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2 Reasons You Can’t Sleep

Nov 12, 2021
2 min read

Written by: Martha Lewis, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

Do you struggle to sleep?


Have you tried everything from sleep hygiene to supplements to sleeping pills to gadgets just to get a good night’s sleep? But nothing works for long or at all?


You’re not alone.


At least 10% of the population and possibly up to 50% experience chronic insomnia. That’s millions of people!

I had this problem, too. My insomnia started in late pregnancy but didn’t go away after my son was born, even after he was sleeping through the night and I had become a pediatric sleep consultant.


It would take me forever to fall asleep. And then I would wake up at 3 or 4 am and not be able to get back to sleep until 6 when my son was waking up.


I tried the basics: no screens before bed, no caffeine after noon, exercise every day. It didn’t help.


It wasn’t until I found out I had a parasite, hormone imbalance, food sensitivities and copper toxicity and corrected those that I started sleeping better.


If you’re tried everything and nothing has worked, there’s something deeper going on that is keeping you awake.


There are 2 things keeping you from sleeping:

  1. Your body

  2. Your mind


In your body, these things that you don’t know about could be sabotaging your sleep:

  • A pathogen in your gut

  • Food sensitivities

  • Liver detox issues

  • Mineral imbalance

  • Hormone imbalance

  • Food sensitivities

I use functional lab testing to find what’s going on in your body that’s keeping you awake at night.


In your mind, these things can keep you awake:

  • Chronic mental stress

  • Negative thoughts and anxiety about sleep

  • Being unhappy in your job, relationship, life

  • Living without purpose

If you look only at what's going on in your body, your mind will still ruin your sleep. And constant stress will keep your body from healing like it should.


If you look only at your mind, your body will still keep you from sleeping. You can meditate and journal and do yoga and laugh and relax, but the imbalances in your body won’t correct themselves. You have to find out what’s going on physically and work to fix anything out of whack.


You want to look at both your body and your mind in a holistic way to permanently fix your sleep.


If I can sleep well after 2 years of insomnia, you can, too.


I’m wishing you a good night’s sleep.


Follow Martha on her Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website for more info.

Martha Lewis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Martha Lewis is a sleep consultant to people who want have tried everything and still can't sleep. As a certified sleep expert and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, she addresses both body and mind with stress resilience techniques and testing for hidden health issues to get to the root cause of her clients’ insomnia. She goes beyond the basic sleep advice you read about everywhere else and addresses what’s happening in the body that causes insomnia. She has been featured in numerous publications, such as Thrive Global and the Jackson Hole News & Guide, and various podcasts around the world and is also a passionate speaker on the topic of sleep.

 
 

This article is published in collaboration with Brainz Magazine’s network of global experts, carefully selected to share real, valuable insights.

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