Sleep is one of the most important ingredients for success. Yet, it could be the first thing that gets affected the minute you face a challenge.
Lack of good sleep affects your focus, and ability to think. Not getting enough quality sleep can increase your risk of heart disease, and obesity. It affects more than your mood.
Do you lay in bed at night struggling to shut down?
Do you find yourself laying in bed at night, thinking about all the things that you need to do?
Or you are so tired from the day, and jump into bed ready for a good night sleep, but you can't seem to shut off your brain?
Do you replay the day's events in your mind? Do you think about what you could have done different?
Or do you find that this is the time that you can think about a better response to a question you were stuck with?
My sleep struggle
I have always been grateful that sleep has never been a problem for me. That was until this year.
I found myself stressed out with work. Stressed out with some personal relationship. And grieving the end of other relationships.
What was the first thing that became affected?
My sleep.
I became one of those people who struggled to shut off. I finally understood the problems that people had when they said that they couldn't get to sleep.
How did it affect me?
It started taking a toll on my other relationships. It started taking a toll on my other projects. And it definitely affected my discipline and drive.
I couldn't get out of bed early. I would wake up in the middle of the night and lay in bed awake for hours. Then in the morning, I would struggle to wake up.
I had a hard time focusing on the tasks that I needed to do. Things that would take thirty minutes before, I now struggled to complete in an hour.
My sleep was bad.
I had to find a way to fix it.
I tried taking supplements, but they didn't work for me.
What was the Fix?
I was listening to this podcast, "Huberman Lab" and heard him talking about NSDR and Yoga Nidra.
He recommended it as a way to fall back asleep, or a better alternative to napping during the day.
Taylor had also mentioned something about Nidra before too. But this was before I had this problem.
So, I became curious and thought I'd give it a try.
My First Exposure to NSDR and Yoga Nidra
I listened to a script of both NSDR (I recommend this one here created by Huberman Lab), and a Yoga Nidra Script (You can find some here in this playlist.)
What do they do?
After evaluating both, I realized that they were quite similar.
They both entailed getting your body to a relaxed state. They both calmed your mind.
They both put your body in a physical and mental state that releases emotional tension. They slow down your nervous system, and allow your muscles to relax. All in all, they made it so much easier to fall asleep.
I choose Yoga Nidra
I opted for Yoga Nidra because it is more spiritual. It's a type of meditation. One of my goals this year is to be more spiritual, so this was lining up.
So, every night, as I wound down for bed, I would do my skin care routine. Then I took some time to decide what I wanted my Nidra experience to focus on.
- As you explore the options for Nidra, you will come across different meditations. They have different focus such as:
- relaxed sleep
- manifestations
- health
- stress
- letting go
- and so much more
Then, I turn on the meditation, get comfortable, and before I know it, I will be off to dreamland.
During my first couple tries, I would listen until the end of the podcast and fall asleep after.
But as I listened more, I started falling asleep earlier and earlier.
Today, when I go into bed, sometimes I don't even hear the start of the podcast.
Instead, I'm already sleeping by the time it starts.
Yet, I still experience the positive effects of my Nidra of choice. I'm more calm. I'm more relaxed. I am better able at controlling my response to my daily stress. I'm happier and more positive. And I'm not struggling with sleep like earlier in the year.
My result of Doing Yoga Nidra every night for 1 month
The meditation works about 97% of the time.
My sleep is more restful, more relaxed, and deeper. The best part, is that since I choose the Nidra route, I get to work on a part of my life that I choose to focus on as I fall asleep.
So this is why I'm sharing it with you.
Because I want you to know about these amazing tools to help you get some better Zzzz's at night.
I now understand how frustrating it can be wanting and needing to sleep, only to lie in bed awake all night. I know how much it sucks to only fall asleep when it's almost time to get up.
So this week's challenge
The challenge
If you find that you are struggling with sleep. Or if you would like to make your sleep deeper and more restful. Choose one of the available links below and try it every-night this week.
YOGA NIDRA (SPOTIFY) (YOUTUBE)
Then check the quality of your sleep. I'm excited, because I'm almost certain that it will help you get some better rest.
About GiggedBz
Being an entrepreneur or managing a household can be very stressful. Somedays you really just need some help. And I'm sure we can agree that good help is hard to find. This is why we made, Gigged.bz.
