Click title to see more…
The Sleep to Healthy website is now a 10 lesson course on curing insomnia.
This course is not a quick fix and it is not easy. The course is based on CBTi or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. CBTi is the first-line insomnia treatment method endorsed by:
- The U.S. National Institute of Health and
- The British Association of Psycho-pharmacology.
- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
By the end of the “Cure Insomnia” course, students will have the knowledge and tools they need to cure their insomnia. Not just now, but for a lifetime.
Did I mention that it’s free?
Go to SleepToHealthy.com to get started.
Summary: Guest: Drew Ackerman, host of the Sleep With Me Podcast. Drew’s podcast was one of the primary inspirations for the creation of the Sleep to Healthy podcast, so it is fitting that Drew is interviewed in episode #1.
- Drew discusses his early struggles with sleep,
- his solution when you are unable to sleep,
- his journey creating his podcast,
- describes the podcast,
- the impact it has had on listeners and
- gives advice for getting a good night’s sleep.
Episodes Habit Hack: The 5 second rule
Hosted by Dennis Trumpy. Recorded: January 15, 2019
Links mentioned in the show:
The Sleep With Me Podcast: https://www.sleepwithmepodcast.com/ , or request it on your smart speaker
Drew Ackerman’s Twitter: @dearestscooter, https://twitter.com/dearestscooter
Drew Ackerman’s Instagram: dearestscooter, https://www.instagram.com/dearestscooter/
Sleep Whisperers: https://sleepwhispers.com/
3:30 – Drew Ackerman talks about being unable to sleep issues in childhood. They started around 5th grade. He had misdiagnosed dyslexia and was not seen as having a learning issue but thought to have a behavior issue and not wanting to learn. This was in the 1980s. He developed a terror of going to school, laying at night thinking about issues with school and unable to sleep. It became a vicious cycle – worrying about school, then trying to fall asleep, then being unable to sleep well. Drew is the oldest of six kids. His parents tried to help but did not understand his pain.
5:50 – Drew heard from a friend about the Dr. Demento show, it was on late at night at 9 until 11 on Sundays. Drew would listen to it and it would take his mind off school and fear and sleep. He has never forgotten the pain he was going through and the instant release that listening to the show brought to him.
7:00 – Drew started listening to podcasts and was struck by how different podcasts were from Radio. He enjoyed the experience of being able to peer into people’s lives. So he got the idea of telling adult bedtime stories. Drew had a strong internal critic that discouraged him from starting the podcast. He went for years delaying the start of the podcast due to his internal critic shutting him down.
8:50 – Drew was working on a creative project that imploded and left him a lot of time on his hands. This was in 2013. He was on a bus and a well-adjusted voice advised him to start the podcast for those who can t sleep with all the free time he would have, otherwise it would just get filled in with life events.
10:40 – Drew describes the structure of the Sleep With Me Podcast. The podcast is light and silly even though Drew takes the business of helping people get to sleep very seriously. It starts with some business to keep the podcast going, and then goes into the intro. Most intros are around half a minute, but the Sleep With Me Podcast intro goes on for much longer. If you think i can t sleep, this podcast might help you.
12:00 – It is fun and familiar for listeners, and a play on expectations since the intro never gets to the point it gives listeners a sense of what they are getting into. Some people fall asleep during the intro. It is meant to bring some levity and fun into sleep.
12:40 – Then there is a bedtime story. There are three styles of shows: A made up bedtime story. A serialized story but in a goofy style such as Nuns In Space. The third is a TV recap show such as The Good Place. The show slow with many tangents and in a rambling, soothing style. It is done with enough interest to keep your mind occupied but not so engrossing that you’re hanging on his every word. It is not how you cure insomnia, but it can help you get to sleep if you want to sleep well.
14:20 – Either the podcast is going to keep you entertained or it’s going to put you to sleep, either way the podcast is there for you to cut into that night time loneliness. It is one of the things to help you to sleep and simply sleep.
14:50 – A tip is to put a timer on your podcast app or MP3 player so that the audio turns off by the time the podcast ends and so you don’t wake up later with voices coming into your earbuds or headphones.
15:20 – Although the podcast is geared towards adults, it has that Saturday morning cartoon feel to it. He gets inspiration from everywhere but tries to make it uplifting and fun to help you get a good sleep and restful sleep.
