2 SECRETS FOR BETTER SLEEP

Q: I can't fall asleep - I keep thinking of past experiences and pain... actually I think a lot in general, just my mind racing. This makes me feel exhausted, but not physically, so I can't sleep. What can I do to help that?

A: I am sorry to hear this and you are not alone. But it doesn't have to be this way. Here are my top 2 tips to getting your ZZZ's:

1. Every night, about one hour before going to bed, I take 2 capsules of Magnesium Breakthrough by Bioptimizers. This particular supplement has 7 types of magnesium that helps me relax mentally and physically. I even measured my sleep and it's much better when I take magnesium, as it is one of the most missing minerals in our diets. They do have a money back guarantee and coupon code AlinaZ can save you extra $. 

2. Then, about 15 minutes before I want to fall asleep, I take out my gratitude journal and write 5 things that I am grateful for that day. I've had this journal from the photo above for 10 years now and write in it every night (the shell stays and I just get new pages every New Year) I actually keep all of my journal inserts and love to read them and reflect on my past experiences and how I processed them.

Here are my tips on gratitude journaling:

There are actually two types of gratitude - regular and radical. 

Regular Gratitude is when you  write about good things that happened that day - the weather was wonderful, I am grateful for my health, I am grateful for my supportive parents, I went out for drinks with my BFF and we got to connect, I love my dog... etc... 

Basically, you go through your day and look for the goodness in it. Even if the day was shitty, you can still find good things - like your fingers, your eyes, roof over your head...

By doing this, you help reprogram your brain and then can fall asleep feeling happier and more relaxed.

Radical Gratitude is a little harder, well, actually a lot. You have to be grateful for all the shitty things... Here is how I did it: I would give gratitude for being angry that my dog died, I would repeat that I was grateful for feeling sad about a break up, etc. 

This might sound like a crazy thing to do, but magic happens after this torrential emotional storm - you see the rainbow! 

Once you really feel those feelings, your mind starts to come up with reasons why they are good. For example, your mind starts to be grateful for anger and ends up being grateful for your open heart that loved so deeply and had so much joy for an extended period of time. And then that joy pours all over you and you start smiling and feeling gratitude for the goodness that you did have. 

I invite you to buy a journal that you will cherish and treasure, preferably one that has calendar pages so you can write about each particular day and then reference it later, remembering what happened when. 

Try this for a few days, weeks and see how much better you feel. After all, it's not that happy people are grateful, it's that grateful people are happy.

With lot of love and gratitude to you, 

Alina