Insomnia Coach® Podcast

Natasha’s insomnia began during the pandemic, when a single rough night grew into a pattern of worry and disrupted sleep. She spent a lot of time looking for solutions and trying different products, hoping something might quiet the fear she felt around bedtime and make sleep feel easier.

Things began to shift when she stopped treating sleep as something she had to fix. Instead of endlessly monitoring sleep, she allowed herself to do ordinary things again — watching TV shows she enjoyed at night, keeping morning plans, and making choices that reflected the life she wanted to live.

As she moved toward the things that mattered to her, nights became less of a struggle and sleep started to fall into place by itself. Today, sleep isn’t something she chases, and her days are no longer shaped by insomnia.

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Dan’s insomnia began suddenly. What started as a couple of sleepless nights quickly escalated into months of clock-watching, strict routines, and desperate attempts to fix sleep. The harder he tried, the more stuck he felt — and before long, he was convinced he was broken.

Everything changed when Dan began responding differently. Instead of fighting with his nights, he focused on easing the pressure, limiting clock-checks, and committing to meaningful actions during the day. Over time, he realized he could notice his thoughts without believing them, and his confidence in his body’s natural ability to sleep returned.

In this episode, Dan shares the ups and downs of that journey — and what finally made the difference.

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Kelly’s insomnia began after the birth of her first child. Sleepless nights quickly turned into panic-filled evenings, anxious days, and a desperate search for fixes that only made things worse.

Her turning point came when she realized it wasn’t her body that was broken, but the exhausting fight with sleep and her thoughts. By loosening her grip, letting go of rituals, and meeting thoughts with openness, she began to live more freely.

When insomnia returned during pregnancy, Kelly chose acceptance over fear. Instead of battling sleepless nights, she allowed them to unfold. The fear eased, sleep returned naturally, and today her life is no longer defined by insomnia.

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After one sleepless night in Switzerland triggered panic attacks, Stephanie found herself trapped in a cycle of fear and fixes — strict rules, heavy meds, endless searches for answers at 3am. Nothing worked.

Her turning point came when she stopped fighting sleep and started meeting insomnia and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that can come with it with acceptance. In this episode, she shares how letting go helped her rebuild trust, presence, and her life — one night at a time.

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Laura’s insomnia began during one of the happiest times in her life. She tried everything to fix it but nothing worked. The real shift came when she stopped fighting her thoughts and started meeting them with openness and compassion.

This is her story of letting go of the struggle and moving forward — with or without sleep.

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Rebecca never struggled with sleep — until 24-hour shifts as a hospital-based midwife changed everything. To protect her patients, she stayed awake through every shift. Eventually, she couldn’t sleep even when she tried.

She turned to medication, tracked every detail, followed every rule — but sleep only got harder. It wasn’t until she stopped chasing sleep, and started reconnecting with life, that things began to shift.

Today, Rebecca lives fully. She has achieved insomnia freedom.

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Sleep was never a problem for Rupsa but after experiencing some professional challenges and moving to a new city, it became a struggle.

Although Rupsa found a new job and everything was going well in her life, her struggle with sleep continued. She started to fear each night. Her heart would race. It felt like her mind was working against her.

Things started to change when Rupsa realized her mind was actually trying to help her. When she stopped struggling with her thoughts and feelings, when she stopped trying to control sleep, when she practiced accepting what was out of her control, things started to improve.

Rupsa now sleeps well and whenever a night of less sleep shows up from time to time, it no longer has any power or influence over her life.

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A few bad nights during a stressful period triggered Tim’s struggle with insomnia. The more he tried to fix his sleep, the more difficult it became, the more power and influence it had over his life, and the more anxiety he experienced.

Tim’s transformation began when he realized that trying to control sleep was keeping him stuck and that his response to the fear of not sleeping was a bigger problem than being awake at night.

As Tim relinquished control over sleep and was less resistant to experiencing insomnia and all the thoughts and feelings that come with it, insomnia began to lose the stranglehold it once had over his life — and sleep started to show up all by itself.

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Sophie never thought of herself as a great sleeper but when her son was born, sleep became a real struggle. This was expected in the short-term but when things became more difficult over time, Sophie became increasingly desperate. Listening to the stories of others offered reassurance and gave Sophie a new way forward that led to improvements.

Unfortunately, after a few months insomnia returned and seemed to be taking over her life. This is when Sophie committed to an approach that involved committing to actions that reflected who she was and the life she wanted to live, regardless of how she slept. As she did this she realized how much power she still had over her life. How capable and resilient she was, independently of sleep.

Sleep started to lose its importance. It became less of a focus. And, as a result, it was able to take care of itself and it lost all its power and influence.

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When Danny experienced sleep disruption during a period of stress and an intense focus on health and fitness, he became very concerned. After reducing the stressors in his life, reducing the intensity of his exercise, and eating more appropriately he noticed that his sleep improved.

This led Danny to believe that sleep needed an absence of stress, a certain amount of exercise, and a certain type of diet to happen. When sleep difficulties returned, Danny realized the issue wasn’t stress, exercise, or diet. It was all the effort he was putting into sleep.

By exploring CBT-I and ACT-I techniques, Danny refocused his attention away from trying to protect or control sleep and toward doing things that mattered to him. With ongoing practice, insomnia lost its power and influence over him, the struggle came to an end, and sleep became effortless.

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