How to trust your sleep

In Part 4 of this 5-part series, we will look at what it means to TRUST our sleep. 

A quick recap:

In part 1, we talked about valuing our sleep. Read here.

In part 2, we talked about prioritizing our sleep. Read here.

In Part 3, we talked about personalizing our sleep. Read here.

Now let’s talk about TRUSTING our sleep.

I hope that you’ve discovered why VALUING your sleep is so essential in your own life…and that you have started taking the necessary ACTIONS towards creating an environment that is conducive to sleep…and that you have started PERSONALIZING your sleep to find your best sleep window.

Now it is time to TRUST your body's ability to sleep!!!

At first, this can be challenging, especially if you have struggled to sleep well for a long time. How can we trust in something that has been so problematic and elusive in the past?

Did you know that we are biologically wired for sleep? 

People who sleep well are not “good at sleeping” or especially talented in this area of life. They are not doing anything to fall asleep except trusting and expecting sleep to come when they climb into bed.

Trusting your sleep means resisting reaching for quick fix solutions to fall asleep. 

When we rely on supplements, sleep meditations once we are in bed, or any other external aids to get to sleep, we are not putting our trust in our body's ability to fall asleep on its own.

It can be tricky to allow sleep to come naturally when we haven’t been successful in the past. 

Commit to using your bed only for sleep and sex. When you go to bed, trust that sleep will come. If you go to bed and don’t fall asleep within 15 to 20 minutes, get up. Sit quietly and remind yourself it takes time to create a new habit. Return to bed when you feel sleepy, gently telling yourself that you are biologically wired to sleep, and you are working on your skills to become a good sleeper.

This is a process. Just like running a marathon, the training runs can be challenging and painful, but once your body gets used to running the distance, it becomes easy. The same thing will happen with your sleep as you start trusting your body to fall asleep on its own.

Pull out your journal and write this sentence at the top of the page:

Why is it so easy for me to trust my sleep? 

And then let the words flow. Write down all the reasons you can trust and all the reasons you can’t trust your sleep. Getting it down on paper will help you to release the emotions getting in the way of your sleep.

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 Knowing you should trust your sleep is a significant step in the right direction. It might seem straightforward, but it doesn’t mean we know exactly how to make the changes necessary to ensure a good night’s rest. 

That's why I'm offering a completely free 20-minute Optimal Sleep Assessment. In this session via Zoom we will figure out your biggest hurdle to getting the restorative sleep you need AND what action you can take towards improving your sleep. 

Sign up today for your Optimal Sleep Assessment. The sooner you do it, the sooner you will be able to sleep better and wake up feeling refreshed and energetic!