SLEEP z z z z z

June 2021

 

 

I love my sleep. There is nothing better than waking up feeling refreshed and ready for the day after a good nights sleep. Along with eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, good quality sleep is also very important for our health and well-being, on all levels - physically, mentally and energetically. Sadly a good nights rest does not come so easily to some of us, in fact - a lot of us! The more I work in the field of healing and yoga, the more people I meet that have or have had issues with their sleep. For some getting to sleep is an issue, for others staying asleep is more challenging. If you are one of these people, then rest assured you are not alone and there are effective ways to help yourself sleep better.

 

I went through my own patch of sleep issues when I was going through a very intense time of stress and change a few years ago. I could fall asleep easily but would wake up 2 or 3 hours later, my mind racing, heart pounding, my arms tingling and I found it impossible to go back to sleep... until of course it was time to get up..! So frustrating, not to mention exhausting. This went on for weeks and I couldn't understand, with all my yoga and meditation practice why I couldn't sleep. Like many, I tried lots of natural remedies to fix my insomnia that didn't work and only left me feeling frustrated, exhausted, emotional and anxious, wondering if I was ever going to sleep properly again. I saw the GP and of course was recommended sleeping pills, which I knew were not getting to the root cause and were simply a band aid solution, but I was desperate to get a good nights sleep so I gave them a go. But they didn't suit me and further increased my anxiety, knowing it was my anxiety that was stopping me from sleeping, I had to find another way...!

 

I decided to take a well deserved break and went to England to visit my family (yes in the good old days when we were allowed to travel!). The jet lag only made things worse and I was really struggling to hold myself together. I knew I needed help on a deeper level and was determined to find it. So I set my intention and put it out there to the universe that I needed help and to show me where to find it. Within days, I was recommended a holistic councilor by my sister, I wasn't sure at first but decided to give it a go. She was very intuitive and compassionate and helped me gain a better perspective on what was going on in my mind and body by introducing me to a very different technique that I hadn't tried before. The technique she used on me was EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) otherwise know as "Tapping"  and some inner child work using Matrix Reimprinting. It promptly took me deep into the root cause of my anxieties/fears highlighting the reasons for my sleep issues. These anxieties and fears had switched on my fight/flight response (sympathetic nervous system) and my body was not able to stay in rest/recovery (parasympathetic) state...hence why I could not stay asleep.

 

After only 3 x sessions over a course of 3 weeks, along with a better wind down sleep routine, I was back to sleeping 6-7hours straight again! Amazing!!

 

I admit it felt a bit odd tapping myself on certain body parts and I didn't fully understand how it worked at the time, but I loved how it calmed my emotions and anxiety symptoms within minutes and actually induced a sleepy feeling. I was so intrigued by this technique that when I came back to Australia I decided to become a practitioner myself. What I then learnt was that EFT could help with more than sleep issues and anxiety, it could help heal past trauma, change sabotaging beliefs, relieve physical and emotional pain and more.

 

Since then I have been sharing EFT and Matrix Reimprinting with my clients I have been so impressed with the results. When using both technique's there is a lot happening at once so results can happen in just one session or some need a few depending on the issue. While we are tapping, blocked energy from the past is being released from the physical body, the brain receives the message that it is safe and switches on the parasympathetic nervous system (rest/recovery) and negative core beliefs are being changed simultaneously. We tap into the subconscious and often access the inner child to find the root causes of issues that often stem from childhood. The work is done mostly by the client and facilitated by the practitioner, so it is very different to the other forms of healing that I offer,  but I think that is why it is so effective, it gives us the power to heal ourselves! There is a video you can watch to learn more about this tapping technique at the end of this blog.

