From Sleeplessness, to Beautiful Dreams, Health, Energy and Restfulness...
Dear reader and fellow insomnia sufferer,
I wrote this short eBook for you with the passion of giving you the knowledge to cure
chronic insomnia forever. I once too suffered from insomnia and I know what it feels
like to be the victim of this “problem”. However, it wasn't until I accidentally found out
about a new science, called NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) that, helped me
understand and overcome insomnia. Not only did I cure my insomnia, but I
revolutionized my life in many ways! Read this eBook in its entirety, if you suffer from
insomnia, this information will change your life.
A Typical Insomnia Horror Story...
Tony lies awake during the night, tossing and turning, thinking about tomorrow's
deadline and how he's going to do at his presentation tomorrow. He's been stressing
about the deadline for 3 days now, and has only gotten 4 hours of sleep on each of the
nights.
The next day, Tony's meeting and presentation goes okay, although he made a few
mistakes and flub ups, he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. However, when Tony
goes to bed that night, he finds that he can't sleep, an hour passes, 2 hours, he can't fall
asleep, frustrated Tony thinks to himself “I'll just concentrate really hard and maybe I'll
fall asleep”, finally Tony falls asleep at 4 AM, waking up to the blaring of his alarm clock
at 7:40 AM, he feels tired, drowsy, he's got a headache and his muscles are aching.
The next night the story continues, this time Tony starts getting extremely anxious about
his sleeping problem, “Is something wrong with me? Why can't I go to sleep, what if this
affects my health? Why can't I fall asleep? Am I sick?” The following day, Tony finds
that whenever he thinks about his sleeping problem he gets very anxious and un-easy.
When Tony goes to bed that day he finds that he gets anxious the instant he gets into
that bed, his heart rate rises and he feels a sense of panic as he tosses and turns, as
the hours pass he falls asleep at 3:00 AM and wakes up at 5 AM, he tries to fall back
asleep again, but he can't, frustrated he spends the rest of the night trying to force
himself to go to sleep, he wakes up with a massive headache, and calls in sick for work.
The story continues for another two days, until Tony decides to visit his physician, his
physician tells him Insomnia is a simple common problem and prescribes him Xanax™,
and tells him to take .5 milligrams of it before he goes to bed each day, He also tells him
“If it stops working, increase your dose.”
Tony takes the pill that night, and to his surprise sleeps a whole 7 hours, he takes the
pill over the weekend and starts getting certain that he can sleep. The next week Tony
continues taking Xanax™ and finds that he's getting increasingly drowsy and weary
during the day. His ability to make decisions is impaired, and he can't focus on his work.
After one week of taking the medication, Tony notices that he's starting to experience
sleeping problems again, hopeless, with a feeling that he's losing control over his life, he
increases the sleeping medication to 2 tablets per day.
After two more weeks, he experiences some sleeping problems again, and increases
the dosage to 3 tablets!
Tony feels completely out of control with his life, he's become completely dependent on
the pills to control his sleeping patterns. His self-esteem and confidence is lowering,
and he's starting to think there's something seriously wrong with him.
Whether the above story is similar to yours or not, what you'll find in this small eBook will
be the information, that, if you put into use, will make your Insomnia a dream of the past,
possibly changing your life in many ways - from your self esteem to your sense of
control over your entire life.
Whether the above story appeals to you or not, it's only a small rendering of what
Insomnia sufferers deal with every day (or every night, I should say). In reality,
Insomnia can have many devastating effects on your life, your emotions, your
relationships, your finances, and most importantly your health! Often times Insomnia
lasts for months and years at a time, and most of the times sufferers don't even seek
treatment for it, simply because they don't know how, or are afraid of taking addictive
prescription medicine.
The causes of Insomnia are many, but what you'll find here is that the mechanics of how
it works, how it turns into a never ending night-time horror process, in your body, and in
your mind, are always the same, because you will learn these mechanics here, you
might realize that: YOU have the power to end Insomnia forever!
My goal for this eBook is very simple:
1. For you to clearly understand what Insomnia is, what the real cause of it is.
2. For you to start seeing how it came into your life, and what you can start doing Today,
to begin to change it, forever.
Enjoy!
Best regards,
Kacper Postawski
SleepWiz.com
Introduction
If you are reading this book, then you are hoping to conquer your insomnia. More than
likely, you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep just like Tony. Perhaps you have
both problems. I even suspect that you have tried all the traditional methods of falling
asleep:
More exercise
Warm bath before bed
Drinking warm milk before bed
Sitting in the sunshine to change your biological clock
Follow a regular schedule
Don't drink beverages with caffeine late in the day
Create a safe and comfortable place to sleep
Sleeping pills
And what have been your results? I suspect that they have not been too terribly
successful. How do I know this? Because approximately 1 in 8 people suffer from
insomnia at any given time and that number is increasing, not decreasing. The National
Institutes of Health estimates that some 70 million Americans suffer from some form of
sleep disorder. If warm milk or sleeping pills were the answer, we would find less, not
more, insomniacs.
Not only is insomnia hard on you, it is hard on society. A study conducted in 1995 in the
United States suggests that direct costs of insomnia top $14 billion. These direct costs
include medications, visits to medical professionals, and sleep treatments. However, the
indirect costs are even more! That’s right, the cost of reduced work productivity,
increased motor vehicle accidents, and sickness caused by lack of sleep topped $35
billion!
You would think that due to the high cost and the high prevalence rate that insomnia
would be getting a lot of notice and a lot of funding. Unfortunately, this is just not true.
Most insomnia remains under-diagnosed and under-treated. And for those that are
treated, they are either stuck with the notion of bedtime routines or treated to sleeping
pills.
The best way to treat insomnia, however, is rarely prescribed. That is why I am writing
this book. I want you to learn the step-by-step method that will actually help your
insomnia. Everyone – yes, 100% - who tries this method finds that they sleep better.
And 90% can get off of prescription medication!
This program is drug-free, has no side effects, and is cost effective. You certainly can’t
say that about traditional insomnia treatments! But, believe it or not, there is another
benefit as well! Not only will you sleep better, you will increase you mental and physical
well-being, feel more self-confident, feel more at peace and relaxed, and realize the
control you have in your life.
You’ve certainly heard of the mind-body connection where what you think often
determines what state of health your body is in. This connection is easily seen when
following this program to eliminate insomnia. By following this five-week plan, your mind
will learn to overcome your sleep problems and help you become healthier and happier
and more productive.
Everything in this book is based on cutting-edge research concerning how psychology
(the mind) affects physiology (the body). This research explores relaxation, meditation,
and biofeedback. It has left no stone unturned.
There is just one catch to this method – you actually have to put the steps into practice.
Just as you have to watch what you eat in order to lose weight, or you have to study a
textbook in order to pass the final exam, you are going to have to follow these steps in
order to cure your insomnia.
If you are willing to spend the next five weeks following the suggestions in this book, I
guarantee that you will be sleeping better. You will also be mentally and physically
healthier and you will be happy and optimistic. Isn’t it worth a try?
Chapter 1: Dumping the Nightmare For Sweet Dreams
It is bedtime – again. You immediately think, “Oh no. Not another sleepless night.”
Before you even crawl into bed, you KNOW what the night will bring – more tossing and
turning, but no sleep. Nonetheless, you get into bed and wait.
The clock is ticking. You hear every little noise in the house. You turn onto your right
side, then onto your left. Finally, you roll over onto your back and put your arms over
your eyes, trying to shut out everything. But even your arms cannot seem to shut out
the thoughts that go rolling around your head.
How am I going to work tomorrow? I’m already too tired to move and here it is 2am and
I still haven’t gotten any sleep. I’m never going to make it. Not with that meeting. I’m
supposed to present the big proposal. How will I ever manage if I can’t even keep my
eyes open? Of course, I could probably manage if that was the only thing on my plate,
but it’s not. I’ve got the big family reunion this weekend, and I really don’t want to see
everybody – especially feeling as tired as I am. I look terrible. I feel terrible. What will
everybody think? Now, look, it is 3am. I only have 4 more hours to get some sleep!
Eventually you do fall asleep and get in about 2 hours only to find yourself awake again!
Just 30 minutes before the alarm clock rings, you drift off again. The buzzing of the
clock let’s you know that the torture of the night is over, but that the torture of the day is
about to begin.
That is insomnia. It is your worst nightmare.
Insomnia robs you of more than sleep. It robs you of hope, power, energy, joy, and wellbeing.
If you don’t get enough sleep, your entire life suffers.
Just to matter bad matters even worse, if you happen to confide in friends and family,
they are likely to give you the sage counsel that it is all in your head. All you have to do
is relax. Stop thinking about it. And, if you are like most people, you will begin to wonder
if you have more than just a sleeping problem. Now, the embarrassment of being a
“mental case” can be added to you list of things to think about as you lie in bed at night
not sleeping.
Going The Doctor’s Route
Most insomniacs never get treated. Why? Many don’t ever mention it to their doctor.
They are embarrassed by the fact that they can’t sleep. They feel that EVEN babies
know how to sleep. Since they can’t, there must be something wrong with them and it
has got to be psychological.
Another reason that insomnia goes undetected is that doctors simply don’t ask the
questions concerning sleep and sleep patterns. If you happen to go to your doctor
concerning lack of energy, they are far more likely to run a blood panel than they are to
ask about your sleeping habits. And, if they happen to ask, they won’t have much to say
or do about your answer. Why not? Because doctors simply do not receive adequate
training on sleep, despite the fact that so many suffer from sleep problems.
Treating insomnia is difficult when you only have the tools of the modern medical
community. Doctors have shots, x-rays, scans, blood tests, and pills at their disposal.
These are great for treating infections, but is sorely lacking when it comes to chronic
health problems like insomnia.
If your doctor does respond to your sleep problem, it will most likely be in the form of a
pill. Pills such as Halcion. Restoril, Dalmane, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, Ambien, Sonota,
and the newest sleeping aid, Lunesta are often prescribed to give patients a good
night’s sleep. The good news is the bad news. Sometimes the pills work.
Why is this bad news? Because they aren’t really treating the problem – they are only
masking the problem. And eventually, even if you have found a pill that works, it is going
to become less effective over time because your body will adapt the pill. So far, Lunesta
is the only prescription sleep aid approved by the Food and Drug Administration for
long-term use, in contrast with more-established short-term medications such as
Ambien and Sonata. While most approved sleep aids tend to lose their effectiveness
after a week or so, Lunesta has been shown to remain effective for up to six months.
Good news – bad news. What do you do after your time has run out?
Not to mention that you have to deal with the side effects – grogginess, dry mouth,
unusual dreams, etc.
Imagine that you went to the doctor with terrible headaches and all the doctor did was to
give you mega doses of Tylenol. It is true that the headaches may lessen. But,
eventually, either the doctor will have to give you even higher doses of Tylenol or find a
stronger drug. Why? Because the Tylenol did NOT cure the headaches. It only masked
the pain. The real way to get rid of the headache is to treat the cause. The same holds
true for insomnia.
If this is true, then why do doctors continue to prescribe sleeping pills? It is a doctor’s
typical mode of operation to give a pill. It is easy. It gets the patient out of the office. It is
what they were taught and are continuing to be taught.
Drug Companies Are Big Business
Another reason that doctors prescribe pills for insomnia is due to pressure from drug
companies. Drug companies send in reps to give away free samples. They can afford to
make them free because they know that once you find some relief, you will be hooked.
You will have to continue to take the pills or once again suffer from insomnia.
Sleeping pills are big business. If you don’t believe me, then ask your doctor for a
sample. I guarantee that with the introduction of Lunesta, you can now get Lunesta
samples AND Ambien samples at most any doctor’s office. Prior to the release of
Lunesta, you couldn’t find many Ambien samples, but the war for the winning pill is
waging and drug reps all over the country are the warriors.
Sepracor Inc., the Marlborough, Mass.-based maker of Lunesta, has nearly tripled the
size of its sales staff to 1,250 and will spend $60 million this year on ads for the drug.
U.S. advertising for prescription and over-the-counter insomnia drugs totaled nearly $68
million in 2004, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a media-research firm. But
spending in the first four months of 2005 was $48.7 million; at that rate, it could top
$146 million this year.
Lunesta averaged about 60,000 new prescriptions a week after its launch. Several
analysts forecast Lunesta sales will eventually reach $1 billion a year. Lunesta seems to
be on the verge of toppling the Ambien market, which accounts for about $1.9 billion of
a $2.1 billion U.S. prescription sleep aid market.
Doing It Yourself
Due to the high cost of sleeping pills (a month’s supply of Ambien costs about $90 and
of Lunesta is $100), many people go it alone. But they are not truly alone! Other
insomniacs spend millions every year on over the counter sleeping aids. And the drug
companies cash in here as well.
Well known manufacturers provide over the counter sleeping pills. Due to their brand
name recognition, like Tylenol PM, Excedrin PM, and Anacin PM, the public feels lulled
into security that these drugs are safe and effective. The problem is that there is no
scientific evidence that these medications are more effective than a placebo.
Nonetheless, these companies rake in $100 million a year selling to you.
Just like prescriptions sleeping pills, their over-the-counter equivalents have the same
issues. The effectiveness of these pills goes away. The side effects are present. And
they simply do not treat the real cause of insomnia.
The Melatonin Remedy
One way to determine if a problem exists is to watch for a fad. Cancer is an issue and
many fads have come and gone about what to do to prevent it. Eat oats. Eat more fish
oils. Stay away from refined flours. You name it and there has been a fad concerning it.
Melatonin is insomnia’s fad.
Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced by the pineal gland in the brain. It is
often referred to as the sleep hormone. According to studies, melatonin has been
shown to facilitate sleep, significantly shorten the time needed to go to sleep, reduce the
number of night awakenings, and improve sleep quality.
Sounds like a wonder drug. But, if it were true, then why are so many people still
suffering from insomnia? It is true that melatonin is produced in our bodies and that it
appears to be sleep related, but everything else is still a mystery. The claims that
melatonin can cure insomnia are just that – claims.
But that doesn’t stop the general public from trying it out. Melatonin is considered to be
safe because it is natural. There are lots of natural products that are not safe! Arsenic is
natural, but I wouldn’t take it, would you??
Companies want to capitalize on the sleeplessness problem and have recently put
melatonin into the forefront again. A new government-approved drug, Rozerem, is the
first prescription sleep aid not designated as a controlled substance. It is chemically
related to the natural hormone melatonin. However, even among doctors, the response
to the new drug is mixed. Some are grateful for another weapon to fight insomnia.
Others believe that it will be no more effective than anything else they have tried.
And, like every other pill, Rozerem is only effective as long as you are taking it. The real
cause for insomnia remains untreated.
The Best Treatment
The best treatment for insomnia will address the root cause of the problem. It will not
merely be a band-aid or address only the symptoms. The best treatment of insomnia
understands that insomnia is not caused by psychological issues or by physical issues –
it is caused by beliefs and habits.
In this eBook, you will learn the beliefs and habits that keep you from sleeping. And then
you will learn how to change those beliefs and habits so that you can sleep.
Doctors and pills and psychotherapy don’t address the real cause of insomnia. This
program does. This program allows you to gain control in an area of your life that affects
all other areas. Once you gain control of your sleep, you will find that you have gained
control in all other aspects of your life. You will do better emotionally, physically, socially,
and spiritually.
Are you ready to regain your life? The rest of this eBook will show you how!
Chapter 2: Everything You Want And Need To Know About
Sleep
At least one third of our lives are spent sleeping. But what do you really know about
sleep? Are you aware that sleep comes in stages? Do you know which stages are more
important than others? Do you know what causes the body to fall asleep? Do you know
why we need to sleep in the first place?
This chapter will answer these questions in an effort to get you to understand sleep. In
order to get at the cause of insomnia – poor sleep – it is important to understand good
sleep and how it is supposed to work. Once you understand sleep and insomnia, you
will be able to use the tools found in this book to decrease your insomnia and increase
your sleep.
The Stages of Sleep
Many people who have not studied sleep believe that it is a time when the brain shuts
down and you are out of touch with the world around you. As brain scans can now
prove, this is certainly not the case. Instead of turning off, many phases of sleep are
extremely brain active!
The first period of sleep is not even considered a sleep stage. It is merely called relaxed
wakefulness. In this period, your mind drifts along with an alpha brain-wave pattern.
Your thoughts wander and you become quite relaxed.
If you continue on your sleep journey, you head into Stage 1 sleep. This seems to be a
more relaxed version of relaxed wakefulness. Your muscles relax, your breathing slows
as does your heart rate, your body temperature drops, and your eyes begin slow rolling
movements. A new brain wave pattern, theta, occurs. It is during this stage that you
may still feel awake but in daydream mode. In fact, if someone wakes you when you are
in Stage 1, you will probably protest that you were not asleep at all – just drifting!
The next phase, Stage 2, is more like sleep than either of the first two phases. During
Stage 2, you are even more relaxed and become less aware of our surroundings.
