An Insomnia Story

How the Refreshed program improved my life

Insomnia is intimate. It’s fought in the dark and silence, when you feel most alone and vulnerable. We wrestle with our regrets, our deepest, most secret fears, our mountains of To Dos and Wish I Hadn’ts. We suffer through pains, aches, and tortuous hormone fluctuations (men do too!) all alone. We long for sleep but instead get anarchy.

If you have trouble sleeping, whether it’s for a night or two here and there or a constant battle you fight, you know the pain I’ve just described. 

I know it myself, all too well. So well in fact that over the years I’ve developed my own arsenal of holistic techniques I lean on when sleep eludes me. This arsenal and the methods I used to compile it have become Refreshed.

What does Refreshed look like in practice? I’m glad you asked! 

Let’s say for example you are of a certain age, suffering with menopause symptoms. You have a child in her teens. You have a career, maybe even your own business. You are divorced, single mom-ed for years, and recently married. (Spoiler alert – this is me). 

Even one of these would give you ample reason for sleepless episodes from time to time. For me, having all this plus a dab of existential crisis now and again, give me bouts of insomnia that last usually around 2-3 weeks at a time.  Thanks to my background in holistic healing techniques I have a solution for whatever aspect of my life wants to keep me awake. 

Refreshed gives you your own unique set of tools.

Say you have one or more of these same issues I have, or a completely different combination, and want to have on hand holistic, natural ways to ease your mind, body, and spirit into a restful slumber. 

We’d begin by reviewing the intake form you submitted (it’s extensive and asks a lot of questions about your lifestyle, health, and sources of stress) and then would pinpoint the three focus areas for your insomnia toolkit. Examples of focus areas:

• Hot flashes

• Anxiety about finances

• Worry about child

• Relationship insecurities

• Muscle aches

• Seasonal allergies

• Brain that won’t turn off

• Grief over loss of someone close

• Literally 1,000 other reasons – we are all unique in the combination of things keeping us up

Each focus area gets its own month as part of Refreshed. 

Where do we start?

We determine which issue to start with (whichever is the biggest source of stress in your life) together, and I give you your homework for the month. This homework could involve any or all of the following:

•  Essential oils and/or aromatherapy blends customized and created just for you, to use at specific times. You receive this as part of the program.

• Flower essences (single essences or customized blends) to take at specific times. You receive this as part of the program.

• Sleep journaling to track what is working and isn’t, and how you’re responding. You receive the sleep journal as part of the program.

• Daily self-care rituals specific for you and your life that encompass creativity, nutrition, fitness, aromatherapy, meditations, and more holistic techniques.

• Nightly rituals specific for you and your life that encompass herbs, teas, baths (or footbaths if you’re not a bath person), aromatherapy, meditation, and other holistic techniques.

• Reflexology techniques

• Meditations and visualizations

• Afformations (different from affirmations – I can’t wait to tell you all about them!)

You work with the tools for the month and we stay in close contact via Slack (a messaging and sharing app).  We have a Zoom check-in mid-month where we talk through your experience with the tools and adjust the techniques as needed.

We then repeat that for months two and three for the next two focus areas.

At the end of Refreshed the goal is for you to have on hand an arsenal of tools you can lean on when you can’t sleep, or aren’t getting restful sleep. You’ll be armed with solutions to try for your family as well.

What kind of support will you get?

What I’ve described is just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll have one-on-one focused attention and the support of a certified holistic practitioner, and a safe place to share your sleep struggles with someone who truly understands and has found a way through her own struggles. You’ll have the peace of mind that comes from integrating holistic self-care methods and techniques into your life. You’ll receive the innumerable benefits of holistic self-care that will extend far beyond how you sleep.

Please don’t spend another sleepless night on your own. Reach out and book your discovery call. Let’s get you to sleep.

Artwork: Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh