One of my fondest memories of my cat Dusty involved her snuggling up next to me, curling up in a ball, and purring profusely. Oh, the cuteness of it all. And the lovely sounds of soothing purring would lull me to sleep. Did you know that the purring sounds of cats are known to lower stress levels and blood pressure in humans? I digress.
Truth be told, I am that girl that never really had a problem getting to sleep easily. However, dealing with the loss of my heart cat Dusty, left me a wreck. For the first time, I had trouble getting to sleep easily.
I know if you are reading this post, you can relate.
Well, the good news is that I got through it. How? Today, I will share with you some of the tips I used to deal with grief-related insomnia. I hope you can find these tips helpful so you can return to getting a better night’s sleep.
It is time to get your rest.
A while ago, a wrote a post, “It’s time to get your sleep on!” where I talked about my roller coaster of emotions post-pet loss and how it impacted my sleep patterns. Seeing how most of us live in a fast-paced world dealing with chaos and a pandemic, we have a lot on our minds!
Dealing with everyday problems and issues is one thing, but the loss of a beloved pet adds a whole new dimension of stress.
So, how does one deal?
Keep reading to find out what tips I used to fix my insomnia problem and get a good night’s sleep.
6 Tips I used to tackle my insomnia quickly
1. Get moving
When I was in the beginning stages of grief I did not want to get out of bed. I wanted to just stay under the covers with the window shades pulled down and forget the world. But I knew better. If Dusty was here she surely would jump up on my bed, ‘make biscuits’ on my shoulders until I got my butt up out of the bed.
I knew I had to put one foot in front of the other, even if they were small steps only within the confines of four walls. It was a start.
What helped me get moving included low-impact exercise videos including stretching and yoga. I tried to make it a goal to strive for two or three days a week. Some weeks were better than others but with time, I gained momentum.
Also, as the weather permitted and grew warmer, I would walk to the corner market and return home. I was not much for socializing like I used to but at least making small strides outside the house was important to my journey to healing and getting back to myself.
When you are more active, it aids in better blood flow, health and promotes better sleep come nighttime.
2. Be mindful of what you eat
Believe it or not, food is medicine. Have you ever noticed when you eat junk food all day how awful you feel after the fact? Compare this to a day when you have been consciously eating fresh fruits, salads, and vegetables. You don’t feel sluggish or regretful, right?
Focusing on feeding your body with better quality food will help you feel better. Be careful with the extra sugar and caffeine in drinks like coffee and certain teas or energy drinks as it can leave you feeling jittery and prevent a good night’s sleep.
Put quality over quantity when it comes to your diet. This will be beneficial far beyond your insomnia problems and rewarding for your long-term health and wellness.
3. Bedtime Tea
A third tip I used to deal with my grief-related insomnia involved drinking tea before going to sleep. This is one of those past times I used to take part in when I was younger. I would often drink hot tea or cocoa before bedtime to soothe my soul. And it worked like a charm.
As I mentioned, some teas contain caffeine however others are ideal for bedtime. Some caffeine-free teas include Peppermint tea, Chai tea, Lemongrass Tea, and Ginger tea. Additionally, I am a fan of Chamomile tea too.
I love all of these teas. My favorite by far is Chai tea with almond milk and a dash of cinnamon and pumpkin spice before bedtime. Yum!
There are a plethora of teas to choose from so do your research and see what suits your taste buds.
4. Prayer
My faith is an important part of who I am, so prayer is an essential part of my routine and lifestyle. As a child of God (and whatever faith you happen to follow) I think a great part of healing involves relying on your faith and support system.
When dealing with grief, I would routinely pray in the morning when I woke up and again at night. And on those particularly rough days where I felt overwhelmed with grief, I would pray while commuting on the train if I needed to.
Prayer helped to allow me to connect and express my innermost feelings and emotions in a safe space.
Being active in your own personal faith practice is an important part of feeling support and healing while grieving. When you feel a sense of support, you have a sense of comfort and safety and this coincidentally only helps you to restore some peace in your heart and soul.
So, when it comes to laying your head down at night, you can do so a little easier with each passing day.
And if you happen to follow a particular religious faith or none at all, don’t hesitate to search out additional support groups that deal with grief in your journey to better rest and healing.
5. Train your mind to recall fond memories
One of the hardest things to deal with after the loss of a pet is the constant replay in your mind of their last moments. Seeing my Dusty on a sterile table with her blanket wrapped around her as she lay defeated was the hardest memory to “escape”.
Remembering this replay in my mind would keep me up most of the night. This was a great obstacle for me finding success in getting a good night’s sleep.
So, what did I do? I had to retrain my brain.
Instead of putting the focus on her last moments, I had to make a conscious effort to remember happy memories. This tip was a hard one for me to conquer my grief-related insomnia. Honestly finding happy memories was not the hard part. What was difficult was executing my plan.
I later discovered what worked best for me was retrieving a video clip of happier times with Dusty.
Watching video clips of Dusty purring or walking around exploring the house reminded me of how inquisitive and curious she was. It reminded me of her zest for life. And that very image is what I needed to replace in my mind.
So, feeding my mind with positive memories was key to helping me refocus on positivity versus the negative association with death. This helped calm my mind by the time night came. Visualization of happy times before bed helps me begin to break that insomnia pattern and smile again.
6. Read before bedtime.
Finally, reading books before bed has always been a double-edged sword for me. What do I mean? I mean, I love to read however often I fall asleep. The book content can be very intriguing but somehow, I always manage to doze off.
One thing I always find is that when I read before bedtime, it does help to transport me to another place in my mind and imagination. Reading is a nice escape, and the best part is you can choose where you would like to go.
Personally, while learning to overcome my grief-induced insomnia I chose to focus on self-help and inspiration books. I also was curious to learn about pets and the afterlife as I had a few unusual experiences. I wrote about that in a separate post you can check out here.
If you are looking for book suggestions, check out some of my prior posts/reviews below:
Until we meet again by Melissa Lyons: A book review
Say “Yes” to the prompting of the Holy Spirit by Kenneth Overby: A book review
5 Inspirational books that gave me the courage to live my best life
Conclusion
So, those are the 6 tips I used to deal with my grief-related insomnia after pet loss. Returning to a sense of my old self did not happen overnight. It took a little time and consistency to see results, so do not get discouraged. Healing takes time.
As you can see deep grief impacts multiple facets of our lives beyond our daytime routine. It affects our mind, body, soul, and sleep. Dealing with grief is a journey and different for everyone. Take it one day at a time.
I hope you found these tips helpful. Would you add any other suggestions? What tips can you share when dealing with grief-related insomnia?
I’d love to hear your ideas. Share your thoughts in the comments below. Don’t forget to pin and share this post with a friend!
Post originally published October 2020. Updated March 2022.