During this phase, our bodies may try to wake us. This can be seen on an EEG
(electroencephalogram) as spikes. This is a light sleep that we can easily be wakened
from.
Finally, you will move into deep sleep. Deep sleep is represented by both Stage 3 and
Stage 4 sleep and typically occurs about thirty to forty-five minutes after arriving in
Stage 2. Characterized by slow brain wave patterns known as delta waves, deep sleep
is a pattern of sleep that detaches you from your surroundings. During deep sleep, your
blood pressure is at its lowest, you use the least amount of oxygen, you breath the
slowest, and your heart rate becomes unhurried.
When you are in deep sleep, you become difficult to arouse. Think about a child. If you
have a child that is in deep sleep, you can move them from one place to the other and
they never wake. If they happen to wake, they certainly won’t remember it later.
Deep sleep lasts about 45 minutes and then your body takes a quick detour. Instead of
heading forward to the next stage, your body instead goes back to Stage 2 for a few
minutes. Then we enter the dream world known as REM sleep. During REM sleep, we
have vivid dreams and our brains are as active as they are during our waking hours. In
fact, the brain waves are almost identical to wakeful brain waves, thus causing some
people to say that REM sleep is an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp. This sleep is not sleep
at all in the brain wave sense of the word!
Unlike deep sleep where you feel groggy if awakened, waking from REM sleep is often
refreshing. This is probably due to the fact that REM and wakefulness are so closely
related.
Once done with REM sleep, your body reverts back to Stage 1 sleep, to Stage 2, Stage
3, Stage 4, Stage 2, and REM again. This series of stages happens every 90 minutes
and those that get good sleep will have anywhere from 4 to 6 of these sleep cycles per
night.
Each cycle is not exactly like the cycle preceding it. Based on brain wave scans, it
appears that deep sleep is longer in the earlier cycles and REM sleep is longer in the
later cycles. Since deep sleep happens less often during the latter parts of the night, it is
not uncommon to wake more during the second half of the night than the first half.
However, for most people, this wakefulness happens quickly and without incident,
usually resulting in no memory of the event.
Which Stage is Most Important?
Based on sleep research, it appears that deep sleep is the most important stage of
sleep. If you have been sleep deprived, your body will make up the deep sleep you
missed. However, it will not make up stages 1 or 2. In fact, your body will only attempt to
make up 50% of REM sleep.
Why is this so?
During deep sleep, our bodies get to rest in a way that does not happen during
wakefulness. The immune system has a chance to heal. The muscles get most of the
blood and renew themselves. And deep sleep allows for deep physical restoration.
REM sleep is important for allowing our brains to process new information learned
during the day. That is why babies sleep so much and are often in REM sleep. However,
recouping REM sleep is not as important to the body as recouping deep sleep. Lack of
REM sleep will cause agitation, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating, but lack of deep
sleep impairs our physical functioning.
Sleep is Connected To Body Temperature Rhythm
Despite the fact that many of us believe that our body temperature remains a constant
98.6 F, this is simply not true. Our body temperature has cycles. It’s also known as a
circadian rhythm. Take a look at the following graph to see how your body temperature
fluctuates during the day:
As you can see, your body temperature is lowest in the wee hours of the morning and
highest in the early afternoon and early evening. As the night wears on, the body
temperature begins going down again. But just how do these temperatures relate to our
sleep?
Contrary to what most of us are taught in grade 5 science class, our body temperature
doesn't stay at a constant 98.6º Fahrenheit (37º Celsius). Our body temperature actually
has a specific rhythm to it. It rises and drops as the hours of the day progress. The
difference in body temperature is about 3º Fahrenheit (2º Celsius).
This periodic rise and drop in body temperature tells our mind when to feel tired and
when to feel more awake. As body temperature rises, we tend to feel more awake and
our brain waves are usually higher. As body temperature drops, we tend to feel more
lethargic, tired, and lazy - this is a big cue for our minds to lower brain waves and enter
Stage 1 sleep.
As you look at the graph again, you might notice that there is a slight “drop” of body
temperature during the mid afternoon. This is an usual mid-afternoon body temperature
slump. You may have noticed, at some point in your life, that you usually feel an urge to
sleep or take a nap during the afternoon. This is completely natural, and sometimes the
pressure to sleep during the afternoon is as strong as the pressure at night! (Although
most of us choose a drug of choice, such as caffeine, to combat this body slump).
Because of the demands our society puts on us, such as work, children, and social life,
most of us can't sleep at this time. As we'll explore later on, nature actually intended for
us to have a nap at this time - we'll talk about the science of naps in detail.
Generally, body temperature begins to rise in the early morning hours, drops sometime
during the afternoon, and then begins to rise until the early hours of the evening. It's at
this time that we have “peak performance” body temperature, most people are most
active during the early evening hours, and this is where body temperature is the highest.
Afterwards, body temperature drops and reaches its lowest point at around 4 am.
If your body temperature rhythm is too flat (doesn't rise or drop low enough), or if it's
messed up in any other way, chances are you will experience sleep difficulties. It will be
difficult for you to sleep deeply. We'll explore all the causes of that later on in this eBook.
It's because of the body temperature rhythm that most of us feel sleepy, at precisely the
same time every night. It's also why some people can wake up without an alarm clock at
precisely the same time every morning.
Usually, your body temperature rhythm will follow the same pattern regardless of when
you fall asleep. For example, if you've been waking up at 7 AM all your life, this means
your body temperature begins to rise at this time. It won't matter if you fall asleep at 11
PM, 12 AM, or 1 AM, your body temperature will rise at 7 AM, and you will feel sleepy at
the same time you always did the next day. Unless you take the proper actions to
optimize your body temperature, it will usually return to the same pattern. This is the
main focus of this book.
Later in this book, you will learn ways to help promote healthy sleep by altering your
body temperature.
Which System Is At Work?
Our sleep cycle is governed by two different brain systems. One is the wakefulness
system and one is the sleep system.
When the wakefulness system is in charge, our bodies are awake and alert. The normal
wakefulness system operates for 16 hours a day. After about sixteen hours, the sleep
system takes over. The wakefulness system is much stronger than the sleep system
and continues to operate even when the sleep system is in control.
If you have ever been a new parent, you will understand this concept. You might be
able to sleep through a train roaring by on tracks just a few blocks away, but even the
smallest whimper of the baby will have you at their side. This is because the
wakefulness system is active and determines what you need to respond to.
Those with very strong sleep systems have no problem with sleeping. However, those
that have weak sleep systems or extremely strong wakefulness systems will find that
they are labeled insomniacs. Part of my personal theory, is that, because of the
diminished “natural sleep response”, this wakefulness from deep sleep is heightened in
Insomniacs.
The Natural Sleep System - A Quick Crash Course.
This is your body's natural sleep system, meaning: the way your body knows when it’s
time to sleep by a way of measuring body temperature, sunlight exposure, and a special
hormone in your body called melatonin, which controls when and how long you sleep.
In order to sleep properly at night, your body needs to have the right rise and drop in
body temperature, the right amount of exposure to sunlight, which will in turn manage
your melatonin hormone levels properly.
I will not get into the science of this, as it's not necessary right now, simply, what I want
you to understand clearly is that part of curing Insomnia is also taking the proper actions
to strengthen the natural sleep system.
All Insomnia Is Not Created Equal
When people hear the word insomnia, most assume that it means an inability to fall
asleep at night. It is true that this is insomnia, but it is only one kind called sleep-onset
insomnia. Another form of insomnia is called sleep-maintenance insomnia. If you have
this variety, you can fall asleep easily, but can not stay asleep. In fact, when you wake,
you then have trouble going back to sleep. The final type of insomnia is not about
quantity of sleep but about quality of sleep. For those who suffer with this kind of
insomnia, it seems that they are just not rested regardless of how much sleep they had
the night before.
Although there are different types of insomnia, there are many aspects of the condition
that are similar.
Takes longer to fall asleep
Sleeps lighter
Wakes more frequently
Sleeps fewer hours
Have faster heart rates
Have more muscle tension
Has a flat body temperature instead of a cycle
Thus, we see that insomniacs have poorly balanced sleep/wake systems with the sleep
system being too weak and the wakefulness system being too strong. And that is what
is so great about this program. It will help you learn to control your sleep and
wakefulness cycles so that you can be in charge of how well you sleep.
Why Doesn’t Everybody Get Insomnia?
Most chronic insomnia, bouts that last more than one month, start out as short-term
episodes. These episodes are typically in response to some significant life event, loss,
stress, health issues, or relationship concerns. During these short term episodes of
insomnia, you tend to sleep less but are processing the new information in your life. For
most people, once you become adjusted to the effects of the life event, you go back to
sleeping normally.
