From time to time, I have a few days where I don’t sleep well at night. It either takes me a long time to fall asleep, or, if I fall asleep quickly, I wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. and can’t go back to sleep.

Meanwhile, the man who has shared the bed with me for many years, my lovely hubby, continues sleeping like a baby as usual.

Does that ever happen to you, beacon? You lie awake in your bed, asking yourself why in the world you can’t simply sleep like “normal” people and wonder how to shut down your monkey mind?

You see, last week was a very busy week for me. I was very productive and energetic. I focused on exciting projects, developed new online courses, planned live events, mentored, taught, wrote, and created. I worked 10 to 12 hours a day on what I love doing the most: helping women heal and grow.

I meditated and gave Reiki to myself every morning as I have done for the last 20 years. I took short breaks throughout the day. And yet, I had sleepless nights.

It was time to pause and evaluate what was happening. I took myself on a quest to gain awareness and observe myself from the outside as if I was one of my clients. (Since I am so intuitive and wise when it comes to other people…)

I got good insight and clarity on what needs to change in my life when I can’t sleep—knowledge that might help you too.

Being on overdrive all day long is unhealthy even when you live your passion and truly love what you do.

Throughout the day, you are super busy. If you are like me and many other women, your schedule is totally unrealistic—one that only a superhero, not a human being, can maintain.

You go, go, go all day long, and you are always overstimulated. You overschedule. You overdo. Your adrenaline flow is maximized. You are hyper and constantly functioning on “high.”

When you keep producing energy all day long, you end up crashing at night.

One of my clients, an event planner, tells me how busy she is during the day. People compliment her on her positive vibes and high energy. There is no challenge she cannot tackle. She solves problems on the spot. She devotes more than 100% of her energy to making things happen. 

At night, she crashes. And we’re talking a BIG crash. Her husband knows not to talk to her. Not to go near her. Just to leave her alone. She hired me to help her improve her personal life. Her marriage was falling apart.

Together, we’re focusing on helping her to be mindful of how much energy she expends during the day. She is making good progress, investing 80% rather than 120% of her energy into work so she still has some energy left over.

If you crash at night too and are missing out on life, pay attention to how much energy you are investing in work and how much energy is left over.

The “I can’t sleep” syndrome is more challenging for empaths.

If you are a giver, you might have a lot of empathy for people. While many people are empathetic, not all empathetic people are empaths.

Empaths not only feel other people’s emotions, they actually take them on. They absorb the energy of others like a sponge.

If you are like me, and you are an empath, there are a few things you need to know:

• The energy we absorb from others all day long drains us.
• The energy we absorb can stay with us for a long time and weigh us down.
• It is challenging for us to know which feelings are ours and which belong to others.

The most important insight for empaths who can’t sleep

When we don’t take time during the day to reflect and process emotions, our minds get overactive at night when everything around us is still and quiet. We can’t sleep because our minds are constantly trying to understand things that happened throughout the day.

If you can’t sleep at night, there are three things I want you to do:

1. Find out if you are an empath. Simply answer these 12 questions, and you’ll get your answer.
2. If you find out that you are an empath, start experimenting with different ways to clear unwanted energy and process your emotions during the day. Awareness is always the first step.
3. The last thing I want you to do if you know that you are an empath is send me a quick note, and I’ll share some resources to help you become an empowered empath and embrace your sensitivity.