S.O.S. Middle Of The Night Rumination

November 24 2023 3 min read

“I was up until three in the morning thinking I’d done something to lose my client. I spiralled into this hole of self-doubt and I couldn’t get out.”
“I can’t sleep. I am up all night wondering why my boss treats me the way he does and I can’t figure out how to change it. I’m just swirling in resentment and self-doubt.”
“I just can’t turn off my mind.”

You can’t afford to keep living this way. That’s the bottom line. None of us can afford this.

You, we, me…cannot continue to function on a lack of sleep, the likes of which will impact your focus and productivity in your days, deplete your energy and stamina, deny your well-being mentally, emotionally, spiritually and yes, cause harm to your physical body including frying your nervous system and increasing those cortisol levels. And so much more.

You are not a g-damn superhero and although the world continues to want to tell you that you should be, you are not and you have the right to give yourself permission to drop the cape and come join those of us who are resigning from the superhero position.

I know you know this.

And I bet you’ve tried everything. But have you tried what I’m about to suggest?

Keep reading…

Whether you’re facing that very familiar Imposter story I know so many women have struggled with, or the holidays (which are fast approaching) are starting to overwhelm you, or you're chewing yourself out about a client you ‘lost’ and you're thinking, ‘What did I do wrong? Maybe I should have said something different. Maybe I should change my business model…’

Whatever it is, I’m going to help you here by first inviting you to get out, go buy, dust off your journal.

Many people think journaling is just a nice place to write down some thoughts and maybe express an emotion or two. A thing to show up to sometimes, like ‘when I feel motivated’.

What I want to help you realize is that journaling is one of the most powerful tools we can engage with in our daily lives to support, understand, guide and empower ourselves.

Here’s a way to use journaling as a tool to support yourself through what so many people I know go through which is middle-of-the-night-rumination.

You're up in the night and your thoughts are whirling around and around and frankly, it's not helping.

Pause.

Choose to pause.

Step back take a few breaths.

Then, go to your journal and write it all out. Get it out of your head and onto the page. Spill it, spew it, release it with that pen in your hand and those blank pages there to receive it all.

Give that part of you the space to express, as though she was a character in a story.

Let her talk.

Note: This is about releasing not judging so if you catch yourself judging what you’re writing, PAUSE again, BREATHE again, let that shit go and go back to giving the writing space to her, k?

This is incredible for our conscious mind to see what we're doing, what story we are telling inside our heads. When we see what we’re creating inside, on the page, we then can begin to question the validity of the story:

Is this true? What is true?

Is this really about me?

Am I really such a failure in my work? As a mom? As a partner?

We begin to OBSERVE ourselves and from there, when you’ve laid it all on the page, you pause again and you step back and you breathe.

From there, where you’ll very likely have shifted into something resembling a calmer state than where you started, you reread what you wrote and then, You answer this part of you.

What does she need to hear?

What does she need to know?

What safety? What reassurance?

What new perspective could she get from you from this vantage point?

Write to her and when you’re done, check in on how you’re feeling and where your thoughts are.

Then go tuck back in bed and give yourself a well-deserved rest.

One small caveat: This is not a quick fix. This is a practice. Your nervous system, your mind, your body and heart need to be engaged in the practice for the effects to really land.

Nighty night, Friends

Jenn

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If you want further help with how to use Journaling as a tool in support of you living your life well, reach out to me and I’ll send you a link that will lead you there.

Photo: Getty Images In Collaboration with Unsplash

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