Insomnia Coach® Podcast

Carly had a history of OCD and when her attention turned to sleep, she began dreading the moment she drifted off. For hours, hypnic jerks could jolt her awake again and again. Worry and anxiety followed her through the next day. Even after learning useful skills for OCD, Carly believed recovery meant never having another bad night or anxious thought. In this episode, Carly shares what changed when she stopped using the absence of symptoms as her measure of progress. She talks about how she mov

Morgan rarely thought about sleep until a concussion in 2023 changed everything. As she dealt with dizziness, nausea, ringing in her head, and disrupted sleep, she tried medication, supplements, detailed sleep tracking, and strict sleep rules. Instead of helping her get back on track, all that effort only added more pressure and created more struggle. In this episode, Morgan shares how acceptance, self-compassion, and taking small actions based on what mattered to her helped her move away from

After one sleepless night around his 17th birthday, Joey began to fear the next night. Soon, thoughts about sleep followed him through the day. He stopped going out, struggled to watch films, and sat inside with the curtains drawn. He tried herbal tea, meditation, rain sounds, earlier bedtimes, and forcing the thoughts away. The more he tried to solve sleep and silence his mind, the more stuck he felt. What helped was allowing the thoughts to be there while returning to the things that mattere

Lu spent most of her life as a great sleeper. Then, six weeks after having her first baby, a painful mix of pressure, anxiety, and one sleepless night made sleep feel difficult for the first time. Over the years, insomnia came and went. Medication helped her through some difficult periods, but Lu still felt stuck and afraid of the part of herself that struggled at night. In this episode, Lu shares how self-compassion, a more workable response to wakefulness, and adding meaningful actions back

Casaundra’s insomnia first showed up in college. From then on, it would come and go during periods of stress. After getting married, insomnia showed up and this time it didn’t go away. Before long, Casaundra would notice a feeling of anxiety as soon as her head hit the pillow. Nights started to feel like a battle. In an effort to fix her sleep, Casaundra tried blackout curtains, headphones, melatonin, medication, no screens, less water, strict routines, and even six kiwis before bed. The more s

Today, I’m talking with Farrukh — someone whose experience with insomnia slowly began to take over more and more of his life. At first, sleep wasn’t something he thought much about. It was just there. Something that happened naturally. But over time, that started to change. Nights became more unpredictable. Sleep felt less certain — and it began to consume his attention. He started noticing how he slept. Then thinking about how he slept. Then worrying about how he might sleep. And from there,