Insomnia Coach® Podcast

After her daughter’s birth, Cindy developed postpartum depression and was given medication to help her sleep. The medication initially helped, but soon failed, causing anxiety and worsening sleep problems. She attempted to eliminate every possible factor contributing to her insomnia but to no avail. She came to the realization that her efforts to obtain perfect sleeping conditions were exacerbating her insomnia.

By embracing the possibility of being awake at night and finding ways to make it a pleasant experience, Cindy overcame her sleep anxiety. Cindy’s biggest lesson was realizing that her success was not dependent on her amount of sleep, but her relationship with it. Today, she no longer takes sleep medication and sleeps soundly.

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When COVID hit, Jake’s sleep schedule was severely disrupted as he was forced to work from home. He found himself working beyond the usual nine-to-five, answering calls and texts at all hours of the day, and even taking his computer to bed. Work encroached into his weekends and before long, he lost any semblance of a sleep schedule. When he went on vacation, he struggled to get any sleep at all, leading to a lot of anxiety and worry.

To address his insomnia, Jake began researching evidence-based techniques to improve his sleep. He reduced the amount of time he spent in bed, got up during the night if he couldn’t sleep, and prioritized living the life he wanted during the day, regardless of his sleep quality. As a result, his life no longer revolves around sleep, he no longer tries to control or put effort into it, and he has regained his confidence in his natural ability to sleep.

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Celia struggled with her sleep from a young age and relied on medication to manage her frequent insomnia. With the birth of her son and the COVID pandemic, her sleep crutches failed, causing her to become more obsessed with sleep. She researched evidence-based techniques to tackle her sleep disruption, but they were challenging to implement.

Despite the difficulties, Celia refused to give up. She realized that trying to control sleep and trying to eliminate anxiety perpetuated her sleep problems. By accepting anxious thoughts and creating better sleep conditions, Celia was able to let go of her insomnia identity and live the life she wanted. Her decision to implement behavior that aligned with her values starved her insomnia of its power and allowed her to sleep well.

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Chad went through a period of sleeplessness due to work-related stress, but eventually, his sleep began to recover. However, one night of complete insomnia caused him to spiral into anxiety and more sleeplessness. As a result, he became fixated on sleeping well and made several changes such as going to bed earlier and withdrawing from activities he enjoyed in an attempt to sleep better.

Unfortunately, Chad soon realized that his obsession with sleep was fueling his insomnia. Therefore, he decided to reverse his changes and spend less time in bed, allowing himself to feel sleepy again. He also began to prioritize his life based on his values, regardless of how well he slept. This approach improved the quality of his days and helped him realize that he could still function well, even with little or no sleep.

By abandoning his efforts to control his sleep and living according to his values, Chad was able to shift his focus away from sleep and create better conditions for it to happen naturally. As a result, he was able to overcome his insomnia and move on from this difficult period in his life.

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Pat, like everyone else, had some difficult nights occasionally, but she always got back on track with her sleep. However, during the summer, her neighbors began throwing loud parties that disturbed her sleep.

As a result, Pat began to fear falling asleep and became fixated on her sleep quality, cancelling plans and rearranging her life around it. However, these efforts didn’t lead to better sleep. So, Pat decided to take a different approach and pretended that she had a good night’s sleep every day. She continued with her normal activities and pursued enjoyable and enriching daytime activities, independent of how she slept. She also stopped talking about her insomnia.

By shifting her focus away from sleep and not allowing it to control her life, Pat found it easier to sleep. She also stopped trying to control her anxious thoughts and instead, chose to accept them. Finally, she let go of her attempts to control her progress and accepted that sleep is something beyond her control.

Pat realized that by placing less importance on sleep, it became easier to fall asleep.

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During the COVID pandemic, Hannah experienced sleep disruption like many others. As lockdowns extended, it became increasingly difficult for her to fall and stay asleep. After trying different medications with unpleasant side effects, she turned to a website for insomnia tips and advice. However, she soon realized that she needed personalized support and guidance and decided to work with me.

In this episode, Hannah shares how she developed new sleep habits, changed her relationship with sleep-related thoughts, and challenged the beliefs that made it harder to sleep. By abandoning attempts to control sleep, accepting difficult nights and sleep-related worry, committing to new sleep habits, and going about her days as normally as possible, Hannah was able to get her sleep back on track.

Today, Hannah’s sleep is back to normal, and she averages around seven-and-a-half hours of sleep. She is more resilient to any one-off nights of sleep disruption because she tackled the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate insomnia.

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Susie struggled with insomnia for a long time, but it wasn’t until her sleeping pills stopped working while on vacation that she realized she had to take action. In this episode, Susie shares how she overcame her anxiety around sleep and transformed her relationship with it.

Through her efforts to address the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuated her sleep disruption, Susie began to love her bedroom and sleep again. She gained confidence in her natural ability to sleep and refused to give up. Today, Susie’s relationship with sleep is positive and healthy, and she serves as an inspiration to others who struggle with insomnia.

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Michelle spent 15 years researching sleep and trying different things to overcome her insomnia. However, the more she tried to control her sleep, the more it controlled her. Eventually, she realized that the sleep-related thoughts and behaviors she developed were only making the problem worse.

In this episode, Michelle shares the techniques that helped her overcome insomnia, including modifying behavioral techniques like sleep restriction and stimulus control to better suit her needs. She also talks about the difficulties she faced when changing her sleep habits, as well as the long-term benefits of abandoning all efforts to control sleep.

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Jennifer struggled with insomnia and felt discouraged after working with a sleep coach for four weeks with no improvement in her sleep. However, she did not give up and persevered with implementing techniques to build sleep drive, strengthen her body clock, and lower her arousal. Although she still found it challenging to fall back to sleep when waking up at night, Jennifer noticed that she was experiencing less daytime fatigue and her sleep was improving.

Throughout her journey, Jennifer changed her response to sleep-related thoughts and behaviors, which not only helped her sleep but also improved her quality of life. In this episode, she shares how she coped with setbacks by focusing on the process instead of progress and how she stopped striving for sleep, putting effort into sleep, and worrying about sleep.

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Jessica faced challenges with sleep after moving back to her hometown with her family. She tried different techniques and supplements to improve her sleep but found herself becoming increasingly obsessed with it when nothing worked. This was especially concerning as she was a stay-at-home mom with two small children. Jessica started to lose hope until she learned about the common thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate sleep disruption. This realization gave her hope to explore and challenge her beliefs about sleep while adopting behaviors that build sleep drive, strengthen the body clock, and reduce sleep-related anxiety.

As Jessica challenged her sleep-related thoughts and implemented helpful behaviors, she no longer thought about sleep as often, and it no longer controlled her life. She was able to do things she had put off due to concerns about how they might affect her sleep, which gave her a whole new perspective on life. She wants to encourage others who are struggling with sleep to challenge their beliefs about sleep and implement helpful sleep-related behaviors to improve their sleep and overall quality of life.

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