Insomnia...
Let's talk about insomnia... I've currently been up since 3 am... Doing what you might ask? Hmmm... Worrying about work, about relationships, about the next steps to take in life... Worrying about that thing I did 5 years ago... Planning my day, planning my life, planning and worrying about things I don't have control over.
There's been a few periods of my life when the anxiety of my day has caused me to lose sleep for weeks on end - You did not want to know me then! Unless you're super comfortable with someone crying every 10 minutes from exhaustion... It got to the point where I needed help in resetting my sleep rhythms from my therapist. And of course when she told me what she needed me to do... Collect data for a week and return it to her to determine the proper sleep schedule, I was like duh Ashley! You know this you're a behavior analyst. But here's the thing, sometimes we need an outsider to hold us accountable and to check in on the progress we're making. Of course I took the data, because I love data! And within a week my sleep schedule was back to normal.
Now when I'm losing sleep, I first try to get grounded. I press my feet against my bed frame and feel the pressure against my toes. I focus on my breathing and it's natural pattern. My next line of defense is jotting down my worries, a quick thoughts as a stream exercise. Next up in my bedtime battle ground, is a guided sleep meditation from the insight app. Those typically put me back to sleep within 20 minutes! If all else fails, I lay awake embracing the discomfort of wanting to fall asleep but not being able to. Of course there's the occasional scrolling through Instagram and Pinterest...I mean let's be honest! And there's really no moral to this story other than if you can't sleep, you're not alone and hopefully you find something to try in your moments of restlessness
“Becoming aware of awareness is the arising of inner stillness”