In the Middle Ages, communal sleeping was entirely normal – travellers who had just met would share the same bed, as would masters and their servants (Credit: British Library)
Today, we know that for most people, a consolidated night
of 7 to 9 hours of sleep supports physical, cognitive, and emotional health better than divided sleep. At the same time, waking at night does not mean something is broken.
In this workshop, we will explore what may be contributing to night waking now, including sleep pressure, stress, hormones, blood sugar, and potential breathing disorders. We will
also talk about strategies for sleeping more deeply, and how to meet nighttime awakenings with steadiness instead of panic so you can return to sleep more easily.
Once I stopped trying to force myself back into unconsciousness and instead worked with what was happening in my nervous system, everything softened. The middle of the night became less
frightening. Sometimes it even became informative.
I’ve watched this same shift happen with clients who arrived convinced something was wrong with their sleep, when in reality, their biology was responding to season, stress, and circumstance.
That’s why I’m teaching an in-person workshop next Tuesday evening at Anima Mundi.
