15. Conquering Insomnia, Anxiety, and Sleep-Related Issues, Part 2

When you're dealing with a serious mountain of stress overwhelm and your head is geared towards anxiety, there are two camps, the medication camp and the mending camp. If you're taking medications, that's great. I'm a doctor and I appreciate that sometimes medications are necessary, but I don't want you to think that medications negate mending. Mending is where you actually get to the bottom of why you're anxious to be begin with. It's putting a comma at the end of your sentence. The true path to mending is to address what's going on. It's understanding your cast of characters and it's finding your path for transcendence. That's what it means to me. It's about getting your life back. If this is interesting to you, then I urge you to take it for a test drive. If you resonate with this paradigm at all, then let's do this. The reason behind the name of the ACT method is that that it requires action. It requires that you step out of the pill for an ill or a supplement for a symptom model for treating anxiety and insomnia and actually picking up the pencil and doing the work. The best part of all of this is that in the long term, the ACT method will save you time and money and will actually help you live the life you've always wanted. If you struggle with anxiety, if you lay awake at 3am while the rest of the world is asleep, or if you deal with chronic muscle tension, headaches or digestive upset, it's time to turn the page. If you've been feeling discouraged, overwhelmed and afraid for what your future will look like. If you don't get a handle on your stress, then it's time to write your next act. Imagine what it would be like to fall asleep without a handful of pills. Imagine a life where you feel calm and confident. Imagine being able to show up for your loved ones and be fully present and fulfilled. It's time to do an audit of the messages you've been receiving regarding what you should be expecting in the anxiety recovery journey. You can feel like yourself again. You can enjoy hope and power and even freedom. And I'm going to show you how. So let's get started. Welcome to my podcast. I'm Dr. Nicole Cain and I have a medical degree and a Master's in clinical psychology and I'm a former anxiety sufferer turned anxiety freedom rebel. Elaine came to me when she was 26 years old. She was diagnosed with PTSD after the Boston Marathon bombing. Since that incident, she had stopped running because whenever her heart rate increased, it brought her straight back to the trauma. One of the biggest problems with PTSD is that the brain does not realize that the trauma is in the past. It creates a time capsule that preserves every single painful moment. And when that capsule is opened or activated, whether by sounds or sight or dreams, any other triggers, we feel like we're right back in that traumatic moment. Elaine had been prescribed an antidepressant to counteract anxiety and depression, Prazosin for the night terrors, Klonopin for panic attacks, a beta blocker for heart palpitations, and Seroquel for sleep. Also prescribed was Metformin for the weight gain from the Seroquel. She was on a cocktail of medications and an even bigger number of supplements from her functional medicine doctor. Her medications weren't covered in full by her insurance and her out of pocket cost exceeded 150 USD and her supplement budget was creeping over 300 USD. She was spending over $450 a month in efforts to just get by. That's it. She was just getting by. Imagine what she could be doing with that kind of money. And if she wasn't spending it on mere survival, what else would she spend it on? I'll tell you at the end of this conversation what ended up happening with Elaine. But first I want to explain how we got there. I want you to imagine a giant house. You walk into the house and you smell cat litter. You can respond to this in two ways. One is to spray Febreze friggin everywhere or you can locate the source. Sure, Febreze can make a huge difference in the moment, but why wouldn't we also find and clean the litter box? Why would we give someone with generalized anxiety disorder an antidepressant and stop there? Why would we prescribe someone a benzo when the source of their suffering is standing right in front of them asking to be healed? This is where we begin. This is the new paradigm. You are the house. And your anxiety is a sign that something needs mending. No matter how much Febreze you spray, if you don't identify the source, you will continue to struggle. And this will waste your precious time and resources. The first chapter of the ACT method and the first step towards getting out of the endless loop of pain pills. More pain, more pills is the acknowledge step. Instead of suppressing your anxiety, I want you to face it. I want you to look your anxiety in the eyes and I want you to say, I hear you. I want you to notice where it is in your body. I want you to ask your anxiety, what are you trying to tell me? Get up close and personal with your anxiety and ask it, what do you need me to do for you? And then listen. Hold the space. Acknowledge the messages. Oftentimes our symptoms can become so intense that it feels like it will kill us or that we'll lose control. And I want you to remember this one. Your anxiety cannot hurt you. I want you to know that your anxiety is trying to help you. That's right. And I know that what I'm saying sounds completely bonkers. I remember feeling that way myself. And I know that the pain can feel too deep, too vast, too wide and too all encompassing. And the solutions sound too overwhelming when you're barely getting by as is. But I also know that the pain is a message. I've helped thousands heal. I helped myself heal. And I know that you can transform. You can turn tragedy into triumph. The second chapter of the ACT method is to identify your cast of characters. Several years back, I was working with a highly successful actress. She was halfway through filming the fifth season of a television series where she had been cast as a lead role. After a particularly arduous day of filming, she went home and laid in bed, and by the time the sun rose, she had still not fallen asleep. When we spoke the next morning, she was panicky, restless, and her headache was making her feel nauseated and she had a full day of filming ahead of her. I asked her to tell me more about the day prior and she began to share how one of the other actors had come to film hungover and how his mistakes had required several reshoots. And the director became agitated and at one point he snapped at my client. This