For some, however, it is not so easy. For some, short-term insomnia becomes chronic
insomnia. Why?
Why Does Short Term Insomnia Turn into Chronic Insomnia?
Before we understand this, we must ask ourselves one question: What is the difference
between someone with regular sleeping patterns, and someone who is a Chronic
Insomniac?
When a person with normal sleeping patterns gets into that bed, and they feel the
weight of their head on that pillow, and the warmth of that blanket around their body,
their mind gets the signal, and gives the order “Okay guys, this is the signal! Lower
Heart Rate! Decrease Body Temperature, slooooooooooow down the brain waves,
we're all going for a riiiiide!”
Now, that may be an over dramatization, but I want you to clearly understand that
sleeping isn't something you VOLUNTARILY DO, it is a LEARNED response, which we
develop as we grow up. A person without chronic Insomnia has this response, and it is
in a “healthy working condition”, although it may be slightly interrupted by short-term
insomnia from time to time, as I described to you above.
You see, as we go along through our life, our body learns certain “cues” for when it is
time to sleep, most of our sleep patterns are developed during our early childhood years
of 6-10, where we usually sleep 8 - 10 hours per day. If you have been suffering from
Insomnia since your teens, it is most likely this early conditioning is part of the cause.
A common cue for sleeping when you're a child is the need for your parents to come
and tuck you in, for them to read you a bedtime story, for them to keep the lights on, or
for the door to remain open. These cues are learned by our subconscious mind, which
conditions our body to enter stage 1 of sleeping, where your brain waves go from alpha
to beta, a state right before you enter the world of sleep. I will call this the “natural sleep
response.”
In the same way, chronic Insomnia, is a LEARNED RESPONSE, in which Your Mind is
Conditioned to Associate Sleeping with Pain, Anxiety, Discomfort, PANIC, and
DEPRESSION.
The difference is this:
As you go along in your life with your normal sleeping conditioning, where your mind is
associating bed with the “natural sleep response.” At one point in your life something
happens to cause short term insomnia, stress, depression, post dramatic stress
syndrome, death of a loved one, anxiety, whatever it may have been, if the short term
insomnia turned into chronic insomnia, in your case, you went over what I call the
“insomnia switch”.
Understanding this is very important, so pay attention:
There is a study in NLP called “anchoring” and the rule of anchoring is this: Whenever
You Experience a Strong Negative or Positive Emotional State in a Certain Location, to
a Certain Sound, Touch, or Feeling - Your Mind Will Associate that Experience With
That Emotional State.
To demonstrate to you how anchoring works, I'd like you to remember a certain song
that maybe makes you feel REALLY happy or ecstatic that you may have in your life....
Or maybe, think of a song that makes you feel extremely sad... Or a song that reminds
you of a time you fell in love.
That's right, as you think about that song, or if you were to play it right now, I can almost
guarantee you some of those emotions will come back to you. The reason you are
capable of experiencing those emotions is because at some point you were having
them when you heard that song, and they became “anchored” to it, inside your mind.
TV advertisers are very aware of how this works, and most modern commercials use
this all the time, they try to get you to associate incredible feelings with their products or
services, by showing you wonderful scenes.
Cigarette companies THRIVE on this concept, as they get you to associate feelings of
being in control, sexy, healthy, good looking and fun with smoking, all things which we
know very well are not the results of long term smoking.
Finally, here's how negative anchoring creates Chronic Insomnia:
You see, initially you had a case of Short Term Insomnia, like everyone does at some
point their lives, except what probably happened, after 2 or 3 days of Insomnia, instead
of not worrying about it and letting your mind “re-load” your old sleeping conditioning
with the “natural sleep response”, instead you focused on a deep feeling of ANXIETY
and PANIC. You probably asked yourself questions like “Why can't I fall asleep? What's
wrong with me? How is this going to affect my health? Why is everyone else sleeping
normally but I can't? Do I have Mental Problems?” These questions most likely
produced even more ANXIETY, FEAR, and PANIC in you, which are all very primal,
strong feelings of PAIN.
Additionally: If you took sleeping pills at this initial stage to try to fight Insomnia off, you
increased your chance of acquiring chronic insomnia by about 3000%. (This will be
explained in detail in a further section.)
What happened at that moment, is you went over the “Insomnia Switch” - You have now
conditioned your subconscious mind to believe that the process of falling asleep = PAIN.
By the way, please notice I say “the process of going to sleep” NOT sleep. This is very
important, as you are conscious of trying to go to sleep, unconscious when you are in
sleeping; this is why the negative anchor takes place.
What you have now is chronic insomnia, or as I like to call it instead, seeing how
“Chronic” is such an over-used and scary word, is “Learned Insomnia”. When you go to
bed, you most likely immediately feel a sense of loss of control, anxiety, panic, and
frustration about sleep.
You have taught your mind to feel PAIN every time you try to fall asleep, whether you
know it or not, you have erased the “natural sleep response.” Even if you don't
experience anxiety and fear later on in your Insomnia, your mind will take an unnatural
time to cause your body to fall asleep - and when you wake up during the night, falling
asleep will also be very difficult.
Kacper I can't believe this, why would your mind work against you? This sounds a bit
too far fetched for me...
I know it can, in fact it's perfectly reasonable, if you haven't been exposed to any
material like this before, it's very easy to fall into the belief that Insomnia is caused by
some other external factors, but I'm writing this to shatter that belief inside and make
you realize that the only true cause of Insomnia is WITHIN YOU, and the only cure for it
is WITHIN YOU as well.
First of all, why would your mind work against you? Well, what you'll realize is that your
mind isn't actually working AGAINST YOU, your mind is actually working to PROTECT
YOU.
Another discovery that NLP has made is that there is a natural response in your mind
that controls nearly all our behavior. And that response is to:
Avoid Pain, and Gain Pleasure.
Think about it... every decision you made in your life, whether you were conscious of it
or not, was to Avoid Pain, and to Gain Pleasure. Think about the things you do in your
waking life, the decisions you make, the way you interact with people. Maybe some
recent decisions in your life which have changed the direction it was going?
Let me give you an example: Pretend you have $10,000, and you've got two choices.
1) Go on a LUXURIOUS 5 day trip To Hawaii that will cost you exactly $10,000?
2) Remove a Tumor from Your lung that may potentially kill you? (The operation will
cost you $10,000)
My hallucination is you would chose #2
You see, most of our decisions are there to avoid pain, and to gain pleasure. This is an
instinct within our minds to protect us from danger and to keep us from harm, to keep us
alive.
The Insomnia “Switch”
Your mind can only have one association to one experience; the stronger emotional
experience will usually over-take the weaker one. The Instinct to AVOID PAIN is
stronger than the instinct to gain pleasure. So when your mind combines the process of
going to sleep as something that is PAINFUL, something that makes you ANXIOUS,
and WORRIED, when this association happens the older “natural sleep response” flies
out the window.
Because the process of going to sleep is a PAINFUL experience, the “natural sleep
response” which your mind normally associated with relaxation and pleasure, is now
non-existent. This is the reason why you simply can't “naturally fall asleep”, as other
people naturally do, even if you don't feel anxious, worried, or panicky when you're
trying to fall asleep, the “natural sleep response” will not occur because you have
erased/suppressed it.
This is also the reason why some people suffer from Insomnia since early childhood, at
some point their sleeping conditioning also got interrupted, most likely by fear of
nightmares, fear of the dark, family problems, fear of the monster under the bed, or
anything else that would create fear and anxiety during the process of falling asleep.
(also why small children are dependent on other “cues” where falling asleep is “safe”
such as getting tucked in by their parents, keeping the light on, etc)
To end this section, I'd like to recap on a powerful point: For most people, the factor that
pushes short-term Insomnia over the edge into becoming “Learned Insomnia” is the
factor of feeling anxiety, fear, and panic, about their sleep loss. The moment you start
fearing sleep loss, your chances of becoming a “learned Insomniac” increase
dramatically; as this helps to tie the emotional anchor of “FALLING ASLEEP = PAIN”
Note: There are many other powerful negative emotions that could have triggered your
Insomnia, pain and anxiety are just general examples.
---------------------
If you liked what you read so far, allow me to suggest that you get the rest ofthis e-book and the entire Powerful Sleep system today, click here to grab your copy
right now!
Click here to see what's in the full version of the Powerful Sleep system.
Wishing you Sweet Dreams and an Incredible Amount of Energy in Your Life!
