Are you one of the lucky ones who can claim to easily fall asleep and stay asleep? If not, you absolutely can be. Discover how.
A study conducted in 2019 identified a worryingly significant number of Australians are finding it difficult to get enough sleep.
The Sleep Health Foundations 2019 Report detailed how common sleep problems across the adult population of Australia were even in times before the appearance of COVID-19.
About 60% of people reported at least one sleep symptom occurring three or more times per week.
59.4% of the symptoms experienced by the study's respondents reported having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early one to four times every week.
14.8% had symptoms severe enough to potentially result in clinical insomnia.
Since the appearance of COVID-19, these numbers have risen, reportedly by as much as 36% by July 2020. Since the pandemic more of us suffer from anxiety and depression, which typically includes sleep issues. Children also increasingly aren't getting enough sleep.
Sleeping disorders are associated with some pretty serious consequences for health and wellbeing, ranging from the increased risk of chronic conditions such as hypertension, obesity and mental health conditions. Yet, according to the Sleep Foundation, relatively few talk to their doctors about their sleep issues. Even clinically diagnosed chronic insomnia sufferers are not accessing help.
I personally know how debilitating Insomnia is. I suffered from it for quite a few years. One tends to find excuses - in my case, even though I didn't suffer from any other Menopausal Symptoms, that's what I attributed it to. Accepting that it was just a normal occurrence for a woman in her 50's. However, in most cases, including mine, the root cause; the reason for the onset of sleeping issues is an emotional or psychological one. An event that in our subconscious created feelings and beliefs that created the sleeping disorder. I was blessed to discover the reason for my own sleep issues during my practical studies to become a Rapid Transformational Practioner & Hypnotherapist. Understanding the reason empowers us to let go and rewire our paradigm, and I did! I sleep like a log every night! So, I absolutely know that we don't have to keep suffering.
Just this week I saw a client with chronic Insomnia. She'd suffered for the past 12-13 years. I am ecstatic that after our session she had the first night of natural sleep (no aids) of a solid, uninterrupted 5 hours, which she last had 8 months ago, and only with a strong sleeping pill.
Here is a summary of the Client Case & Session Notes:
58-year-old female, suffering from acute Insomnia for the past 12-13 years.
Prior to RTT Session, last had a good night sleep 8 months ago and only with the help of a strong sleeping pill, which she only reluctantly took. Didn't sleep at all 2-3 nights per week and had a few hours interrupted sleep on other nights. She was physically and mentally exhausted. Despite exhaustion, when going to bed always felt very frustrated, anxious, agitated and restless. As a Yoga Teacher (trains Yoga Instructors) and health-aware person, she was eating right and doing the right things, including using relaxation techniques and doing breathwork. Various natural sleep remedies made little or no difference.
The client was unaware of any events around the time the insomnia appeared that could have triggered or contributed to her sleep issues.
After completing what in RTT we call the Detective Work, briefly going through her Intake Form, any corresponding symptoms, triggers and habits that may be associated with the presenting issue, finding out a little about her childhood and family dynamics, I asked her that if she had one wish, what would it be?
The outcome she desired from her RTT session (and subsequent minor homework) was to be able to have five hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep.
Knowing that she usually went to bed between 9.30 and 10pm, I asked her why on earth she would want to wake up at 2.30-3am? She told me that she would gladly be able to sleep more but didn't think that was a very realistic wish/goal. I persuaded her to increase her wish to seven hours of uninterrupted sleep.
I asked her to tell me how life would look like for her with 5-7 hours of solid sleep each night. Apart from feeling refreshed in the morning and having energy that would last all day (no slumps), she believed she would be an overall better version of herself: More patient, empathetic, having a positive outlook and being generally happier.
My client had never been hypnotised before and in fact, believed that she was not suggestible. We quickly dispelled that belief. I had her imagine she was biting into a big, juicy lemon. She certainly didn't like the taste and her mouth filled with saliva. When I then suggested that she had two powerful magnets in each palm of her hand that were drawing her arms and hands together, she even fought against the imaginary current but could not prevent her hands from coming together. She was amazed.
After taking her into a deep state of flow, I took her to a number of scenes that had everything to do with how, when, where and why she acquired her sleep issues. While the majority of clients return to scenes of their childhood, all scenes went back to a time when she was in her mid-forties. The timeline made complete sense. For privacy reasons, I won't go into the detail of scenes, but although surprising to the client at first, the root-cause and reason for her sleep issues immediately became clear to both of us. Her conscious mind had not deemed the events her subconscious mind revealed as relevant. She had never consciously dwelled on them. Her subconscious mind obviously had, for 13 long years. The associated suppressed feelings the scenes revealed; feelings of anger, frustration, guilt, helplessness, of not being enough and not belonging were caused by misplaced beliefs the client had about the situations (events). We worked through them and she realised that she was not to be blamed for any of it, had no influence, and understanding this, she was absolutely ready to let those erroneous beliefs go.
Just to further confirm what we had already learned from the scenes, we looked at the role, function, purpose and intention (RFPI) the Insomnia had had in her life. In a nutshell, the part of her that was the Insomnia was in part trying to protect her (staying awake meant she felt more in control, knew what was going on, didn't miss anything) and in part punishing her (she had felt very guilty about being the cause for a certain situation and how this, she felt, had negatively impacted on her daughter's life).
The client now completely understood how her powerful subconscious mind had created the insomnia and why. She agreed that she no longer needed the Insomnia, definitely did not need to stay awake, and definitely did not deserve to be punished, and asked that part of her if it was ready to leave. It was. She gave a very descriptive account of how she saw it leave.
After having reframed her beliefs, I included a number of wonderful tools from my RTT Toolkit, Command Cell Therapy and the Healing Vortex then completed the Transformation. This part of the Session is recorded with an introduction so that the client is taken into an hypnotic state every time they listen to it. The session (which we did via Zoom) completed the foundation work of rewiring and coding in new beliefs, listening to the audio for 21 consecutive nights cements the new paradigm. This is the "homework" the client must agree to commit to ensure a successful and permanent transformation.
My client was absolutely exhausted after the session (especially, again not having had much sleep the night before and it was late afternoon by the time we finished). She told me that despite this, she felt great, so much lighter. She said that as soon as she had the AHA-Moment, understanding completely what had caused the Insomnia and why she had hung on to it for the past 13 years, she had a major shift occur, which she physically felt. She told me that she knew she would sleep well that night.
I checked in with my client around 24 hours later and she told me that felt really good. She had fallen asleep very easily and had a solid 5 hours sleep, which was what she had originally wished for. She's currently undergoing a major (Chinese Medicine) detox so needs to visit the loo more often than normal. We both know that after the 21-day program (listening to her bespoke audio, which I underlayed with some "sleep music") she will be sleeping the desired seven hours. Watch this space for confirmation. :-)
Clients are always welcome to contact me if they require further support or just want to talk. I'll check in with her again tomorrow to see how she's progressing. Let me know if you'd like to receive updates. Contact me. Or, if you currently have sleep issues and would like to chat to me about them and how RTT could help you, I'd be delighted.
Although I knew that RTT would be the answer to my client's Insomnia, I can't express the feeling I get when they excitedly tell me about their experience and progress. Being able to meaningfully and positively impact another person's life is just the best feeling.
I love my work!
Sources: 2019 Sleep Health Foundation Report, KFF Health Tracking Poll July 2020