Interesting video, Alina. I used to experience the same thing, then I did some research and realized it was infact sleep-state misconception. It's when the sleeper feels like they were awake for hours but were in fact sleeping. Those brief moments of awareness seems like a long time and our brain only remembers those moments of tossing and turning. Also, just wanted to add. Hope it helps others. Sleep is a gradual process. There is no 1 certain point where we fall asleeep. Our thoughts became slower and slower and eventually we start dreaming. What helped me was to think of sleep as another form of awareness as opposed to a state of being completely unconscious. It gave me some sort of control and relief which made sleep easier!
I have chronic severe insomnia that has come and gone throughout my whole life, as well as paradoxical insomnia (what you are describing). I have experienced much of sleep misperception (your experience) as well as what OP is describing, becoming aware that you are falling asleep as you are falling asleep. They are both interesting phenomenon, but are not the same thing at all.
@@_samir__1So this is really OCD? i always thought this phenomenon is part of OCD thingy.. and i think i may have OCD by certain degree but i never really get checked of it, though
Have you tried listening to music while tryna fall asleep? Ive struggled my whole life pretty much the same thing, like I start dreaming when Im not fully asleep yet and the second Im about to fall asleep, it feels like Im being pulled from real life and have an urge to force my eyes open. But I found out that listening to music prevents this state with no exceptions.
it feels good to know somebody who really experienced this whole insomnia thing, and have overcome it. You really can relate and explain your experience down to the details, i know i'm not alone and i can overcome it too. Thanks
This was eye-opening! No pun intended. I'm on 6 hours sleep total for the last 2 nights. I'm looking forward to seeing how tonight goes. Thank you for the knowledge ✊
Doing better these days. I had my body and mind conditioned to having a few drinks each night. Then after quitting, my brain was hyper aware and absolutely restless. Now that I've quit drinking and have a healthier diet, I sleep well most nights.
Eversince I found your channel I know that I can get rid of insomnia. That I can fall asleep and have better sleeps. Everything you explain is so deep and make so much sense, it is life changing. I am not exagerating. Thank you so much Alina.
This is exactly what I am struggling with. You saved my life. I watched the video last night, tried your method for the first time; and it WORKED! I've been sharing my sleep issue of hyperawareness ( I actually don't think it has a name till now), but nobody understand my problem. I've been thinking I am the only one with the weird issue. I deeply appreciate you and your video❤
omg yes... when i fall asleep manually right when i'm at the edge of falling asleep i suddenly jolt and feel scared and right before i fall asleep i start to breathe manually, try to listen to my hearbeat... Got only like 5 hours of sleep in last 2 days because of that... and im scared and stressed and start spiraling that i have heart failure or dying. Weekend starts now but if it doesnt stop i think i will finally go to doctor on monday even if i have the white coat syndrome and am extremely scared of visiting doctors. Maybe i have neurosis. Every evening is a downward spiral of me thinking "everything will be alright and even if i don't sleep the maybe i will just watch netflix or read a book" changing to "omg i will never ever sleep again for the rest of my life" and get kinda scared to even try to fall asleep to prevent that unpleasant jolting feeling and result in just laying in bedd all night trying to fall asleep and being unable to until at like 4am i just get so exhausted that i just drift away without even knowing" It's really scary for me because usually I sleep for 8 hours and even if i wake up at night to pee i just fall back to sleep right away but this just suddenly started and persists and i'm scared af... ever since it happened once, every night i dread that it will happen again and i won't be able to just fall asleep like normally and it becomes true :( I think the worse for me is if i'm able to detect my heartbeat once it starts to slow down i get sudden wave of fear like omfg my heart will stop if i fall asleep. I will try to apply the methods you just said but damn i feel so anxious.
Hi, I'm with you. It started with a stress related incident but it's been going on for a full year now. Two nights no sleep again and dead tired mentally but no sleep
Hi Ali, thanks for the video: "Hyper awareness happens on its own meaning it is automatic. It is a part of our safety mechanism that is preinstalled in our brain, part of that fight or flight mode where our attention suddenly narrows down. That is why many people when they feel threatened, they find it difficult to switch their attention on some other stuff. In these moments it is difficult to enjoy things that you normally enjoy." ...I always learn something new from you
I get this too, except I get hyperaware of the pre dream thoughts we get as we fall asleep and wake up. This is related to my health anxiety. When I start noticing it, it shocks me awake.
Yea mine started cause I had a panic attack before going to bed and I was scared to fall asleep. After that I’ve had this happen. I’ve been on meds but I want off meds so I’m going to try her method?
@@vassybaby16 same thing happened to me. I went to bed and one night woke up in the middle of the night with panic attack, since then has been afraid to go to sleep and die on my sleep. I was on meds and stopped them this past December. I m using 7 blossom Tea and using rain videos to help with anxiety at bed time
@@liann8416 did it worked? My meds now don't really much help me, i have clonazepam and quentiapin as meds before going to sleep. I don't even know if my brain is sleeping or not.
I know this ismt right to say knowing it may be slightly hurtful but everything has wisdom. You going through insomnia is helping us insomniacs who either are too scared to see it from a different side or like you said in your previous videos (it's the narrative we tell ourselves and that's thought provoking). You are very articulate in bringing these concepts home which i intuitively knew but needed to hear from someone. God bless you. ❤❤❤
I saw so many videos but you are spot on. I have been facing hyper awareness for few weeks. And your explanation is correct. It filled me with positivity
I always thought of it as ocd, tbh I when I can’t stop hyper fixating on sleep it won’t happen and I won’t know if the answer is to do nothing, trying to relax, or fight it and it seems like no matter which one of those options i try it seems like it’s always the wrong answer because it feels like by doing any of these things my brains try’s to control it and it’s not controllable. Even meditating didn’t work at all but what you said about thinking about it positively actually works a lot. Sucks trying to fight a war in your mind when ever your excited or stressed about what the next day holds.
I just found you and you explain things so well. I literally just had several bad nights of no sleep one week after another because of some supplements that messed with me but by the second time it happened I had already developed the fear, what if I never sleep again? (Reading things online didn’t help). Last night I really tried to surrender and let go. I was successful in not shaking with anxiety like the previous night, but the hyperarousal got me. My body tried to sleep so many times, but the surge of energy of when I would notice it would bring me back. I don’t remember actively getting upset in my body, but I did get frustrated that I was doing such a good job of being calm and staying out of fear but my body kept responding with fear. What you’re saying here, if I understand it correctly, is to have a very neutral response to the hyperarousal, like “yeah, it’s doing that, that’s ok” (instead of being mentally annoyed). The hyperarousal kept me up all night. One thing I did do successfully which sounds similar I think is that I would get these waves of fear and panic in my body and at first I wanted to be like, oh no don’t feel that you won’t sleep but I allowed myself to feel them without attaching to a bad story in my head. Almost like saying, “it’s okay body.” And they would pass. Is that how I should do it for the hyperarousal reactions? “It’s okay body,” and just be patient? I really did want to sleep…
That looks like a sound approach! There are many ways to work with fear and you just found one! You might want to check out my old video about other ways to work with it ua-cam.com/video/tZulhVcZ2ZE/v-deo.html Letting go was the hardest thing I had to do in my life and no wonder that it takes time and practice. It is a bumpy journey, but eventually leads to peace 🙏
Hi Alina, I love how you explain things. You spoke with me a few months back and helped me so much. Even though I would say I’m still on my recovering journey, I can see how I’ve improved and things have gotten better over time as I’ve remembered and practiced better mental and emotional skills. I totally get what you are saying in this video and have experienced for myself, going from jerking, heart racing and hyperaware as sleep is coming, to now it comes much easier and more naturally, with out all the anxiety as before. I still have more to learn, but am so grateful for all I have learned so far. I agree 100% & see how connected the mind and body are and how the stories we tell ourselves about our bodies, do matter, and can either stress us out further or help bring back the peace. Thanks Alina for these insightful and compelling talks!✨🤗
I have been on this insomnia train for some time. Thank you Alina I realize that it’s the anxiety behind it that drives it wild. I stress and fear about not sleeping all day and it’s a killer of joy. Sometimes at night I fall in and out of sleep all the time and become so anxious about it.
the explanation you provide is exactly what most of us were looking for . Thank you . please keep doing vids about this topic . your voice tune and the way you speak is also remarkable to relax.
