EPISODE POINTERS:
Sleep is a place where our bodies heal, process trauma and information that we’ve experienced in our lives. Sleep is so healthy for us to get but what do you do when you can’t sleep at all?
Here are my tips for you :
1.Brain Dumping
This is especially helpful for when you try to lay down and you cannot turn your brain off. When all the things going through your head are on repeat and you can’t sleep, you should try it. Brain dumping is where you just take everything that’s going on in your head and put it on to a piece of paper. For some reason, writing it down helps lessen the racing in your mind. Write for as long as you need, and keep the journal by your bed, so that you can continue to get things out of your head as needed.
2. Prescribed Sleep Medicines
For a time period, I needed to take something to help me sleep. I had originally asked my midwife for a medication that was safe in pregnancy. In the meantime, I never ended up taking it because I found other things that work. Like I say- I’m not a medical professional and I’m not giving you medical advice, but this is what I ended up doing for a little while to help me sleep. I took Melatonin, along with Tylenol PM. I also had to sleep in my own room because of my trauma. I could not sleep with anyone else. Otherwise, I spent the whole night checking on everyone around me.
3.Essential Oils :
I used an essential oil called Tranquil from Plant Therapy. I have used this ever since Aria died, and anytime I have insomnia. It’s amazing. I put a dab behind each ear and a dab on the sole of each foot. This has helped me in many ways get a good night's rest.
Recommendation : Plant Therapy Tranquil Essential Oil Blend
4. Magnesium Lotion
I’m not sure why I started trying this in the first place, but I had made a foot salve that had magnesium in it. And ever since then, I’ve noticed that when I put that on my feet as well right before bed, I’m able to fall asleep much faster, and be able to stay asleep longer. I made my own magnesium foot salve, but you can buy it online somewhere. I’ve also bought it from a local shop that sells lots of natural products.
5. Rescue Remedy/ Rescue Sleep
Another product I’ve used, not for myself, but for my kids who have been affected by sleep, anxiety, or nightmares, I’ve given them Rescue Remedy. You can buy this online, or at Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme or that kind of place. I’ve been absolutely amazed by how when I give this to my kids after a nightmare or they can’t sleep, it’s been so helpful. For some reason I’ve never thought to take it myself, maybe because I have so many other things to help me.
6.Gratitude
So often when we go to bed in a state of not enough, we cannot fall asleep. Because there are so many things that are keeping us awake, so many things to do, so many worries to think about, we cannot shut off our brains. Practicing and feeling gratitude right before bed has helped my body so much in calming down and actually falling asleep much faster than I normally would. With this, you can think of things that you are grateful for, and really practice allowing gratitude to fill your body, and getting present with what gratitude feels like in your body.
7.Visualization
Something I’ve recently found that has been helpful for me in falling asleep has been Visualization. This can depend on where you are in your grief journey. If this even feels possible for you, but you can imagine something. I do a visualization of something I’m dreaming about in my future, something I’m excited about. And I visualize it as if it’s already happening, so I can enjoy the feelings of being here. It feels good and I enjoy it. If it’s hard to think about something that you are excited about in your future right now, you can visualize yourself being in a place that you’ve been that brought you contentment and peace. You can bring yourself to that place and really imagine yourself being in that place. For me, that has been on a beach that I’ve been to, where I really felt peace and contentment. I can bring myself back there and then I start to feel that in my body as well. Then that helps me get to a place of okay, now my body is ready to go to sleep.
8.Keep your phone away at bedtime
Not looking at my phone or any sort of screen before bed has been helpful. I’ve been trying to make a habit of plugging it in the kitchen a few hours before bed, and turning it on airplane mode and not looking at it again. This doesn’t always happen, but it happens often enough for me to notice a big difference in my quality of sleep and how long it takes me to fall asleep.
9.Good Sleeping Environment
This might be a personal preference, but also creating a sleeping environment that feels good for you. Notice temperature, lightness, noise, and things like that. I need a fan running to make the room cooler. It should be pitch dark and I wear an eye mask.
If you want more tools to help you, I have a workshop called Stop Talking Start Feeling, it’s a workshop that dives into emotions, what they are, and how you can begin to feel and process them and get them out of your body instead of stuffing them down. It also goes specifically into processing and releasing the emotions of guilt and sadness. You can get access to this workshop and all the extra things I have in there for only $27. Go to www.stoptalkingstartfeeling.com to check it out.
If you are a grieving mother and looking for others who know the pain of child loss, come join my free Grieving Moms Community Facebook group: www.meganhillukka.com/community
Some links may contain affiliate links in which I receive a small commission if you decide to purchase something, this helps support the grief work I'm doing.
