It’s an interesting observation because many sleep clinics use ACT for insomnia/ lack of sleep and mindfulness forms an important part of their course.
Generally speaking we all have a very powerful physiological or natural sleep mechanism. It’s just the anxiety, frustration, worries that seems to stop that the mechanism from working.
By practising mindfulness, and just focusing on the breath and the chest rising and falling, it shuts out all those things that you’re troubled by. The very powerful sleep mechanism I mentioned earlier, can then come into play and “sleep takes you over“.
Sleep is a big issue for chronic pain sufferers. As well as doing all the other sleep hygiene things, doing a mindfulness exercise may help you. It’s perfectly OK to use one or other of the mindfulness exercises to help you sleep if you want. You can add the one you prefer to the favourite section and play it at night.
However, try also to use the mindfulness exercises just to be present and experience the moment during waking hours as explained in the program. Hopefully you will soon see that it can help make room for your chronic pain in your life but also help you refocus on the tasks that really matter to you.
Best wishes,
Lourdes