How to stop bodily sensations interfering with your sleep.
I know how frustrating night time can be…
Your churning stomach, tight chest, tension… or whatever bodily sensations you have can keep you awake all night.
This is why in this email I’m going to reveal how you can stop bodily sensation preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep.
Before I do, let’s first discuss why it happens.
When lying in bed at night there’s nothing to take your mind of your bodily sensations so you feel them much more intensely.
You try your best to fall asleep…
Yet all you can hear is the thumping of your heart.
Your head throbbing.
Or the knot in your stomach getting tighter.
All of which makes your anxiety escalate.
Or maybe as you drift off, you feel like you’re falling or have gotten an electric shock, and your body jolts you awake.
This is called a hypnic jerk.
It’s an unsettling experience to go through and can make you sit up and panic, leading to a sleepless night.
Or you may be kept awake by physical symptoms like pain, numbness, tingling, nausea, fever, difficulty breathing, or discomfort which may be due to a medical condition.
Whatever the cause, the first thing you need to do is go to your doctor and tell him what bodily symptoms you get at night time.
He may diagnose a medical condition and give you treatment to alleviate them.
However, whether you have a medical condition or not, you can combat the symptoms and ease yourself into a calm state so you can drift into a peaceful sleep by reminding yourself you are safe.
Because, unless your doctor says otherwise, all of the physical sensations you experience are harmless.
So, although they may be uncomfortable, perhaps even painful, they will not harm you.
Hypnic jerks don’t mean anything dangerous is happening in your body.
The bodily sensations of anxiety you have are caused by adrenaline and are perfectly normal to experience.
Nothing dangerous is happening.
You are completely safe!
I know it’s easy for me to tell you this and you may understand it on a mental level.
However, because of the anxious state you’re in, you may not believe it.
So to convince yourself you are safe, focus on the second step of the DARE response by…
Accepting the physical sensations you experience.
Once you accept the sensations, your body will believe you are safe, and you will be able to fall asleep.
Start accepting by memorizing this simple statement:
“I accept and allow this physical sensation.”
You can be more specific by naming the sensations you struggle with.
A great way to do this is to make a list of all your physical sensations, and express your acceptance of each one.
It may sound something like the following:
“I accept and allow my racing heart.”
“I accept and allow this knot in my stomach.”
“I accept and allow this discomfort in my back.”
Make your list today. It will help you remember what you need to say to yourself when you struggle to fall asleep tonight.
As you try to fall asleep, practice completely accepting your physical sensations and stay in bed until you fall asleep.
It’s OK if this takes a while. Show your body you are safe by staying put.
Eventually, you’ll be able to accept your bodily sensations and they’ll lose their hold on you.
Then they’ll go down in intensity until you forget you even have them.
This way you’ll be able to drift off to sleep without them bothering you.
Once you get a good night’s sleep a few nights in a row, you’ll initiate a positive cycle and it will become your regular night’s sleep.
So start accepting your bodily sensations in bed tonight, and in a few weeks or months’ time, your insomnia could be a thing of the past.
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