Kacper M. Postawski
www.PowerfulSleep.com
www.SleepWiz.com
Dear reader and fellow insomnia sufferer,
I wrote this short eBook for you with the passion of giving you the knowledge to cure
chronic insomnia forever. I once too suffered from insomnia and I know what it feels
like to be the victim of this “problem”. However, it wasn't until I accidentally found out
about a new science, called NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) that, helped me
understand and overcome insomnia. Not only did I cure my insomnia, but I
revolutionized my life in many ways! Read this eBook in its entirety, if you suffer from
insomnia, this information will change your life.
A Typical Insomnia Horror Story...
Tony lies awake during the night, tossing and turning, thinking about tomorrow's
deadline and how he's going to do at his presentation tomorrow. He's been stressing
about the deadline for 3 days now, and has only gotten 4 hours of sleep on each of the
nights.
The next day, Tony's meeting and presentation goes okay, although he made a few
mistakes and flub ups, he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. However, when Tony
goes to bed that night, he finds that he can't sleep, an hour passes, 2 hours, he can't fall
asleep, frustrated Tony thinks to himself “I'll just concentrate really hard and maybe I'll
fall asleep”, finally Tony falls asleep at 4 AM, waking up to the blaring of his alarm clock
at 7:40 AM, he feels tired, drowsy, he's got a headache and his muscles are aching.
The next night the story continues, this time Tony starts getting extremely anxious about
his sleeping problem, “Is something wrong with me? Why can't I go to sleep, what if this
affects my health? Why can't I fall asleep? Am I sick?” The following day, Tony finds
that whenever he thinks about his sleeping problem he gets very anxious and un-easy.
When Tony goes to bed that day he finds that he gets anxious the instant he gets into
that bed, his heart rate rises and he feels a sense of panic as he tosses and turns, as
the hours pass he falls asleep at 3:00 AM and wakes up at 5 AM, he tries to fall back
asleep again, but he can't, frustrated he spends the rest of the night trying to force
himself to go to sleep, he wakes up with a massive headache, and calls in sick for work.
The story continues for another two days, until Tony decides to visit his physician, his
physician tells him Insomnia is a simple common problem and prescribes him Xanax™,
and tells him to take .5 milligrams of it before he goes to bed each day, He also tells him
“If it stops working, increase your dose.”
Tony takes the pill that night, and to his surprise sleeps a whole 7 hours, he takes the
pill over the weekend and starts getting certain that he can sleep. The next week Tony
continues taking Xanax™ and finds that he's getting increasingly drowsy and weary
during the day. His ability to make decisions is impaired, and he can't focus on his work.
After one week of taking the medication, Tony notices that he's starting to experience
sleeping problems again, hopeless, with a feeling that he's losing control over his life, he
increases the sleeping medication to 2 tablets per day.
After two more weeks, he experiences some sleeping problems again, and increases
the dosage to 3 tablets!
Tony feels completely out of control with his life, he's become completely dependent on
the pills to control his sleeping patterns. His self-esteem and confidence is lowering,
and he's starting to think there's something seriously wrong with him.
Whether the above story is similar to yours or not, what you'll find in this small eBook will
be the information, that, if you put into use, will make your Insomnia a dream of the past,
possibly changing your life in many ways - from your self esteem to your sense of
control over your entire life.
Whether the above story appeals to you or not, it's only a small rendering of what
Insomnia sufferers deal with every day (or every night, I should say). In reality,
Insomnia can have many devastating effects on your life, your emotions, your
relationships, your finances, and most importantly your health! Often times Insomnia
lasts for months and years at a time, and most of the times sufferers don't even seek
treatment for it, simply because they don't know how, or are afraid of taking addictive
prescription medicine.
The causes of Insomnia are many, but what you'll find here is that the mechanics of how
it works, how it turns into a never ending night-time horror process, in your body, and in
your mind, are always the same, because you will learn these mechanics here, you
might realize that: YOU have the power to end Insomnia forever!
My goal for this eBook is very simple:
1. For you to clearly understand what Insomnia is, what the real cause of it is.
2. For you to start seeing how it came into your life, and what you can start doing Today,
to begin to change it, forever.
Enjoy!
Best regards,
Kacper Postawski
SleepWiz.com
Introduction
If you are reading this book, then you are hoping to conquer your insomnia. More than
likely, you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep just like Tony. Perhaps you have
both problems. I even suspect that you have tried all the traditional methods of falling
asleep:
More exercise
Warm bath before bed
Drinking warm milk before bed
Sitting in the sunshine to change your biological clock
Follow a regular schedule
Don't drink beverages with caffeine late in the day
Create a safe and comfortable place to sleep
Sleeping pills
And what have been your results? I suspect that they have not been too terribly
successful. How do I know this? Because approximately 1 in 8 people suffer from
insomnia at any given time and that number is increasing, not decreasing. The National
Institutes of Health estimates that some 70 million Americans suffer from some form of
sleep disorder. If warm milk or sleeping pills were the answer, we would find less, not
more, insomniacs.
Not only is insomnia hard on you, it is hard on society. A study conducted in 1995 in the
United States suggests that direct costs of insomnia top $14 billion. These direct costs
include medications, visits to medical professionals, and sleep treatments. However, the
indirect costs are even more! That’s right, the cost of reduced work productivity,
increased motor vehicle accidents, and sickness caused by lack of sleep topped $35
billion!
You would think that due to the high cost and the high prevalence rate that insomnia
would be getting a lot of notice and a lot of funding. Unfortunately, this is just not true.
Most insomnia remains under-diagnosed and under-treated. And for those that are
treated, they are either stuck with the notion of bedtime routines or treated to sleeping
pills.
The best way to treat insomnia, however, is rarely prescribed. That is why I am writing
this book. I want you to learn the step-by-step method that will actually help your
insomnia. Everyone – yes, 100% - who tries this method finds that they sleep better.
And 90% can get off of prescription medication!
This program is drug-free, has no side effects, and is cost effective. You certainly can’t
say that about traditional insomnia treatments! But, believe it or not, there is another
benefit as well! Not only will you sleep better, you will increase you mental and physical
well-being, feel more self-confident, feel more at peace and relaxed, and realize the
control you have in your life.
You’ve certainly heard of the mind-body connection where what you think often
determines what state of health your body is in. This connection is easily seen when
following this program to eliminate insomnia. By following this five-week plan, your mind
will learn to overcome your sleep problems and help you become healthier and happier
and more productive.
Everything in this book is based on cutting-edge research concerning how psychology
(the mind) affects physiology (the body). This research explores relaxation, meditation,
and biofeedback. It has left no stone unturned.
There is just one catch to this method – you actually have to put the steps into practice.
Just as you have to watch what you eat in order to lose weight, or you have to study a
textbook in order to pass the final exam, you are going to have to follow these steps in
order to cure your insomnia.
If you are willing to spend the next five weeks following the suggestions in this book, I
guarantee that you will be sleeping better. You will also be mentally and physically
healthier and you will be happy and optimistic. Isn’t it worth a try?
Chapter 1: Dumping the Nightmare For Sweet Dreams
It is bedtime – again. You immediately think, “Oh no. Not another sleepless night.”
Before you even crawl into bed, you KNOW what the night will bring – more tossing and
turning, but no sleep. Nonetheless, you get into bed and wait.
The clock is ticking. You hear every little noise in the house. You turn onto your right
side, then onto your left. Finally, you roll over onto your back and put your arms over
your eyes, trying to shut out everything. But even your arms cannot seem to shut out
the thoughts that go rolling around your head.
How am I going to work tomorrow? I’m already too tired to move and here it is 2am and
I still haven’t gotten any sleep. I’m never going to make it. Not with that meeting. I’m
supposed to present the big proposal. How will I ever manage if I can’t even keep my
eyes open? Of course, I could probably manage if that was the only thing on my plate,
but it’s not. I’ve got the big family reunion this weekend, and I really don’t want to see
everybody – especially feeling as tired as I am. I look terrible. I feel terrible. What will
everybody think? Now, look, it is 3am. I only have 4 more hours to get some sleep!
Eventually you do fall asleep and get in about 2 hours only to find yourself awake again!
Just 30 minutes before the alarm clock rings, you drift off again. The buzzing of the
clock let’s you know that the torture of the night is over, but that the torture of the day is
about to begin.
That is insomnia. It is your worst nightmare.
Insomnia robs you of more than sleep. It robs you of hope, power, energy, joy, and wellbeing.
If you don’t get enough sleep, your entire life suffers.
