleep, it’ll generate more sleep all by itself (no intervention is required). What typically makes falling back to sleep more difficult are our attempts to fall back to sleep — the more we try, the more we can struggle.

    It sounds as though you are on the right track here; you are not fighting your thoughts and feelings. You are acknowledging them and allowing them to come and go as they choose.

    Just as thoughts can come and go, the feeling of sleepiness can come and go, too. Trying to find or keep hold of sleepiness is an attempt to control how you feel — something that can create a struggle (and almost certainly send sleepiness into hiding)!

    When you sit up in bed and read a book, what is your goal? What are you trying to achieve when you do 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.

    in reply to: cannabis #81558
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    That’s a great question and I’d be happy to share my thoughts — but first, I’d like to hear from you! How do you think you can stop using weed for sleep (and why is that important to 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.

    in reply to: Sleep Studies #81556
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Sleep studies aren’t usually helpful for chronic insomnia but they can help rule out the presence of other sleep issues (such as sleep apnea).

    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.

    in reply to: Setback #81554
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Ups and downs are natural and normal and the brain fog and fatigue is difficult. How are you currently responding to those challenges?

    The only way you can fail is if you continue engaging in actions that you know won’t get you closer to where you want to be — and, even then, I would argue that’s not a failure but a learning experience.

    You have learned that it’s important to you not to take melatonin or Xanax. With that in mind, how might you respond in a different way next time you wake during the night?

    When you experience anxiety and thoughts like, “Will I sleep tonight?” (all of which are natural and normal) how do you respond and how is that response working for 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.

    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    It sounds as though you are reclaiming your life from insomnia, thanks to your own commitment to ongoing, meaningful action! I hope you give yourself plenty of credit for that because it’s not easy 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.

    in reply to: Finishing week 2 #81550
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    There are no definite answers to those questions, Chrissie! They are all valid and understandable questions and they come from your problem-solving mind doing its job of looking out for you.

    You get to decide how to respond to those thoughts — you could take time out of your day (and your life) to research possible answers and you could return to your old ways of dealing with this (only you know how helpful or effective that would be).

    Or, you could acknowledge them, thank your brain for looking out for you, and continue with your day (and your life), and continue working on the new approach that you are exploring in this course.

    Remember that your experience tells you sleep cannot be directly or permanently controlled. However, you can always control your actions — and it’s your actions that determine how much power and influence sleep, your thoughts, and your feelings, have over your life.

    Progress is a journey of ups and downs and it is never linear — you are practicing new skills here. And, just like when we learn any other new skill there will be times when it feels we are making progress and times when it feels we aren’t. What matters is continuing to practice!

    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.

    in reply to: Sleep window #81548
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Thank you for sharing, Chrissie!

    I love how you’ve connected the three good things exercise with your own experience as a rookie journalist — curious observation can be so powerful!

    The sleep window can be challenging — especially at first! Is your difficulty related to your desire to go to bed in an effort to make sleep happen or is it because you are falling asleep and finding it really hard to stay awake before the sleep window begins?

    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.

    in reply to: sleep window calculation #81546
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    I would suggest adding half-hour or so to your average nightly sleep duration — that would give you a sleep window of 6.5 hours. And, I think that if you are finding it really hard to stay awake it’s OK to go to bed up to an hour before your sleep window begins.

    It might even be helpful to make the hour before your sleep window begins the last time you check the time until the end of your sleep window and allow yourself to go to bed when you feel sleepy enough for sleep.

    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.

    in reply to: Pain/ache in back of head and between shoulders #81544
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    This might be a better question for a personal trainer or physical therapist — what I would throw into the conversation here is that perhaps as you work through the course and build skill in experiencing wakefulness and difficult thoughts and feelings with less struggle you might also find that tension eases up a bit, 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.

    in reply to: Advice #81385
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Hello @Meganb and welcome to the forum.

    Sorry to hear about your ongoing struggle with insomnia. It sounds as though your experience is telling you that medication isn’t a long-term solution for you — and that’s something many people can relate to.

    When medication doesn’t seem to work we can feel we are completely out of options because we don’t know of an alternative option or an alternative approach. We can also feel really lost if alternative approaches we tried in the past didn’t work out.

    This doesn’t mean we are broken or that our insomnia is unusual or unique. All it means is that we haven’t found the approach that’s right for us.

    My six-week online course offers a new approach and since it is based on action — something you can always control — medication use is not of much relevance. Action is what matters.

    Do you feel ready, willing, and able to make changes? If so, I think you’ll find my six-week online course helpful.

    Does this answer your question?

    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.

    in reply to: How do you do it? #81382
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Hello @lora and welcome to the forum!

    What you have described is difficult — your head hurts, your tummy is upset, you are using the bathroom more, your mood is altered, you might cry, you feel exhausted.

    In the presence of all that really difficult stuff, you have a choice to make:

    1. Do less of what matters and withdraw from life.

    2. Acknowledge the presence of all this difficulty, be kind to yourself in return, and continue to do things (perhaps fewer things or less intensive things — but still things!) that are aligned with your values so that keep you moving toward the life you want to live.

    You are the expert on you, so only you can decide which choice is right for you at any given time. It’s not about pretending none of this doesn’t exist — it’s about acknowledging that it’s present and that although we might not be able to control it or get rid of it through effort we can always choose how we respond to it.

    You can read a bit more about this kind of approach here. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best.

    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.

    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Thanks for sharing!

    It sounds as though you are building skill in experiencing being awake with less struggle. We can’t always make ourselves feel calm or remain calm since that’s a feeling we can’t really directly or permanently control — but we can always choose how we respond to being awake and how we respond to all the thoughts and feelings that might show up with that wakefulness!

    How did you realize that you can still function OK if you don’t have a full night of sleep? Was it a case of committing to doing things that mattered, independently of sleep?

    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.

    in reply to: Vacation anxiety #81377
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    Welcome back, @Insomniac1313! What was the best part of your vacation?

    It doesn’t sound as though you are doing anything wrong when practicing the AWAKE exercise — and that’s for three reasons.

    The first reason is that all that really matters is getting the practice in. Committing to the action of ongoing practice.

    The second reason is that this is a new skill. And, developing new skills isn’t easy and it takes time and ongoing practice.

    The third reason is that the human mind is always going to wander!

    If you are visualizing your thoughts and feelings as clouds in the sky, when you have a new thought — such as you are thinking about how uncomfortable you are and how much you want to be asleep — you can place them as new clouds in the sky.

    You are allowing and welcoming all of them to be present and to come and go as they choose — because you know the alternative approach (fight them) only creates a struggle that makes things more difficult.

    Remember that, with the AWAKE exercise, you aren’t trying to control, change, or get rid of your thoughts and feelings. You are simply building skill in experiencing them with less struggle — you are building skill in being more of a curious observer of them rather than a raging opponent who is going to war with them!

    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.

    in reply to: How to fix circadian rhythm #81375
    Martin Reed
    ★ Admin

    I am not a circadian rhythm expert, unfortunately! However, I do have some more questions for you if you’d like to explore this further:

    1. When you wake at 5:00 AM and your brain feels alert, what do you do next?

    2. Why is waking at 6:00 AM instead of 5:00 AM important to you? If you woke at 6 instead of 5, how would your life be different?

    3. Up to now, how have you tried to make yourself wake at 6 instead of 5 and how have those attempts worked out?

    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.

Viewing 15 posts - 196 through 210 (of 5,485 total)