Thank you for the video. In my case I have almost overcome insomnia, but I still have a hard time overcoming hyperawareness of light and sound, and I was hoping to hear how to help with that. In other words, I don't obsess about sleeping and there's no hyperawareness about the sleem mechanism, but rather on small annoying sounds, like partner moving around.
This is a very typical experience, the residual of hyperarousal may last for a bit longer and manifest in a form of being vigilant to a random noise or movement. But when we keep normalizing our experiences and allowing them be, we are desensitizing ourselves to these residual things
Hmmm very interesting. So by welcoming the hyper awareness and accepting it, makes it come sooner? Before the time period where we actually fall asleep so that they are not conflicting? GENIUS!
Exactly! It is not a direct control of sleep - because nothing can produce sleep, but the less we fight with sleep and hyperarousal the sooner it leaves us :)
Thank you for making this video. Going through this right now due to a high stress time in my life. It was such a scary feeling not knowing what was going on.
I am currently experiencing a year-long bout of insomnia. I attempted a sleep restriction program (that I unfortunately paid good money for) and after 8 weeks of the program I had minimal improvement, but had developed much more severe sleep anxiety that was making things worse in a lot of ways. This was due to the program's emphasis on recording how much and when you sleep and on getting out of bed if you've been awake for 15 minutes. From a scientific perspective, these seem like good behaviors on their face, but both of them necessitate being aware of my sleeping and waking, so of course I just developed hyper awareness and made it even harder to sleep. I'm also AuDHD and wonder if theses programs are tested on a population that would actually be generalizable to me but I digress. I'm so glad to have found this video. Thank you!
I had no idea that this had a name and that it happens to other people. I'd never heard of it before but it's happening to me. Thanks so much. It helps just to know it's not just me!
@@Krampus7777 the biggest thing I took away was to realise that when this happens, sleep is actually on the way. It took the anxiety out of it and now even when it happens I fall asleep soon after
"Wait 15 minutes, and if your'e not asleep get out of bed and do something".....ha. I had a psychologist (US Airforce) give me this advice along with a sleep diary. All night you can see, lay down... then out of bed. Repeated through the night. Then she took the time in bed as sleep time, punched it into her calculator and came up that I had a high sleep efficiency!
For most people, that advice will greatly worsen their sleep problems. The established way of dealing with sleep issues is not based on any science and harms many people.
Thank you so much I have suffered with insomnia for 3 years with so much anxiety and your unique psychological approach has been very interesting and extremely encouraging .😊
Hi all, I have this too except I'm thinking about it all day. Like I'm focused on the act of sleeping itself im tramatized as ive had 8 full nights of no sleep at all in the past 3 weeks and now even if i do sleep a night i think to myself how did i do it? And start worrying about the next night. With all my anxiety has come many anxiety driven thoughts like what if I start thinking and focusing on my eyes each time I close them. This though is distressing and therefore makes it harder for me to sleep. Really scary when you know what's keeping you up and you feel like you have no control over the thoughts that you know are keeping you up.
Thank you for this video. This ended up making a big improvement in my sleep! I tend to overanalyze in general. So I have had issues over the years of with sleep hyperawareness. Yes, sleep hyperawareness is so detrimental because we're trying to self-monitor something that _cannot_ be self-monitored! Its so obvious but I never realized it until watching this. One thing that helped me reduce my need to "analyze" is to use both *snore monitoring app* and use a webcam with *time lapse* capability. Sounds a bit strange but I basically setup my own DIY "sleep study". It was interesting to view the results over the past 2 weeks I've been doing this. I actually sleep more than I thought based on the snores and the webcam captures. Other things that could work would be professional sleep monitoring products like the rings and smartwatches. But the most important benefit to me with the snore monitoring app + webcam is that it let my mind *let go* of the need to self monitor because I know the equipment is doing it for me. Eventually, once I've retrained myself to my satisfaction, I will stop the snore app and webcam. But for now, its kinda interesting so I will keep doing it.
I am understanding, not fearing sleep, but how do you not fear functioning well with friends or family or something if you have a big event the next day? ? That’s what always seems to really plague me😂 thank you so much for your wisdom
Hi Arlene, I think it can help to realize that even with perfect sleep we might not always have a perfect day, and that sometimes people experience some amount of sleep disruption due to excitement/worry before important days - this is a normal response to things that matter to us. 🙏
Could it be sleep apnea causing the heart palpitations. A lack of oxygen can make sleep unattainable. A lot of people have undiagnosed sleep apnea, I’ve cured mine with Vitamin B-1 , I also taught myself to sleep on my stomach.
Thank you so much. I have been battling to overcome this problem. Will definitely try to change my mind/perception re hyper arousal tonight. Rosalie SA
Just had this happen to me. Making it so that I only have been able to get threeish hours the past three nights. Feeling terrified 😳 that it will happen again. I’m going to try your technique tonight. 🤞🏻 So it sounds like what you are saying is that I should welcome the wave of hyper awareness. Say thank you to it for keeping me safe. Tonight I will challenge myself to celebrate when it comes and imagine smiling to it and giving it a big hug. Yay! Your here. Sleep is coming. Hurray! The body is getting ready for sleep.
I think the solution is to take your mind of it. I watch TV with bluelight blocking glasses...this focuses my mind on something else...then I get sleepy then go to bed.
I feel that sometimes, but lately, past 2 weeks i feel like i stopped breathing. I think is anxiety since a close friend of mine got open heart surgery aswell as my dad with in same week. i exercise daily, weights, running and bjj and i feel great doing it. STILL i worry i am having a heart attack
Hi Alina, thank you. It is very helpful. I have the same problem. Do you provide sessions online. If so, how can I subscribe and what is the procedure.
I have been struggling with this for a while now, my awareness is almost a premature excitement that I am going to fall asleep rather than a fear which causes my mind to wake back up. The process repeats over and over sometimes through out the entire night. ANY ADVICE!?
It is normal to feel an intense sensation to get up and pace the floor when you can't sleep? I deal with this it is very frustrating. I think it is anxiety driven.
Sometimes forcing yourself to stay in bed when we are obviously frustrated and worried adds unnecessary pressure on ourselves. Getting up in such case can help alleviate some of the suffering and reset that mental state simply because we change the surroundings for a while. Plus we can go back to bed whenever we feel like it. How can you make this time awake as less pressuring for yourself as possible?
Going on 3 years. Sunday night was so brutal I called in sick on Monday. Did a sleep study. Nothing. I am living in a nightmare. Thank you for this channel.
I’m dealing with this now after having a panic attack while falling asleep. So frustrating. Only Ativan can make me sleep and I need to get off it soon.
Recently because of my sleep anxiety, I get impatient when it happens several times and still nothing's happening. I hope I can change my mindset too so that I can fall asleep every night without medication 🙏
Does anyone feel the adrenaline rush but specifically in their chest region? Which then wakes them up. Ive had this for a month now. I am literally exhausted and I cant remember whay decent sleep feels like. Because the adrenaline rush is so bad I just lay in bed worrying I have a heart issue.
Hi Charlemagne, good question and I completely can relate your feelings about forgetting what a peaceful night feels like. Adrenaline rushes can be experienced in different parts of the body. Some people may feel it in the chest area, others might feel it above or under navel, shoulder area can be felt too. Of course, it is always good to check with the doctor if you have any health concerns. But anxiety can appear differently in each person and it may also migrate from one area to another - this was my experience.
