How your anxiety is ruining your sleep

Many people who come to see me for sleeping issues are also experiencing some degree of anxiety.

In this 11 minute video, I discuss anxiety, what it is, how it can negatively affect your sleep, and a few techniques and ideas that may help.

Having experienced heart-pounding anxiety in my own past, especially because of sleeplessness, I can honestly say that it can be a frightening experience and when we are in the middle of it, it can feel like there is no way out. 

Anxiety is a structure of thinking that can become habitual over time, however regardless of how long we have had anxiety, it is still a strategy running within the mind, which means that it can be altered and even released. 

There is a transcription of the video below (Click the Read More link and please excuse any typos). 

If you have any questions about the video or anxiety please contact me.

 

Sleep and Peak Performance Webinar

Recently I was asked to give an online webinar to the Personal Trainers Council of NZ and its members.

Below is the video recording via YouTube. The first few minutes is a little info from the PT Council and the webinar organisers and then I get straight into it. Enjoy!


The upshot of this webinar is that Sleep and getting a good sleep has huge influence on Peak Performance.

When we are training, be it our brains or bodies (or both), we are building the muscle, ironically, when we are resting, and resting is the key.

What and listen to find out more, and of course if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Testimonial:
"Hi Jean,

Thank you so much for piping up in Dave's workshop & reminding us about Aaron McLoughlin's sleep webinar.  You were right, he is good to listen to his content is practical & informative.  Really enjoyed it." G. Christchurch

Legally Drunk - due to lack of sleep

How much sleep do we really need? A long asked question that has - after a very long study - been answered... we think.

David Dinges, from the University of Pennsylvania, is a sleep and chronobiology researched. He has been testing large groups of people in the lab to find out what happens to people when they have specific amounts of sleep each night.

Three groups were set up where some slept for 4 hours, 6 hours of 8 hours. And over two weeks the groups had to complete certain tasks designed to measure alertness, mental aptitude etc.

Thinking about Sleep - those thoughts REALLY matter

The thoughts you have about sleep are affecting it!

Have you ever wondered how powerful the effect of your thinking is when it comes to sleep?

How many times have you woken up thinking that your sleep may have been somewhat lacking? And how would you know it was lacking? Because you are remembering the waking up and 'trying' to get back to sleep moments.

What's the Best Bedtime?

Pitha Vatha Kapha...for a Better Sleep Sooner

When it comes to a waking up having had a 'great sleep', so much can depend on timing.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING!
In Ayurveda, an ancient and widely used form of holistic healthcare originating in India, it is believed that aligning ones daily activity with the vibrational movements of nature can lead to a more balanced and healthy life.

There are three periods to the Ayurvedic day, Pitha 10-2(am/pm) Vatha 2-6(am/pm) and Kapha 6-10(am/pm).

Pitha time is the time of the evening when the metabolism is at its highest and during the nighttime Pitha phase -  the middle of the night - this means it is the best time to be in a deep sleep - so that your body can do what it is designed to do (eliminate, rebalance, heal, detox, etc).

IN BED BY 10!
So, in a nutshell, get your head on the pillow before 10pm! Especially if sleep is an issue in your life, what I like to call "In bed by 10!" is the key to dropping into a deep and healthy sleep optimising the healing that occurs during a deep Pitha phase sleep.

Becoming aware of the timing of sleep can have a massive influence on the depth and the power of the sleep that we get. In the end it is all about how we feel during the day.

Ref:  Ayurveda on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ayurveda_humors.svg#filelinks