Peace of Mind

Sleepless nights. Tired mornings. Fuel with coffee. Repeat. Insomnia, or the habitual inability to sleep at night, has been experienced by almost all of us at some point in time in our lives. And research has shown that there can be many causes preventing us from getting the adequate amount of sleep we need, but there’s one cause that might be the most common of them all; Anxiety. Whether you’re feeling anxious from the events of the day or having anxious thoughts about the tasks of tomorrow, a quietless mind often manifests in the form of Insomnia. 

Although we typically don’t welcome our feelings of anxiety with open arms, anxiety is our body’s way of telling us that something deeper may be going on within or around us. It is the minds’ way of connecting with the body. Anxiety is an adaptive response to stress, acting as an “alarm bell that warns of potential danger ¹.” However, when this alarm bell refuses to stop ringing or sends “false alarms”,  this adaptive response now becomes one that can interfere with our day to day activities, and ultimately, our night ones too. When it comes to our sleep, there are certain chemicals, called neurotransmitters, that regulate the activities of sleep, allowing things to run smoothly¹. However, in many cases of anxiety, there often becomes a dysfunction in the way these neurotransmitters operate, making it quite difficult for them to do their job! The processes of our bodies are so intricately connected that the functioning of one area may absolutely depend on the proper functioning of another. So the next time you find yourself counting sheep in the middle of the night, take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Your mind might be telling you that it’s time to find some peace.