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My quest for a deep and restful sleep has been quite the ordeal, let me tell you! Every time I think I’ve found a solution, a new challenge hits my life, and sleep is always the first thing to go out the window. Hands up if you can relate!
Truth be told, insomnia has haunted me all my life. From childhood to teenagehood, I’d have horrible nightmares. This improved when I was married, but once I got divorced, it all came back stronger than ever. Though, I will say… with every struggle comes a new ritual for my sleep routine. These days, I not only have multiple weirdly shaped pillows, but also, a favorite new purchase (keep reading to find out!)
First, I’d like to tell you about how my pursuit of a full night’s sleep started off pretty basic. I worked on going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. Getting a strong routine proved to be crucial and super effective! Then, I began to use lavender, sleep spray and crystals. This helped for some time, but my body went back to its restless ways. It wasn't before my acupuncturist told me that I lacked grounding, which is the key to falling asleep and staying asleep.
With that new knowledge, I called on Mother Nature and started taking swims in the cold Nordic ocean! Although the grounding power of water improved my rest, it was pretty short-lived… my insomnia came back with a vengeance after 3 months.
Out of desperation, my next attempt at getting some shut-eye led me to purchase a pregnancy pillow. It has a horseshoe shape - my kids call it, “big pants”! I have to admit, it was so very comfortable to sleep with. You can take one of the “legs” and wrap it around yourself for some pressure, and it really nurtured my loneliness. For all the single people out there, I highly recommend this pillow, pregnant or not!
I won’t lie… I remember there were some feelings of shame the first night I had a fella sleep over! I told him to wait just a sec and ran into my bedroom - I quickly tossed the pillow under my bed. Now, I don’t give a damn! I welcome thee to enjoy my bedroom as it is - there’s zero shame in getting yo needs covered. No pun intended. ;)
As my body started getting used to all this support for sleep, I was - for the first time in my life - starting to look forward to going to bed.
But then, Covid happened and we were all traumatized. At this time, my bedroom reeked of enough lavender and pillows to support an entire tribe. It was over the top, so I did a little decluttering and gave my preggo pillow to my kid. I replaced it with a weighted blanket, my new favorite purchase I hinted at earlier! It came highly recommended by my favorite Scorpio, so I had to try it.
Upon ordering, I was unsure which weight to go for. I like some weight on top of me (it’s been a while if ya know what I mean), so I opted for 7kg instead of 5kg, which was recommended for my weight.
The first night, it was heavenly - like being hugged with just the right amount of pressure! But it was nearly impossible to turn my body, so I woke up every time I tried turning in my sleep. I learned that I’m a light sleeper that moves around a lot, but I still felt super rested and supported when I woke up. This blanket had a major calming effect on my nervous system. It must be what babies feel like being swaddled. Delicious.
I had an inkling that I was moving around quite a bit during my slumber, due to my messy morning hair and from the SnoreLap app that recorded my nightly sounds. I wanted to record myself as part of my research about my breath; it was important to know if I was breathing from my nose or mouth, but it started picking up a lot of other weird sounds. Frankly, it scared the hell out of me!
But back to the weighted blanket for a quick second - I noticed that I was starting to feel really emotional every morning. I’d wake up and have a good cry. I didn't know why I was sad, it just felt like an emotional cleanse, so it got me curious enough to do a little more research. Apparently, the blanket grounds our energy, and its heaviness moves this energy and lowers it. In other words, it’s amazing for my fellow anxious and restless people out there! When we ground, we connect, we feel, and then we release!
So to sum it up, here are some sleep enhancers I highly recommend!
I’d love to hear from you! What are your sleep routines?
Kristine
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