2/24 Wellness Wednesday

Anne does CrossFit in one-on-one personal training sessions with Coach Leslie.

There are many lifestyle choices that lead us to health and happiness, and the ones that I see that make the biggest impact on our health are:

• Physical Activity
• Hydration
• Nutrition
• Sleep
• Mindset

I write about mindset every Thursday and Wednesday's blogs are devoted to wellness practices. Today is a bit of both. 
I have personally struggled with chronic insomnia for many years. I have tried pills, (prescription, OTC and herbal) nighttime drinks, nighttime tinctures, a special bed, special sheets, special pillow, essential oils, scented candles, white noise, no noise, blackout blinds, etc., you name it and I've tried it. 
At the end of 2019, I enrolled in a 6 week cognitive behavioral therapy program specifically designed for insomnia, CBT-i. It ended the week before Christmas. You know what I learned? My insomnia isn't a problem, my attitude (mindset) about my insomnia is the problem. 
I had worked myself up into a hot mess about my insomnia, and the CBT program helped me learn how to control it. I did a big inventory of all the things that are known sleep disrupters, alcohol use, caffeine consumption, timing of physical activity, day time napping, stress management, nutrition, and a variety of others.
I kept a detailed sleep and awakenings log. Awakenings are when you wake up in the middle of the night at a time you did not intend to wake up. Based on my data I was able to identify lifestyle practices that disrupted my sleep. 
The CBT part was to get really clear on how I thought and felt about keeping or eliminating the disruptive lifestyle practices. This is where I learned that I am in control. I can CHOOSE to do the things that are KNOWN (based on my personal data) to disrupt my sleep, or I can CHOOSE not to do them. Trust me, this was difficult. I had to look deep within some dark places to explore why I did the things I did. A deep introspective journey on your "why" can be uncomfortable. 
I call this journey the seven-layer why. For example, take a common sleep disrupter, alcohol, and go seven layers deep into why you drink. Go ahead:
Why do you drink?
Why do you drink?
Why do you drink?
Yes, but why do you drink?
Why do you drink?
Why do you drink?
Why do you drink?
See what I mean, un-com-for-ta-ble! 
The other important thing I learned is that my anticipation of a bad night of sleep actually created a bad night of sleep. I was creating a self-fulfilling prophesy. I thought it was going to be bad and it was. I worked very hard at unlearning this, and it's still a work in progress.
​Do you have any areas in your life where you create a self-fulfilling prophesy? Share them with me in the comments. 
The good news about all of this is that the only thing we have control over is ourself. We make the choices that create health and happiness and we make the choices that make us sad and miserable. It's our choice. Choose wisely:-) ​

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