Recovering from Burnout - Part 3
Sleep and Burnout
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you?
You wake up in the middle of the night for hours with your mind spinning with to-do lists, rehashing conversations, or anxious thoughts.
You’re tired ALL DAY LONG and then around 9pm you suddenly wake up and feel like a million bucks…but can’t get to sleep for hours.
You wake up constantly all night long. The slightest noise or movement wakes you up and you never feel rested.
If any of these scenarios feel familiar to you, then there’s a good chance that your sleep has been affected by burnout or daily stress.
Scenario #1 is a common sign of high stress and high cortisol. This can happen during a short bout of stress or after many years of stress. It’s a sign that your body kicked up some cortisol when you were at the end of a sleep cycle, which can create hours of spinning thoughts.
Scenario #2 & #3 are signs of chronic stress. #2 happens when your adrenals get really really tired and your morning kick of cortisol happens at night instead. #3 is frequently related to a nutritional deficiency (usually magnesium), which happens after years and years of stress.
But, all that matters is your T.I.R.E.D.
Sleep is a key aspect of your health and I would argue that spending some time to try out a few new techniques for sleep is more important than eating more veggies. Once you’re having better, deeper, more rejuvenating sleeps, everything else in life becomes easier.
And – (a very important and) – sleep is one of the trickiest problems to figure out. It requires some major patience.
Here are some things to try for each scenario ❤️.
Scenario #1 – racing mind all night (cortisol hit in the middle of the night)
Your night’s sleep will be helped by calming down your cortisol during the day. I’ve got ideas for you for both during the day and at night :)
Daytime –
Experiment with the ideas from Part 1 (completing your stress cycle), like including some exercise into your day
Stop any caffeine or stimulants by noon (they stay in the bloodstream for 8+ hours)
Try an adrenal support supplement, like:
Cortisol Manager – this is good if your stress is chronic and not going to be going away anytime soon. Email me if you’d like more info (these aren’t available in health food stores, but I can send you a link :)
Adaptogenic Herbal Blend – this is a gentler product and good for mild chronic stress or recovery. A mix of herbs like ashwagandha, rhodiola, and something for your nerves like passionflower or wild oat milky seed can work really well :)
Evening –
Your body is primed to trigger a cortisol hit, so keep your evening as relaxing as possible. Comfort tv, fun books, gentle movement. Avoid stressful conversations, work, thrillers or horror movies/tv shows, and heavy exercise.
Consider a nervine or calming supplement before bed. Like,
Passionflower – helps calm the nerves and calm the mind
Kava Kava – great sleep aid and calms the nerves
L-theanine – very calming, can be taken in the middle of the night if you wake up.
Scenario #2 – You’re exhausted all day long, then get a BIG burst of energy right before bed (low cortisol)
This is a sign of major adrenal exhaustion and a temporary phenomenon that is (happily) the first symptom to go away as your adrenals heal.
Follow the short-term energy boosters in Part 4 and…as much as you can, get to bed before that energy boost. I know it can be tempting to take advantage of the energy to (finally) get stuff done. But, it becomes a vicious cycle of less and less sleep, making healing take much longer.
Also, consider an adrenal supplement. You might be a candidate for the strongest supplements around, but I want to make sure you get the right one. Send me an email with your symptoms and I’ll help you find the one that’s best for your body ❤️.
Scenario #3 – You wake up CONSTANTLY and/or you’re a really light sleeper.
This might feel like your natural state because you’ve been a light sleeper for so long…but it also might be due to a magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium is a mega stress mineral and we burn through tons of it each day we’re feeling stressed out. Unsurprisingly, this is the most common deficiency I see in my practice.
Magnesium helps the body relax and lets you sleep deeper. Other common symptoms of low magnesium are: low energy, tight muscles, twitching muscles, and my favourite, chocolate cravings.
You need to take enough magnesium and for a little while before you can tell if it’s working for you. You have to get your magnesium stores up high enough for your muscles to relax. Take 300 – 700mg per day with food. Divide up your doses if you’re taking more than 400mg (ie, 350mg 2x per day).
If you’d like some more tips and ideas for sleeping, check out the Sleep Masterclass. Or, if your sleep pattern isn’t described in this section, send me an email and I’d be happy to help you :).
And, don’t forget to be patient. Finding your sleep method might take some time, trial, and error ❤️.
Got any questions or comments? Comment below, jump to our private Facebook Group, or the Ask Lisa page :)