My name is Sridhar Rajendran and I help people who constantly struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep to get a good night’s sleep.
I have struggled with insomnia myself and know how painful it can be. That's why I like to get to the root cause of what's keeping someone awake and fix it quickly so you can go back to enjoying your life again.
Get free access to my training library that will help you overcome insomnia permanently without any medications.
https://www.sridhar.coach/free-trainings
Book a free strategy call and let's chat.
https://calendly.com/sridhar-coach/intro-call
#sleeptips #sleephelp #sleepingtips #sleepexpert #sleephealth #sleepcoach #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters
I have struggled with insomnia myself and know how painful it can be. That's why I like to get to the root cause of what's keeping someone awake and fix it quickly so you can go back to enjoying your life again.
Get free access to my training library that will help you overcome insomnia permanently without any medications.
https://www.sridhar.coach/free-trainings
Book a free strategy call and let's chat.
https://calendly.com/sridhar-coach/intro-call
#sleeptips #sleephelp #sleepingtips #sleepexpert #sleephealth #sleepcoach #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00If you have been struggling with insomnia, then journaling is a really effective tool
00:06in order to figure out what's really bothering you. First of all, you need to understand that
00:11insomnia is nothing but fear of being awake or fear of not being able to sleep. Now, I'm not
00:19going to talk about the physical causes or the physiological causes of insomnia. In that case,
00:25you might have to speak to a doctor to figure out if there are anything which is going wrong in the
00:30body which could be causing it. I'm only talking about the psychological causes of insomnia. So,
00:38when we look at the thoughts which affect you at night and prevent you from sleeping,
00:44there are two kinds of thoughts basically. It's either about the past or about the future. Let's
00:50first look at the thoughts about the past which keep you awake. So, the first thing is worry.
00:57It is worry about what happened, something bad which happened to you. Maybe you lost your
01:05job or some health is failing or your relationship ended. So, there is this
01:14thing about the past which the incident has happened, the incident has moved on, but you are
01:20still holding on to that particular incident and you are not able to let go of it which is causing
01:26you the hurt. Now again, I'm not trying to diminish the seriousness of the incident which happened.
01:32Losing a job is a terrible thing or having a relationship end is a worse thing. But again,
01:40you need to come to terms with it and move on. The only choice that we have is the present moment
01:48and in order to move on, we need to be able to accept it and let go of it. So, by
01:58admitting this when you write in your journal, even for a few minutes, it kind of pacifies. It's
02:04kind of like sitting down with a friend and talking to them and saying all the things which
02:09are on your heart. Sometimes we find it difficult to open up even to our close friends and family
02:16members because we are scared of being judged. What will they think about me? So, we are
02:22scared of being vulnerable. It is okay. You can be your own best friend. Your mind can be your own
02:28best friend if you train it. So, looking at the past and writing it down, not with
02:35an intention to solve anything. For the first seven days when you are doing it, please do not
02:41try to fix your problems. Please do not try to solve it. You just keep writing everything which
02:47is bothering you. Anything that you are sad, mad, angry or upset about, just write it and
02:55when to stop, either you run out of things to, you know, went about or you keep repeating the same
03:02things over and over again. So, that is a sign where you need to stop writing this and move on
03:09to the next stage which is about looking back at all your journal entries and seeing are those
03:16problems still valid now. Does it make any sense to hold on to this? Is there some kind of a
03:24solution which is possible for you? Is there one step, just one single small step that you can
03:31take to overcome it? You might not know all the steps or how to solve the entire problem completely
03:38but at least one single step can you do. So, that is where, you know, first we spend enough time
03:44for the mind to express itself, to let it all out and then we move into the phase of finding
03:51solutions and when you are doing this, you know, you can just reflect upon your own life and see
03:57what are all the problems that you have overcome in the past. Have you not overcome challenges at
04:03all in your life? The chances, if you're watching this video, you have and just reminding yourself
04:10at all your own, you know, successes will give you the strength to move on. You see, sometimes we don't,
04:16you know, take time to appreciate our own goodness. We are quick to recognize the goodness in others
04:22and appreciate it and even if it's a small thing but, you know, we might have overcome a lot of
04:28problems in our own life but we don't give ourselves enough credit. Now is the time to give
04:33yourself that credit for all the achievements. So, this is how to use journaling when there are
04:40thoughts about the past which is coming and bothering you. Now, the second kind of thoughts is
04:46about the future and how to use journaling for that. So, let's look at the simplest of things first.