@@FearlessSleep I have a referral to a cardiologist just to be sure. Last year it presented as neurological issues like headaches and stress in my jaw and dizziness. Now it's all in my chest area. Mine is particularly bad at night. But I'm dealing with it the best way that I can
Hi Alina. You said or I understand that hyperawareness is a mechanism of protection. Protection of what ? That is the question I ask myself. Maybe also I have loose confidence in my normal sleep (First time I talked to Daniel 2 to 3 years ago and describe him what happend to me he told me that may be I have the fear of loosing control). Any way is just like you say I cannot be aware of the instant I go to sleep. So I just let sleep come by itself and also watch may anxiety. (not always work but is an improvement). And the same time cutting medication. Juat like to mention that I follow Daniel and Martin. Thank you very much for your help.
Hi Rafael! Sure, hyperarousal is like an alarm that sends us signals in a form of worrisome thoughts "what ifs", physical sensations or emotions. And sometimes the reasons of that alarm can be different but they are all stem from a feeling that one is in a danger. For example, fear of losing control is one thing, fear of not getting enough sleep is another, etc. It helps to ask yourself: what is it that I am currently scared of? What is the worst that can happen? And once you know the answer, e.g. "I am afraid that I will never sleep again" - that this is what the brain perceived as a threat and working with that fear and seeing through it can help you overcome that fear. Hope this helps!
Hi, I have something similar to this. When I go to bed, I am aware that I am going to lay down to sleep, so from the minute I lay down my brain starts to wait for the moment I am going to fall asleep. How do I get rid of this so I can just lay down, don’t think about sleep and just fall asleep?
I have this too except I'm thinking about it all day. Like I'm focused on the act of sleeping itself im tramatized as ive had 8 full nights of no sleep at all in the past 3 weeks and now even if i do sleeo a night i think to myself how did i do it? And start worrying about the next night. With all my anxiety has come many anxiety driven thoughts like what if I start thinking and focusing on my eyes each time I close them. This though is distressing and therefore makes it harder for me to sleep. Really scary when you know what's keeping you up and you feel like you have no control over the thoughts that you know are keeping you up.
Hi Alina, Ihave had extremely bad (or good depending on your perspective!) insomnia, at least 2 nights a week of nosleep at all. I am finding your approach helpful with the fear and expectation but I have another layer of night pain. I have been working on "Pain" through Curable but at night, I find it so hard to implement many of their strategies. Any ideas please? If it's not the falling asleep, it is this! and the nights I can fall asleep, this kicks in.... The pain is more intense at night so I have no doubt it is Neuroplasticity! and my brain doing a number on me! Thank you. I haven't found anyone that addresses both issues!
same i used to fall asleep for 8-9 hours straight buts its hard now but we can recover and go back tho we are just to focused on trying to sleep@LastmanStanding-pb4rw
The mainthing here is also that we try to do something that is impossible to do. We try to notice when we fall asleep but as we fell asleep we are not there anymore to notice it. If we did notice we would be awake. Tho only thing we can notice is waking up
What if I made a habit before of getting your body relax to fall asleep and releasing tension, before I've learned about all of your videos and then it becomes now automatic my brains always monitoring if my body and legs are relax so it can sleep? How can I unlearn that habit?
I've been trying to sleep for the past 2 hours and every time I close my eyes and I start to drift off😢 My heart (stops beating) and I jolt up check my my heart rate. It's in the high 50s low 60s. I move around. Check it again. Move over. Close my eyes. It starts falling asleep. I get the same jolt again
I have found that listening to an audiobook, audio of rain, or meditation helps to get rid of hyperawareness. the audio has to be in a quiet mode and has to shut off automatically after a set time.
Great that it works for you! However when we deal with hyperarousal sometimes even the most soothing activity can have the opposite outcome because we try too hard. Doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it, it is just good to be mindful of intentions. If it feels nice - why not? But if we do it as a way to hide from hyperarousal, then it gets tricky
Thanks for your amazing videos, Alina. "There must be something wrong with me" has definitely been a thought that has been haunting me and it gives me comfort to know from your videos that this isn't the case. Do you think that SSRIs (anti-anxiety/anti-depressant Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor medications like Lexapro, etc.) can be helpful to retrain the brain to stop fearing insomnia? Or should they be avoided?
How crazy is it that the thing thay keeps us all from sleeping is the fact to we think and focus on sleep. I know i always self sabatage my sleep. Anxiety is super bad no matter if i sleeo or not. Because i know now that my focus is keeping me up instead of saying to myself okay you know the issue now stop focusing on it my mind goes what if u cant stop focusing on it.
@@user-mp9lq3xv5b hi, I sleep, but I still worry about not sleeping. It's a fear of mine because I know how quickly I can go back to not sleeping. I'm currently taking seroquil at night at this point I take more for a phychological factor. It's my clutch. Without it I'm scared I won't sleep at all. If you're like me anxiety about your anxiety will almost surely have you awake.
Wow, Alinaa, thank you for this insightful video, it definitely makes sense, just one question is it possible if you are too welcoming and accepting of the hyperarousal that your brain will decide that it can’t do without it keeping you safe and try and keep the status quo especially if it’s been going on for so long and become a habit. My hyperarousal has been going on for 5 years following an extremely traumatic event. I am aware of everything going on around me and if I do manage to sleep I never wake up feeling groggy like I used to, it’s like I never slept, that’s how strong my hyper vigilance is 😔
Great question! I might want to make a separate video on it as I have been getting such questions for some time. You know, emotions in their nature are fleeting, their task is to inform us about something. If There is a possible danger, we fear, or when we eat nice food and we feel pleasure, that’s how the brain tells us “do more of that” and so on. All emotions are meant to leave but the moment we decide we no longer want to hear them, they tend to get sticky. Paradoxically, once we allow the signal to reach us, the emotion’s role is now completed and it may fleet now. So as much as it seems logical that we “train” ourselves to feel certain feelings, when we don’t resist them, they start being fleeting again. We can’t be in the same emotional state forever, it is normal that we experience the whole palette
I don't know how you are doing now but on top of Alina's teachings. Go to youtube and learn about "Reprogramming your subconscious mind". It will be helpful to you because that is where all our emotions,beliefs and experiences are birthed. It will be of much help.
I struggle with this hyperawareness very much. Everytime I feel really tired so that i feel i could probably fall asleep right now and my body and mind are already starting this process, I get triggered by that and get a very bad anxiety rush, my heart starts pounding super hard and sometimes even for a long time, which is terrible. When i witness myself being on the edge of almost falling asleep i get soooo nervous and excited and scared of "messing it up" or: i cannot even believe this is happening right now, like a dream is comeing true or i won the lottery. I cannot handle the pressure so to speak and im getting this anxiety attack and heart racing. Its sooo awfull and frustrating! So you say we have to neutrally witness these and dont judge them as bad or wrong? I maybe also have to witness my thoughts which go like: "oh my god, is this true? I think i am almost falling asleep, cant believe its happening, ok stay calm, im so excited, cant wait for it, hopefully we make it..." and then there is the anxiety there and my frustration that i lost it again. I will have to find out how i can manage to neutrally watch this phenomenon unfolding itself and stay an objective observer? This is all so painfull and hard to handle :( thanks for your good work !
Observing and seeing things for what they are can be difficult. But usually the objective event is really neutral, as well as the fact that a thought pops up in our minds. But it is our attitude towards external events and thoughts themselves that bring suffering. Observing allows that buffer between yourself and the experience giving you more freedom to act from the place of clarity rather than from the place of fear
I wish I could get in touch with you to ask more about this. I have been struggling with this for months and I have a baby. It’s caused so much anxiety and issues and being able to accept it is hard for me.
