I suffered from sleep anxiety for years. In fact 4-6 years in a row.
This is a lot, especially if I add that before that I was also sleep-deprived because of having very small children with small age difference.
By the time my kids started to sleep better, I realized I still cannot get a full night’s rest! Waking every hour, tossing and turning, worrying about tiny details etc.
Sounds familiar?
Let me share what I have learnt in this period of life.
Believe me, I have tried a lot of techniques. What I neved did: I never took any pills or sleep remedies, because
I wanted to find a mindful, natural solution to my problem.
If you have similar intentions, I’m sure you’ll benefit of my hard-earned conlusions:
1. It’s not only the quantity but the quality of my sleep that counts.
I get more energizing sleep if I relax or meditate just before falling asleep.
This way I get up earlier, mostly without using alarm, fresh and motivated, without feeling exhausted.
What is best for my body:
- early dinner without meat,
- no alcohol and
- not much drinking 1 hour before bedtime. No tea. No water.
As I’ve been nursing for almost 4 years in a row, I got used to wake every hour or at least in every 2-3 hours. In the end my sleep cycle was totally messed up and I woke even if it was not necessary. I was not breasfeeding anymore, still, I had to go to the bathroom, or I thought I was hungry so I ate (yes…., in the middle of the night..) and so on.
An early dinner and a small (15 CH containing) snack at about 9 p.m. solved my problem: my blood sugar level needs to be balanced (as I am on Insulin Resistance Diet), but if you don’t need to eat after 6 or 7 o’clock it is also perfectly okay. This is something you better discuss with a doctor and first of all check if you have any needs that are special (e.g. you need to avoid bloating, liver problems etc.).
What is best for my soul: no disturbing content before sleep (i.e. thriller movies and endless-pointless social media newsfeeds).
These all worked out for me as pre-bedtime activites:
- watching calm, positive, funny or entertaining movies
- reading paper books
- journalling (in paper based form or using an app – avoiding sitting in front of a laptop 🙂
- relaxation, meditation
2. My sleep at night is actually hugely affected by how I spend my day:
A good, balanced daily routine helps a LOT, meaning:
- focused work, meaning I do one thing at a time and take short breaks if necessary. I have clean schedule for working hours (9 a.m. to 16 p.m.). I work in home office but it does not mean I have to work anytime. I also asked my family (husband and kids) to respect that.
- healthy priorization of tasks, meaning I take into account what I can actually achive that day: I jot them down or put them into task manager app we use at my workplace and – it is very important! – indicate when I accomplish them. It is gives me a good feeling when I solve a prbolem or accompish an assignment, so why not give myself the feeling of contentment :-)?
- quality food, fresh air & movement every day
- letting myself unwind after working hours with “real life” creative activities i.e. painting, doodling, journaling, reading, playing with the kids, guitar playing, talking a walk etc.
3. I am in charge of my thoughts and can change them anytime it’s needed.
I can start to change anytime, and I can begin with changing my thoughts and attitude:
- I welcome gratefulness and think of nice memories of the day,
- I become aware of negative thoughts and replace them right away with supporting thoughts before entering sleep.
4. I don’t make a fuss about sleeplessness or about waking in the middle of the night.
If I make a fuss about it, the situation gets worse… This is exactly what makes sleep anxiety awful!
But I do know I can still be relaxed and fresh the next day even if I get less sleep:
I know because I’m a mom with 2 kids and survived difficult times before! 😉 And I know that I’ve learnt a bunch of techniques to create quality rest for myself.
First of all, I surrender to sleeplessness, NOT check the time every minute, but get the most out of it:
relax,
meditate,
use imaginative techniques
do breathing exercises.
It all helps and gives me a different kind of quality rest – even if it is not 100% sleep.
Relax, you got this, too!
It’s never too late to change your attitude about sleep and be more aware!
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