Teach Yourself to Sleep: An ex-insomniac's guide

by Kate Mikhail

Overview

PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS FOR QUALITY SLEEP

'In her brilliant new book Mikhail delivers accessible science to help you take back control of your bedtime and your sleep' Psychologies

Are you suffering from chronic insomnia, an erratic sleep pattern or do you simply feel that your sleep isn't as deep and restorative as it should be? Then struggle no more. Teach Yourself to Sleep is the sustainable solution that you have been waiting for.

After decades of trying traditional methods to cure her poor sleep, the chance reading of a book by her Irish great-great uncle, a pioneer in cognitive therapy and clinical hypnosis, led chronic insomniac Kate Mikhail to research the science of sleep and the mind-body loop, and develop the tried-and-tested methods that finally enabled her to take control of her sleep and wake up feeling rested and energised.

In Teach Yourself to Sleep, integrative psychotherapist Kate shares her approach, blending first-person experience with accessible sleep science - including interviews with leading doctors, scientists and academics, as well as highly effective sleep 'scripts' provided exclusively for this book by other sleep experts.

Teach Yourself to Sleep will help you to view your sleep in a wider, deeper context, by revealing that its quality is inseparably woven into the way you spend your day - not an add-on that comes out of nowhere as night descends.

Considering sleep from every angle - from how to fix your natural sleep-wake cycle, what and how to eat for the best sleep possible, how to shift stress hormones in favour of sleep, and how to break the sleepless-menopause loop - this book will help you to understand your sleep better and give you the tools to take control and finally begin to get the quality sleep you need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780349428161
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Kate Mikhail is an integrative psychotherapist and a sub-clinical cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist, specialising in insomnia. Kate is also a journalist and editor, who has written a wide range of features and reviews for the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph and Independent national newspapers, as well as for many other publications.


After decades of not being able to sleep easily at night, a chance reading of a book by her Irish great-great-uncle Richard Waters, a pioneer in cognitive therapy and clinical hypnosis, led to the discovery that she was officially a chronic insomniac. A love of research, science and a fascination with the mind-body loop, drove Kate to find evidenced-based answers for why sleep deprivation can be such a problem for so many people in the 21st century, and what can be done to put this right.


Kate is now an ex-chronic insomniac and a sleep coach, thanks to researching Teach Yourself to Sleep and trying out everything she learnt on herself along the way. In this book, she explores the biology and science of sleep, how to look at sleep from a different perspective and how we can shift our physiology, behaviour and mindset to transform the quality of our sleep, 24-hour health and overall quality of life. Kate lives in London with her husband and three children.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why Bother Sleeping (Much) - and Where to Begin 1

1 The Illusion of Impossibility 17

2 Life Beneath Your Skin 39

3 The Big Primordial Tick-Tock 59

4 A Carrot for Your Habit - How to Create Positives for Sleep 77

5 How Do You Feel Exactly? Give it a Name. Any. Name. You. Like. 97

6 Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast 120

7 The Invisible Rollercoaster - What and When We Eat Matters 141

8 Feeling Flush 156

9 Are You Listening Carefully? 173

10 From the Outside In 192

11 The Protégé with a Crystal Ball 204

Bibliography 213

Acknowledgements 241

Index 245

Editorial Reviews

In her brilliant new book Mikhail delivers accessible science to help you take back control of your bedtime and your sleep—Psychologies

If you want an example of how one person's struggle can go on to help so many others, this book is it. Kate Mikhail's writing is a wonderful combination of personal experience and investigation into the science, knowledge and practice that will help readers navigate their way out of insomnia and towards getting a gorgeous night's sleep. If you or those you love are having difficulty sleeping, curl up with this book before bed and give yourself the gift of a sleep—Kirsty Macdonald, Cognitive Hypnotherapist and Transformational Leadership Coach

A very well written, informative, extremely interesting and enlightening book, presenting the theory behind sleep and wakefulness from different angles. It's a must-read book that provides solutions and advice to deal with sleep disorders using a holistic approach, by focusing on sleep hygiene and functioning of the body with respect to the circadian rhythm, as well as guiding us to follow a healthy lifestyle leading to increased productivity, good health and happiness—Dr Syed Shariq Hasan MBBS, MPH, MCPS, FRSPH, PhD Specialist in Public Health and Psychosomatic Medic

Sleep problems are one of the scourges that seem to have resulted from our modern, hectic and often stressful lives. Like so many modern afflictions there is no single cause and no 'one size fits all' remedy. Consequently, it is important for the sufferer to understand the problem better so that they can learn how best to manage it for themselves. This book by Kate Mikhail is a nice easy read which should help people to cope with this problem which can ruin the lives of the those who battle against it night after night.—Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine & Gastroenterology, University of Manchester

From the Publisher