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Hey friends! If you can’t sleep at night, it can be super frustrating. As I’ve uncovered where I’ve shoved down my emotions, my sleep has gotten a lot better. Here’s how to identify the emotions that are keeping you up at night.

How to Identify the Emotions that Keep You Up at Night

First of all, I want to let you know how much I feel you if you have trouble sleeping. Seriously, I get it. And I struggled with it for the longest time. About 12 years, to be exact.

However, as I’ve worked to identify why I can’t sleep, my ability to get good rest has infinitely increased. Now, I sleep soundly most nights.

So, this is the second post of my insomnia series. You can read the first post here. It will tell you how to take care of yourself physically to get a good night’s sleep.

Insomnia Shows Two Clashing Parts

Ultimately, when you have insomnia it’s because there are two parts of yourself at odds with one another. Meaning, you have two opposing beliefs that are clashing and keeping you up at night.

Here’s an example of something externally that was bothering me.

A few years ago, I had a job that I hated SO bad. But I stayed at it because I was afraid I couldn’t get a better one.

So, I never slept. I hated going there every single day, and I would obsess about every little email and everything I said throughout each day.

Once I changed jobs, my sleep got quite a bit better.

So, the parts of me that were clashing were:

1. The part of me that needs to survive and make a living for myself
2. The other part of me that didn’t feel safe in a toxic environment

Here’s another personal example. But this time, it’s something internally that was bothering me.

When I was 18, my dad went to prison for about nine months, and I was so angry. But I never knew until much later that I even felt that anger.

So, I never processed it. And it just sat under the surface, festering until I paid attention to it. Since I never learned how to process my emotions, I didn’t even know how to approach it.

However, I also had years of anger toward him that I had never felt. But this was the tipping point when I stopped being able to sleep. My anger was keeping me up at night.

In this case, the two parts of me at odds with each other were:

1. The part of me that was angry
2. The part of me that refused and didn’t know how to acknowledge it

Once I started going to different types of counseling and therapy, it was overwhelming how many professionals pointed out my suppressed anger toward my dad.

As I’ve worked to process it over time, my sleep has greatly improved.

What Emotions Keep You Awake?

Now it’s your turn. What are the specific issues in your life that could be stopping you from sleeping?

Perhaps it’s an external factor, such as your work or some conflict you’re currently experiencing.

On the other hand, maybe there’s something really bothering you that’s going on internally. Do you have emotions that need to be acknowledged?

Love,
Holly

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