I'm a bilingual yoga teacher who helps people who sit a lot gain mobility, move without pain and reduce their stress.
Why you wake up in the middle of the night
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Why do I wake up in the middle of the night then struggle to go back to sleep?
Should I stay in bed or should I get up and wait for sleepiness to come back?
This is one of the most asked questions on my Q&A podcast, so I thought it might be time to answer it here too. Most of the time, it's stress.(Is anything not caused by stress nowadays? 🥲) Something is bothering you, maybe not enough to keep you awake at night, but enough for your nervous system to be on alert. And enough for you to start thinking about it the second you wake up, whereas if you were a bit more zen, you would fall back to sleep without even noticing you woke up. But it could also be...
What should I do when it happens?If you wake up and can't fall back to sleep, don't look at the clock. You would start counting the hours until you have to get up and stress about falling back to sleep... which will prevent you from falling back to sleep. If you feel very awake (my tell-tale sign is if I can open my eyes fully) and have tried to get back to sleep for over 15 minutes, get up and go to another room. No bright lights, no screens. Do something relaxing like reading, listening to music, gentle stretching... and as soon as you start feeling tired again, go back to bed. Sleepiness comes in waves, so we want to prime the nervous system for sleep while we wait for that sweet wave. If that happens to you regularly...See which boxes you tick from the list of causes above. I'm sure you can get some quick wins like avoiding caffeine late in the day or ordering earplugs and a sleeping mask. And if you'd like to reduce your average stress level and build a night routine that will make you sleep like a baby, that's what I do :) Send me a short message explaining your situation as a reply to this email or on WhatsApp, and I'll tell you how I can help you. Om, peace 🧡 Clem |
Clémence Dieryck
I'm a bilingual yoga teacher who helps people who sit a lot gain mobility, move without pain and reduce their stress.
Calling all French speakers! (or at least understanders) I'm excited to announce that: It's my birthday. I'm currently on holiday in Rome.but more importantly... Starting Monday 14 April, I'm starting a new weekly online yoga class designed especially for stressed out millenials like you. In just 60 minutes a week, you'll release tension, improve your posture, and calm your mind... all from the comfort of your home. It's the best if like me, you hate the idea of having to go to a studio or a...
On Monday I got up in the morning and went to the kitchen to make myself a coffee. The sink was empty, the kitchen spotless, even though I did a big cooking session the night before. Last night’s tired version of me had done the dishes. I even took a photo cause I was so pleased with myself And I told myself: “I love myself for having this habit of washing the dishes right after cooking. It’s such a nice present to my future self.” Whenever I speak to myself in such a nice way, I’m always a...
Has it ever happened to you that you had a completely free day, and you thought you’d have plenty of time to check off loads of tasks from your to-do list… only to end up spinning your wheels all day long? Yeah, me neither… 😬 I realised that on days when my schedule is packed, I get way more done. Whereas when my day is wide open, I spend forever deciding what to do, I get easily distracted… and in the end, nothing (or almost nothing) gets done. We actually need constraints. I know, it sounds...