Just to matter bad matters even worse, if you happen to confide in friends and family,
they are likely to give you the sage counsel that it is all in your head. All you have to do
is relax. Stop thinking about it. And, if you are like most people, you will begin to wonder
if you have more than just a sleeping problem. Now, the embarrassment of being a
“mental case” can be added to you list of things to think about as you lie in bed at night
not sleeping.
Going The Doctor’s Route
Most insomniacs never get treated. Why? Many don’t ever mention it to their doctor.
They are embarrassed by the fact that they can’t sleep. They feel that EVEN babies
know how to sleep. Since they can’t, there must be something wrong with them and it
has got to be psychological.
Another reason that insomnia goes undetected is that doctors simply don’t ask the
questions concerning sleep and sleep patterns. If you happen to go to your doctor
concerning lack of energy, they are far more likely to run a blood panel than they are to
ask about your sleeping habits. And, if they happen to ask, they won’t have much to say
or do about your answer. Why not? Because doctors simply do not receive adequate
training on sleep, despite the fact that so many suffer from sleep problems.
Treating insomnia is difficult when you only have the tools of the modern medical
community. Doctors have shots, x-rays, scans, blood tests, and pills at their disposal.
These are great for treating infections, but is sorely lacking when it comes to chronic
health problems like insomnia.
If your doctor does respond to your sleep problem, it will most likely be in the form of a
pill. Pills such as Halcion. Restoril, Dalmane, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, Ambien, Sonota,
and the newest sleeping aid, Lunesta are often prescribed to give patients a good
night’s sleep. The good news is the bad news. Sometimes the pills work.
Why is this bad news? Because they aren’t really treating the problem – they are only
masking the problem. And eventually, even if you have found a pill that works, it is going
to become less effective over time because your body will adapt the pill. So far, Lunesta
is the only prescription sleep aid approved by the Food and Drug Administration for
long-term use, in contrast with more-established short-term medications such as
Ambien and Sonata. While most approved sleep aids tend to lose their effectiveness
after a week or so, Lunesta has been shown to remain effective for up to six months.
Good news – bad news. What do you do after your time has run out?
Not to mention that you have to deal with the side effects – grogginess, dry mouth,
unusual dreams, etc.
Imagine that you went to the doctor with terrible headaches and all the doctor did was to
give you mega doses of Tylenol. It is true that the headaches may lessen. But,
eventually, either the doctor will have to give you even higher doses of Tylenol or find a
stronger drug. Why? Because the Tylenol did NOT cure the headaches. It only masked
the pain. The real way to get rid of the headache is to treat the cause. The same holds
true for insomnia.
If this is true, then why do doctors continue to prescribe sleeping pills? It is a doctor’s
typical mode of operation to give a pill. It is easy. It gets the patient out of the office. It is
what they were taught and are continuing to be taught.
Drug Companies Are Big Business
Another reason that doctors prescribe pills for insomnia is due to pressure from drug
companies. Drug companies send in reps to give away free samples. They can afford to
make them free because they know that once you find some relief, you will be hooked.
You will have to continue to take the pills or once again suffer from insomnia.
Sleeping pills are big business. If you don’t believe me, then ask your doctor for a
sample. I guarantee that with the introduction of Lunesta, you can now get Lunesta
samples AND Ambien samples at most any doctor’s office. Prior to the release of
Lunesta, you couldn’t find many Ambien samples, but the war for the winning pill is
waging and drug reps all over the country are the warriors.
Sepracor Inc., the Marlborough, Mass.-based maker of Lunesta, has nearly tripled the
size of its sales staff to 1,250 and will spend $60 million this year on ads for the drug.
U.S. advertising for prescription and over-the-counter insomnia drugs totaled nearly $68
million in 2004, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a media-research firm. But
spending in the first four months of 2005 was $48.7 million; at that rate, it could top
$146 million this year.
Lunesta averaged about 60,000 new prescriptions a week after its launch. Several
analysts forecast Lunesta sales will eventually reach $1 billion a year. Lunesta seems to
be on the verge of toppling the Ambien market, which accounts for about $1.9 billion of
a $2.1 billion U.S. prescription sleep aid market.
Doing It Yourself
Due to the high cost of sleeping pills (a month’s supply of Ambien costs about $90 and
of Lunesta is $100), many people go it alone. But they are not truly alone! Other
insomniacs spend millions every year on over the counter sleeping aids. And the drug
companies cash in here as well.
Well known manufacturers provide over the counter sleeping pills. Due to their brand
name recognition, like Tylenol PM, Excedrin PM, and Anacin PM, the public feels lulled
into security that these drugs are safe and effective. The problem is that there is no
scientific evidence that these medications are more effective than a placebo.
Nonetheless, these companies rake in $100 million a year selling to you.
Just like prescriptions sleeping pills, their over-the-counter equivalents have the same
issues. The effectiveness of these pills goes away. The side effects are present. And
they simply do not treat the real cause of insomnia.
The Melatonin Remedy
One way to determine if a problem exists is to watch for a fad. Cancer is an issue and
many fads have come and gone about what to do to prevent it. Eat oats. Eat more fish
oils. Stay away from refined flours. You name it and there has been a fad concerning it.
Melatonin is insomnia’s fad.
Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced by the pineal gland in the brain. It is
often referred to as the sleep hormone. According to studies, melatonin has been
shown to facilitate sleep, significantly shorten the time needed to go to sleep, reduce the
number of night awakenings, and improve sleep quality.
Sounds like a wonder drug. But, if it were true, then why are so many people still
suffering from insomnia? It is true that melatonin is produced in our bodies and that it
appears to be sleep related, but everything else is still a mystery. The claims that
melatonin can cure insomnia are just that – claims.
But that doesn’t stop the general public from trying it out. Melatonin is considered to be
safe because it is natural. There are lots of natural products that are not safe! Arsenic is
natural, but I wouldn’t take it, would you??
Companies want to capitalize on the sleeplessness problem and have recently put
melatonin into the forefront again. A new government-approved drug, Rozerem, is the
first prescription sleep aid not designated as a controlled substance. It is chemically
related to the natural hormone melatonin. However, even among doctors, the response
to the new drug is mixed. Some are grateful for another weapon to fight insomnia.
Others believe that it will be no more effective than anything else they have tried.
And, like every other pill, Rozerem is only effective as long as you are taking it. The real
cause for insomnia remains untreated.
The Best Treatment
The best treatment for insomnia will address the root cause of the problem. It will not
merely be a band-aid or address only the symptoms. The best treatment of insomnia
understands that insomnia is not caused by psychological issues or by physical issues –
it is caused by beliefs and habits.
In this eBook, you will learn the beliefs and habits that keep you from sleeping. And then
you will learn how to change those beliefs and habits so that you can sleep.
Doctors and pills and psychotherapy don’t address the real cause of insomnia. This
program does. This program allows you to gain control in an area of your life that affects
all other areas. Once you gain control of your sleep, you will find that you have gained
control in all other aspects of your life. You will do better emotionally, physically, socially,
and spiritually.
Are you ready to regain your life? The rest of this eBook will show you how!
Chapter 2: Everything You Want And Need To Know About
Sleep
At least one third of our lives are spent sleeping. But what do you really know about
sleep? Are you aware that sleep comes in stages? Do you know which stages are more
important than others? Do you know what causes the body to fall asleep? Do you know
why we need to sleep in the first place?
This chapter will answer these questions in an effort to get you to understand sleep. In
order to get at the cause of insomnia – poor sleep – it is important to understand good
sleep and how it is supposed to work. Once you understand sleep and insomnia, you
will be able to use the tools found in this book to decrease your insomnia and increase
your sleep.
The Stages of Sleep
Many people who have not studied sleep believe that it is a time when the brain shuts
down and you are out of touch with the world around you. As brain scans can now
prove, this is certainly not the case. Instead of turning off, many phases of sleep are
extremely brain active!
The first period of sleep is not even considered a sleep stage. It is merely called relaxed
wakefulness. In this period, your mind drifts along with an alpha brain-wave pattern.
Your thoughts wander and you become quite relaxed.
If you continue on your sleep journey, you head into Stage 1 sleep. This seems to be a
more relaxed version of relaxed wakefulness. Your muscles relax, your breathing slows
as does your heart rate, your body temperature drops, and your eyes begin slow rolling
movements. A new brain wave pattern, theta, occurs. It is during this stage that you
may still feel awake but in daydream mode. In fact, if someone wakes you when you are
in Stage 1, you will probably protest that you were not asleep at all – just drifting!
The next phase, Stage 2, is more like sleep than either of the first two phases. During
Stage 2, you are even more relaxed and become less aware of our surroundings.
