Imagine if insomnia wasn’t something to fear but rather an invitation to look inward and make some adjustments.
Sleep occurs naturally for most people until it doesn’t.
Your sleep journey changes across your lifespan and depends on your life experiences, how you deal with stressors and the relationship you have with yourself.
With insomnia, there are over 15 symptoms, and they can affect how you feel about yourself, and how you work and live.
- Would it feel good to go to bed at night in the confidence that you were going to sleep well and wake up feeling refreshed?
- Would it be comforting to get some help on strategies that are proven to help someone in your situation?
- Would it be a relief to know that studies show talking therapies, especially cognitive behavioural therapy is proven to be more effective than sleeping pills in maintaining healthy sleep habits?
- Would it be helpful to have someone to talk to, to problem solve how you got here, so you don’t have to worry about it happening again?
- Would it be reassuring to have someone you could check-in with every now and again once your sleep is back on track, so that you can really embed your new sleep behaviours.
Yes? Well, in that case I’d like to ask you this one final question…
Do you need sleep support from someone who is trained in sleep, perhaps more than your GP, that you can trust, and knows how frustrating it can be to unlock your own sleep code?
It’s not your fault. Insomnia affects 1 in 10 people in Australia, and it can occur for no apparent reason (primary insomnia). Sometimes insomnia occurs as a response to a health condition, unprocessed grief, stored anger, anxiety, depression or a sleep disorder (secondary insomnia).
The best way to manage your sleep problem is not to fight it – the more you do, the stronger the drive will be to stay awake. Rather, you could accept the invitation and use it as an opportunity to learn about yourself, become more aware of what is likely to disrupt your sleep, and put supports in place with strategies that work for you so that you don’t unexpectedly find yourself exhausted, depending on caffeine or eating copious amounts of sugar to stay awake. Let alone what you might do to go to sleep.
And while you work on your sleep you can continue to be the loving, caring person that you are, and continue to perform at work and be the professional you know you are.
Your body is continually adjusting in the background to your ‘new normal’ responding to events, thoughts and feelings to keep you safe. How you choose to deal with your insomnia will determine how quickly you are able to overcome it.
During your sleep ‘experiments’ to determine your most effective sleep strategies, it will be important for you to keep a positive mindset and follow through on your agreed approach.
- Maintaining a sleep schedule, even if you aren’t sleeping well build trust within you that you are committed to overcoming your insomnia.
- Eating a healthy diet, even if you are craving sugar, caffeine and more, a poor diet can cause inflammatory-like symptoms making your insomnia worse.
- Regular exercise, even if you’re not a gym junkie, you do need to move your body for at least 30 minutes a day so that you raise your heart rate and possibly even sweat.
Imagine having the confidence to enjoy going on holiday, staying over at a friend’s place or booking that important meeting first thing in the day because you are sleeping well AND you know that you’ll be wide awake soon after waking each morning because you have:
- identified routines and strategies to support a great night’s sleep
- a range of stress management and relaxation techniques to manage your stressors
- a variety of healthy food and drink options to choose from, to maintain gut health
If you’re reading this and identified that some external, trained, unbiased sleep support would be helpful, then that’s where I come in. The approach I have developed for working adults combines the research, my sleep training and experience, and what clients have shared with me from working with them.
15% of adults experience chronic insomnia to the point that it affects their relationships, earning capacity, ability to work, and socialising activities.
Don’t let insomnia be the reason you live a smaller life.
There is compelling research that shows you can improve your sleep experience by re-training yourself to sleep well using proven methodologies.
Because of my corporate background, combined with my sleep training, and therapy skills I can help you develop a practical plan that motivates and helps you achieve a great night’s sleep.
If you have struggled to sleep well in the last 3 months, it’s likely you have insomnia.
Book a Sleep Well Planning Call to help you navigate what you are experiencing.
There is no need to solve your sleep problem on your own.
Many adults experience insomnia and feel much better after speaking to someone who understands their situation, who is trained and has been there, because they leave the conversation:
- Feeling heard and understood
- much clearer about how they can effectively navigate their insomnia without risking their career, family, health or important relationships
- motivated to make changes to help themself
I know you don’t need lots of conversation about what you are experiencing. What you do need is someone with real knowledge to help you formulate a plan so that you can minimise the impacts of your insomnia and continue to thrive.
Book in with Martine to find out how you can better manage your insomnia, so you can overcome it.
