Do you have trouble falling asleep?  Staying asleep?  Getting back to sleep after awakening?  Or perhaps you sleep long hours but awaken feeling unfreshed.

The Sleep Well Tonight services, described below, are designed to address these issues and get you sleeping well in a matter of 20 minutes each night. It will simply require a commitment from you to make sleep a priority in your life.  Or, you can continue with unhealthy behaviors such as cutting back on sleep when other stressors take over. 

But pause for a moment to consider:  If you continue with your present lifestyle, what will your health be like one year from now, 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years?  If you suspect that you need to make some changes, consider some of the evidence I share below, which is continually building about how sleep dysfunction affects our health.  

If you are among the 40% of Canadians who suffer from a sleep disorder, I have good news for you. Sleep is a partly learned behavior, and you can easily learn simple techniques to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep.

I personally know how disruptive a sleep disorder can be, having experienced Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for many years.  Using the principles I now teach, I was able to recover and return to excellent health after 7.5 years of disabling fatigue and pain.  I know what is necessary to improve sleep, and I guarantee that I can help you develop healthy sleep skills.

You can sleep well in spite of chronic pain disorders, depression, menopause, anxiety, distressing medical treatments, adverse effects from medications, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, other auto-immune disorders, and other sleep-stealing conditions.

If you need convincing evidence about how important sleep is to general health, a Medscape Hematology-Oncology expert column, Sleep Loss and the Risk for Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome, March 2006, reports that "declines in sleep duration have paralleled the upward trend in obesity prevalence." 

Insufficient sleep disrupts metabolism, immune, endocrine, and cardiovascular function, and is associated with impairments in performance, cognitive function, health, and quality of life. There is a clear link between short sleep duration and many diseases.  These conditions, in turn, disrupt our sleep.

Regarding cancer and sleep, how our bodies respond to this illness is influenced by more than just the surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.  It is also influenced by stress and sleep.  Healthy sleep is important for the control of two key hormones, cortisol and melatonin.  Cortisol helps regulate immune system activity, and people who wake up repeatedly during the night are more likely to have abnormal cortisol patterns.  Melatonin, which is produced during sleep, has antioxidant properties that help prevent damage to cells that can lead to cancer.  

Contact me if you want to know more about the current research. 

I have designed three Sleep Well Tonight services for you, described below, so choose the best option for yourself.  Or, get in touch with me if you need specific information and resources regarding sleep apnea, strategies for shift work, snoring, information on travel across time zones, sleep and aging, kids and sleep challenges, or even need help buying a mattress!  

Option 1              The Sleep Well Tonight Personal Workbook              $20           
Includes a symptom checklist, sleep assessment, reflections on your personal cost of sleep deprivation, sleep beliefs checklist, plan to handle obstacles to better sleep, commitment to change, action steps plan, practice exercises for the key skills, diaries, resource list, and more.  Click here to order.

Option 2               Individual or Family Consultation                        $249
                    
I will spend 1.5 hours in your home or office at a time convenient to you and will provide individualized support that will ensure long lasting sleep improvements.  Have all your health questions ready.  This consult includes a review of evidence and current clinical trials on sleep, so that you will become very clear on your own personal health cost of not sleeping well.  You will complete a pre-consultation questionnaire, a symptom checklist, sleep assessment, and sleep beliefs checklist.  You will formulate a plan to handle your obstacles to better sleep, make a commitment to change, plan your action steps, then learn and practice the key skills.  You will have a taste of focused breathing, the body scan, expressive writing, meditation, visualization, and other techniques as appropriate.  A resource list is provided.  You will gain the skills to sleep well that evening!  

The Sleep Well Tonight Personal Workbook is included.  Bed partners encouraged and welcome.  Click here for more information and to register. 

Sleep Health Resources

If you need more information about any drug, herb, or supplement, click here for the National Institutes of Health Medline Plus database of drugs, herbs, and supplements.

Want to have learn more about sleep and have some fun?  Click here for some quizzes and assessments.  You can try the National Sleep Foundation's Snore Score and do an Insomnia Assessment.

Contact me here to request a free document of Recommended Web Sites for Sleep Health.

To return to the home page, click here.