During this phase, our bodies may try to wake us. This can be seen on an EEG
(electroencephalogram) as spikes. This is a light sleep that we can easily be wakened
from.
Finally, you will move into deep sleep. Deep sleep is represented by both Stage 3 and
Stage 4 sleep and typically occurs about thirty to forty-five minutes after arriving in
Stage 2. Characterized by slow brain wave patterns known as delta waves, deep sleep
is a pattern of sleep that detaches you from your surroundings. During deep sleep, your
blood pressure is at its lowest, you use the least amount of oxygen, you breath the
slowest, and your heart rate becomes unhurried.
When you are in deep sleep, you become difficult to arouse. Think about a child. If you
have a child that is in deep sleep, you can move them from one place to the other and
they never wake. If they happen to wake, they certainly won’t remember it later.
Deep sleep lasts about 45 minutes and then your body takes a quick detour. Instead of
heading forward to the next stage, your body instead goes back to Stage 2 for a few
minutes. Then we enter the dream world known as REM sleep. During REM sleep, we
have vivid dreams and our brains are as active as they are during our waking hours. In
fact, the brain waves are almost identical to wakeful brain waves, thus causing some
people to say that REM sleep is an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp. This sleep is not sleep
at all in the brain wave sense of the word!
Unlike deep sleep where you feel groggy if awakened, waking from REM sleep is often
refreshing. This is probably due to the fact that REM and wakefulness are so closely
related.
Once done with REM sleep, your body reverts back to Stage 1 sleep, to Stage 2, Stage
3, Stage 4, Stage 2, and REM again. This series of stages happens every 90 minutes
and those that get good sleep will have anywhere from 4 to 6 of these sleep cycles per
night.
Each cycle is not exactly like the cycle preceding it. Based on brain wave scans, it
appears that deep sleep is longer in the earlier cycles and REM sleep is longer in the
later cycles. Since deep sleep happens less often during the latter parts of the night, it is
not uncommon to wake more during the second half of the night than the first half.
However, for most people, this wakefulness happens quickly and without incident,
usually resulting in no memory of the event.
Which Stage is Most Important?
Based on sleep research, it appears that deep sleep is the most important stage of
sleep. If you have been sleep deprived, your body will make up the deep sleep you
missed. However, it will not make up stages 1 or 2. In fact, your body will only attempt to
make up 50% of REM sleep.
Why is this so?
During deep sleep, our bodies get to rest in a way that does not happen during
wakefulness. The immune system has a chance to heal. The muscles get most of the
blood and renew themselves. And deep sleep allows for deep physical restoration.
REM sleep is important for allowing our brains to process new information learned
during the day. That is why babies sleep so much and are often in REM sleep. However,
recouping REM sleep is not as important to the body as recouping deep sleep. Lack of
REM sleep will cause agitation, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating, but lack of deep
sleep impairs our physical functioning.
Sleep is Connected To Body Temperature Rhythm
Despite the fact that many of us believe that our body temperature remains a constant
98.6 F, this is simply not true. Our body temperature has cycles. It’s also known as a
circadian rhythm. Take a look at the following graph to see how your body temperature
fluctuates during the day:
As you can see, your body temperature is lowest in the wee hours of the morning and
highest in the early afternoon and early evening. As the night wears on, the body
temperature begins going down again. But just how do these temperatures relate to our
sleep?
Contrary to what most of us are taught in grade 5 science class, our body temperature
doesn't stay at a constant 98.6º Fahrenheit (37º Celsius). Our body temperature actually
has a specific rhythm to it. It rises and drops as the hours of the day progress. The
difference in body temperature is about 3º Fahrenheit (2º Celsius).
This periodic rise and drop in body temperature tells our mind when to feel tired and
when to feel more awake. As body temperature rises, we tend to feel more awake and
our brain waves are usually higher. As body temperature drops, we tend to feel more
lethargic, tired, and lazy - this is a big cue for our minds to lower brain waves and enter
Stage 1 sleep.
As you look at the graph again, you might notice that there is a slight “drop” of body
temperature during the mid afternoon. This is an usual mid-afternoon body temperature
slump. You may have noticed, at some point in your life, that you usually feel an urge to
sleep or take a nap during the afternoon. This is completely natural, and sometimes the
pressure to sleep during the afternoon is as strong as the pressure at night! (Although
most of us choose a drug of choice, such as caffeine, to combat this body slump).
Because of the demands our society puts on us, such as work, children, and social life,
most of us can't sleep at this time. As we'll explore later on, nature actually intended for
us to have a nap at this time - we'll talk about the science of naps in detail.
Generally, body temperature begins to rise in the early morning hours, drops sometime
during the afternoon, and then begins to rise until the early hours of the evening. It's at
this time that we have “peak performance” body temperature, most people are most
active during the early evening hours, and this is where body temperature is the highest.
Afterwards, body temperature drops and reaches its lowest point at around 4 am.
If your body temperature rhythm is too flat (doesn't rise or drop low enough), or if it's
messed up in any other way, chances are you will experience sleep difficulties. It will be
difficult for you to sleep deeply. We'll explore all the causes of that later on in this eBook.
It's because of the body temperature rhythm that most of us feel sleepy, at precisely the
same time every night. It's also why some people can wake up without an alarm clock at
precisely the same time every morning.
Usually, your body temperature rhythm will follow the same pattern regardless of when
you fall asleep. For example, if you've been waking up at 7 AM all your life, this means
your body temperature begins to rise at this time. It won't matter if you fall asleep at 11
PM, 12 AM, or 1 AM, your body temperature will rise at 7 AM, and you will feel sleepy at
the same time you always did the next day. Unless you take the proper actions to
optimize your body temperature, it will usually return to the same pattern. This is the
main focus of this book.
Later in this book, you will learn ways to help promote healthy sleep by altering your
body temperature.
Which System Is At Work?
Our sleep cycle is governed by two different brain systems. One is the wakefulness
system and one is the sleep system.
When the wakefulness system is in charge, our bodies are awake and alert. The normal
wakefulness system operates for 16 hours a day. After about sixteen hours, the sleep
system takes over. The wakefulness system is much stronger than the sleep system
and continues to operate even when the sleep system is in control.
If you have ever been a new parent, you will understand this concept. You might be
able to sleep through a train roaring by on tracks just a few blocks away, but even the
smallest whimper of the baby will have you at their side. This is because the
wakefulness system is active and determines what you need to respond to.
Those with very strong sleep systems have no problem with sleeping. However, those
that have weak sleep systems or extremely strong wakefulness systems will find that
they are labeled insomniacs. Part of my personal theory, is that, because of the
diminished “natural sleep response”, this wakefulness from deep sleep is heightened in
Insomniacs.
The Natural Sleep System - A Quick Crash Course.
This is your body's natural sleep system, meaning: the way your body knows when it’s
time to sleep by a way of measuring body temperature, sunlight exposure, and a special
hormone in your body called melatonin, which controls when and how long you sleep.
In order to sleep properly at night, your body needs to have the right rise and drop in
body temperature, the right amount of exposure to sunlight, which will in turn manage
your melatonin hormone levels properly.
I will not get into the science of this, as it's not necessary right now, simply, what I want
you to understand clearly is that part of curing Insomnia is also taking the proper actions
to strengthen the natural sleep system.
All Insomnia Is Not Created Equal
When people hear the word insomnia, most assume that it means an inability to fall
asleep at night. It is true that this is insomnia, but it is only one kind called sleep-onset
insomnia. Another form of insomnia is called sleep-maintenance insomnia. If you have
this variety, you can fall asleep easily, but can not stay asleep. In fact, when you wake,
you then have trouble going back to sleep. The final type of insomnia is not about
quantity of sleep but about quality of sleep. For those who suffer with this kind of
insomnia, it seems that they are just not rested regardless of how much sleep they had
the night before.
Although there are different types of insomnia, there are many aspects of the condition
that are similar.
Takes longer to fall asleep
Sleeps lighter
Wakes more frequently
Sleeps fewer hours
Have faster heart rates
Have more muscle tension
Has a flat body temperature instead of a cycle
Thus, we see that insomniacs have poorly balanced sleep/wake systems with the sleep
system being too weak and the wakefulness system being too strong. And that is what
is so great about this program. It will help you learn to control your sleep and
wakefulness cycles so that you can be in charge of how well you sleep.
Why Doesn’t Everybody Get Insomnia?
Most chronic insomnia, bouts that last more than one month, start out as short-term
episodes. These episodes are typically in response to some significant life event, loss,
stress, health issues, or relationship concerns. During these short term episodes of
insomnia, you tend to sleep less but are processing the new information in your life. For
most people, once you become adjusted to the effects of the life event, you go back to
sleeping normally.
