Can't Sleep?
This is better than Ambien—maybe. At least it’s natural, beneficial, and does the trick.
The last two weeks have been BRUTAL for my sleep. Both children had colds, Gus was teething amidst it all, and I was doing everything possible to try to sleep because if I don’t—no matter what immunity measures I take—I’ll catch it. I’m the world’s lightest sleeper, and sleep is everything for me to function as a good mom.
Between the nightly coughing and Gus coming to find me in the bed so I could snuggle him for comfort, every little bump or noise would wake me, and I’d be up for hours. Some nights I was only getting three to four hours of sleep, and I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to cry or scream from exhaustion.
The duality was intense, as the days had been filled with beauty. I began apprenticing under Kate (our friend who keeps her bees on our land) in an effort to help care for them, as she moves part-time in NYC. This is a major item on my manifestation list—along with harp lessons, learning to spin fiber on a wheel, adding more fiber animals to complete the yarn blend I want (pygora goats, angora rabbits, Gotland sheep), meaningful weekly dinners with friends, and trips to Japan and Iceland this year. So being with the bees already felt like an incredibly exhilarating check off the list.
We were having stunning beach days, and we made the children’s handmade Valentines for their Valentine’s tea party at school this week—native seed balls for Gus, and Teddy wanted to make simple watercolor hearts. We finished planting our spring garden before the rains. But then evening would roll around, and I’d be in pure delirium as we all gathered by the fire, dreading what the night ahead had in store for us.
Simultaneously, my dear friend had her first baby, and I could really channel what she was feeling, as I felt like I was back in newborn land. I began mixing my favorite “knock-you-on-your-ass early postpartum sleep” infusion, and then all the good sleep hacks started pouring back to me through muscle memory.
That’s when the lightbulb went off: I don’t have to grit and bear another sleepless night. I, too, can do all of the things. And lo and behold, the sleeping gods shone down on us. Below, I’ll share my top two favorites with you—light sleepers, anxious sleepers, major vatas like me.
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