@@victorialiyah5584I’m doing better :) have been able to sleep normal again. I was in a high stress state and had so much adrenaline that my body wasn’t able to just relax lol I’m good now tho
i really try to accept it but it feels like ur always alert so how can it go away if ur alert? it feels like ur waiting for sleep to come, and ur heart starts racing bcs it doesn't come...it's not going away that easily...struggling with that rn:(
@@FearlessSleep thankss for ur comment, im doing better now!! But i have another question, sorry for asking so many questions but i think you have a really good experience with these, so as ive also said before, i rarely have bad nights of sleep, my sleep is generally good, but the problem is the thoughts and hyperawareness, hyperarousal, no matter how good i sleep, my mind won't stop thinking about those bad thoughts such as "what if that happened, " "what if u couldn't sleep for.... Days" "what if ur hyperawareness or hyperarousal kept u awake at night? " do u have any tips on how to deal with these?
See those “what if” thoughts as a part of that automatic safety program, like an antivirus check on your computer. Once it is launched, we can’t force it to stop, but it always completes its task once it is sure that you are safe. Treating it as something that has no life on its own, but a lifeless algorithm can help distance yourself from its impact. Without your involvement, it will eventually starve itself and leave you alone.
@@Strawberry-v7x6n This is how I have delt with this;The what if comes and I respond to it with "IF I survived the previous nights then the coming ones won't finish me" I think that acceptance leads you to a point where you are have seen and suffered to the maximum that you are nolonger scared of anything in the future and then the mind is convinced we are safe. I still suffer with self monitoring but as far as acceptance is concerned;I am somewhere;Thanks to Alina and Daniel coz av learnt alot
@@nkundwashanice574 thankss for ur reply im kinda doing well with the accepting those thoughts and not trying to fight them, but my main issue is that whenever and wherever i close my eyes to sleep my mind starts being so alert and aware of every moment automatically like i close my eyes but im so aware if i have felt asleep or not yet which makes it so hard to sleep and i feel like im the only one experiencing this even tho it doesn't necessarily interfere with my sleep but i still have some fear of that
Hi Alina. I have a question on befriending wakefulness. The only thing I have energy for that I genuinely enjoy is watching videos on my phone, but I’m also trying not to look at the time when I’m sleeping. Which is impossible on a smart phone! Should I be looking for a different activity or should I just stop being afraid of seeing what time it is.
If something stands in the way of enjoying the night, I think we can loosen up the rule :). I see no problem in knowing the time at night, especially when it happens not with the purpose to do a “sleep math”. We can’t run away from time forever!
When I drift to sleep i suddenly become anxious my neck and shoulder area become stiff and heartbeat increases. I'm not getting enough sleep due to this 😢
This can sound like a dumb idea but if u think negatively about something else and get sad or depressed then u will fall asleep(although it’s very hard to do in 1st attempt) for example I have a health issue which when I think too catastrophically that this may lead to death or chronic infections and I will die in less age then I just fall asleep no matter the time although it’s not that easy to implement atleast on the initial stage
Seroquel is the only drug that is powerful enough to actually “put you to sleep” I took it but it’s a very trippy antipsychotic. worked for sleep but voices in my head in the morning and throughout the day because it’s a psychotropic drug.
I take Ativan. It completely calms my brain and stops the hyperawareness. I might get one before I fall asleep. It doesn’t “knock” me out just allows me to actually sleep like a normal person. I’m going to stop taking it in like a month or 2 so hopefully this hyperawareness stops so I can just sleep and move on with life
I’ve literally stopped saving for retirement because there’s no point. If my brain won’t let me sleep, I’m not going to be around that much longer. I don’t know how much more I can give up at this point
@@marthasisco9678 I’ve been getting better. Thanks for asking. Got on trazadone and it’s really helped to correct my insomnia. I’m almost back to normal now. ❤️
Body tries to protect us 😂 if it keeps doint that im not sure ill be alive much longer. Btw i do manage to fall asleep, its not easy but i manage. The problem is, in the first 5 mins of sleep, the first faze of sleep it wakes me up. Its scary, i dont feel my heart rate or pulse. I wonder why, is Reaper trying to take me? 😅
Hello Alinaa. Thank you always for your insights. I have never had this phenomenon before. But now my brain knows it can happen to me and feels threatened. Do i let my brain think this way? Anyways, i cannot control my thoughts.
It is natural that this happens, Peace. Our brain always scans the surroundings for possible threats and whenever it finds something new or unknown, it clings on that. New ideas can also have a similar effect. Many people after reading some insomnia forums end up feeling worse than before because of listening to other people's stories. But just like that fear comes, with awareness and understanding how this happens - we can work with that reaction and overcome it! Hope this made sense
During hyperawareness, what would cause you to stop breathing? I dose off at ties on my sofa and I am hyperaware when I am falling asleep and my breathing stops and I wake. I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea but I think this is not related to sleep apnea as it happens right when I dose off.
Thanks for a great video! A while ago I accidentally learned about the concept of lucid dreaming (gaining consciousness while dreaming) and someone I know said they can actually lucid dream. I never quite experienced it but the idea that it can happen freaks me out, I would be drifting off with some random scenes in my mind and suddenly become aware. Any ideas how to deal with this?🫶
Interesting video, Alina. I used to experience the same thing, then I did some research and realized it was infact sleep-state misconception. It's when the sleeper feels like they were awake for hours but were in fact sleeping. Those brief moments of awareness seems like a long time and our brain only remembers those moments of tossing and turning.
Also, just wanted to add. Hope it helps others. Sleep is a gradual process. There is no 1 certain point where we fall asleeep. Our thoughts became slower and slower and eventually we start dreaming. What helped me was to think of sleep as another form of awareness as opposed to a state of being completely unconscious. It gave me some sort of control and relief which made sleep easier!
Amazing insight!
hmm I dont think so, everytime I look at the hours its always the same hour...
Ye and me
I have chronic severe insomnia that has come and gone throughout my whole life, as well as paradoxical insomnia (what you are describing). I have experienced much of sleep misperception (your experience) as well as what OP is describing, becoming aware that you are falling asleep as you are falling asleep. They are both interesting phenomenon, but are not the same thing at all.
waking up with such a high heartbeat! But it's a relief that your heart rate was normal when you checked
I deal with this too
I’ve learned more from people or are “not doctors and not medical professionals” than I have from doctors and medical professionals ❤❤
Yes, me too, totally!!
Me three as well 🙋🏻♀️
Yes doctors don’t know anything. They just stare at you and say “oh you need an ssri.” Or “just stop being anxious” 😒
Soo this is exactly what I've been struggling with these past few days, i didn't even know there was a name for it
Me too
This is the trick the Ocd do makes u things u are the only one facing this
@@_samir__1So this is really OCD? i always thought this phenomenon is part of OCD thingy.. and i think i may have OCD by certain degree but i never really get checked of it, though
This awareness always make me thought I was dying and my body was trying to keep me alert. I have been strugglung with this for a year
Have you tried listening to music while tryna fall asleep? Ive struggled my whole life pretty much the same thing, like I start dreaming when Im not fully asleep yet and the second Im about to fall asleep, it feels like Im being pulled from real life and have an urge to force my eyes open. But I found out that listening to music prevents this state with no exceptions.
This is exactly what i am struggling from in past few days
incredible video! im impatient to go to sleep tonight and use this knowledge, I already feel less anxious
it feels good to know somebody who really experienced this whole insomnia thing, and have overcome it. You really can relate and explain your experience down to the details, i know i'm not alone and i can overcome it too. Thanks
This was eye-opening! No pun intended. I'm on 6 hours sleep total for the last 2 nights. I'm looking forward to seeing how tonight goes. Thank you for the knowledge ✊
How are you now?
