Support deep, restful sleep disturbed by Lyme disease or chronic illness

Sleep disturbances are so very common for those of us healing from Lyme disease and co-infections, and for once we aren’t entirely alone. It seems like most people past the age of 40 struggle to attain deep, restful sleep, at least some of the time.

The worst thing about disturbed sleep isn’t the dark hours alone, in my opinion, but the fact the brain detoxifies and repairs itself during deep sleep, and without it, healing on all levels is compromised. We need deep sleep to self-maintain and heal.

There are a million natural supplements out there that support restful sleep. Some of my favorites are ashwagandha, CBD, and GABA. Check in with a qualified naturopath to find the right blend of organic supplements to support sleep – it can be a big help.

Beyond supplements, visualizations and various forms of energy-work can help retrain the brain back to restorative, healthy sleep patterns. These tools are beautifully non-invasive, and some can be wildly creative. You can play with them to suit your unique energy body, and they can evolve with you as you heal. Here are some of my favorites.

Chakra points to support deep sleep

I like to play with both the third-eye and heart chakra energy centers, lying in bed before falling asleep. These energy centers can help prepare the body to drop into deep. restorative dreamland.

The third-eye chakra is a point right between your eyebrows in the center of your forehead, and the heart chakra center is right in the middle of your sternum at heart level. These are large energy centers, so there’s no need to be exact with them.

The third-eye correlates with the pineal gland, which governs the release of melatonin, and the cycles of sleep and waking. The heart chakra relates to the thymus gland. which regulates parts of the immune system. For many of us with Lyme disease, chronic illness, or insomnia, sleep and waking cycles are disrupted due in part to light sensitivity. And especially for those of us with chronic infections, the immune system can be overactive – especially at night, during certain cycles of the moon.

You can stimulate these energy centers in various ways, depending on what suits you. Tapping them lightly with your fingertips can feel really relaxing and grounding. So can gently humming, directing the vibration to the chakra points. Once you get familiar with the tingling, warming sensations you can create in your energy centers, you’ll be able to awaken them just by paying attention to the points, as you breathe deeply and relax.

Visualize your energy body

I think of the energy body as an electrical field surrounding the physical body – what might be called the aura. When we aren’t feeling well, the energy body can feel tight and constricted – held close to the physical body, and kind of jangly. When we are relaxed and in harmony, the energy body can feel expansive, soft, and easy. This may be what we sense when we say that someone “has a bad vibe”, or that someone “has good energy”.

Once you feel your third-eye energy center is warm and tingly, it can be a sort of portal to your broader energy body. I like to close my eyes, and imagine I can see and feel an energy field surrounding my body – as though I exit through my third eye and inhabit the space around my body. I usually give my energy field a color; lately it’s been the blue-green in the drawing above.

Sensing and inhabiting the energy field around your body is extremely personal. We may store all sorts of energetic and emotional patterns there. I have no idea what you’ll experience! For me, it’s extremely relaxing, and sometimes I even feel visited by ancestors or light beings who love and care for me. Usually, this practice leads straight into interesting dreams.

Frequency medicine for sleep

If you are struggling with severe illness, especially with Lyme and co-infections, harmonizing your own energy can be too much to ask. In this case, either frequency medicine or guided meditations (or both) can help.

I love the relaxing journeys on the Ampcoil (a pulsed, electro-magnetic frequency, or PEMF, device) that support sleep. They have profoundly helped my nervous system restore healthy function. There are other PEMF devices on the market that I’m sure are effective as well.

For something less expensive, try my Calm Stamina meditation to harmonize stress hormones. Both PEMF and guided meditations are an outside stimulus that directly calm and restore balance to the energetic body.

Thank you for reading! You are the light,

Shona