635: How can I stop worrying about not being able to sleep?
This week on the Anxiety Slayer Podcast, we’re responding to a question from our private Facebook group about sleep anxiety. Be sure to listen in for a Guided Tapping session to help you feel more calm and relaxed before bed.
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This episode of Anxiety Slayer is sponsored by Cozy Earth, the world’s leading bedding, bath, and apparel company. Get Up to 35% off sitewide when you use the code “SLAYER” at www.cozyearth.com
Notes from this week’s episode:
“Does anyone else experience sleep-related anxiety? A 'bad' night's sleep for me at the moment can trigger several more nights as I worry about not being able to sleep. Needless to say, I then find anxiety lurking in the background all day as well.”
The challenge between anxiety and sleep goes both ways. Anxiety makes the mind unsettled, keeping us awake and chewing over our worries. And, on the other side, sleep deprivation can increase anxiety, creating a loop of sleeplessness and worry that can feel hard to escape.
Anticipation and dread as bedtime approaches make it difficult to relax and prepare the body for sleep.
And the more we worry about not being able to sleep, the less likely we are to get a good nights rest.
We need to meet the anxiety and take action to dissolve it. And there are ways we can do that, we can’t absolutely guarantee a good night sleep but we can be as relaxed as possible and in the best state to invite sleep.
We need to release the tension, the expectation, the frustration, and all the thinking about the problems not sleeping will cause.
Acceptance and inviting rest
When we worry about not being able to sleep, or dread the coming night and start thinking about what might happen, we are suffering twice.
And it’s our default setting to do that. We resist what we don’t want to experience.
We need to sleep, we don’t like feeling anxious, and it’s always worse at night so we start anticipating the anxiety and being stuck awake with it and then we experience more anxiety. Our mind become preoccupied with what we don’t want.
It’s understandable, but it doesn’t help.
What does help is getting set up to be as relaxed, calm, and comfortable as possible.
Prepare for good rest
Start getting ready to settle down earlier in the evening, and avoid overly dramatic viewing, scrolling, and caffeine.
Stay away from Googling insomnia and all its potential problems.
Our sleep patterns can change throughout our lives for a variety of non-concerning reasons. Our sleep could be affected by hormones, our age, and by anxiety itself.
We have several podcasts on sleep, so we aren’t sharing sleep tips too deeply here, instead, we are focusing on calming the fear of nighttime sleeplessness.
You can also try one of Pure Spectrum CBD’s products if you need a little extra support.
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Focus on relaxation
Try massaging your body with a relaxing oil and taking a warm bath with magnesium salts
Use essential oils, like lavender for calm
Follow a gentle, stretching or restorative yoga practice
Try EFT Tapping
This episode includes a relaxing guided tapping session, listen in to follow along
Tapping Points diagram >> www.anxietyslayer.com/eft
Tapping to calm the fear of a bad night's sleep
Tapping can help calm the worry about not being able to sleep and this session will show you how to do that. Patreon.com/anxietyslayer