Insomnia recovery

Your body knows how to sleep, but your mind can’t let go. 

You’ve been to the doctor. Taken the medication. Tried CBT-I. Maybe you’ve done a sleep study, worn a Holter monitor. And still, something isn’t working. You’ve researched sleep cycles. Gone down endless social media rabbit holes looking for the reason why you can’t sleep. The more you search, the more sleep feels like it’s eluding you. It started out innocuous enough, but now you’re scared. You’re desperate and yet it seems that no one can give you an explanation or a solution. Maybe you started organizing your life around sleep hygiene, forgoing fun so you can nail that perfect piece of hygiene so sleep will come. It can start to feel like the pursuit of sleep is taking over your life. 

Like you, years ago I suffered from a period of insomnia that left me feeling alone, confused and afraid. I had all the education and knowledge to get the right kind of help. I did all the gold star treatments. And still, I was caught in a fear loop I couldn’t find my way out of. No one seemed to know how to help me through this strange nightmare. 

Luckily, I found a sleep mentorship program called Mind.Body.Sleep. This experience taught me that my brain was locked in a desperate cycle, trying to protect me from a perceived danger: the fear of not sleeping. I couldn’t figure out how to disarm this mysterious subconscious guard. With guidance, support, and community, my sleep slowly came back online. But the level of fear I experienced during this sleep crisis lingered for years. After recovering, I began to understand that my fear loop was more similar to a trauma response than a thinking or feeling problem. Once I recovered, I began helping other people recovering from insomnia. I found that working from a nervous system support and recovery lens, focusing on undoing the traumatic loneliness of the experience, and helping people understand and work with their overprotective brains was the key to freedom from the fear loop, which allows sleep to come. Now I help others find the path too. 

If you’d like to hear a little more about my recovery journey, take a quick listen to Mind.Body.Sleep. podcast I had the pleasure of being on hosted by Beth Kendall. If you want to chat more about my approach to insomnia recovery, schedule a free consult and let’s talk.