Doing better these days. I had my body and mind conditioned to having a few drinks each night. Then after quitting, my brain was hyper aware and absolutely restless. Now that I've quit drinking and have a healthier diet, I sleep well most nights.
I’ve been struggling quiet a while with this. I couldn’t explain to people how it felt and it’s this. Thank you so much for this video!
Eversince I found your channel I know that I can get rid of insomnia. That I can fall asleep and have better sleeps. Everything you explain is so deep and make so much sense, it is life changing. I am not exagerating. Thank you so much Alina.
This is exactly what I am struggling with. You saved my life. I watched the video last night, tried your method for the first time; and it WORKED!
I've been sharing my sleep issue of hyperawareness ( I actually don't think it has a name till now), but nobody understand my problem. I've been thinking I am the only one with the weird issue. I deeply appreciate you and your video❤
omg yes... when i fall asleep manually right when i'm at the edge of falling asleep i suddenly jolt and feel scared and right before i fall asleep i start to breathe manually, try to listen to my hearbeat... Got only like 5 hours of sleep in last 2 days because of that... and im scared and stressed and start spiraling that i have heart failure or dying. Weekend starts now but if it doesnt stop i think i will finally go to doctor on monday even if i have the white coat syndrome and am extremely scared of visiting doctors. Maybe i have neurosis. Every evening is a downward spiral of me thinking "everything will be alright and even if i don't sleep the maybe i will just watch netflix or read a book" changing to "omg i will never ever sleep again for the rest of my life" and get kinda scared to even try to fall asleep to prevent that unpleasant jolting feeling and result in just laying in bedd all night trying to fall asleep and being unable to until at like 4am i just get so exhausted that i just drift away without even knowing" It's really scary for me because usually I sleep for 8 hours and even if i wake up at night to pee i just fall back to sleep right away but this just suddenly started and persists and i'm scared af... ever since it happened once, every night i dread that it will happen again and i won't be able to just fall asleep like normally and it becomes true :( I think the worse for me is if i'm able to detect my heartbeat once it starts to slow down i get sudden wave of fear like omfg my heart will stop if i fall asleep. I will try to apply the methods you just said but damn i feel so anxious.
Hi, I'm with you. It started with a stress related incident but it's been going on for a full year now. Two nights no sleep again and dead tired mentally but no sleep
I too say I will just read but the things is I’m too sleepy to read or watch tv so that starts the downward spiral of my thoughts.
How r u now?
Are you better now
@@desimemes9351how r u now
Hi Ali, thanks for the video: "Hyper awareness happens on its own meaning it is automatic. It is a part of our safety mechanism that is preinstalled in our brain, part of that fight or flight mode where our attention suddenly narrows down. That is why many people when they feel threatened, they find it difficult to switch their attention on some other stuff. In these moments it is difficult to enjoy things that you normally enjoy." ...I always learn something new from you
Thanks so much Veronika! Glad it made sense! :)
This is how I feel
I get this too, except I get hyperaware of the pre dream thoughts we get as we fall asleep and wake up. This is related to my health anxiety. When I start noticing it, it shocks me awake.
Finally found a video about what is been happening yo me since last year now I have sonmiphobia too
Yea mine started cause I had a panic attack before going to bed and I was scared to fall asleep. After that I’ve had this happen. I’ve been on meds but I want off meds so I’m going to try her method?
@@vassybaby16 same thing happened to me. I went to bed and one night woke up in the middle of the night with panic attack, since then has been afraid to go to sleep and die on my sleep. I was on meds and stopped them this past December. I m using 7 blossom Tea and using rain videos to help with anxiety at bed time
@@liann8416 did it worked? My meds now don't really much help me, i have clonazepam and quentiapin as meds before going to sleep. I don't even know if my brain is sleeping or not.
I know this ismt right to say knowing it may be slightly hurtful but everything has wisdom. You going through insomnia is helping us insomniacs who either are too scared to see it from a different side or like you said in your previous videos (it's the narrative we tell ourselves and that's thought provoking). You are very articulate in bringing these concepts home which i intuitively knew but needed to hear from someone. God bless you. ❤❤❤
I saw so many videos but you are spot on. I have been facing hyper awareness for few weeks. And your explanation is correct. It filled me with positivity
I always thought of it as ocd, tbh I when I can’t stop hyper fixating on sleep it won’t happen and I won’t know if the answer is to do nothing, trying to relax, or fight it and it seems like no matter which one of those options i try it seems like it’s always the wrong answer because it feels like by doing any of these things my brains try’s to control it and it’s not controllable. Even meditating didn’t work at all but what you said about thinking about it positively actually works a lot. Sucks trying to fight a war in your mind when ever your excited or stressed about what the next day holds.
I just found you and you explain things so well. I literally just had several bad nights of no sleep one week after another because of some supplements that messed with me but by the second time it happened I had already developed the fear, what if I never sleep again? (Reading things online didn’t help). Last night I really tried to surrender and let go. I was successful in not shaking with anxiety like the previous night, but the hyperarousal got me. My body tried to sleep so many times, but the surge of energy of when I would notice it would bring me back. I don’t remember actively getting upset in my body, but I did get frustrated that I was doing such a good job of being calm and staying out of fear but my body kept responding with fear. What you’re saying here, if I understand it correctly, is to have a very neutral response to the hyperarousal, like “yeah, it’s doing that, that’s ok” (instead of being mentally annoyed). The hyperarousal kept me up all night. One thing I did do successfully which sounds similar I think is that I would get these waves of fear and panic in my body and at first I wanted to be like, oh no don’t feel that you won’t sleep but I allowed myself to feel them without attaching to a bad story in my head. Almost like saying, “it’s okay body.” And they would pass. Is that how I should do it for the hyperarousal reactions? “It’s okay body,” and just be patient? I really did want to sleep…
That looks like a sound approach! There are many ways to work with fear and you just found one! You might want to check out my old video about other ways to work with it ua-cam.com/video/tZulhVcZ2ZE/v-deo.html
Letting go was the hardest thing I had to do in my life and no wonder that it takes time and practice. It is a bumpy journey, but eventually leads to peace 🙏
Hi Alina, I love how you explain things. You spoke with me a few months back and helped me so much. Even though I would say I’m still on my recovering journey, I can see how I’ve improved and things have gotten better over time as I’ve remembered and practiced better mental and emotional skills. I totally get what you are saying in this video and have experienced for myself, going from jerking, heart racing and hyperaware as sleep is coming, to now it comes much easier and more naturally, with out all the anxiety as before. I still have more to learn, but am so grateful for all I have learned so far. I agree 100% & see how connected the mind and body are and how the stories we tell ourselves about our bodies, do matter, and can either stress us out further or help bring back the peace. Thanks Alina for these insightful and compelling talks!✨🤗
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment Sarah! And I am so happy that you are feeling better!
How did you deal with hyper awareness upon sleep onset???or when you are feeling sleepy
I have been on this insomnia train for some time. Thank you Alina I realize that it’s the anxiety behind it that drives it wild. I stress and fear about not sleeping all day and it’s a killer of joy. Sometimes at night I fall in and out of sleep all the time and become so anxious about it.
the explanation you provide is exactly what most of us were looking for . Thank you . please keep doing vids about this topic . your voice tune and the way you speak is also remarkable to relax.
Dear Alina,
This my only speedbump for getting to sleep. I would like to ask; how can I prevent welcoming this awareness from becoming a sleep effort
Thank you for the video. In my case I have almost overcome insomnia, but I still have a hard time overcoming hyperawareness of light and sound, and I was hoping to hear how to help with that.
In other words, I don't obsess about sleeping and there's no hyperawareness about the sleem mechanism, but rather on small annoying sounds, like partner moving around.
