When my mother passed in 2014, I couldn't sleep or eat for roughly the first 9 months afterwards. I was literally going through the motions, and I was kind of haphazardly surviving. My work life was suffering, and my husband was doing everything he could to keep me from completely neglecting myself.

On night, on a whim, I searched YouTube for a sleep aid. I don't like taking any more pills than absolutely necessary, so I figured audio would be a safe option. That's when I came across Dr. Siddharth Ashvin Shah. I did a little research, and it turns out that his work was made for people who deal with trauma (primarily first-responders etc.). I gave it a try, and holy crap, I was actually able to sleep. It basically helps you wind down by helping you focus on minimizing the world around you. Overstimulation and hypersensitivity are two problems I have when I'm anxious. The guided breathing exercises helped me a lot.

If you have a Spotify account or another streaming service, I recommend giving it a try. I still have to use it from time to time (on bad flare days or when I've had high stressload days--like back in August when my gran died), but ithas helped tremendously.

I really hope this helps some of you. Not being able to get any sleep (especially quality sleep) only exacerbates our conditions. Take care of yourselves