reminded her of when she was in primary school, how she had been called out by a professor for not preparing adequately for a presentation. And the shame and embarrassment she felt during filming reminded her of how she had felt as an elementary age student. One of my client's psychological characters was her fifth grade self. And that self was locked in a time capsule just shriggered open during a stressful day at work and shared an unmet need. My client had two possible solutions. She could spray Febreze all over herself and hope for the best. Or she could mend her activated part, meet this part's needs and go back to work feeling empowered and resilient. And let me tell you, this amazing warrior didn't get a lead role on a hit television series by laying down and giving up. She was a fighter, and that was what Helped her transform her life and her career. Now's a good time for us to do a little breathing break. And wherever you are, if you can, I'd like to have you pause for just a couple of moments. And I want you to notice your body. I want you to pick an area of your body. And we're going to do a body gratitude exercise, for example, maybe your hands. And I want you to imagine this part of your body and look at it mindfully or with your eyes and feel gratitude. Bring up that gratitude, notice it in your body. Notice the memories that come up of how this person part has served you, the memories of how this part has had adventures with you, and the memories of how this part has walked with you through difficult times. And I want you to breathe and notice this part. And as you breathe in, I would love for you to breathe in light and direct that light to this part that you're being intentional on focusing on and direct it to that part and fill that part with light and love. And then as you exhale, breathe out any tension or worry or stress. Continue to notice this part and allow your heart to be filled with gratitude and love. For this part has been serving you for so many years. And honoring that good, honoring that love, honoring that part is an important part of the healing journey. Your cast of characters involves your psychological parts, your community and social network, and your physical characters, your body, your hormones, neurotransmitters and other biochemical signalers. Being aware of the multifaceted parts of your mental, emotional and physical well being will give you the power to appropriately meet those needs to transcend beyond symptom management to going above and beyond the pill pain pill pain cycle will ever get you. This leads us to the third chapter in the ACT Method. In this chapter, you learn how to create a bullseye and design your life the way you want it. Instead of settling for status quo, you can actually choose how you want to feel. Neuroscience has shown us the immense power of the brain in creating literal changes in how you think and how your body subsequently functions. Here's an example. Dissociative Identity disorder, otherwise known as multiple personality disorder, is a psychological condition where distinct personality states or identities control an individual's mind and body at different times. Interestingly, according to the national alliance of Mental Health, otherwise known as nami, depending on the personality state that is being activated, the individual may change from being left handed to right handed. One personality may need eyeglasses while the other does not. And some personalities may have measurable allergies while the others don't. If your brain has the power to change the need for glasses based on a mental state being activated, imagine the power of your brain in healing from anxiety and taking that healing and transcending beyond what you have ever previously thought was possible. Samuel Hahnemann refers to this personal transformation of healing as amazing in such a way that it obliges ways wonderment in those who look on. What if, instead of spraying Febreze in the foyer of your house, if you cleaned every room and redecorated it so the floors glisten, the lights sparkle, and the aroma of flowers filter through the open windows? What if instead of settling for getting by, you experienced what it was like to be a soul on fire? Elaine came to me with an origin story that had been pushed to the back of her mind because the memories were too painful. But the more she suppressed, the more the anxiety found creative ways to express itself. Here are the steps we took in the acknowledgement part of the ACT method. I want you to imagine going to a calm place. This is a place in your mind that you can create. Or it could be a place that you've been. Whatever it is, it feels calm and no harm can come to you there. In this calm place, you are protected. You have the power to change whatever you want about your calm place in order to best suit your needs and preferences. Imagine a table, and on that table is a very old television, one of those with the knobs and buttons. The quality of the screen isn't very good and the sound is low. And if you feel comfortable, turn on that television. On the screen you see the memories from the traumatic event. You can turn the television on and off or change the channels as you need. What you do notice is that you feel very distant from what is on the screen. Allow yourself to be patient, be present, and just notice what comes up as the feelings and sensations come up. Breathe and hold the space. Allow them to grow, flow and gently leave. Watch the video on the television for an intentional amount of time. Whatever feels right. Maybe that's 30 seconds or two minutes or longer if you feel comfortable. This will give you a safe way to distance yourself from the memory, but also to honor the parts that are in that time capsule so they can be heard and mended. She spent 15 minutes each evening working on the exercises from her anxiety breakthrough program workbook and dedicating intentional time to healing process. The next steps are from the next two sections in the ACT method. She identified the cast of characters in her story that were taking center stage and ran appropriate and deliberate testing. With the results of her testing she was able to change her supplement regimen and achieve better results with less money. She found supportive community. She became an active member in a local women's group, joined my Anxiety Freedom Warriors Facebook page and started to intentionally consume content instead of doom scrolling through pre curated content filtered to her on social media. And lastly, she used the 5F Life Design program to create her bullseye write her new story