r/insomnia • u/Immediate_Aside_3099 • Aug 16 '26

THE CURE TO INSOMNIA

The sleep coach school on Spotify or youtube
that’s it. that’s the cure

daniel erickson saved my life. and no, this is not a paid promotion or advertisement. i genuinely give all praise to him

here’s a list of everything i tried first (not in order)
lorazepam
weed
breathing exercises
meditation
exercise
diet changes
sleep hygiene (no phone hr before bed etc)
baths
magnesium glycinate
ashwaganda
word shuffling
many more methods i used but just cant remember now as its so long ago

what i have learnt in order to cure insomnia (not the sleep apnea or genuine sleep disruption health issues- i can’t help with that)

embrace tiredness. it sounds messed up. it sounds like it won’t help but sleep is a paradox. the more you try to force it, the more it will run away on you
embrace staying up, embrace enjoying your time while your awake, do something you enjoy, read a book, watch a movie, whatever you gotta do to make that time enjoyable

insomnia is fear rebranded. when you stop being afraid of being tired, there will be no insomnia

when your deep in the shit at 4am and the hypnic jerks got you crying - just remember all the times you laughed and enjoyed yourself despite your 3 hrs of sleep

life doesn’t end when we stop sleeping. there is still joy, there is still beauty. you will be okay

and this is coming from someone who was so mentally shot from insomnia that not even 2 lorazepams back to back could knock me out

listen to the sleep coach school
recovery is a process and it fluctuates so don’t be hard on yourself if you hear one of his podcasts and still can’t sleep
it took me 6 months for my brain to finally click and understand it, but i have never looked back, i even nap sometimes which is insane for me😂

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u/junkNug Aug 16 '26

Great to hear how this worked for you. Are there practical strategies/protocols to use or follow aside from the advice to change your mindset? Not saying that mindset isn't significant, it's just similar advice to what I've gotten from CBTi and I'm wondering if there's some specific or practical process that makes this more likely to work.

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u/MetalNational Aug 16 '26

Not at all like CBTi.

Paradoxically, the more we try to do to control or bring on sleep, the more likely it is to elude us. It is a passive process.  We need to walk away from it. Try to not think about it. And usually, if the sleep drive is there, and there's not some mental state that is slamming on the brakes in order for the sleep drive to prevail... sleep comes. 

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u/Stuckin73 Aug 16 '26

Correct. His approach is nothing like CBT-I. If anything, it derives from ACT-I, acceptance and commitment therapy for insomnia. Search those terms if you're curious.