We humans are complicated creatures, and even though we all need sleep, it can many times prove elusive. There are hormonal issues that can interrupt our sleep, what we’re eating and drinking can definitely have an impact, and then there’s just this thing called ‘the full catastrophe of being alive,’ which simply means we don’t always get what we want or think we need.
But whenever I ask students what the #1 issue is that’s usually keeping them up at night, almost everyone responds with ‘thinking.’Â
We get caught in our thoughts. So even though we’re (hopefully) lying in a comfy cozy bed, we can be triggering our stress response simply based on what’s going on in our minds. And then the typical thing that most people get into is trying to stop having thoughts. But listen to this: fighting your own mind will never bring you into states of greater rest and relaxation. It will only further your experience of stress. And guess what? It takes a tremendous amount of energy to have your stress response on. So now compounding the fact that you’re not asleep is the fact the you’re also now expending additional energy being stressed!
I never want to say that mindfulness is the cure all, but it can definitely help. In this short video I go into what the next best thing to sleep is, and how to use mindfulness to access it. So that at least if you’re not able to get back to sleep, you’re accessing the next best thing. And what I’ve heard from thousands of students is that this helps tremendously.
I certainly hope it helps you.
With tons of love,
Michelle