Struggling with insomnia?

by Feeling Great | Nov 20, 2018 | Body, Mind

Your brain is running your life whether you are Awake or Asleep.

Sleep isn’t a luxury and the brain has a big ‘To Do’ list to achieve during your sleeping hours.

“The brain is actually very active during sleep doing important things. It’s not just resting, and if you don’t get sleep you don’t function on a number of levels the way you should.”…says Dr. Caitlin Tynan Doyle, Professor of Neurology at Columbia University Medical Center.

Skimping on zzz’s compromises a wide range of functions including…

• mood regulation
• immunity/the risk of getting sick
• cellular regeneration
• premature aging
• weight gain & obesity
• productivity
• thinking and memory
• hormonal balance
• sex drive
• anxiety and depression
• and obviously fatigue and insomnia

Our whole body and brain can get thrown off kilter when our sleep is not optimal.

For 30% of the population, insomnia is a debilitating condition affecting every aspect of life.

About 50% of people lose sleep due to worrying and anxiety. We all know that feeling of something “weighing” on our mind. It can be hard to switch off and slow our train of thought to relax the brain and get to sleep.

Many employees say they actually call in sick or even doze off at work after their anxiety kept them up all night.

So what can be done?

To explain what can be done, it is important to understand that everything is a pattern in the brain.

These patterns, called “Neural Maps” determine the way we feel and think such as with Anxiety as well as our behaviours and physical functions such as in Sleep.

When anxiety is the cause of insomnia, it’s best to treat a patient for the anxiety, changing both the pattern or “Neural Map” as well as addressing the initial underlying cause of the worrying.

Even though sleep is a natural function,  it can sometimes get out of balance.

Our brains produce Melatonin and Serotonin and regulate their balance.

When the sun goes down, Melatonin levels go up which makes us sleepy.  When the sun comes up our brain naturally produces Serotonin which makes us feel alert and switched on.

Serotonin incidentally is our a happy hormone and is the primary element in depression medications.

Whether it’s due to irregular hours, worries, hormonal changes or other stressors in our lives, once the sleep pattern in the brain gets out of balance it needs to be reset and a new pattern of sleep established.

This can be done through clinical hypnotherapy which resets the sleep pattern and neural map in the brain.

I treat many people, both women and men, every week for sleep oriented issues.

However women are twice as likely as men to be hit by insomnia… finding it hard to get to sleep and stay asleep, every week.

The good news is, if your brain created the problem it can also be influenced to create the solution.

In hypnotherapy we reintroduce healthy sleep patterns by creating a ‘Sleep Protocol’. This is list of individualized triggers that the brain associates with going into a deep sleep.

It’s like a series of reminders that move the mind towards the brain wave pattern that occurs when we are deeply asleep. This brain wave pattern is called Delta.

There are 5 types of brain waves.

Gamma and Beta are both high brain waves associated with alertness, learning and communication.

Alpha and Theta are lower brain waves associated with relaxation and creative thinking.

Finally, Delta brain waves occur while we are in deep sleep.

Once the brain is retrained to move into Delta, normal sleep patterns are re-established.

I always make patients a digital voice recording of the hypnotherapy on their own phone.  They can use this at bedtime to strengthen the sleep pattern.

I’ve had a number of patients who after successfully changing their sleep patterns, still use their recordings years later if they have had a late night and need to get to sleep quickly! It’s a great tool and is free as part of the consultation.

Remember…

Your Brain Is Running Your Life Whether You’re Awake Or Asleep

Your brain made the pattern so, it can make something different.

Every pattern is susceptible to change.

So if you’re ready for a change and a better sleep, book in to see…

Perri at Mt Eliza Wellbeing Sanctuary by calling 9787 2111 or email any queries to  perri@wellbeingsanctuary.com.au