Complete Sleep Program

(5 sessions every other week, over a 10-week period; $1,125)

The program consists of five, one-hour sessions and two recordings during which I work with you to achieve more restful, restorative sleep. Emphasis is placed on achieving the somnambulistic state through very deep and thorough relaxation combined with compounded suggestions causing sleep expectancy. Recordings include very specific suggestions that address the client’s unique situation.

I recommend this structure as it creates a very firm plan and project for better sleeping. We can, of course, map out a different course depending on your particular needs. Please contact me to discuss your particular sleep habit: [email protected] and/or 212.365.4775. Or schedule your Complete Sleep program now. 

Feel free to go to my products page and order the download of Complete Sleep.

Tips for Better Sleeping

Before you decide that you are not a good sleeper, try these tips to rule out anything simple that might be causing you to sleep poorly.

• Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy. If you are not sleepy at bedtime, then do something else. If you wake in the night and find you’re not going right back to sleep, get out of bed (you don’t want to condition yourself to associate your bed with not sleeping). Do something neutral. Research shows that putting together a puzzle works a part of your brain that helps you relax and get sleepy. Create an atmosphere that has you wanting to go back to bed.
• VERY IMPORTANT: Avoid screen time (of any kind) at least one hour before you go to bed. The light from the devices has been shown to give messages to the brain that it’s time to wake up. Anything you can do to lessen agitation (not checking email, social media, etc.) will help you start moving toward sleep.
• Read a book, listen to soft music, or browse through a magazine. Find something relaxing, but not stimulating, to take your mind off your thoughts and worries about sleep.
• Make a short list of the things on your agenda for the next day in the order that you will accomplish them. If you need to go into detail on some points on the list, that’s fine, but try to make it short; a simple outline of the day so you know the day is planned and you can imagine how it will unfold very easily due to your good planning.
• If you find you are especially worried about something, do the writing exercise accompanying this tip sheet. Avoid using your computer for this due to the reasons listed above.
• Keep a regular schedule around sleeping: go to bed and wake at the same times each day even on the weekends. Sleep loves structure, rhythm, routine and habit.
• In order to reset a sleep routine, change the time you wake rather than changing the time you go to sleep. This will have a greater effect on starting your circadian inner clock. Try waking ½ earlier than usual and turn on lights or go out in the sun if it’s light out: expose yourself to as much light as possible in the morning.
• Avoid taking naps if you can. If you must take a nap, try to keep it short (less than one hour). Never take a nap after 3:00 pm.
• Stretch: 10 minutes of mild stretching will help concentrate your mind and release some bodily stress. Lie flat on a rug or mat and stretch arms over your head; stretch your fingertips in one direction and your heels in the other imagining that your body is stretching in both directions wrapping around the earth. Do other stretches of your own choosing, but make sure this is not a work-out, just a light releasing of tension.
• Take a warm (not hot) bath or shower. Remember that you can take a 10 min. bath; it doesn’t have to be long. Light a candle or two and use bath salts and oils. While you are in the bath, watch your breath inhaling and exhaling. Imagine that very restful, calming peaceful clear air is going in through your lungs and infusing your whole body with calm.  With the exhale, imagine all the tension, worries, and agitation leaving your body. Do this 20 times, counting each inhale and exhale round as 1, 2, 3 and so on.
• Hunger may disturb sleep. A light snack at bedtime may help sleep.
• If you must drink something in the evening after dinner, drink Camomile tea or some other herbal tea (not green tea) or warm milk (milk, pasta and turkey have triptifan, which is known for its sleep-inducing powers). Avoid alcohol in the evening. Although alcohol may sometimes bring on sleep onset more easily, the second half of the night is very disrupted. Evening alcohol also increases snoring. Drinking anything near bedtime increases the chance you will awaken having to go to the bathroom. Reduce caffeine intake and refrain from having it after lunch.
• Steer clear of intense conversations you need to have, or of overly dramatic movies or television. Engage in as neutral an activity as possible. People who cannot “turn their minds off” at bedtime often benefit from the use of a “white noise” sound generator (for example, the hum of a fan, humidifier, or air ionizing unit) at bedside to “de-focus.”
• Avoid reading, writing, eating, watching TV, talking on the phone, etc., in your bed. The bedroom is for sleep, intimacy, and recovering from illness.
• Insulate your bedroom against random outside noises, block out light, and avoid drastic changes in room temperature. Excessively warm rooms will disturb sleep; keep the room temperature 65° to 70° F. Think of a cave: cool, dark, and quiet.
• The chronic use of tobacco disturbs sleep.
• Use an alarm clock and avoid using your smart phone as an alarm. If you find yourself waking up and looking at the clock, put the clock under the bed or cover it up. Do not look at the clock in the middle of the night.
• Create some soothing suggestions you can say if you awake in the night. Here are some examples:
  • You can think about all of that in the morning.
  • Everything always works out and it will this time too.
  • Now you sleep deeply and comfortably.
  • You are safe and sound.

• Count back from 500 very slowly; if you lose your focus, start again at 500.
• Listen to hypnosis relaxation recording.

Complete Sleep Writing Exercise

Thinking about and worrying over things that have happened in the past or things that may happen in the future can cause confusion and anxiety at any time during the day. When we settle down to sleep and distractions are minimized, however, worries can loom larger than ever.

We often feel we need to think things through (worry about them) in order to find a solution or reach a conclusion.  This thinking can sometimes create a loop that repeats itself at sleep time when we are more aware of what we’re thinking.

This writing exercise is designed to help you organize and store these heavy thoughts so that you can relax your mind for sleep and sleep deeply and restoratively for as long as you’d like. The exercise also functions to help you get clear about your worry or problem and temporarily store it on computer or paper to revisit the next day when your mind is rested and can create solutions much more easily.

Use these questions as a guideline and feel free to modify them in any way or create your own:

• What is the main thing I am worried about right now?
• What will happen if the worst part of this worry comes true? Ask this question several times until you get to the bottom of it, for example, if you are worried about what a friend thinks of you, the answer might be, “she won’t be my friend any longer.” Then ask, “what will happen then?” and so on.
• What’s the percentage that it’s likely to come true?  (That is, “It’s 30% likely to come true or it’s 90% likely to not come true.)
• What can I do about this right now?
• What’s the first thing I’ll do tomorrow to address this issue?
• Make a list of 5 things you’ll do in the future (tomorrow, next week, etc.) to address this issue, solve this problem, etc.
• Make a list of 5 things you’ll do to make steps toward preventing this from happening again. (Make these believable to you and to others.)
• Let’s say despite all you can do, you feel it’s 99% sure that this thing will happen in the way that’s most distressing for you.  State what you will do then, how you will react, how you will feel, etc. If you don’t wish to contemplate this one, please entertain the thought, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there” or “I’ve managed everything up until now, so there’s no reason I won’t be able to manage this.”
• Write this exact sentence three times to finish the exercise: “I am going into deep sleep now where my own mind will reveal solutions to this issue.”