Insomnia Coach® Podcast

Emily’s insomnia began four months after her baby was born. She struggled to fall asleep and this led to anxiety and exhaustion. Medication didn’t help and her anxiety worsened, leading to panic at bedtime.

Emily’s transformation started when she changed her approach. She spent less time in bed, engaged in pleasant activities when awake at night, and stopped calculating her nightly sleep duration. She accepted her anxiety and insomnia, allowing them to exist without fighting them. Emily committed to meaningful daily actions, even when tired.

By surrendering to whatever happened each night, she freed herself from the pressure of trying to control her sleep. By not trying to control her sleep, it was better able to take care of itself. Emily now goes to bed around 11 PM and wakes naturally around 7 AM — and her focus is on living the life she wants to live.

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Kirstin felt that she had lost her natural ability to sleep. She thought she was broken. She just couldn’t sleep without sleeping pills. Every time she tried, she could not sleep.

After finding the Insomnia Coach podcast and realizing she wasn’t alone, Kirstin changed her approach to sleep. She stopped trying so hard. She stopped doing more. In fact, she started to do less. She abandoned all her sleep efforts, rules, and rituals. She stopped battling with her thoughts and feelings.

She started to reclaim her life from insomnia. She went back to drinking coffee. She committed to daytime plans, regardless of how she slept. Kirstin’s experience with insomnia provided her with skills that she is using in many areas of her life today. And, she is sleeping without medication.

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Summer’s struggle with sleep was taking over her life. No matter what she did to try to fix her sleep, nothing seemed to work. The more she tried to control sleep, the more difficult it became.

When Summer stopped trying to make sleep happen and started to allow sleep-related thoughts and feelings to be present without judgement, things started to improve. She practiced being kinder to herself and refocused her attention on doing things that mattered — regardless of how she slept and regardless of the thoughts or feelings that were present.

As she did this, Summer started to get her life back from insomnia. Her story shows that sometimes, giving up control is the best way to get it back.

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When Nina fell pregnant she could no longer use the medication she relied upon to get her through occasional periods of insomnia. Her sleep got worse and insomnia seemed to take over her life. Nothing seemed to work and Nina felt stuck.

After discovering the Insomnia Coach podcast, Nina realized she wasn’t alone. She felt hope. When she enrolled as a client, she started to make change happen. She changed her approach to sleep. She stopped trying to make sleep happen. She changed her response to insomnia. She did things that mattered every day, independently of sleep.

The journey wasn’t easy — but today, Nina enjoys her bed again. She is being the mom she wants to be. She is doing the work she loves. She has her life back from insomnia.

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Kreuza found cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) helpful. However, when sleep problems returned as somniphobia — a fear of sleep itself — the same techniques no longer seemed to work.

Kreuza found that creating rules around sleep and trying to change her thoughts and feelings wasn’t proving to be helpful. So, she tried a new approach: she let herself think thoughts and feel feelings — even the really difficult ones. She practiced being kind and compassionate to herself. She also did things that mattered to her, even if she didn’t sleep well.

Today, sleep doesn’t impact Kreuza’s life, her plans, or her goals. Her story shows us that being patient and kind to ourselves can help us face big fears and that addressing sleep problems in a workable and sustainable way often takes time and ongoing practice.

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Rachel’s battle with insomnia began in grad school. Sleep aids and strict routines failed to improve her sleep.

Real change came when she moved away from trying to create the perfect conditions for sleep and stopped trying to get rid of certain thoughts and feelings.

Rachel’s new approach involved being more flexible. She abandoned sleep-related rules and rituals. She practiced building skill in self-kindness and being more present. She opened up and made space for difficult thoughts and feelings to exist.

This new approach not only improved her sleep, it also improved her overall quality of life.

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Jessica’s struggle with insomnia began on a family trip, and it worsened each time she traveled until it stuck around, even at home. No matter what she tried, her nights were filled with anxiety and struggle.

Jessica found that her resistance to insomnia and the difficult thoughts and feelings that often come with it were making things even more difficult. So, she changed her approach. She practiced accepting insomnia and anxiety. She learned to be kinder to herself.

With ongoing practice, Jessica freed herself from an ongoing struggle and reclaimed her life from insomnia.

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Eric’s battle with insomnia started after a middle-of-the-night panic attack turned sleep into a nightly struggle. In a desperate search for solutions, he made changes that didn’t improve his sleep and only ended up pulling him further away from the life he wanted to live. Eric started to isolate himself and considered difficult nights to be a personal failure.

The turning point came when Eric shifted his focus. Instead of obsessing over sleep and the difficult thoughts and feelings he was experiencing, he began to prioritize meaningful actions and experiences. He embraced anxiety as an essential component of a fulfilling life, rather than a nemesis to be defeated.

Today, Eric’s life is no longer ruled by insomnia. By refocusing on what he could control — his actions — he disarmed the power of sleepless nights and the difficult thoughts and feelings that often come with them. Eric didn’t just reclaim sleep; he reclaimed his life.

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Gerry’s decades-long struggle with insomnia felt like a never-ending battle. The more he tried to force sleep, the worse his insomnia became.

His turning point came when he shifted his approach, embracing mindfulness and self-kindness instead of engaging in an ongoing battle. By focusing on the present moment and practicing self-compassion, Gerry found a new, more effective way to approach sleep.

The result was transformative: not only did his sleep improve, but his overall quality of life also took a turn for the better. This episode dives deep into Gerry’s journey and the specific techniques that led to his transformation. Gerry’s experience shows that no matter how long you might struggle with insomnia, it’s still possible to break free from the insomnia cycle.

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Anne-Claire experienced sleep issues when she overextended herself running her business. After reducing her workload her sleep didn’t get any better. Supplements and medication didn’t seem to help. This led her to explore a new approach.

Anne-Claire implemented new habits that would help create better conditions for sleep and help starve insomnia of the oxygen it needed to survive. And, instead of trying to fight or avoid difficult the thoughts and feelings that often come with insomnia, she began observing and even welcoming them.

As Anne-Claire put less effort into sleep and became more willing to experience insomnia, things improved. Wakefulness and the difficult thoughts and feelings that often come with it started to lose their power and influence and sleep — once again — became effortless.

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