Hello, dear one!
If you’ve been suffering from insomnia, you’re not alone. Sleepless at night has been prevalent worldwide.
Annie has learned to develop a new routine to ease her insomnia.
Annie was in her mid-forties and seemed to have it all: A lovely ranch home sitting on a treelined cul-de-sac, a goal-getter husband who provided financial comfort, three healthy school-age children, and a designer career for a well-known retailer clothing store.
What was her biggest battle in life?
Annie suffered from chronic insomnia. She couldn’t recall a time when she enjoyed a deep and satisfying sleep since the birth of her second child. Laying in bed listening to her husband’s snoring at two o’clock early morning became her normal bedtime routine.
Yeah, Annie was tired, very tired. She would doze off while talking to her husband on the couch of the family room. But when she was in bed, she couldn’t sleep. If she finally fell asleep, she would wake up after two to three hours and stay up until it was time to get up at six o’clock.
Annie was savvy in seeking help, and among them were prescribed sleeping pills, natural sleep aids like melatonin, relaxing music, meditation, warm baths, and regular visits with a referred psychologist.
However, nothing seemed to work for her!
Meanwhile, she had developed chronic arthritic pain and caught herself easily irritable and forgetful.
As a businesswoman, Annie knew the old saying that insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results. Her intuition told her that she needed to find a new way!
She agreed to try 30-day coaching to see if the four weeks would make a difference.
Here is what Annie’s initial four weeks looked like:
During the first week, Annie rated her anxiety level at nine out of ten, and she stated that she had been managing at six to seven out of ten for years.
Through strategically and personalized questions, Annie admitted that she started each day with high stress, she was willing to try a new morning routine before work.
For years, she started her mornings in a rushy or frantic mode. She needed to make sure the kids’ lunches were in their schoolbags, the after-school activities were coordinated, and the regular doctors’ and dental appointments were not missed.
Annie decided to design a new wake-up routine with a strategy.
She would get up 30 to 40 minutes earlier each morning, implementing these three new things:
*Deep breathing. As soon as she woke up, she would do five sets of meditation breathing to center herself and welcome a new day.
*Affirmation. While the coffee was being brewed, Annie would speak in her bathroom or kitchen with something like I AM well. All is well. All good lies before me today. She would say that over and over until she felt the connection.
*Gratitude journal. As Annie drank coffee, she would quickly jot down the things she was thankful for. She thanked anything that came to her mind, her family, her coffee, her iPhone, her washer and dryer, her electricity, and even her coming bills.
Somedays she got up a little late, she would only jot down words, like birds, trees, happy, fun, lights, colorful, satisfied, smiles, cereals, and heater. She was feeling these words and connecting them to her daily gratitude.
Before bedtime each night, Annie implemented the same three things, in a different order:
*Gratitude. She would thank at least three things that were good for the day.
*Affirmation. She spoke her bedtime affirmation that was specially designed to treat her insomnia.
*Deep breathing. She did as many sets of meditation breathing as needed.
As a dedicated wife, mother, and professional, Annie was committed to discipline with her daily morning and evening routines. She occasionally skipped a routine in the morning or at night, but she kept her routine going.
Each week, Annie showed up on time for her accountability check. And each week, she celebrated her smallest wins, including noticing and thanking her emptied garbage cans!
By the end of the fourth week, Annie rated her stress level at 5 out of ten. She was able to sleep for four hours at night, some nights even five hours.
She was proud of herself for mastering self-regulating skills through different techniques taught during the meetings.
During this time, Annie was also aware that her insomnia had underlying causes. Out of curiosity, Annie wanted to learn more about herself, so she extended her coaching time.
What Annie learned in the next few weeks transformed her life.
Annie discovered the root causes of her perpetual anxieties; it was a profound discovery story on its own. She mostly downloaded the anxiety programs from her mother and grandmothers from both sides. A natural perfectionist with high self-criticism and the need to control also contributed to her restlessness.
How could she change her personality overnight? But she could start working on her awareness, self-talk, and new habits.
She decided to stick to her new daily routine to reprogram herself.
By the end of 90 days of coaching, Annie achieved her new results.
With her new routine and deeper understanding of herself, Annie took a leap of faith to free herself of prescribed sleep medications. Her anxiety level was between four to six out of ten. When it got higher, she knew how to self-regulate to bring it down.
The best part? She slept close to 4.5 to five hours a night and learned to take 15-20 minutes naps during the day. Her increased energy helped her better enjoy her husband and the three children.
Annie had learned to become her best friend and life coach to herself.
Every situation is unique. If you’re tired of suffering insomnia and/or anxiety, let’s have a chat and develop a plan.
Let me learn more about you with my FREE 45-60 minute chat.