 

Now, like I said above there are other things I did to improve my wind down at night along side the tapping, which I believe are also important in order to create  the right environment for a good sleep. Doing these things alone can help a lot, but for me I needed to do all of it as well as the tapping. If the circadian rhythm (our bodies sleep/wake cycle) has been out of routine for a long time, e.g going to bed very late/waking up very late or going to bed very early and waking very early, then you will need to allow yourself time and commitment to the new sleep routines in order help reset the bodies cycle.  For more information on circadian rhythm click here:https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm

 

Things to avoid:

• No caffeine or alcohol after 4pm or ideally none at all if you can go without
• No heavy foods/high sugar foods 2 hours before bedtime
• Smokers - Avoid smoking cigarettes at least 2hours before bed
• No fast beat music - look into sounds with Binaural beats for soothing sleep music
• Turn off devices/screens at least an hour before bedtime
• Turn off WiFi while sleeping
• Turn off all lights and reduce natural light
• Avoid going to bed too late (past 11pm)
• Avoid sleeping in too late, even if you have had a bad night
• Avoid day time naps
• Avoid looking at the clock if you wake up

Things to do:

• Journal writing and/or "To do" list for next day (great way to get thoughts and to do lists out of head)
• Drink relaxing herbal teas, such as Tulsi/Liquorice Root - there is some great sleep ranges in the health food stores to try
• Take a warm Magnesium bath with Lavender Essential oil
• Read a book
• Yoga - Diamond forward fold and legs up the wall or chair help induce a relaxed state of mind
• Light a candle and gaze into it for at least 2-3mins - this has been proven to increase Melatonin levels (our sleep hormone)
• Deep breathing/Meditation/Tapping immediately before sleeping - get in touch for help with this
• Go to bed at the same time each night, find your sleepy window. My recommended sleep window is between 10-11pm
• Wake up around the same time each day. My recommendation is between 5-7am.
• Exercise daily for at least 30-60mins, preferably outdoors to increase exposure to natural light during the day
• Wear sound proof ear plugs and eye covers for those sensitive to noise/light

 

I would also like to add, that it is absolutely NORMAL for the body to go through wakeful cycles every 4-6hours in the night. But we want to be able to go back to sleep if our body needs it. If you do wake up fully, it's easy to start worrying and get frustrated that you might not get back to sleep, which will add to the not sleeping! Instead, take a  moment to check why you are awake. Is it thirst? Toilet? Warmth? Get up and see to it, have a walk around to move the blood and then get back in to bed. (Just like you see dogs or cats do, when they wake up circle around a bit before getting comfy again). Then you can use the tapping technique again if necessary.

I have at times found my creative mind can awaken during these wakeful periods and I find the need to write down the insights I am receiving, getting any thoughts out of my head can really help me to return to sleep. If you are a creative person you might find this happens to you too so its great to acknowledge the downloads you are receiving, rather than blocking them.

 

We also need to bear in mind that we all have different sleep needs. Some of us function perfectly on 5-6 solid hours, some of us need more like 8-9 hours. Honor your bodies needs and tune into your sleepy/wakeful windows and create a routine that gets you asleep preferably before midnight and up before 8am.  According to Chinese medicine, different organs are repairing, cleansing and restoring at different hours of the night and if we miss those hours, those organs fail to repair properly so we wake up feeling tired and over long periods these organs can then be susceptible to weakness/disease.  Here is an example of a Chinese medicine Circadian clock that my Acupuncturist gave to me:

 

 

It may all seem a lot to do, but it soon becomes a normal part of routine and is so worth it. Once the kids are in bed and the screen is off it gives me plenty of time and space to wind down and take time out for myself and draw upon what I need that evening. Since my sleep issues have resolved, i find a herbal tea, switching off devices and my night time meditation is now usually all I need for a good night sleep. Although, I have all the other tools to help me when stress/anxiety is rising and I need extra help to sleep better. You may find some things work better for you than others and I truly hope the information here helps you if you are struggling with your sleep.

 

Below you will find a 15min video that tells you a little more about tapping and demonstrates an easy routine that can be done before you go to sleep, or if you wake up in the night. I have had really positive feedback from others that have tried the technique who are at last sleeping well. I also still use this myself when I have a rocky night. This sequence is of course just a general guide, a private session would have us using words specific to you and your needs.