How to Relax and Sleep when Stressed

CBTi and Stress: If you look at all the CBTi or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia elements that this course is based on, you will see that all deal directly or indirectly with reducing your level of stress, especially around bedtime.  There are basically 2 ways to deal with stress: Prevention and Temporary Repair.

As with most things in life, prevention is preferred over a temporary repair.  It is better to take a sliver out than it is to cover it with a bandage.  It is better to have a bad tooth pulled than it is to take pain relievers every 4 hours.  It is better to stop smoking to prevent reduced lung capacity than it is to go on oxygen.

In most cases, the repaired option is suboptimal to prevention.

And the same goes with sleep and stress.  If you can prevent stress from building up in the first place, you are better off over experiencing stress and then dealing with it though relaxation.  Relaxation is not a cure, it is a band aid solution.  Sometimes all you have is bandages and no tweezers for your sliver, so bandages are the best option.  If you have tweezers, use them.

In the first place, the relaxed state may never feel as good as it would feel if you never experienced the stress.  In the 2^nd place, you have suffered through the stressful thoughts and event, sometimes needlessly and often times repeatedly, many times per day and often for many days or even months or years..

This lesson is all about repairing your mind from the damage of high stress.  It is about getting your stress response tuned down to a point that you can relax and fall asleep.

The last lesson on Sleep Myths was all about prevention.  It was about how to avoid having the stress build up in the first place.  By reframing stressful situations, taking them from less helpful and less true perspectives to more helpful and truer perspectives, you stop the stress from building up in the firs place.  This is always the preferred option.

As an example, suppose you have had several nights of poor sleep and as a result feel sleepy, irritable and foggy brained during the day.  You keep ruminating over how this event is ruining your life.  You feel the stress all day long and it is interfering with your sleep.

You have two choices: Temporary Repair or Prevention.

Let’s start with temporary repair: You go into temporary repair mode when you do some relaxation techniques for sleep anxiety each evening to trigger the relaxation response.  Your stress level goes from an 8 down to a 5.  This helps somewhat, but each night you don’t sleep well, the same stressful thoughts well up.  You suffer during the day due to the stress and you have to spend time each evening going through relaxation exercises to calm your mind.  The problem is that the root cause, your unhelpful, inaccurate thoughts, are never dealt with, so you must repair the damage night after night.

The alternative is prevention.  In this case you pull out your CBT worksheet that you were given in the last lesson and work through your thoughts and actions that are causing the stress.  You reframe your experience from one that appears to ruin your life to a more modest and honest assessment of an inconvenience, not a disaster.

As a result, your stress melts away.  Each time you notice yourself having the old thoughts, you catch yourself and replace them with the new beliefs.  Over time you don’t even think the old thoughts any more, the stress is gone, and even after a few nights of bad sleeps, you are likely to start sleeping well again because you just don’t worry about it.

But I know from experience that this is easier said than done.  I have been practicing CBT your many years, and yet some stresses are just hard to break.  For me, having a boss I disagree with on key issues seems to be an unshakable stress.  I can write it out and reframe it, but every time I think of my boss, my blood boils.  Sometimes the brain just doesn’t like following a formula.  It has a mind of its own.

Todays lessons are for those stressors that you seem to have trouble controlling.  It is comforting to know that even for those uncontrollable stressors, there is a bandage to help relieve the pain.

I should mention here that I don’t mean to minimize the difficulty it is for those who have experienced extreme trauma or who have mental illnesses to change their thoughts.  That is a different beast that I can’t cover adequately in this course.  I am talking about the automatic negative thoughts or ANTS that arise from life’s disturbances.  Most unhelpful thoughts by most people can be altered over time.  That is what CBT does so well.

For those stresses that are left over, relaxation techniques that we will cover in this lesson, can be your saviors.

Paradox of improving your sleep

Last lesson we talked about the paradox of improving your sleep.  We can get stuck in a catch 22 because <high pitch> in order to sleep better, you need to pay attention to sleep.  But <low pitch> the more you pay attention to sleep, the more it causes stress, the more it stops you from sleeping well.

You resolved that paradox by choosing to focus on how you are feeling and functioning.  You don’t worry about how many hours sleep you had, only on how you are feeling and respond accordingly.

This lesson on relaxation fits right into that model.  Don’t follow my advice on relaxation with the goal of sleeping well, follow my advice because it is going to make you feel and function better regardless of your sleep quality.  Relaxation has a long history in science showing that it can help your relationships, improve your overall health, improve your memory, improve your decision making abilities, and improve your sense of overall well being.  That is plenty enough reason to learn how to relax.  So don’t throw sleep into the mix.  It isn’t needed and will counteract the benefits of relaxation.

Survival and sleep

From the standpoint of a species surviving, sleep is a bizarre phoneme.  To survive we need to be aware of our environment, reacting to dangers, ready for fight or flight at a moments notice.  The great sleep scientist Allan Rechtschaffen put it well: “If sleep doesn’t serve some vital function, it is the biggest mistake evolution ever made.”  Nature knows how vulnerable we when sleeping, so nature doesn’t want us to sleep while dangers are at hand.

Stress is a reaction to a perceived danger.  In our tribal days, dangers were physical – a poisonous snake, a lion, an enemy tribe.  When danger presented itself, we fought or fled.  Then the danger was over and we could return back to a restful space.  As long as no panthers were prowling outside our hut, we could sleep. 

You likely don’t live in an environment where you are worried about a bear breaking into your bedroom, but you have lots of other psychological stresses. 

We worry about money.  Even if we have lots of money, we worry about it. 

We worry about our relationships with those we care about.  Do they still like us?  What did that look or tone of voice mean?  Will they abandon me?  Do they have a hidden agenda?  How are people responding to my social media presence?

We worry about are jobs.  Is it secure?  Do my co-workers like me and do they think I am competent?  Where is my career heading – will I get promoted?  Are my contributions being appreciated?

We worry about our health.  How long will I live.  What does that new feeling or lump mean?  Am I vulnerable to the many illnesses and diseases highlighted in the media?

We worry about our world.  Are the things I value under attack by society?  What about pollution’s effect on my health and the well being of the planet?  Where are our political leaders leading us?  Do I trust politicians.

The list goes on and on.  These are not physical threats that we can deal with quickly and then relax.  As mentioned in lesson 1, although we have evolved immensely in society in many ways – culturally, technically, spiritually, our basic DNA is the same as it was 80,000 years ago and in most meaningful ways, millions of years ago.  Our world has changed but we are still hairless apes bewildered and, in many ways, ill prepared for our highly sophisticated technical world.

Stress and Health:

In addition to causing insomnia, living a life of stress causes many other health problems.  Many of these are hidden time bombs and will not show themselves for many years.  You could look on your insomnia as a blessing, like the dove in the underground mine that warns the miners of impending doom.  If we suffer from insomnia it is a pretty good sign that we don’t have our stress under control.  So be thankful that you have noticed that you have insomnia and that you are prepared to do something about it.

The deep sleep to high stress continuum 12:43

I would like you to learn about a very helpful concept with regard to relaxation and sleep before telling how to relax and sleep when stressed. 

Back in lesson 2 we learned about the sleep stages.  The deepest sleep is called N3.  It is when you brain is at it’s quietest.  Your brain waves are slow pulses.  You are oblivious to the world around you, in deep, restorative sleep.

Imagine a horizontal yard or metre stick or ruler in front of you.  At the 0 point or left side of the stick is this N3 sleep.  The quietest you brain can be in its natural state. 

Now way over at the far right at the end of the stick is the opposite – your brain in flight or fight response or hyper arousal.  This is what it would be like if you were being chased by a bear or confronted in an armed robbery.  Your breathing would be rapid and shallow.  Your heart would be racing.  And your brain would be lit up, firing on all cylinders.  Let’s call this a level 10. 

Deep sleep is level 0 on the left.  Flight or fight is 10 on the right.

Between these two extremes, there is a continuum.  For instance, 8 might be the red flag stage, where there is no obvious danger to life, but you have noticed something potentially threatening such as a strange noise in your home at night. 

Next down the ruler at 6 would be highly alert but no danger, such as working on something important to you such as completing a work assignment with important consequences.  This is the level where you might reside most of the day.  Endless items on your to-do list, assignments to complete, commitments to realize, relationships to maintain.  You are in high alert, ready for any danger.

Now down to a 4, which is a calm relaxed state such as being at the beach or relaxing listening to music.  You’re aware of your surroundings and in the moment, but your danger system is not activated.

Next down the ruler is level 3.  This is when you are just drifting off to sleep and is called N1 sleep.  You feel safe enough and your mind is calm enough that you brain can begin to shut out the external world and focus inward, ignoring the environment.  This is described in greater detail in Lesson 2. 

Next down the ruler at level 1 is N2 sleep.  You are shut off from the world, allowing your brain to do what it does when it is asleep. 

And finally, N3, level 0.  The most relaxed, inward focused you can be. 

When moving from the higher stages such level 6 where you are trying to keep your head above water down to level 3 which is N1, the entryway to sleep, you cannot skip over stages.  You must go down 1 stage at a time. And you brain needs time to adjust to each stage.  You simply cannot jump from a stage 6 of high alertness down to a stage 3, or N1 sleep.  That is why it is critical for you to be at the relaxed stage 4 for about an hour before bedtime.

Problem solving, planning, dealing with relationship issues, these are all stage 6 or higher.  You cannot go from stage 6 to stage 3 which is the onset of sleep, directly.  You must go through stage 4 which is feeling relaxed.  16:53

One of your problems might be that you are trying to jump the cue and go from level 6 down to level 3 too quickly.  Quit trying to do it.  It doesn’t work.  Give you brain the room it needs to move slowly down the measuring stick, from level 6, to relaxed at level 4 so it can go into level 3 or N1 sleep effortlessly. 

This lesson will help to teach how to effectively and efficiently reduce your stress level so you can cross over into lullaby land.

Level 6 to 3 or sleep time anxiety.

There are two ways you might experience sleep stress:

1 – You may have trouble turning your brain off after a day of running full tilt at level 6.

2 – You may find that even if you are relaxed, you suddenly jump to a lever 6 or 8 or perhaps even 10 when it comes time for sleep.  This is sleep anxiety.

Either way, this lesson will help you.

This lesson we have a new guest, Dr. Stephanie Silberman.  Dr. Silberman is author of Insomnia Workbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Getting the Sleep You Need.  Dr. Silberman is a clinical psychologist and board-certified sleep medicine specialist, a Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine but also a working mother, wife and community activist.  I interviewed Dr. Silberman some time ago and we will hear some excepts from that interview during this lesson.  A link to the full interview is on the sleeptohealthy.com website. 

This is Dr. Silberman on the two types of stress: <Relaxation audio, 0:00 to 1:00> 18:45

Relaxation Response: 

Your body and mind’s response to stress is called the stress response, sometimes called the flight or fight response.  The Flight or fight term is because your body and mind prepare to either flee from the danger or stick around and do battle with the threat. 

When your fight or flight response kicks in, your body and mind respond in several ways:

– Stress hormones such as adrenaline are released.

– Heart rate, blood pressure and breathing increase,

– Senses such as hearing, vision and touch become more sensitive.

– Blood flow to the stomach and extremities decreases while flow to the brain and vital organs increases.

– Muscle tone increases, sweating begins and blood-sugar levels increase.

– Our brain goes on high alert.  Anything that causes the brain to respond with the stress response will be programmed in and the brain will become more and more sensitive to the same trigger.

You might recognize a number of these response are tied to chronic illnesses connected to stress such as stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.  Our bodies are designed for occasional flight or fight responses, not continual stress which you may be experiencing.

The good news is that there are effective ways to control our stress response and learning how to relax and sleep when stressed.  The most scientific approach was developed by Dr. Herbert Benson called The Relaxation Response.  There is even a whole book devoted to this by Dr. Benson.  I will put links to it in the show notes.  Here is what you need to know.

It had been observed that many religions and cultures had practices that helped members of society control their mind and body and reduce stress.  By studying ancient religions and cultures, and combining this with scientific measurements and controls, Dr. Benson was able to whittle down millennia of wisdom and practices into a few essential elements to reverse the stress response.  These are:

1 <ding> – A quiet place with eyes closed to minimize distractions.

2 – <ding> – A comfortable position and muscular relaxation

3 – <ding> – A mental focusing device such as breathing, a word, or an image to shift the mind away from distracting thoughts.

– And finally 4 <ding> a passive disregard of everyday thoughts.

These are the essential elements for a session of calming meditation and relaxation techniques for sleep anxiety. 22:52 

Alternatives:

Before we get into the details of this, I think it is helpful to let you know that there are many resources in many formats that can help you learn this technique and how to relax and sleep when stressed.  I use an app called Headspace as they have a series of meditations specifically for anxiety that I have found to be very good.  There is also an app called Calm.  These are both paid apps, but there are also free meditation apps.  There are podcasts now that have meditations for sleeping.  There are audio books and you can probably find classes at a nearby community college.  In addition, most religions have meditations designed to calm and bring inner peace.

I want you to know that there are many options because meditation is a very personal experience.  You may benefit from the practice we will describe here, but if this doesn’t work for you, explore and you will find something that suites your tastes, beliefs and budget.

I am going to focus on the relaxation response because it gets meditation down to its most basic form and shouldn’t conflict with your belief systems.  Also, if you explore other techniques, you will be able to make sure that they include these basic elements.  There are lots of different methods out there and not all are designed to produce calmness.

One thing to watch for with meditation is that it doesn’t induce stress.  This sounds counter intuitive, but’ since you mind is quiet and not being distracted, it will want to drift towards stressful thoughts and problems that you are dealing with.  Minds are wired in many different ways and we have different past experiences and understandings of how the world works.  Different forms of relaxation will work to different degrees for different people.  So do some experimenting and find a resources that works best for you.  And especially be mindful that your chosen method induces relaxation, not stress.

If you are trying to meditate by yourself unaided and you find that it is just creating stress, then consider a guided meditation where you listen to someone guiding the meditation.   For me, I tend to drift towards stressful thoughts when I try to meditate by myself, so I like a semi-guided meditation where a guide interrupts from time to time to get me back on track. 

Here is what Dr. Silberman had to say: <1:00 – 1:30 – prefers breathing over muscle relaxation>

I am not going to do a meditation in the podcast as finding the right meditation is too personalized and I am unlikely to have the one that works best for you.  Instead, head to my website at sleeptohealthy.com and I will have links to several relaxation resources.

As an example of how relaxation is a very personal choice, here is Michael Swartz’s take on relaxation <Michael #11 – relaxation> 26:32

Please contact me with any resources you know of that you have found helpful so I can add them to the list.

Physiological response to RR: 

Using the techniques of the relaxation response, Dr. Benson was able to identify physiological changes such as:

– Slower brain-wave activity and mental quieting. 

– Reduced secretion of stress hormones.

– Reductions in heart and breathing rates and, in some cases, blood pressure.

– Increased blood flow to the extremities.

– Relaxed muscles throughout the body.

Over the years the relaxation response has been shown to improve many health problems related to stress that we mentioned earlier.  In addition, many scientific studies have shown that the relaxation response is an effective treatment for insomnia. It is a great life skill to learn and practice.  My hope is that our schools will eventually have meditation taught as a core life skill.

The relaxation response can be practiced any time and even several times a day.  Morning practice helps set a positive tone for the day.  Mid-day practice helps reduce stress as it builds up.  Evening practice helps reduce stress before bed.  And practicing in the middle of the night if you can’t stay asleep and you are out of bed gives you something that is both calming and beneficial to do.

Meditating in the middle of the night is often my go-to method for getting back to sleep.  I do my meditating lying quietly in bed. Then I have a win-win situation.  If I fall asleep during meditation, then that’s great because I want to sleep.  If am still awake at the end of the meditation then that’s great too because I have had a full meditation session.

Mini Relaxation Responses:   

Mini relaxation responses are also helpful.  These are times when you take a moment to become aware of your situation and relax.  We can do one right now.  Don’t do this if you require intense concentration right now, although you shouldn’t be listening to this podcast if that’s the case anyway.

First, just become aware of your body.  Close your eyes if you are able to, but it is not necessary. Take a deep breath over the count of 4, hold it for a count of 4, release the breath over a count of 4 and wait 4 seconds before breathing in again.  This I called the 4-4-4-4 or 4 by 4. 

I will demonstrate: <do the breathing and record, also count to 4, and explain (breath in – hold –breath out—wait…) overlay the three afterwards> This 4-4-4-4 technique is great anytime for a quick de-stressor.  Let’s do 3 sets together.  <repeat 3 x >

You can do as many as you have time for.  Feel your body’s response to the 4 by 4.  If you feel a sense of relief or destressing, then you needed it.  You might also notice that you are able to focus more sharply.  I find it helpful when driving on the highway.  Meditation is not meant to put you to sleep, it is meant to sharpen your awareness of your current situation.

Now sense the muscles in your face, in your neck, in your shoulders and in your gut.  Also check your tongue.  It should be resting at the bottom of your mouth, not pressed to the roof. It is good to learn where you hold your tenseness.  If you feel tenseness, relieve the tension by either stretching the muscle or just allowing it to relax.  This whole relaxation drill can take less than a minute, but the longer the better.  You can practice the 4 by 4 before doing your regular relaxation response routine as a warm up.

The trick with mini-de-stressors is to do them several times a day.  A great way to make sure they happen is to tie them to any action you take during the day, for instance every time you drink some coffee, go to the washroom, each time the bus or subway stops, when you get up from or sit down in your chair, go to the water cooler etc.  At the beginning, put a sticky note to remind you.  After it becomes a habit, you can do away with the sticky note.

Full Relaxation Response:  34:18

Now let’s go over how to do a full relaxation response.  It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get the full benefit, but any amount of time is better than none.  So it is better to fit in a 5 minute session that it is to do nothing because you don’t have 15 or 20 minutes to spare.  With practice, you can take less time if you want as the relaxation response will kick in earlier with time.  But don’t make efficiency the objective, make quality the objective.  At the end you should feel relaxed, focus and energizedp

Again, don’t do this exercise if you require focused attention or if you think it might put you at risk of falling asleep when sleep is not appropriate.  You be the judge.

First, find a good location where you are unlikely to be disturbed.  There should be minimal distracting noises, although some background noise can be helpful.  You will likely find it helpful to set a timer with a gentle alarm so you don’t have to worry about watching the time. 

<start soothing music>

Then get into a comfortable position.  This should not be lying down unless falling asleep such as in the middle of the night as I described earlier.  It can be sitting in a comfortable chair or sitting on a cushion on the floor.  Close your eyes to focus inwardly and minimize distractions.  If you can’t close your eyes, that is OK too.

Take a few 4-4-4-4 breaths.  Put your hand on your belly.  You should feel it move up and down.  If you don’t, you are breathing with your chest, not your diaphragm.  Change your breathing so that you breath deeply with your belly rising and falling.  This may take some practice to get used to, but it is important.

First focus on the environment around you with your senses other than your eyes.  Note what you can hear, feel, smell and taste.  Use your mind’s eye to scan the area around you, seeing what you can remember about your space.  Be aware of what you feel through your skin, the pressure of parts of your body that are touching surfaces and any itchiness or pains.  Don’t worry about any pain or unpleasant sensations – just notice them and move on.

Next do an internal body scan starting at the top of your head and working down or starting at your toes and working up, either way works fine.  Use your mind’s eye to scan the inside of each major part of the body from one end to the other.  Don’t worry about what this should feel like or be like or how quickly or slowly you should go.  Do what feels right.  There is no right or wrong way, just your way.  It should not feel stressful, don’t worry about anything unpleasant that you notice, just note it and move on.  As you scan your internal body, note any areas of tenseness or pain or any other sensations.  Just note it and move on.

Now focus on your breath.  Pick a particular part of your breath that seems to be most noticeable.  It might be the transition between inhaling and exhaling, or it might be the sensation in your nose as you inhale, or it might be the sound of the air rushing in or out.  You don’t need to control your breath, you just breath normally.  You might find it helpful to put your hand on your belly and sense the rise and fall of your tummy.  You might also find it helpful to count, counting 1 on the in breath, 2 on the outbreath.  You can count up to 10 and start over again, or pick another number to count up to, even just 2.  Whatever works for you is what is right.

Monkey Brain:  39:00  During this time you may experience monkey brain.  This is when your mind will relentlessly wonder off from the task at hand which is to focus on the breath.  Even though it can feel like you are failing because you are not staying focused, this is good for a few reasons.

Firstly, <bong> it makes you aware of what your mind is doing.  Mostly we are on autopilot and so absorbed in our thoughts that we don’t realize what our minds are doing. We don’t observe it from a detached or 3^rd person perspective.  The relaxation response is an opportunity to get an airplane type view of what’s happening.  If you are new to this, you will be shocked to see what your mind is up to.

Secondly, <bong> it gives you an opportunity to have some control.  You do this by noticing what your mind is up to, what it has been distracted by, and then gently, very gently, returning to the breath. 

Thirdly  <bong> it can raise your awareness of what is important to your mind.  You can use a method called noting, where you note whether the distraction is a thought such as supper plans or anxiousness about a purchase or a sensation such as a pain or itch or uncomfortableness.  You could also note what category it falls into such as work, or a relationship, or something you have to remember to do.  You could note the emotion attached to it such as whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.  You could label the emotion such as frustration or impatience or joy.   

If you use noting, don’t analyze the distraction, just note it and return back to the breath.

And fourthly  <bong> it gives you a chance to choose a different line of thought that is less distressing than what you might be thinking or feeling at the time.  Even under high stress, or perhaps especially when under high stress or anxiety, it is useful to take a deep breath and realize that at least at this moment life is not as bad as it seems.  You are alive and breathing and coping.  Some call this centering.  It is a gentle reminder that you are not what his happening around you or that you are not fully defined by what you are thinking or feeling right now.  For instance, you might be having an anxiety attack and reacting with panic and judging that you are a failure or overly sensitive.  A deep breath and putting yourself in the place of the observer helps you realize that you are more than the panic or the judgement. 

Child walk: 

You can treat your distractions like a child and you are the patient and wise adult.  Imagine walking with a toddler down a path.  The toddler gets distracted by so many things.  First, it is a flower in the grass.  When you notice them off the path, you gently and patiently call them back onto the path.  Then they are distracted by a butterfly and again wander off the path.  Again, amused by their young impressionable mind, you call them back to the path.  You have infinite patience as you are old and in no hurry and the child has infinite curiosity. 

Try to have the same approach with your mind’s wandering.  Don’t be impatient or frustrated.  Just observe and gently nudge your mind back to your breath where you belong.

Bad meditation = good: 

The irony of meditation is that meditation is great, whether it goes well or not.  It’s like my uncle used to say about fishing – the fish is always good whether the fish are biting or not.  That is the attitude to strive for. 42:40

The days when you have the hardest time focusing and keeping the monkey at bay is the day it was most important that you took the time to meditate.  Even if it feels as if you have accomplished nothing, you have accomplished a lot.  The days when you have great concentration, is a time to be thankful and experience what it feels like to be at a low stress level.  The value is in the journey, not in the goal. 

Also, the less you feel like doing the relaxation response, the more you need it. 

Wrap up: 

At the end of focusing on the breath, take a moment to ease yourself back into the world.  Notice the environment around you through your senses, take a 4-4-4-4 or two, open your eyes, congratulate yourself for putting your needs at a high priority and get back at life. 

Tips: 

Finally, I would like to give you some tips for success. 

I read Dr. Benson’s “Relaxation Response” book as a university student back in the 70’s when it first came out.  I still vividly remember the awkwardness and weirdness of those first steps into the relaxation response.  I have been doing this on and off for a very long time.  So here are Dennis’s tips for success at the relaxation response:

#1 – In terms of setting goals for doing the relaxation response, when it comes to something like this that you probably have a bit of resistance to committing to, I am in a believer of setting very, very low goals and then exceeding them. 

I would set the goal of just showing up.  Your goal is to set a time and place where you are going to show up to do the relaxation response.  That’s it.  When you show up, you can decide to do a mini relaxation response, or a 5 minute meditation or even to give yourself permission to walk back out and not feel guilty.  In fact, I encourage you to walk out without doing anything at least once to prove to yourself that it’s not a gimmick, that you can walk out and still feel fine about your choice.  Afterwards, set another place and time.  Or you could commit to a regular place and time, perhaps at first every few days. 

What you will find is that if you show up you will nearly always do something.  And that something will bring about a positive experience.  And that positive experience will lead you to wanting to repeat it or perhaps even grow it.  And before you notice it you are achieving the goal you never set.  I have used this practice to great effect at things like going to the gym.

#2 – Consider using an audio track at least at the beginning.  Even a chime that goes off every minute or so to remind you to get back on track if your mind has wandered off is helpful.  If you are listening to an audio track in a situation where you might drift off to sleep, make sure it turns off automatically, either at the end of the audio track or after a set time like 30 minutes.  Otherwise as you drift in and out of sleep as naturally happens, it can wake you up again.

#3 – if you have any tips that have worked well for you, please share them with me by going to sleeptohealthy.com and leaving a message.  Then I can share your wisdom with others. 46:15

And here is some advice from Michael Schwartz: <#13 – Do’s and Don’ts>

So that is it for Lesson 8 on relaxation.  I want to remind you that if you want to do some of your own research  on this CBTi or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia element, in CBTi terminology, Relaxation is also called Stress Reduction.

Next lesson is the final lesson in the CBTi course on curing your insomnia and the last of the 5 elements of CBTi.  I will be covering Sleep Tips – Don’t Sabotage your Sleep.  So far we have been focusing on what to do to improve your sleep.  In the Sleep Tips lesson we will focus on what not to do to so you can avoid undermining your progress.

<2>Assignment: (give an assignment with each lesson)

This lesson, like the other lessons, comes with an assignment.  You can find the assignments at sleeptohealthy.com. 

Your assignment for this lesson is to find a relaxation technique and start using it.  Let me know what is working well for you so I can pass it on to others.  I have links to several relaxation resources at sleeptohealthy.com to give you a head start.

All the instructions are at my sleeptohealthy.com website.  Go there and work the plan.  It’s as simple as that.

Well that’s it for Lesson 8. 

If you have been benefiting from these lessons, you best thing you can do to return the favor is to tell others about this course on curing insomnia.  Do it by word of mouth, email, or social media – whichever you are most comfortable with. 

Disclaimer

And here is the disclaimer spoken in one breath….

This podcast is not a substitute for advice from a qualified healthcare professional.  The sole purpose of this podcast is to educate and entertain.  As we do not know your particulars, we cannot and do not provide professional or medical advice or services.  We strongly encourage you to consult a healthcare professional before incorporating any ideas in this podcast.  Listeners who use the information in this podcast do so at their own risk.

Outro:

By structuring this as a course on curing insomnia, it keeps you focused on the core skills you need to improve your sleep. You don’t need tons of sleep trivia and people’s opinions about sleep.  You just need to know proven instructions on what you can do today, to sleep better tonight, so you can feel and function better tomorrow. This allows you to repeat lessons as it’s hard to absorb all the knowledge the first time through, and the information will make more sense after you have the context of the whole course.

You, like most people, will likely benefit from repeated listening.  The lessons will be updated based on student feedback. So the next time you listen to the same lesson, it may be improved since last time.  And that’s about it. Thanks for joining my in my sleep class.

I look forward to seeing you again on the next episode of the sleep to healthy podcast. See you then…