If you have trouble getting to sleep, waking in the night, waking-up too early or just not feeling rested after sleeping, then you might have insomnia.
Sleep is one of the three pillars of good physical and mental health – along with what we eat and moving our bodies. Insomnia means that we struggle to get enough good quality sleep, and it affects how we feel and function during the daytime.
Insomnia can be caused by lots of different things. For example, a stressful event, being pregnant, having a baby, menopause, chronic stress, anxiety, depression, physical pain and grief. It can also be a side effect of some medications.
Poor sleep is a serious issue. It can cause a variety of problems such as depressed mood, irritability, low energy, difficulty concentrating and increased appetite. Insomnia has also been linked in studies to developing mental health problems, such as depression.
Whilst insomnia is very common, it’s important that if you’re having trouble sleeping you speak to your doctor first, as underlying medical conditions and some medications can cause sleeplessness.
Sleeping pills may be prescribed by your doctor for short-term relief from insomnia, but the great news is that there is a more sustainable solution.
This solution has been proven to work as well as sleeping pills in the short term and better that sleeping pills in the long term. And there are no drugs needed. This evidence-based approach has been around for 40 years and has lots of high-quality research to prove that it is highly effective.
What is the best way to beat insomnia?
It’s called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI). CBTI looks at what we do in the daytime, our sleep habits, our beliefs about sleep and how we cope with worry & stress generally in our lives. All of these areas might be stopping us from getting a good night’s sleep.
CBTI also looks at the lifestyle choices you make during the daytime, such as food and drink choices (including caffeine and nicotine consumption – both of which can wreck our sleep) and when we exercise. Another area of focus is our bedtime routines and whether we like to take naps in the day can ruin our sleep at night. All of these things can impact on sleep.
How we think about our sleep is really important too.
Some people think that they must get at least 8 hours sleep in order to be happy and healthy. Others believe that sleep will only happen for them if they follow a strict bedtime routine. This might involve things like having a bath, using a pillow spray, taking a supplement or eating certain foods and if that doesn’t happen, they have no chance of getting decent sleep.
We might also have trouble relaxing our mind and body in the evenings, which gets in the way of falling asleep or might wake us up with a racing mind and pounding heart.
CBTI targets thoughts, habits and tensions that don’t help you sleep and replace them with new ones that will. If you are taking sleeping pills, you can still work with a CBTI therapist to help you improve your sleep naturally.
Remember, if you have ever slept well before you are almost certainly able to sleep well again. However long you’ve struggled with your insomnia. Clients can see big changes with in 1-2 weeks.
For optimal health, good quality sleep is essential. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI) offers an evidence-based approach to help you sleep well again so that you can stop worrying about sleep and live your life.
CBTi is the foundation of my Menoinsomnia Method coaching. So if you’re fed up of lying awake at night and feeling tired all the time, book your FREE 15 minute consultation call with me here. Or to learn more, grab my free guide here. Don’t put your life on hold any more. Better sleep is possible for you. I look forward to hearing from you.
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