Answer: Empaths are sensitive souls in all areas–sleep is one of them. Deep sleep is necessary for empaths to decrease their sense of being overstimulated by life. Many empaths have a harder time for sleep and need a specific kind of sleep hygiene. First, your bed needs to be a sacred space with comfortable sheets, pillows, comforters so you can burrow into the refuge of your bed. Your bed should never be a place of conflict where you argue, pay bills or do other stressful activities. I suggest meditating for 5 minutes before you to to sleep to find stillness and quiet your mind. Picture a very beautiful scene in nature. Empaths love water so any scene with water is calming. You might also want to get a white noise machine with nature sounds. In terms of your emotional healing, review your life to see if there was an incident or experience that made it feel not safe to sleep and let go—for instance hearing your parents yelling or other traumas. You can journal about this and work with a therapist or guide to get through these issues. I also invite you to read my book Emotional Freedom and go straight to the section on sleep and dreams for more strategies to sleep well + join my Empath Support Community on Facebook to be with like minded sensitive souls.
Sweet dreams,
Judith
Judith Orloff, MD is a New York Times bestselling author whose books include The Genius of Empathy: Practical Tools to Heal Yourself, Your Relationships and the World, The Empath’s Survival Guide, and Thriving as an Empath, which presents daily self-care tools for sensitive people. Her upcoming children’s book The Highly Sensitive Rabbit is about a caring rabbit who learns to embrace her gifts of sensitivity through the love and support of other animals. A UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty Member, she blends the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting-edge knowledge of intuition, empathy, and energy. Dr. Orloff specializes in treating highly sensitive people in her private practice and online internationally. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times, and USA Today. Dr. Orloff has spoken at Google-LA and TEDx. Explore more at www.drjudithorloff.com