and she practiced mindfulness in order to intentionally rewire her brain to produce the physical and emotional state that she wanted. One of the first improvements Elaine saw was that her insomnia got a lot better. She was able to stop the racing thoughts with mindfulness practices and through the normalization of her autonomic nervous system, which is the system responsible for your symptoms of fight, flight and freeze. Her panic attacks became less intense and less frequent. She worked with her doctor to taper down on her medications one at a time, starting with the one that was the least helpful and had the greatest side effect. Profile Part of healing time capsules is integration of the past part with the present moment. While the brain is amazingly capable at healing and changing, this isn't a quick fix and it takes work. Typically it takes 90 to 120 days for something to become a new habit, and that is with continued commitment on your end. The easiest way to start is to identify your most important need. Where can you get the most bang for your buck? What do you need to push the needle such that it gives you room for more effort and change? Sometimes that means taking a medication. However, I urge you to put a comma at the end of that sentence and mend the parts that need mending. Get to the bottom of why you're anxious to begin with. Give your body in mind what it needs to heal and remove obstacles to to true transcendence. Elaine had been prescribed a handful of medications and supplements and she was spending over $450 a month on treatments that helped her just get by. But she was still suffering. Do you resonate with any of this? The good news is that Elaine got her life back. She felt better than ever and was even able to reduce her health care costs, improve her health, and she even started to run again, which was one of our biggest victories. If you're ready to conquer insomnia, anxiety or other sleep related issues, and if you're tired of the pain pill pain pill paradigm, then you're in the right place. Life is short and you've been struggling long enough. I know you're Overwhelmed, but small, thoughtful and strategic changes can make a mountain of a difference so that you have the bandwidth to live life the way you want it. If I offered to send your anxiety backstage, where you didn't have to worry about all the details on exactly how to do this, would you take me up on it? If I told you that I can do this while saving you time and money, would you be interested? If this is at all interesting to you, I have something interesting to share. For over a decade I've been working with clients one on one, walking them through the ACT method and watching as they transform anxiety into freedom. And finally, I just decided to put this together into an online course. And this benefits you in two ways. One is it saves you time. I put the course together so that it compacts years of consultation visits into an efficient, reliable and reproducible model that has proven time and time again to work with my clients. The second is that it saves you money. Instead of paying for the cost to work directly with me, instead of spray and pray testing, instead of just buying all of the supplements that you can find, you're going to have all of the ACT method at your fingertips, on your terms and from the privacy of your own home. I am so passionate about you getting results that I'm going to give you an action takers guarantee. This is the promise that I'm making to you. As long as you believe in it and put in the work, I promise that we're going to identify the root cause of your anxiety and you're going to learn how to transform your brain from being wired for anxiety into being wired for success. And we're going to do all of this in nine weeks or less. As long as you're taking the steps and actions on the roadmap and blueprint that I build for you, I. I'm going to be there every step of the way. You will have access to me and my staff and I'm not going to give up on you until we get the results you need. And for whatever reason, six months down the road and we're spinning our wheels and I see, for whatever reason, that this is not a good fit. Absolutely. I'll give your money back. That's it. No questions asked. My passion is to help you get your life back. I've been there and my heart is to help you get what I desperately needed. And over the past 10 years of learning from the side of medicine, from integrative medicine, from functional medicine, from clinical psychology, trauma, informed ego state, from all of these pieces that I put together, working with some of the best clinicians in the world. I have created the ACT method and this method works and my heart is to share that with you. And so if this is interesting to you, then let's get started. Hey everyone, thanks for listening. This has been Dr. Nicole Cain if you love what you're hearing and are eager for more, please hit the subscribe button. It helps me know that what we're doing is valuable for you. Are you ready to change your life? The next step is to click on the link in the show notes in the description that says End anxiety.

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I can't wait to meet you and get started on supporting you and getting your life back. And now for the disclaimer.

The recording you just listened to consists of the personal opinions of Dr. Nicole Caine, a naturopathic doctor with a Master's in Clinical psychology. While these opinions are based upon literature, her counseling education, medical training, and clinical experience, this content should not be viewed as the definitive opinion on these subjects. Listening to this podcast is not a substitute for any sort of medical, psychological or other form of treatment. If you are in a Crisis, please call 911-OR call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-8255. If you're in need of counseling, don't hesitate to make an appointment with a counselor in your area. Dr. Nicole Cain is so passionate about people getting their life back. If this resonates with you and you think this podcast would help someone you love, please share it with them. Stay in the conversation with Dr. Nicole Cain about writing the next chapter of your life so that it plays out just the way you want it. Explore your options for working with her at www. Dr. Nicolecane.com that's Dr. D R Nicole N I C O L E Cain C-A-I n.com when you're there, be sure to take advantage of the Free Anxiety Freedom One week challenge. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode of the get your life Back podcast. Here's to your next chapter. SA Sat.