16:50 – Drew got advice from listeners of what they liked and didn’t like to sleep well, for instance he was told not to talk about snakes or spiders since that would elicit a fear response, not good for getting to sleep. He used to sing occasionally in the early episodes, but musicians told him that that would wake them up. Drew had a two-year plan, but much of the time he just focused on getting the next few episodes out and gave himself permission to fail and learn. Listener feedback helped and listening to the show as if he was one of the audience also helped. It has become some peoples sleep solutions.
23:00 – On the podcast Drew goes by the pseudonym Dearest Scooter. That came from a deal he made with his internal critic. The internal critic was worried about being embarrassed so Drew asked his internal critic if it would work if they made up a pseudonym. It also helped him get over performance anxiety.
25:00 – Talked about sleeping issues his listeners have and their solutions. One of the sleep issues he had not thought of was how many people suffer from chronic pain and how it impacts their sleep as well as their waking time. (See sleeptohealth episode 3: Sleeping with pain with Cindy Perlin) Also people dealing with different life experiences such as soldiers dealing with PTSD, people with intense stressful jobs and schedules looking for sleep solutions. It included people on submarines from different nations, and even a coal train driver in the Australian Outback with different shifts who can t sleep. Sleep issues are extremely diverse.
28:00 – His listeners tell him about things to help you to sleep and that bedtime routines are important. And the importance of gratitude and kindness. And self-care and self parenting. These are things to help you to sleep.
29:30 – Drew talks about sleep solutions and sleep health. Start a bedtime routine without shoulds or pressure. Create a bedtime routine as if you are giving somebody else a gift. A pitch dark room is important to Drew. Get good blinds and cover LED lights on chargers. He likes to have a cool room with a nice fan going for a good sleep. He knows he needs a good routine but often he just wants to go to sleep without the discipline of the routine. Drew starts his routine about an hour before going to sleep. He shuts his phone off or put it aside, he likes to meditate or sit quietly, do some light journaling or reflections on the day, gratitude, maybe some reading that is enriching and lets him wind down. Some stretching is helpful followed by reading some fiction that he enjoys. What’s he finds humbling is that even when he follows his bedtime routine it doesn’t guarantee that he will sleep well. Sleep is still an unresolved issue for Drew.
31:00 – Drew finds that having a morning routine helps him sleep well also. Have some reflection time, some time to think about the day, has impact on his sleep.
32:20 – A hotel tip Drew got from people working on airlines is to go to the closet and use the clips for pants on the hangers clip the curtains together so you don’t get the light coming between the gap in the curtains. Drew also unplugs the clocks, brings a Bluetooth speaker to play some noise and puts it on the side of the room with the door to drown out the noise and get a restful sleep.
34:50 – Drew talks about who the Sleep With Me Podcast works for and doesn’t. Some people don’t like the aspect of his show where he is just himself and very vulnerable. Drew thinks that people who tend to bully people may not like his show. People that are too much like Drew may not appreciate the podcast. Also people that like structure and seriousness may not like the show since it meanders around a lot in a silly way and helps if you are unable to sleep and think i can t sleep.
36:30 – There are a wide variety of solutions for people including white noise generators, and Librivox.org has a library of audiobooks. And there are other podcasts intended to put you to sleep such as Sleep Whispers (https://sleepwhispers.com/ ) by Harris. It is ASMR based which is Audio Sensory Meridian Response. There are resources about it on the internet including YouTube videos. There are artists who set up ASMR situations such as crinkling paper or whispering with binaural sounds.
39:30 – Something you can do today to help you sleep better tonight: Have some quiet time to do some self-care or self parenting, and give yourself permission to make your sleep needs important. Treat yourself as you would treat somebody else that you care about. You deserve to sleep your best. Then try different things and see what works and doesn’t. It’s like loosening knots, not pulling at the rope, it’s not an issue of trying harder, and being critical of yourself, it is a case of being nice with yourself. This is a good tip to help how to cure insomnia and to sleep well and will help with sleep health.
42:00 – Search for the Sleep With Me Podcast your podcast app, or if you have a smart speaker you want to listen, just say smart speaker Play Sleep With Me podcast, and you can tell your smart speaker to set a timer for 60 minutes. Website is https://www.sleepwithmepodcast.com/ and he’s on Twitter and Instagram at Dearestscooter.
43:12 – Episode highlights:
1 – The Sleep With Me Podcast – the podcast that puts you to sleep
2 – Pain sufferers also often suffer from insomnia.
3 – Have a regular, good bedtime routine.
45:41 – Habit hack: The 5 second rule.
Sleep To Healthy Thoughts