Sleep disturbances and disorders can be comorbid with another diagnosis. On my journey to becoming a certified sleep science coach, I expected this to happen with disorders like chronic pain or bipolar disorder. What I didn't expect was to find sleep disorders to be comorbid with eating disorders. Upon this discovery, I reached out to someone who could help explain what it's like when you lose sleep due to eating disorders and how to recover. Her name is Whitney Walker, a licensed therapist, former colleague, friend, and host of the Women Waken Podcast. Whitney takes us through her journey of ..read more

Season 2 of "The Why Behind Your Z's" will feature interviews with other experts in the field, and I thought it best to start with a medical doctor. Dr. Arjun Iyer is an emergency medicine physician and a host on USMLE's medical podcast, the Audio Bricks Podcast. In this episode, we do more than just talk about prescribed sleep medications and their efficacy. I ask Dr. Iyer about insomnia-related cases he's treated in the E.R., what he thinks about supplements and cannabis as sleep aids; and what he believes is the best way to fight insomnia. Here's a hint: we both agree that prescribed medica ..read more

Do you find yourself too busy in the holiday season to enjoy the simple things? It's no secret that daily stressors have a negative impact on sleep, and even the "simple things" that are normally relaxing become stressful! On this final episode of Season 2, I provide a mindfulness meditation that helps you engage in your senses as you do something most people do in the cold months- sit down and have a warm drink. Play this episode the next time you plan to sit at a table or comfortable spot with your warm drink- be it coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. It only takes 10 minutes, and I'll guide you ..read more

Subscribe for free sleep coaching tips and a FREE sleep guide straight to your inbox here. Most grad students with full time jobs and a social life find difficulty squeezing in sleep. They head to class or work like zombies. I happen to know one who manages school, work, and weekend fun while getting eight hours of sleep every night and living in a college town. She even went to Vegas! Listen to my interview with her and you'll pick up some good ideas on how to set yourself up for sleep success. You might even get some good skin care tips! This episode was sponsored by "Your Zen Friend Podcast ..read more

For more free sleep help and podcast updates, subscribe to my biweekly newsletter. You also get a free book! This knowledge nap episode discusses a frustrating thing that happens to people when they get better sleep: they still get sleepy! So, what's happening when that happens? What does it mean when you've done all the right things to improve your sleep, you sleep through the night, yet you're still fatigued? I cover two potential reasons why in this episode. Thanks for listening ..read more

Clean eating, especially a vegan diet, can really improve your sleep. And Touissant Stewart is here to explain it all. Touissant is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to living a clean and relaxing lifestyle, but he didn't get there easy. Despite being raised in a food-conscious household, Touissant's early adult years were of the typical American diet. When he saw how it was draining his energy and fitness, he gradually made the switch to eating cleaner foods and has been living this life nearly 30 years. When I learned of his story, I felt he could be the ideal person to help insomniacs and ..read more

Many doctors and sleep professionals find melatonin supplements generally safe. It's often a go-to when you find that you can't seem to get sleepy at night. Melatonin supplements do work. But what happens when they don't? Or when they used to work, but have stopped working? I explain why that happens in this episode and offer solutions within the domains I use to coach my clients. If you like the information you learned in this episode and want more free sleep coaching tips, subscribe to my e-mail list. With this subscription you get a free guide, Sleep 101: How Sleep Is Supposed To Work, that ..read more

Stress is a huge factor in preventing restorative sleep. While there are many ways to de-stress, sometimes you need something that can happen in as little a 5 minutes with lasting effects. As I searched for such a technique, I remembered learning a little about "tapping" in my previous job, and performing it on myself. I was surprised at how quickly I felt relief, but I couldn't remember the "why" or "how it worked! I wanted to bring on an expert to talk about it because sometimes you don't have 30 minutes in the day to relieve stress, or your bedtime comes sooner than you expected and you nee ..read more

WARNING: DO NOT PLAY THIS EPISODE WHILE DRIVING. You just might pass out at the wheel! Save this episode for just before bedtime! Mindspace is a life domain where our sleep is impacted. Sometimes going to bed with a busy mind makes it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. A guided meditation can help by slowing down your neurons, which generate heat and energy in the brain and impede relaxation. It's not practical for the brain to go from 100 miles per hour and into a sudden stop and expect restorative sleep. Instead, we need to slow down the neuron speeds by inducing first Alpha waves (whi ..read more

This is the final episode of season 1! And I wanted to bring you some of my life lessons about sleep. I didn't realize it at the time, but my work at Millstone 4 H Camp back in the 90s planted me seeds about restorative sleep that came into full fruition 30 years later! Those of you dealing with ADHD may want to listen because summer camp was my first experience working with ADHD kids. It was a riot! But they also taught me a lot about sleep. You'll also hear about mind walks, mating frogs, free sources of vitamin D, and Jason Vorhees. Yes, THAT Jason! It all has to do with nature. No matter w ..read more