04:53It's, let's say, something to do with work, you know, and you're working on some kind of a project and
04:58you're excited about it and because of that you are not able to sleep. This tends to happen, right?
05:04You know, when we are kids, you know, we are, you know, eager to get our birthday present or, you know,
05:10go on some vacation and because of that we are unable to sleep. Similarly, you know, if you're
05:14working at a job, the chances are high any of your projects are going to take anywhere
05:21between three to six months to see the light of the day. So, again, it doesn't mean that you are a
05:27failure or your project is a failure during the three to six months. It just is that it was going
05:33to take some time for that entire thing to, you know, come into a reality. So, what can you do then?
05:43So, one is celebrating your little wins. I'm sure if you have a project plan, you might have
05:49scoped it down to what to be done every week or even every single day. So, just go through your
05:55to-do list and then, you know, like remind yourself that, you know, what? Yes, it's going to take
06:02another three months. Yes, it's going to take another six months but we have completed so much.
06:07It's like looking at the rear mirror. Yes, when you look ahead of the path, there is still so much
06:12more distance to cover but if you look behind, you will realize how much of the path you've already,
06:18you know, covered and, you know, sometimes the project might extend or due to some unforeseen
06:26circumstances, the deadline gets extended or it gets shortened. So, then you will get to know that,
06:32it is because of this reason this happened. So, in the future when you're working on something,
06:37you will be able to create much more realistic and accurate timelines for yourself and then
06:43the other thing is which bothers people when it comes to future is, you know, anxiety or
06:51fear about the unknown. I'm gonna say this to you, the future is unknown. No matter what you do,
06:59you cannot control every variable about the future. Not you, not I, no person, no human being
07:05can control the complete aspect of the future but what is the one thing which you can do is,
07:12you know, remind yourself that you have gone through enough challenges in life and that you
07:20will get through this too and be grateful for all the things that you have received. You know,
07:26gratitude is one of the most strongest powerful emotions that we human beings can experience.
07:34You know, even when you have very little, you can still be, you know, grateful for it. You know,
07:39let's say you go to a supermarket today, you will be able to find, you know, fruits from different
07:45parts of the world at your, you know, like disposal. Just imagine, you are able to, you know,
07:53access fruits which are like, you know, thousands of miles away from grown on a different continent.
07:59This was not possible even like 50 years ago but it is possible for you right now. Is that not
08:06something to be grateful about or does it not bring a sense of, you know, reverence towards it?
08:15It is tough. I understand when you are, you know, like say in some kind of a financial trouble
08:20to find that space to be grateful for things but if you have a will, you will be able to find that.
08:28You know, those little, little things, those random acts of kindness from strangers
08:33which we don't even notice. When we are in that state of lack, we don't appreciate all the good
08:39things that are happening to us and statistically it is possible that there are more things,
08:45good things which are happening to us. It is because we have these blinders on and we want
08:51this one particular thing so we ignore everything else. I'm not asking you to be, you know, ignorant
08:57of the reality. No, of course, you need to plan for reality. You need to take action and everything
09:02but I'm just asking you to be more cognizant of all the little things, being mindful of what you
09:08are receiving every moment. So, by doing these things in your journaling and being grateful and,
09:15you know, being, you know, rational and optimistic both at the same time will help your mind calm
09:22down, slow down and, you know, sleep better. So, I want to summarize this video by saying, you know,
09:28journaling is a wonderful tool which will help you to sleep. So, when it comes to thoughts which
09:34bother you, it could be either about the past incidents which happened. So, in that case, remind
09:39yourself of the achievements that you have had which will give you the strength to go on and if
09:45you believe in a higher power then, you know, reminding yourself that, you know, the universe
09:51of God is guiding you will give you the strength to go on and if the thoughts are about the future,
09:57worry about lack or, you know, some kind of when will this get over, having a to-do list and, you
10:03know, celebrating your small wins and having a sense of gratitude and reverence for all that you
10:10are getting right now today, not something generic, something which actually happened today will give
10:15you the sense of calmness in order to let go and sleep well. Try this out and let me know how it goes.