This is a very typical experience, the residual of hyperarousal may last for a bit longer and manifest in a form of being vigilant to a random noise or movement. But when we keep normalizing our experiences and allowing them be, we are desensitizing ourselves to these residual things
Hmmm very interesting. So by welcoming the hyper awareness and accepting it, makes it come sooner? Before the time period where we actually fall asleep so that they are not conflicting? GENIUS!
Exactly! It is not a direct control of sleep - because nothing can produce sleep, but the less we fight with sleep and hyperarousal the sooner it leaves us :)
Thank you for making this video. Going through this right now due to a high stress time in my life. It was such a scary feeling not knowing what was going on.
I am currently experiencing a year-long bout of insomnia. I attempted a sleep restriction program (that I unfortunately paid good money for) and after 8 weeks of the program I had minimal improvement, but had developed much more severe sleep anxiety that was making things worse in a lot of ways. This was due to the program's emphasis on recording how much and when you sleep and on getting out of bed if you've been awake for 15 minutes. From a scientific perspective, these seem like good behaviors on their face, but both of them necessitate being aware of my sleeping and waking, so of course I just developed hyper awareness and made it even harder to sleep. I'm also AuDHD and wonder if theses programs are tested on a population that would actually be generalizable to me but I digress. I'm so glad to have found this video. Thank you!
The traditional ways of attempting to address sleep issues (restrictions etc.) make the problem much worse for many people.
I had no idea that this had a name and that it happens to other people. I'd never heard of it before but it's happening to me. Thanks so much. It helps just to know it's not just me!
You are definitely not alone Brenton! Thanks for being here!
@@FearlessSleep thank you. Just watching this video has actually helped. Less stressed about it now and so it happens less often!! 💌
Is it working
@@Krampus7777 the biggest thing I took away was to realise that when this happens, sleep is actually on the way. It took the anxiety out of it and now even when it happens I fall asleep soon after
"Wait 15 minutes, and if your'e not asleep get out of bed and do something".....ha. I had a psychologist (US Airforce) give me this advice along with a sleep diary. All night you can see, lay down... then out of bed. Repeated through the night. Then she took the time in bed as sleep time, punched it into her calculator and came up that I had a high sleep efficiency!
For most people, that advice will greatly worsen their sleep problems. The established way of dealing with sleep issues is not based on any science and harms many people.
Thank you so much I have suffered with insomnia for 3 years with so much anxiety and your unique psychological approach has been very interesting and extremely encouraging .😊
How r u now?
I'm very grateful for you telling us this. It gave me so much more perspective on this subject. Thank you.
This is a very good topic. I think this will help me a lot.
Hi all, I have this too except I'm thinking about it all day. Like I'm focused on the act of sleeping itself im tramatized as ive had 8 full nights of no sleep at all in the past 3 weeks and now even if i do sleep a night i think to myself how did i do it? And start worrying about the next night. With all my anxiety has come many anxiety driven thoughts like what if I start thinking and focusing on my eyes each time I close them. This though is distressing and therefore makes it harder for me to sleep. Really scary when you know what's keeping you up and you feel like you have no control over the thoughts that you know are keeping you up.
My exact problem right now. How did this video help you? Going to try it tonight
How r u now?
This is a helpful video. Thank you
Thank you for this video. This ended up making a big improvement in my sleep!
I tend to overanalyze in general. So I have had issues over the years of with sleep hyperawareness. Yes, sleep hyperawareness is so detrimental because we're trying to self-monitor something that _cannot_ be self-monitored! Its so obvious but I never realized it until watching this.
One thing that helped me reduce my need to "analyze" is to use both *snore monitoring app* and use a webcam with *time lapse* capability. Sounds a bit strange but I basically setup my own DIY "sleep study". It was interesting to view the results over the past 2 weeks I've been doing this. I actually sleep more than I thought based on the snores and the webcam captures. Other things that could work would be professional sleep monitoring products like the rings and smartwatches.
But the most important benefit to me with the snore monitoring app + webcam is that it let my mind *let go* of the need to self monitor because I know the equipment is doing it for me. Eventually, once I've retrained myself to my satisfaction, I will stop the snore app and webcam. But for now, its kinda interesting so I will keep doing it.
The rings and watches are known to be inaccurate.
@@pergolafish Yeah, that's why I used a snore recording app and a timelapse camera. Then you have to do your own analysis afterwards.
I am understanding, not fearing sleep, but how do you not fear functioning well with friends or family or something if you have a big event the next day? ? That’s what always seems to really plague me😂 thank you so much for your wisdom
Hi Arlene, I think it can help to realize that even with perfect sleep we might not always have a perfect day, and that sometimes people experience some amount of sleep disruption due to excitement/worry before important days - this is a normal response to things that matter to us. 🙏
I needed to hear this so badly. Thank you so so so much for your bravery for sharing this. God bless you.
Why do heart palpitations follow the sudden awareness and complete wakefulness?
Could it be sleep apnea causing the heart palpitations. A lack of oxygen can make sleep unattainable. A lot of people have undiagnosed sleep apnea, I’ve cured mine with Vitamin B-1 , I also taught myself to sleep on my stomach.
Your videos are life changing. Actually
Thank you so much this happen to me last night after reading about it on you tube I was awake all night
Thank you so much. I have been battling to overcome this problem. Will definitely try to change my mind/perception re hyper arousal tonight. Rosalie SA
Just had this happen to me. Making it so that I only have been able to get threeish hours the past three nights.
Feeling terrified 😳 that it will happen again.
I’m going to try your technique tonight. 🤞🏻
So it sounds like what you are saying is that I should welcome the wave of hyper awareness.
Say thank you to it for keeping me safe.
Tonight I will challenge myself to celebrate when it comes and imagine smiling to it and giving it a big hug. Yay! Your here. Sleep is coming. Hurray! The body is getting ready for sleep.
You ok now?
Thank you so much for this video and for being brave to share your experience.
I think the solution is to take your mind of it. I watch TV with bluelight blocking glasses...this focuses my mind on something else...then I get sleepy then go to bed.
Thank you so much for this advice! I've been struggling with this as well and looking forward to test this method
I feel that sometimes, but lately, past 2 weeks i feel like i stopped breathing. I think is anxiety since a close friend of mine got open heart surgery aswell as my dad with in same week. i exercise daily, weights, running and bjj and i feel great doing it. STILL i worry i am having a heart attack
I can worry about something and still go asleep only when i focus on insomnia then ii wont sleep
I got hypnic jerks everytime I fall asleep. :(
Great vid! Helpful.
Hi Alina, thank you. It is very helpful. I have the same problem. Do you provide sessions online. If so, how can I subscribe and what is the procedure.
I have been struggling with this for a while now, my awareness is almost a premature excitement that I am going to fall asleep rather than a fear which causes my mind to wake back up. The process repeats over and over sometimes through out the entire night. ANY ADVICE!?
It is normal to feel an intense sensation to get up and pace the floor when you can't sleep? I deal with this it is very frustrating. I think it is anxiety driven.
Sometimes forcing yourself to stay in bed when we are obviously frustrated and worried adds unnecessary pressure on ourselves. Getting up in such case can help alleviate some of the suffering and reset that mental state simply because we change the surroundings for a while. Plus we can go back to bed whenever we feel like it. How can you make this time awake as less pressuring for yourself as possible?
Going on 3 years. Sunday night was so brutal I called in sick on Monday. Did a sleep study. Nothing. I am living in a nightmare. Thank you for this channel.
Have you tried everything??
yes. Meds, sleep study, all of it@@mrfernandog123
I'm living a similar nightmare. How are you doing? I hope better! ❤
nightmare@@Petrenko2012
I’m dealing with this now after having a panic attack while falling asleep. So frustrating. Only Ativan can make me sleep and I need to get off it soon.
Recently because of my sleep anxiety, I get impatient when it happens several times and still nothing's happening. I hope I can change my mindset too so that I can fall asleep every night without medication 🙏
How r u now?
@@desimemes9351 still in the process 🙏🙏🙏
Does anyone feel the adrenaline rush but specifically in their chest region? Which then wakes them up. Ive had this for a month now. I am literally exhausted and I cant remember whay decent sleep feels like. Because the adrenaline rush is so bad I just lay in bed worrying I have a heart issue.
Hi Charlemagne, good question and I completely can relate your feelings about forgetting what a peaceful night feels like. Adrenaline rushes can be experienced in different parts of the body. Some people may feel it in the chest area, others might feel it above or under navel, shoulder area can be felt too. Of course, it is always good to check with the doctor if you have any health concerns. But anxiety can appear differently in each person and it may also migrate from one area to another - this was my experience.
@@FearlessSleep I have a referral to a cardiologist just to be sure. Last year it presented as neurological issues like headaches and stress in my jaw and dizziness.
Now it's all in my chest area. Mine is particularly bad at night. But I'm dealing with it the best way that I can
Thank you for such helpful video ❤
Thank u for sharing. Pleeeeease do more video like this.
Hi! How long do you have to do this training? Its overtaking me... I have them about 5 6 times a night sometimes 15 to 20 when its bad.
It's been happening to me too in the past, multiple episodes each night. It got better over months, keep strong 💪🙏
Hi Alina. You said or I understand that hyperawareness is a mechanism of protection. Protection of what ? That is the question I ask myself. Maybe also I have loose confidence in my normal sleep (First time I talked to Daniel 2 to 3 years ago and describe him what happend to me he told me that may be I have the fear of loosing control). Any way is just like you say I cannot be aware of the instant I go to sleep. So I just let sleep come by itself and also watch may anxiety. (not always work but is an improvement). And the same time cutting medication. Juat like to mention that I follow Daniel and Martin. Thank you very much for your help.
Hi Rafael! Sure, hyperarousal is like an alarm that sends us signals in a form of worrisome thoughts "what ifs", physical sensations or emotions. And sometimes the reasons of that alarm can be different but they are all stem from a feeling that one is in a danger. For example, fear of losing control is one thing, fear of not getting enough sleep is another, etc. It helps to ask yourself: what is it that I am currently scared of? What is the worst that can happen? And once you know the answer, e.g. "I am afraid that I will never sleep again" - that this is what the brain perceived as a threat and working with that fear and seeing through it can help you overcome that fear. Hope this helps!
Hi, I have something similar to this. When I go to bed, I am aware that I am going to lay down to sleep, so from the minute I lay down my brain starts to wait for the moment I am going to fall asleep. How do I get rid of this so I can just lay down, don’t think about sleep and just fall asleep?
I have this too except I'm thinking about it all day. Like I'm focused on the act of sleeping itself im tramatized as ive had 8 full nights of no sleep at all in the past 3 weeks and now even if i do sleeo a night i think to myself how did i do it? And start worrying about the next night. With all my anxiety has come many anxiety driven thoughts like what if I start thinking and focusing on my eyes each time I close them. This though is distressing and therefore makes it harder for me to sleep. Really scary when you know what's keeping you up and you feel like you have no control over the thoughts that you know are keeping you up.
Did u overcome it?
Hi Alina,
Ihave had extremely bad (or good depending on your perspective!)
insomnia, at least 2 nights a week of nosleep at all. I am finding your approach helpful with the fear and expectation but I have another layer of night pain. I have been working on "Pain" through Curable but at night, I find it so hard to implement many of their strategies.
Any ideas please? If it's not the falling asleep, it is this! and the nights I can fall asleep, this kicks in.... The pain is more intense at night so I have no doubt it is Neuroplasticity! and my brain doing a number on me!
Thank you. I haven't found anyone that addresses both issues!
Mine started a month+ ago😭 ive always been a person that falls asleep within seconds and wakes up next morning.
Sorry to hear about that! I hope this channel can help you on your path
You are not alone,i m having this too,she is helping me a lot to understand where am i going wrong.
u good now?
same i used to fall asleep for 8-9 hours straight buts its hard now but we can recover and go back tho we are just to focused on trying to sleep@LastmanStanding-pb4rw
The mainthing here is also that we try to do something that is impossible to do. We try to notice when we fall asleep but as we fell asleep we are not there anymore to notice it. If we did notice we would be awake. Tho only thing we can notice is waking up
@@StreatHD really good point! 🙌
I will definitely try it thanks
Currently struggling with this and nothing is helping 😩😩
What if I made a habit before of getting your body relax to fall asleep and releasing tension, before I've learned about all of your videos and then it becomes now automatic my brains always monitoring if my body and legs are relax so it can sleep?
How can I unlearn that habit?
I've been trying to sleep for the past 2 hours and every time I close my eyes and I start to drift off😢 My heart (stops beating) and I jolt up check my my heart rate. It's in the high 50s low 60s. I move around. Check it again. Move over. Close my eyes. It starts falling asleep. I get the same jolt again
How are you
I have found that listening to an audiobook, audio of rain, or meditation helps to get rid of hyperawareness. the audio has to be in a quiet mode and has to shut off automatically after a set time.
Great that it works for you! However when we deal with hyperarousal sometimes even the most soothing activity can have the opposite outcome because we try too hard. Doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it, it is just good to be mindful of intentions. If it feels nice - why not? But if we do it as a way to hide from hyperarousal, then it gets tricky
Thanks for your amazing videos, Alina. "There must be something wrong with me" has definitely been a thought that has been haunting me and it gives me comfort to know from your videos that this isn't the case. Do you think that SSRIs (anti-anxiety/anti-depressant Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor medications like Lexapro, etc.) can be helpful to retrain the brain to stop fearing insomnia? Or should they be avoided?
How about getting getting aware when you start to snore.
what are symptoms of insomnia
Me i feel I didn't sleep because I'm aware of everything around me? Is this what she's talking about
Yes
I also have this I feel like I’m awake and I also hear myself snore 🤦🏻♀️
Do u still have the problem @@teasaipi
How crazy is it that the thing thay keeps us all from sleeping is the fact to we think and focus on sleep. I know i always self sabatage my sleep. Anxiety is super bad no matter if i sleeo or not. Because i know now that my focus is keeping me up instead of saying to myself okay you know the issue now stop focusing on it my mind goes what if u cant stop focusing on it.
Please how is your sleeping now I can’t sleep at all
@@user-mp9lq3xv5b hi, I sleep, but I still worry about not sleeping. It's a fear of mine because I know how quickly I can go back to not sleeping. I'm currently taking seroquil at night at this point I take more for a phychological factor. It's my clutch. Without it I'm scared I won't sleep at all. If you're like me anxiety about your anxiety will almost surely have you awake.
Wow, Alinaa, thank you for this insightful video, it definitely makes sense, just one question is it possible if you are too welcoming and accepting of the hyperarousal that your brain will decide that it can’t do without it keeping you safe and try and keep the status quo especially if it’s been going on for so long and become a habit. My hyperarousal has been going on for 5 years following an extremely traumatic event. I am aware of everything going on around me and if I do manage to sleep I never wake up feeling groggy like I used to, it’s like I never slept, that’s how strong my hyper vigilance is 😔
Great question! I might want to make a separate video on it as I have been getting such questions for some time. You know, emotions in their nature are fleeting, their task is to inform us about something. If There is a possible danger, we fear, or when we eat nice food and we feel pleasure, that’s how the brain tells us “do more of that” and so on. All emotions are meant to leave but the moment we decide we no longer want to hear them, they tend to get sticky. Paradoxically, once we allow the signal to reach us, the emotion’s role is now completed and it may fleet now. So as much as it seems logical that we “train” ourselves to feel certain feelings, when we don’t resist them, they start being fleeting again. We can’t be in the same emotional state forever, it is normal that we experience the whole palette
I don't know how you are doing now but on top of Alina's teachings. Go to youtube and learn about "Reprogramming your subconscious mind". It will be helpful to you because that is where all our emotions,beliefs and experiences are birthed. It will be of much help.
@@nkundwashanice574 thank you so much, really appreciate it!
Hi Deb, how are you? @@debstemperley8849
I struggle with this hyperawareness very much. Everytime I feel really tired so that i feel i could probably fall asleep right now and my body and mind are already starting this process, I get triggered by that and get a very bad anxiety rush, my heart starts pounding super hard and sometimes even for a long time, which is terrible.
When i witness myself being on the edge of almost falling asleep i get soooo nervous and excited and scared of "messing it up" or: i cannot even believe this is happening right now, like a dream is comeing true or i won the lottery. I cannot handle the pressure so to speak and im getting this anxiety attack and heart racing. Its sooo awfull and frustrating!
So you say we have to neutrally witness these and dont judge them as bad or wrong?
I maybe also have to witness my thoughts which go like: "oh my god, is this true? I think i am almost falling asleep, cant believe its happening, ok stay calm, im so excited, cant wait for it, hopefully we make it..." and then there is the anxiety there and my frustration that i lost it again.
I will have to find out how i can manage to neutrally watch this phenomenon unfolding itself and stay an objective observer?
This is all so painfull and hard to handle :(
thanks for your good work !
Observing and seeing things for what they are can be difficult. But usually the objective event is really neutral, as well as the fact that a thought pops up in our minds. But it is our attitude towards external events and thoughts themselves that bring suffering. Observing allows that buffer between yourself and the experience giving you more freedom to act from the place of clarity rather than from the place of fear
How are you doing now?Am struggling with this So much;I keep missing my sleep due to This. I feel defeated
@@nkundwashanice574 better. i just dont care whether i sleep or not, it took away pressure and sleep came back, not perfect but better.
Thank you for your video
Thank you for being here 😊
I wish I could get in touch with you to ask more about this. I have been struggling with this for months and I have a baby. It’s caused so much anxiety and issues and being able to accept it is hard for me.
Hope you’re feeling better mama. I lost so much sleep my first year after my son was born and this started to happen. ❤
@@victorialiyah5584I’m doing better :) have been able to sleep normal again. I was in a high stress state and had so much adrenaline that my body wasn’t able to just relax lol I’m good now tho
i really try to accept it but it feels like ur always alert so how can it go away if ur alert? it feels like ur waiting for sleep to come, and ur heart starts racing bcs it doesn't come...it's not going away that easily...struggling with that rn:(
It is tough... from what I know, when we allow alertness to be, as unpleasant as it can get, it is beginning of the end of it..
@@FearlessSleep thankss for ur comment, im doing better now!! But i have another question, sorry for asking so many questions but i think you have a really good experience with these, so as ive also said before, i rarely have bad nights of sleep, my sleep is generally good, but the problem is the thoughts and hyperawareness, hyperarousal, no matter how good i sleep, my mind won't stop thinking about those bad thoughts such as "what if that happened, " "what if u couldn't sleep for.... Days" "what if ur hyperawareness or hyperarousal kept u awake at night? " do u have any tips on how to deal with these?
See those “what if” thoughts as a part of that automatic safety program, like an antivirus check on your computer. Once it is launched, we can’t force it to stop, but it always completes its task once it is sure that you are safe. Treating it as something that has no life on its own, but a lifeless algorithm can help distance yourself from its impact. Without your involvement, it will eventually starve itself and leave you alone.
@@Strawberry-v7x6n This is how I have delt with this;The what if comes and I respond to it with "IF I survived the previous nights then the coming ones won't finish me" I think that acceptance leads you to a point where you are have seen and suffered to the maximum that you are nolonger scared of anything in the future and then the mind is convinced we are safe. I still suffer with self monitoring but as far as acceptance is concerned;I am somewhere;Thanks to Alina and Daniel coz av learnt alot
@@nkundwashanice574 thankss for ur reply im kinda doing well with the accepting those thoughts and not trying to fight them, but my main issue is that whenever and wherever i close my eyes to sleep my mind starts being so alert and aware of every moment automatically like i close my eyes but im so aware if i have felt asleep or not yet which makes it so hard to sleep and i feel like im the only one experiencing this even tho it doesn't necessarily interfere with my sleep but i still have some fear of that
Hi Alina. I have a question on befriending wakefulness. The only thing I have energy for that I genuinely enjoy is watching videos on my phone, but I’m also trying not to look at the time when I’m sleeping. Which is impossible on a smart phone! Should I be looking for a different activity or should I just stop being afraid of seeing what time it is.
If something stands in the way of enjoying the night, I think we can loosen up the rule :). I see no problem in knowing the time at night, especially when it happens not with the purpose to do a “sleep math”. We can’t run away from time forever!
@@FearlessSleep thank you Alina!!
How r u now?
When I drift to sleep i suddenly become anxious my neck and shoulder area become stiff and heartbeat increases. I'm not getting enough sleep due to this 😢
This can sound like a dumb idea but if u think negatively about something else and get sad or depressed then u will fall asleep(although it’s very hard to do in 1st attempt) for example I have a health issue which when I think too catastrophically that this may lead to death or chronic infections and I will die in less age then I just fall asleep no matter the time although it’s not that easy to implement atleast on the initial stage
Those is common when I have hypnic jerks.
Hyperarousal / ADHD /PTSP high Blood preassure, Heart Palpitations, take Clonidine
is taking sleeping pills good for stopping hyper awareness? what's your take on it?
Seroquel is the only drug that is powerful enough to actually “put you to sleep” I took it but it’s a very trippy antipsychotic. worked for sleep but voices in my head in the morning and throughout the day because it’s a psychotropic drug.
I take Ativan. It completely calms my brain and stops the hyperawareness. I might get one before I fall asleep. It doesn’t “knock” me out just allows me to actually sleep like a normal person. I’m going to stop taking it in like a month or 2 so hopefully this hyperawareness stops so I can just sleep and move on with life
I’ve literally stopped saving for retirement because there’s no point. If my brain won’t let me sleep, I’m not going to be around that much longer. I don’t know how much more I can give up at this point
How r u
@@marthasisco9678 I’ve been getting better. Thanks for asking. Got on trazadone and it’s really helped to correct my insomnia. I’m almost back to normal now. ❤️
Body tries to protect us 😂 if it keeps doint that im not sure ill be alive much longer.
Btw i do manage to fall asleep, its not easy but i manage. The problem is, in the first 5 mins of sleep, the first faze of sleep it wakes me up. Its scary, i dont feel my heart rate or pulse. I wonder why, is Reaper trying to take me? 😅
How are you now
Same thing is happening with me
Hello Alinaa. Thank you always for your insights. I have never had this phenomenon before. But now my brain knows it can happen to me and feels threatened.
Do i let my brain think this way? Anyways, i cannot control my thoughts.
It is natural that this happens, Peace. Our brain always scans the surroundings for possible threats and whenever it finds something new or unknown, it clings on that. New ideas can also have a similar effect. Many people after reading some insomnia forums end up feeling worse than before because of listening to other people's stories. But just like that fear comes, with awareness and understanding how this happens - we can work with that reaction and overcome it! Hope this made sense
You're the netswrtio
❤️❤️
During hyperawareness, what would cause you to stop breathing? I dose off at ties on my sofa and I am hyperaware when I am falling asleep and my breathing stops and I wake. I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea but I think this is not related to sleep apnea as it happens right when I dose off.
Please make it only 3-5 mins long. Anymore than this is too much
Thanks for a great video! A while ago I accidentally learned about the concept of lucid dreaming (gaining consciousness while dreaming) and someone I know said they can actually lucid dream. I never quite experienced it but the idea that it can happen freaks me out, I would be drifting off with some random scenes in my mind and suddenly become aware. Any ideas how to deal with this?🫶