Do you find yourself awake in the middle of the night unable to sleep?

What do you do when you can’t sleep?

Read?

Drink warm milk?

Watch television?

Claudia takes advantage of the time she can’t sleep, to do things like paint her living room!  During the day she is so tired she often worries that she will fall asleep while doing the shopping or driving her mother to her many doctors appointments.

When Claudia tries to help her daughter, Cassie, with her homework she is so fatigued that the cob webs are too thick to think!  Cassie is on her own.

She was in tears the other day when we had lunch because Cassie’s grades are sliding and her mom’s bed sore is getting worse, since she’s been too exhausted to keep up with the frequent repositioning suggested by the nurse.

“What am I supposed to do?!  Why can’t I sleep?” Claudia sobbed.

Why Can’t You Sleep?

• If you are sedentary you can expect to have difficulty sleeping.
• Overuse of technology is a great way to cause sleeplessness.
• Eating empty calories interferes with sleep in several ways.
• Your chaotic bedroom will definitely contribute to sleeplessness and poor quality sleep.
• Your breathing can make you sick AND drastically effect the quality of your sleep.
  

Claudia didn’t think any of these issues were her problem.  Nothing she tried seemed to help.

Though she admitted that she, “just didn’t get the breathing aspect and what that had to do with it.”

I challenged Claudia to show up each week for The Life Breath Club’s 60 minute discussion of breath awareness and get serious about her Personal Sacred Breathing Program.

Claudia didn’t think that she was sick, so she didn’t think the information applied to her for a few weeks, but she kept coming.

One week, Claudia heard something on the call about emotional processing.

“That was a light bulb moment,” she admitted later.

“I see that it is hard to allow the emotions I feel watching my mother suffer.”

“I see that I feel guilty for feeling burdened with her care.”

“I see that my depression is effecting my ability to mother my daughter and I want to do something about it.”

Claudia’s light bulb moment helped her to see that natural cures for insomnia weren’t working because she was too depressed to consistently apply any of the action steps to implement them!

Just becoming aware of the emotions she was stuffing helped Claudia to stop holding her breath and breathe through all the challenges that normally caused her to self sabotage.

What Can You Do To Get More Sleep?

• Find a way to be active everyday.
  
• Soak in a warm epsom salt bath for 20 minutes before climbing in bed.
• Make whole organic fruits and vegetables a large percentage of your diet and/OR supplement.
• Create a clean organized sleep space and seek stillness daily.
• Find out how your breathing is making you sick and do something about it.

Claudia says that joining The Life Breath Club was the first step in recognizing her suppressed emotion.

“I use to wake up at 2am and curse at the clock, now I turn my attention to my Sacred Breath.”

For Claudia, the change came when she accepted night time waking as the perfect time to feel those difficult feelings she couldn’t allow during the day.

“The magic happens after I allow my feelings and maybe cry a bit.  I sleep like a baby for blissful chunks of time.  I will repay my sleep debt with pleasant naps.  I’m glad I know that now.”

Your magic sleep will happen when you prioritize it.

 

All of the suggestions above may seem just too simple.

You will find that simple change will make a measurable difference in your sleep debt!

Go back to bed!

Many blessings,

Carrie Tucker, RCP

The Life Breath Coach

Heart Failure Solutions

PS– Remember everyday:

• Relax and Release tension
• Exhale Slowly
• Be active in a way that adds joy to your life

Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter