Former Insomniac by End Insomnia

One thing that can make working through insomnia easier, faster, and maybe even a little more pleasant is finding the right kind of support. Why Get Support? You can try to handle insomnia on your own, but having someone by your side can make the process much smoother and less lonely. When you have someone to cheer you on or help you figure out your next steps, it can feel like a big weight is lif...

Today, I want to share several mindsets that are important to hold while on your journey to overcome insomnia. 1. You Are NOT an “Insomniac” 2. Rough Nights Can Be an Opportunity 3. Bring Out Your Inner Rebel 4. Sleep Problems Are Not to Blame for Everything 5. Find Moments of Gratitude 6. Be Patient 7. Stick to the Plan, Even Through Ups and Downs — Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks? Ge...

Sometimes, we treat ourselves worse than we would ever treat another person. Our inner voice can be highly critical or even cruel, especially when we’re going through emotional pain or enduring another long, sleepless night. But blaming or judging ourselves during tough times isn’t helpful. Self-criticism, although very common, is linked to a wide range of mental health issues. — Looking to end in...

When we struggle with insomnia, it’s easy to focus solely on goals like “sleeping better” or “waking up refreshed.” While having sleep-related goals is understandable, tying your sense of fulfillment entirely to whether or not you achieve them can backfire. Goals, after all, are checkpoints. They can be missed, delayed, or sometimes reached without bringing the lasting happiness you imagined. Once...

Working through insomnia often means examining everyday choices. For many, this includes decisions about caffeine and alcohol—two everyday pleasures that may feel off-limits when you’re struggling with sleep. Conventional wisdom often suggests cutting these out entirely, which can make life feel even more restricted and less enjoyable. While total abstinence can sometimes help, it’s not always nec...

The daytime consequences of insomnia can feel overwhelming. When you wake up exhausted and feel drained throughout the day, dreading the nights ahead is easy. Over time, this struggle can begin to chip away at the things in your life that matter most to you. It’s common for people dealing with poor sleep to pull back from the activities, relationships, and goals that once brought them joy and purp...

During insomnia, you might feel strange body sensations at night. For example, you might: • Feel a sudden jerk in your body just as you fall asleep (like a little twitch that wakes you up). • Drift in and out of a very light sleep and never seem to get into a deep, restful sleep. • Notice your heart beating fast when you lie in bed, worried you won’t fall asleep. • Wake up in the middle of the nig...

To sleep better, we need to calm our worries both at night and during the day. By using the steps in the End Insomnia System, you can learn to feel calmer and less worried about sleep. Over time, you will help your body and mind remember how to rest easily. This takes patience, practice, and understanding. Here are five steps you can take to start worrying less at night: Stop Looking at the Clock...

Sometimes, you might lie awake at night when you’d much rather be sleeping. It can feel frustrating, but there are things you can do to make the situation better. The goal isn’t to force yourself to sleep—that doesn’t work. Instead, let’s focus on finding peace at night, even when sleep doesn’t come immediately. Today, you’ll learn three simple options for handling those moments of unwanted wakefu...

Anxious thoughts often make it hard to sleep. Many people feel more worried as bedtime approaches or wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts. Sometimes, one small thought can snowball into a big worry, making sleep seem impossible. But there are ways to handle these thoughts to help you feel calmer and sleep better. Let’s talk about two helpful approaches:  challenging your th...

Painful emotions are one of the most challenging things to accept while we are struggling with insomnia. Here is an exercise to bring greater mindful acceptance to painful emotions such as anxiety, sadness, frustration, and fear. — Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks? Get my FREE cheat sheet: The 7 Proven Steps I Used to Beat Insomnia After 5 Years of Hell—Without Pills, CBT-i, or Useless...

Sometimes, when we feel bad after a rough night, we make it even worse without realizing it. One way to think about this is with the idea of  clean pain  and  dirty pain . •  Clean pain  is the normal, unavoidable pain when something tough happens. For example, feeling tired after a bad night’s sleep, feeling sad when something disappointing happens, or worrying about the...

One of the secrets to sleeping well again is learning to care less about how you sleep at night. While this might sound odd, it works because a calm, less stressed mind helps your body feel more relaxed, making it easier to fall asleep. When you worry less about sleep, your nervous system relaxes, allowing you to be in a better state for sleep. Learning to be okay with some nights of poor sleep ca...

Getting ready for bed is an important part of getting your normal sleep back. Wind down and relax about 45–60 minutes before your sleep window (the time you set aside for sleep). This helps your body and mind shift from a busy day to a more restful state, which can support better sleep over time. — Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks? Get my FREE cheat sheet: The 7 Proven Steps I Used to...

One of the best ways to start falling asleep quickly and easily again is by boosting your body’s natural ability to help you fall asleep. This involves two key parts: your sleep drive and your circadian rhythm. Using a “sleep window” can help both systems work together to give you better sleep. A sleep window is the time you set aside each night to go to bed and get up in the morning. It helps cre...

You don’t develop insomnia after just one sleepless night. Insomnia builds up over time because of things like stress, anxiety, and bad sleeping habits. When you’re anxious about not sleeping, it’s harder to fall asleep, which keeps the cycle going. Since insomnia takes time to develop, it also takes time to fix. There’s no magic overnight solution to ending insomnia for good. Getting back to norm...

You’ve probably tried or thought about trying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). CBT-i is often considered the “best” way to treat insomnia, the “Gold Standard,” and research shows it works for some people. But for others (most), it doesn’t solve the problem or provide a lasting solution. Let’s explore why CBT-i might not work for everyone and how the End Insomnia System offers a d...

Let’s talk about why some things you’ve tried to help you sleep, like sleeping pills, bedtime routines, and calming exercises, haven’t worked. You might be surprised to learn that trying hard to fall asleep often makes it harder. We’ll look at why that happens and discuss how to better manage your insomnia. — Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks? Get my FREE cheat sheet: The 7 Proven Steps...

Only two things control sleep. Inside the End Insomnia System, we call them the  sleep-starting force  and the  sleep-stopping force. The Force That Helps You Sleep The sleep-starting force makes you feel sleepy and ready for bed. It’s made up of two essential systems in your body: your sleep drive and your circadian rhythm. The Force That Stops Sleep If the sleep-starting force is...

Insomnia is a vicious cycle. Worrying about sleep makes it hard to sleep, and not sleeping makes you worry even more. A Stanford study recently confirmed this. This worry can lead you to do things that make sleeping more challenging. After a while, your body might learn to be wide awake at bedtime, even if you’re not trying to be. This is called “conditioned hyperarousal.” — Looking to end insomni...

When you struggle with insomnia for a long time, you often develop certain habits, thoughts, and actions that make things worse. These can be called the “Unhelpfuls,” and they include: Unhelpful perceptions Unhelpful reactions Unhelpful behaviors Let’s look at these and how they make insomnia harder to deal with. -- Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks? Get my FREE cheat sheet: The 7 Prove...

Insomnia doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. It usually develops through a combination of factors that set the stage for sleep troubles. These include risk factors, a triggering event, and the anxiety that follows when you can’t sleep. Understanding how these elements work together can help you understand why insomnia persists and how to overcome it. -- Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks?...

Almost every time I talk to a client before they join us in the End Insomnia Program and finally fix their insomnia, I hear: “This sounds too good to be true - nothing has worked for me so far - why would this?” Let’s look at people’s common concerns about trying the End Insomnia System to end their insomnia and why it might be a good fit for you, even if you have doubts. — Looking to end insomnia...

Struggling with insomnia can be an isolating experience, leaving you feeling misunderstood by doctors, therapists, and internet sources. The frustration of seeking help only to feel unheard is common. I know this feeling all too well because I’ve lived through it. My battle with insomnia lasted for 5 brutal years, and the system I developed to overcome it was born out of sheer necessity after exha...

As you apply the End Insomnia System over time, know that setbacks are an inevitable—and even necessary—part of fully reversing insomnia. It’s wonderful to start sleeping better more consistently after struggling with insomnia. As you come to trust in your sleep, you can feel an enormous sense of relief, and you find that sleep is less and less on your mind. However, I’ve rarely seen someone compl...