Ahhh – Insomnia…..

Or more like “In – waking_up_in_the_middle_of_the_night_and_can’t_get_back_to_sleep- ia”.

That’s a mouthful!

Sleep and I often have a fraught and fractious relationship, and this has been for many, many years. Over the last 2 years though this has changed, and I’m happy to say for the better (cue .GIF of dancing people – yada, yada, yada).

I’m not actually sure where sleep and I became a little estranged – certainly I can’t identify any trauma or anything dramatic. Let’s just say we had words… somewhere.

Sleep became an issue. Often on occasions I’d dread going to sleep – dread waking in the night, and of the multi-coloured, three dimensional, surround-sound dreams I tend to have! Meds, late nights, booze – nothing worked effectively.

And then we had a breakthrough – I say we since it was my Doc and a Neuro-therapist that teamed up. Through some talking, and some planned meds, I began to get ahead of the game an catch up on my by then chronic sleep debt.

So what next? A flash of inspiration. If I was going to sleep then I had to learn to accept that this was just maybe how I slept. No rights or wrongs. Just how it was. And that, dear readers, is how I learned to love sleep.

The rest has been much easier – making the bedroom into a sleep nest has also helped greatly!

And 5 things to learn….

• Sometimes acceptance is the way forward when other routes hit obstacles
• Ask for help – there’s no point in dealing with something you don’t know about alone
• Don’t be afraid of what can’t harm you – I made sleep a friend, not the enemy
• Try not to go to end the day with negativity. Tie up loose ends, make your peace, make your routine.
• Making your sleep place is not just great fun, it also gives you a safe place to relax into

G’night!