Insomnia Tips with Dr. Jessica Parker

Insomnia is weird and confusing. 😴

I think it’s really hard for our bodies to naturally just get a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. 💤This is something that has been introduced and basically forced since the dawn of electric lighting and it puts a lot of pressure on our poor parasympathetic system! 🏔💧🔥💎🌳The 5 Elements in Eastern Medicine can certainly shine a light on which organ systems need support depending on the time that we wake up in the middle of the night, but I also think that it is totally natural to have a regular witching hour (or 2). Our ancestors gave themselves a span of 10-14 hours to get those 8 hours, and it was very common for people to wake up, process thoughts from the previous day, get a snack, drink some water, have sex! They probably even gave themselves time to nap in the day! 💆🏽‍♂️💆🏻‍♀️ This just isn’t as practical in our busy society and the overlap makes that middle of the night insomnia so stressful. How many times have you laid awake with anxiety about not sleeping? It’s the worst! It may sound easier said than done, but I’ve found that trying to just let myself have that awake time when it comes has totally changed my anxiety around sleep. 🐏

Counting sheep has never worked for me, but the more I just let my witching hour be a time for me to process rather than stress about not sleeping, I’ve actually found that I’m sleeping better and more soundly these days. ❤️ #sleep