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@Bennett – you raise a valid point. Instead of giving those “what if” anxious thoughts the attention it craves, have you considered leaning into them to create a buffer between you and those thoughts. For instance, when another anxious thought about your sleep arrives, acknowledge it by saying, “I’m having that thought that I won’t sleep tonight” and immediately redirect your focus back to the activity you were doing when that thought arrives. Hopefully, you’ll see that thoughts are simply words passing through but if we start believing them, an endless struggle can pursue. Reflecting on why waking before your alarm triggers anxiety could offer valuable insights.
@Natcarp47 – thanks for sharing your thoughts and I’m hoping the discussion about anxious thoughts in this thread has been helpful. It’s important to recognize that striving to fix our sleep usually results in a continuation of sleep problems. Unfortunately, sleep doesn’t reward our hard work and can ultimately make it worse. Instead of solely focusing on sleep as a goal, consider engaging in activities that bring joy and align with your values, regardless of how you slept the night before. Are you nourishing your body with a healthy diet, getting sunlight, and staying active for overall well-being, rather than solely to ‘fix’ your sleep? Any activity you participate in with the intent of sleeping better, can be considered a sleep effort.—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.
What you’re describing is understandable and can be frustrating. I’m curious if you might be placing too great an emphasis on waking up in the middle of the night and exerting excessive effort to return to sleep. If you’re relaxed and not anxious about being awake, it might be more beneficial for you to remain in bed and allow sleep to naturally occur instead of getting out of bed. Focusing on our sleep troubles and attempting to “solve” them often perpetuates our anxiety about sleep, making sleep more difficult to achieve. It can be an endless loop you find yourself in.
An alternative perspective to think about is that we frequently experience awakenings during the night, possibly multiple times, yet we often remain unaware of them. When we do become aware of being awake, our response to the situation often dictates whether we can return to sleep or succumb to anxiety about 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.
Hello Bennett! Welcome to the forum! When you wake in the middle of the night, why do you think you find it hard to fall back to sleep? Do you find yourself anxious about being 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.
Hi @Bbe7 – I haven’t personally experienced that scenario myself but I can relate to having insomnia. What’s an average night of sleep like for you currently? What’s your biggest challenge with sleep? Do you find yourself worrying about the amount of sleep you might achieve on a nightly basis or how it might affect your work, health, social life, etc?
—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 wouldn’t panic about a few random difficult nights of sleep. I suggest acknowledging the significant strides you’ve made, transitioning from six months of insomnia to just a few disruptive nights at present. Great job! I wonder if you might be giving too much focus to these recent nights, perhaps exerting excessive effort to “fix” your sleep. This additional effort might be creating unnecessary pressure on yourself to achieve a good night’s sleep. What are your thoughts?
—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 completely normal to experience what you’re going through. When confronted with anxious thoughts, our instinct is often to resist or avoid them because they make us uncomfortable. However, the efforts to evade these thoughts typically intensify them, making them more frequent and negatively affecting our sleep. Rather than attributing poor sleep solely to anxious thoughts, it might be more accurate to recognize that our constant struggle against them plays a significant role.
Considering that we can’t control the arrival or frequency of these thoughts, have you ever thought about creating space for them to exist without giving them the attention they crave? Perhaps allowing them to be present without engaging in the tug of war might alleviate the challenges you’re facing with your thoughts.
If another “what if” thought about sleep arises, have you considered adopting a different approach? Instead of getting entangled in the thought, try acknowledging it with a statement like, “I’m having the thought that I won’t sleep well tonight.” After acknowledging it, promptly return to the activity you were engaged in, whether it’s watching TV, reading, or something else. This approach won’t necessarily make the thought disappear – and that’s not the goal – but it can establish a buffer between you and the thought, potentially easing the struggle you’re experiencing.
—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! Dropping the anchor is such a powerful practice and I’m glad to hear it’s working for you! Cheers to much continued success!
Scott J
—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.
Awesome feedback, @Kat87 and I’m glad to hear that you’ve restored your sleep. Can you describe a technique that changed your relationship with those anxious thoughts? Thanks for sharing your success story with us!
Scott J
—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.
Most often, when we have unhelpful thoughts about our sleep, it’s not the thought itself that is the issue, it’s our connection/relationship with that thought that can fuel it’s intensity. We can’t control what pops into our mind, only if we believe it. Even though we can’t control our thoughts – and if we try to, they tend to become worse – you DO have the ability to believe it or not. When you have those negative thoughts about sleep, how do you respond to them? If you find yourself struggling, avoiding or fighting those thoughts, the more intense that thought becomes. What if you simply allowed to let it exist by welcoming it and then carrying on with what you were doing when it arrived instead of trying to fight it? The thought probably won’t disappear when you practice this technique but it, over time, it should have less impact on you because you’re creating some space for it to exist. Thoughts are simply words in our head – you either believe them or you don’t but the trouble usually happens when we attach ourselves to the thought instead of acknowledging it and moving on.
Scott J
—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.
Hi!
Welcome! Glad you found this site! I think the information Martin shares on this site along with his informative YouTube channel will be beneficial for you in restoring your sleep. As you probably guessed, having a newborn can certainly disrupt our sleep but typically, when the baby begins to have a consistent sleep routine, our sleep returns to normal also. It’s when we begin to change our thoughts and behaviors that perpetuates our sleep issue. It sounds like you’ve had those, “What’s wrong with me?” type of thoughts before but CBT-I will help in tackling those thoughts and behaviors we begin to experience when we have sleep issues. Do you have any questions from reviewing the info on the site?
Scott J
—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 @Rickster62792!
Welcome to the forum! What is the biggest challenge you face with sleep?
Scott J
—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, welcome to the forum!
The more we try to fix our sleep, the more elusive sleep becomes because our mind doesn’t reward our hard efforts in trying to fix the problem. It’s not uncommon for us to try everything we find on the Internet but most of those “remedies” don’t tackle the root cause of our insomnia – our thoughts and behaviors toward our sleep. When you start to worry about sleep, what is going through your mind? If you’re unable to fall asleep or stay asleep, might there be anything you could do to make that wakefulness more pleasant?
Scott J
—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.
CBT-I techniques work well, even if you’re taking sleep medication. If you want to reduce your dependency on the pills, I recommend you speak with your GP or primary care physician.
Scott J
—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.
Hi Anna! Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your experience with us!
Scott J
—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.
Hi!
Your body will build a strong enough sleep drive for sleep to occur so I wouldn’t worry about your exercise regimen, etc. Can you provide any details regarding your sleep-related anxiety that you’re experiencing?
Scott J
—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.
