For some reason, well to be truthful–many reasons, that have changed with the seasons of my life, I have struggled with sleep for many years. So, on many days, No, I have not woken up smiling. I have woken up grouchy, tired, pessimistic and oh so tired. During the day, I would begin to feel hopeless, exhausted and very anxious about how I would sleep that night because I know, from experience and the research out there, how lack of sleep is so horrible for me! So, when night comes, most likely I wouldn’t sleep well again and the cycle would continue. And ladies and gentlemen, that is what is called a vicious cycle! And it is hard as heck to get out of. Luckily ,today was not one of those nights. It was a more in-between night, not the best sleep but some sleep, thank heavens.

When I was writing that paragraph, it started to sound to my inner ear like the beginning of a horror story where something bad happens to the heroine of this story. And truly it is for many of us who struggle with sleep. The images below are from early 2018 when probably my sleep was at it’s worst. The first is a screen shot of a blog I started and didn’t post because probably too tired. Week 14 is probably around March. And yes, I do remember March 2018 it was bad.

A few days last week, I went into a short (fingers crossed) insomnia streak. It started like on a Wednesday, (not sleeping too well), went into Thursday, (up quite a bit), Friday I don’t think I slept) and by Saturday, I was useless. I had hoped to do so many things on my day off, but was not able to. I started the day really ready to try but as the day wore on, it kept unraveling at the seams. I did do my laundry and spend time with my sister. But I was tired and feeling down and I was getting sad and by the evening, I was curled up in my day sending my best friend a text saying “everything is falling apart!” And because I have been there, because I know how bad this can get, everything was falling apart and it scared me and I really didn’t want to go back to 2017 and 2018 insomnia levels again. I had to break the streak.

I have come up with a mini regimen, actually it’s quite extensive for things to do when I notice my sleep going south. So out came the sleep aromatherapy bath and lotions, incense oils, sleep meditations, technology cutoffs, no coffee beyond a certain hour, small cup of coffee at a certain hour, high glycemic foods at this hour, hydrate, sunshine at this hour, no sunshine beyond that hour! Goodness, I was like a wiccan witch putting a spell together. And yes, it is that serious. Because the effect of lack of sleep is detrimental to our health and this is well documented.

What is your sleep regimen? What are the things that help you sleep?