For some, however, it is not so easy. For some, short-term insomnia becomes chronic
insomnia. Why?
Why Does Short Term Insomnia Turn into Chronic Insomnia?
Before we understand this, we must ask ourselves one question: What is the difference
between someone with regular sleeping patterns, and someone who is a Chronic
Insomniac?
When a person with normal sleeping patterns gets into that bed, and they feel the
weight of their head on that pillow, and the warmth of that blanket around their body,
their mind gets the signal, and gives the order “Okay guys, this is the signal! Lower
Heart Rate! Decrease Body Temperature, slooooooooooow down the brain waves,
we're all going for a riiiiide!”
Now, that may be an over dramatization, but I want you to clearly understand that
sleeping isn't something you VOLUNTARILY DO, it is a LEARNED response, which we
develop as we grow up. A person without chronic Insomnia has this response, and it is
in a “healthy working condition”, although it may be slightly interrupted by short-term
insomnia from time to time, as I described to you above.
You see, as we go along through our life, our body learns certain “cues” for when it is
time to sleep, most of our sleep patterns are developed during our early childhood years
of 6-10, where we usually sleep 8 - 10 hours per day. If you have been suffering from
Insomnia since your teens, it is most likely this early conditioning is part of the cause.
A common cue for sleeping when you're a child is the need for your parents to come
and tuck you in, for them to read you a bedtime story, for them to keep the lights on, or
for the door to remain open. These cues are learned by our subconscious mind, which
conditions our body to enter stage 1 of sleeping, where your brain waves go from alpha
to beta, a state right before you enter the world of sleep. I will call this the “natural sleep
response.”
In the same way, chronic Insomnia, is a LEARNED RESPONSE, in which Your Mind is
Conditioned to Associate Sleeping with Pain, Anxiety, Discomfort, PANIC, and
DEPRESSION.
The difference is this:
As you go along in your life with your normal sleeping conditioning, where your mind is
associating bed with the “natural sleep response.” At one point in your life something
happens to cause short term insomnia, stress, depression, post dramatic stress
syndrome, death of a loved one, anxiety, whatever it may have been, if the short term
insomnia turned into chronic insomnia, in your case, you went over what I call the
“insomnia switch”.
Understanding this is very important, so pay attention:
There is a study in NLP called “anchoring” and the rule of anchoring is this: Whenever
You Experience a Strong Negative or Positive Emotional State in a Certain Location, to
a Certain Sound, Touch, or Feeling - Your Mind Will Associate that Experience With
That Emotional State.
To demonstrate to you how anchoring works, I'd like you to remember a certain song
that maybe makes you feel REALLY happy or ecstatic that you may have in your life....
Or maybe, think of a song that makes you feel extremely sad... Or a song that reminds
you of a time you fell in love.
That's right, as you think about that song, or if you were to play it right now, I can almost
guarantee you some of those emotions will come back to you. The reason you are
capable of experiencing those emotions is because at some point you were having
them when you heard that song, and they became “anchored” to it, inside your mind.
TV advertisers are very aware of how this works, and most modern commercials use
this all the time, they try to get you to associate incredible feelings with their products or
services, by showing you wonderful scenes.
Cigarette companies THRIVE on this concept, as they get you to associate feelings of
being in control, sexy, healthy, good looking and fun with smoking, all things which we
know very well are not the results of long term smoking.
Finally, here's how negative anchoring creates Chronic Insomnia:
You see, initially you had a case of Short Term Insomnia, like everyone does at some
point their lives, except what probably happened, after 2 or 3 days of Insomnia, instead
of not worrying about it and letting your mind “re-load” your old sleeping conditioning
with the “natural sleep response”, instead you focused on a deep feeling of ANXIETY
and PANIC. You probably asked yourself questions like “Why can't I fall asleep? What's
wrong with me? How is this going to affect my health? Why is everyone else sleeping
normally but I can't? Do I have Mental Problems?” These questions most likely
produced even more ANXIETY, FEAR, and PANIC in you, which are all very primal,
strong feelings of PAIN.
Additionally: If you took sleeping pills at this initial stage to try to fight Insomnia off, you
increased your chance of acquiring chronic insomnia by about 3000%. (This will be
explained in detail in a further section.)
What happened at that moment, is you went over the “Insomnia Switch” - You have now
conditioned your subconscious mind to believe that the process of falling asleep = PAIN.
By the way, please notice I say “the process of going to sleep” NOT sleep. This is very
important, as you are conscious of trying to go to sleep, unconscious when you are in
sleeping; this is why the negative anchor takes place.
What you have now is chronic insomnia, or as I like to call it instead, seeing how
“Chronic” is such an over-used and scary word, is “Learned Insomnia”. When you go to
bed, you most likely immediately feel a sense of loss of control, anxiety, panic, and
frustration about sleep.
You have taught your mind to feel PAIN every time you try to fall asleep, whether you
know it or not, you have erased the “natural sleep response.” Even if you don't
experience anxiety and fear later on in your Insomnia, your mind will take an unnatural
time to cause your body to fall asleep - and when you wake up during the night, falling
asleep will also be very difficult.
Kacper I can't believe this, why would your mind work against you? This sounds a bit
too far fetched for me...
I know it can, in fact it's perfectly reasonable, if you haven't been exposed to any
material like this before, it's very easy to fall into the belief that Insomnia is caused by
some other external factors, but I'm writing this to shatter that belief inside and make
you realize that the only true cause of Insomnia is WITHIN YOU, and the only cure for it
is WITHIN YOU as well.
First of all, why would your mind work against you? Well, what you'll realize is that your
mind isn't actually working AGAINST YOU, your mind is actually working to PROTECT
YOU.
Another discovery that NLP has made is that there is a natural response in your mind
that controls nearly all our behavior. And that response is to:
Avoid Pain, and Gain Pleasure.
Think about it... every decision you made in your life, whether you were conscious of it
or not, was to Avoid Pain, and to Gain Pleasure. Think about the things you do in your
waking life, the decisions you make, the way you interact with people. Maybe some
recent decisions in your life which have changed the direction it was going?
Let me give you an example: Pretend you have $10,000, and you've got two choices.
1) Go on a LUXURIOUS 5 day trip To Hawaii that will cost you exactly $10,000?
2) Remove a Tumor from Your lung that may potentially kill you? (The operation will
cost you $10,000)
My hallucination is you would chose #2
You see, most of our decisions are there to avoid pain, and to gain pleasure. This is an
instinct within our minds to protect us from danger and to keep us from harm, to keep us
alive.
The Insomnia “Switch”
Your mind can only have one association to one experience; the stronger emotional
experience will usually over-take the weaker one. The Instinct to AVOID PAIN is
stronger than the instinct to gain pleasure. So when your mind combines the process of
going to sleep as something that is PAINFUL, something that makes you ANXIOUS,
and WORRIED, when this association happens the older “natural sleep response” flies
out the window.
Because the process of going to sleep is a PAINFUL experience, the “natural sleep
response” which your mind normally associated with relaxation and pleasure, is now
non-existent. This is the reason why you simply can't “naturally fall asleep”, as other
people naturally do, even if you don't feel anxious, worried, or panicky when you're
trying to fall asleep, the “natural sleep response” will not occur because you have
erased/suppressed it.
This is also the reason why some people suffer from Insomnia since early childhood, at
some point their sleeping conditioning also got interrupted, most likely by fear of
nightmares, fear of the dark, family problems, fear of the monster under the bed, or
anything else that would create fear and anxiety during the process of falling asleep.
(also why small children are dependent on other “cues” where falling asleep is “safe”
such as getting tucked in by their parents, keeping the light on, etc)
To end this section, I'd like to recap on a powerful point: For most people, the factor that
pushes short-term Insomnia over the edge into becoming “Learned Insomnia” is the
factor of feeling anxiety, fear, and panic, about their sleep loss. The moment you start
fearing sleep loss, your chances of becoming a “learned Insomniac” increase
dramatically; as this helps to tie the emotional anchor of “FALLING ASLEEP = PAIN”
Note: There are many other powerful negative emotions that could have triggered your
Insomnia, pain and anxiety are just general examples.
---------------------
If you liked what you read so far, allow me to suggest that you get the rest ofthis e-book and the entire Powerful Sleep system today, click here to grab your copy
right now!
Click here to see what's in the full version of the Powerful Sleep system.
Wishing you Sweet Dreams and an Incredible Amount of Energy in Your Life!
Kacper M. Postawski
www.PowerfulSleep.com
www.SleepWiz.com
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