Every time you do something in response to chronic insomnia, ask yourself these two questions

YouTube Video VVVMNUxzTFVlVkEyal9Wc2w1NjI1c2hRLnZRLTFtREJGbmxn

If you are struggling to get your sleep back on track, you are either implementing behaviors that are going to help improve your sleep for the long term or you are implementing behaviors that risk perpetuating your insomnia. Luckily, there are two questions you can ask yourself to determine which path you are on:<br /><br />Question 1: How is this helping me?<br />Question 2: Is this pleasant?<br /><br />So, for example, if you are spending a lot more time in bed compared to your average nightly sleep duration, ask yourself whether you find spending all that time in bed awake rather than asleep helpful and whether you find it pleasant. If it's neither, you might recognize that reducing the amount of time you allot for sleep could be a better alternative.<br /><br />Related video:<br /><br />How to stop the sleep roller coaster and make sleep more consistent and more predictable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86qD_SFPd24<br /><br />Similarly, if you are implementing constructive, evidence-based techniques to improve your sleep for the long-term, it can be helpful to ask yourself the same questions for reassurance!<br /><br />If you wake during the night and find it hard to fall back to sleep, you might have heard of a technique known as stimulus control — this involves getting out of bed when you are struggling to sleep to prevent you from reinforcing any learned association between the bed and unpleasant wakefulness.<br /><br />This technique can be particularly challenging since it's not intended to help you fall back to sleep on that night — rather, it's a long-term technique designed to retrain you to associate the bed with sleep instead of unpleasant wakefulness.<br /><br />So if you find the idea of getting out of bed to be difficult to accept, ask yourself those two questions next time you are in bed and finding it hard to fall asleep — is staying in bed and struggling helpful, and does it feel pleasant? If the answers are 'no!' then perhaps getting out of bed might be a better alternative!<br /><br />Related video:<br /><br />How the body compensates for lost sleep by itself (and why stimulus control is so effective): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rhcwXPWEgw<br /><br />You can apply these two questions to any thought processes or behaviors connected to sleep and insomnia — does spending a lot of time during the day thinking about sleep feel helpful and pleasant? Does canceling plans feel helpful and pleasant? Does ongoing sleep-related research feel helpful and pleasant?<br /><br />Related video:<br /><br />Adding more enjoyable moments to your life and planning fun activities reduces the power of insomnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cg7HMiM-Z4<br /><br />If not, there may be some alternative behaviors you could adopt that could prove to be more helpful and/or more pleasant! When you're implementing behaviors that are helpful and pleasant, you can feel far more confident that you're on the path toward better sleep for the rest of your life!<br /><br />▶ Subscribe to the Insomnia Coach channel (and be sure to click the notification bell afterward so you don't miss any videos): http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5LsLUeVA2j_Vsl5625shQ?sub_confirmation=1<br /><br />My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching services that give people with insomnia all the skills and support they need to enjoy better sleep for the rest of their lives. I also offer a free two-week sleep training course for people with insomnia at https://insomniacoach.com/sleep-training/?ref=youtube041420<br /><br />You can also find me here:<br /><br />Website: https://insomniacoach.com<br />Twitter: https://twitter.com/insomniacoach<br />Facebook: https://facebook.com/insomniacoach<br />Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myinsomniacoach/<br /><br />All content found on the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.<br /><br />#insomnia<br />#sleep

Insomnia Coach 4.3K views April 14, 2020 11:13 pm

If you are struggling to get your sleep back on track, you are either implementing behaviors that are going to help improve your sleep for the long term or you are implementing behaviors that risk perpetuating your insomnia. Luckily, there are two questions you can ask yourself to determine which path you are on:

Question 1: How is this helping me?
Question 2: Is this pleasant?

So, for example, if you are spending a lot more time in bed compared to your average nightly sleep duration, ask yourself whether you find spending all that time in bed awake rather than asleep helpful and whether you find it pleasant. If it’s neither, you might recognize that reducing the amount of time you allot for sleep could be a better alternative.

Related video:

Adding more enjoyable moments to your life and planning fun activities reduces the power of insomnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cg7HMiM-Z4

If not, there may be some alternative behaviors you could adopt that could prove to be more helpful and/or more pleasant! When you’re implementing behaviors that are helpful and pleasant, you can feel far more confident that you’re on the path toward better sleep for the rest of your life!

▶ Subscribe to the Insomnia Coach channel (and be sure to click the notification bell afterward so you don’t miss any videos): http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5LsLUeVA2j_Vsl5625shQ?sub_confirmation=1

My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching services that give people with insomnia all the skills and support they need to enjoy better sleep for the rest of their lives. I also offer a free two-week sleep training course for people with insomnia at https://insomniacoach.com/sleep-training/?ref=youtube041420

You can also find me here:

Website: https://insomniacoach.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/insomniacoach
Facebook: https://facebook.com/insomniacoach
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myinsomniacoach/

All content found on the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

#insomnia
#sleep