When Sleep Won't Come

Written by Day Marshall, LMHC (Senior Clinician)

Have you had those nights when sleep is evasive? When you shift in bed and adjust your pillow, throwing off or adding on layers of cover? Apart from general, good sleep hygiene practices such as keeping a regular sleep schedule, setting the tone for sleep with lighting and calming activities, sometimes it can feel like there is little to be done when our minds keep wandering once the lights go out. Based on what clients often tell me, I think that often the anxiety of not falling asleep is the primary culprit keeping us awake.

While there are numerous ways to help increase the ability to sleep, I want to introduce you to one method that is a favorite of mine.

Our brains are remarkably made and incredibly adaptive. Every sensation we experience, be it sound, sight, taste, smell or touch, is communicated to us by our brains. Therefore, if my brain is thinking about stressors, my body will naturally tense up and likely go into problem-solving or worry mode.  However, if I focus my mind on the most serene and relaxing environment I can imagine, my whole body begins to relax. Using anti-anxiety grounding techniques when lying in bed can provide relaxing, sleep-inducing benefits.

I like to begin with deep breathing; long, slow, full breaths and exhales. While I deep breathe, I begin to visualize myself in a relaxing place. I’ll share mine with you, but you’ll need to get your own because my place is relaxing because no one else is around for miles!  My serene place is a warm beach with pristine sands devoid of all bugs and the only human is me.  I lie on my back facing up toward the perfectly warm sun. I feel the gentle give of the sun warmed sand beneath my body. I can drag my fingers over it and dig my fingers into it and feel the cool under the surface. The gentle ocean breeze dances over my skin and I can feel it on my face and on my arms and legs. The trees around the beach quietly rustle their leaves in response to that wind, and there are myriad birds singing in chorus high in the trees. I listen to the waves coming in and going out; a gentle, reliable rhythm. I can taste the mixed sweet and tang of watermelon and pineapple. There is a crackling campfire burning in the near distance. I smell the wood burning as it mixes with the salt air. I am still deep breathing and taking in all the sensory wonders of the beach serenity. If my mind begins to pull away to a worry or stressor, I gently but firmly draw it back to the sensory experience of the beach. The smells, the sounds, the sights, the feel and the tastes of my beach retreat become weightier than the worries and stress that it lulled away. In the midst of all of this, sleep generally comes quietly.

Sleep well!

Back to Basics

Written by Megan Farcas, LMHC CMHIMP (Clinical Supervisor, Senior Clinician)

We are three weeks into 2021. Take a moment to check in with yourself—how are you doing? How are you feeling? Some of us may be maintaining a sense of hope that 2021 will be better than last year. For others we’re feeling discouraged, anxious, and frustrated with how the past three weeks have been. Perhaps you made goals or resolutions that now feel futile. Maybe the ongoing winter and pandemic is leading to further feelings of isolation, sadness, and worry.

Use this moment to pause, to assess, to reset. What do you need? What can help? 

Part of my training as a Certified Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider (CMHIMP) is to look at health and healing from a wholistic approach. In sessions, I like to help clients try to reorient around ways to care for themselves in addition to addressing their emotional needs. The mind-body connection is often overlooked when trying to find ways to manage stressors, yet this connection is so crucial. Physical and emotional health are inextricably linked. In turn, if we have a hard time supporting or managing our emotions, sometimes we can reinforce self care from a different approach, by attending to ourselves physically.

Amidst ongoing challenges and stressors, here are three things you can do today to help support yourself physically:

Move Your Body

When was the last time you stood up? Stretched? Went for a walk? Danced around the house? Moving your body can help reduce stress through blood flow and increased oxygen. Movement benefits brain function—the center of our thoughts and emotions—creating new brain cells and synapses. Moving your body doesn’t have to be an elaborate goal or ordeal. It can be standing up every hour to do a few stretches or jumping jacks. It can be something fun like putting on your favorite song and dancing for a few minutes; in fact, dancing has been found to tone the vagal nerve (a cranial nerve that connects the brain to the body), thus helping reduce stress and anxiety. 

Fuel Your Body

Are you giving your body the nutrients it needs, bringing awareness to hunger cues and appetites? For many, pandemic life has disrupted routines even at a basic level such as meals. Can you put more intentionality into fueling your body nutritionally? For example, foods rich in protein are made up of amino acids needed to create neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin which helps us feel good.

Rest Your Body

Lack of proper sleep is widely known to contribute to negative moods and emotions, often increasing irritability and stress. On the flip side, sufficient sleep enhances positive moods and overall wellbeing. In our modern life sleep often becomes the first thing we chip away at in the ever busy endeavor to fit more into a day. The average person needs 7-9 hours of sleep each night in order to get the proper physical, emotional, and mental rest needed—how are you doing with this? Can you adjust your schedule to support yourself in getting enough sleep each night? Small adjustments such as going to bed 30 minutes earlier can make a large difference in improving sleep habits, thus benefiting your body holistically.