Insomnia Workshops

The workshop is targeted specifically at insomnia sufferers and aims to give individuals the knowledge and tools they need to achieve good quality, consolidated, natural and non drug based sleep. It will cover everything in the highly successful Insomnia Prevention Plans run by Dr. Meadows (PHD), although talking sessions will be done in guided groups and not one to one.

Every individual on the workshop will come away with their own personal insomnia prevention plan, a copy of the ‘Insomnia Prevention Plan’ booklet and the knowledge and skills to prevent their insomnia.

The workshop is hosted solely by Dr. Guy Meadows (PhD) and involves a series of talks, question and answer sessions and guided workgroups. The weekend provides a new and unique approach to combatting insomnia in an enjoyable and relaxed setting.

New Event: Rockliffe Hall Spa Sleep Retreat

Dr. Guy Meadows has teamed up with the Rockliffe Hall Spa to provide a luxury sleep retreat for those of you wanting more than just education. The event will offer one day with myself learning ‘Mindful Sleep Therapy’ to help you overcome your insomnia and then one day in the luxary spa.

London Workshop Dates for 2010:

Workshops will be held on the following weekends in 2010:

Cost:

£150 per person  - This includes the weekend workshop, the insomnia prevention plan manual and a 1on1 10 minute progress report telephone call one month later.

Venue and timing:
The two day weekend workshops are held at the wonderful Gracelands Yard and run from 10am till 4pm on both days. To ensure that every individual recieves maximum benefit from the workshp the groups are limited to only 12 people per workshop. The venue is connected to the amazing Gracelands Cafe which makes fine wholesome food to keep us going throughout the weekend.

Address: Gracelands Yard, 102 Liddell Gardens, London, NW10 3QE. Nearest Tube - Kensal Green (Bakerloo Line - 10 min walk) or Kensal Rise Railway station).

Enquires:

If you would like to reserve a place on the next workshop or arrange to speak with Dr. Guy Meadows (PhD) to discuss whether the workshop would be appropriate for your specific needs please call 0844 561 0474 or email estelle@londoninsomniaclinic.co.uk.

What people have said about the workshop:

“I have been a poor sleeper since my first child was born 30 years ago but in the past 10 years this has got worse, often getting very little sleep. I discovered the London Insomnia Clinic through the internet and attended Guy’s weekend workshop which was most enjoyable, worthwhile and informative. The techniques used - the positive approach to life, living in the present moment and using Guy’s Mindful Sleep Therapy have really made a difference. I found this approach to be very helpful in dealing with sleep problems and also very useful in everyday life. I am now enjoying much better sleep and a better quality of life.
Thank you Guy” Siobhan (Feb 2010 Workshop)

“I’ve never slept well, and it had got worse in the past few years. Repeated trips to the GP had resulted in either advice to have a bath and a milky drink or at the other extreme offers of sleeping pills, which I didn’t want to take. Insomnia was really damaging my quality of life. About 5 weeks ago I went on the two-day workshop that Guy Meadows runs. It was really helpful and introduced a range of techniques and therapies. Guy’s positive attitude and sense of humour helped get everyone in the right frame of mind. Most importantly, since then my sleep has improved dramatically! I can’t say I sleep well every night, but who can. I basically no longer feel as though bad sleep is affecting my day to day life. The approach is very holistic, so it has also helped me deal with worry and anxiety that are one of the causes of my insomnia. I’d definitely recommend the workshop, it has made a big difference to me.” Sarah Edwards (Oct 09 Workshop)

“I attended the 2 day workshop and it transformed my approach to insomnia. Guy tackles this problem holistically and very sympathetically by focusing on aspects of insomnia such as unhelpful thoughts. The techniques used in the workshop are also relevant for life in general. Since completing the workshop, I experienced a fairly stressful period in my life however thanks to Guy, my sleep did not suffer. My only problem now is sleeping too much!” Louise Duffy (Oct 09 Workshop)

Press:
I am pleased to announce that the London Insomnia Clinic’s first Two Day Insomnia Prevention Workshop made its way into the Body and Soul section of the The Saturday Times newspaper on the 13th June 2009. The article was written by Caroline Brien who also attended the course. To read the artilce please click here.

The workshop will cover:

Dr. Guy Meadows (PhD) uses his own Mindful Sleep TherapyTM to provide a non drug based approach to tackle the many aspects of an individual’s insomnia and to ensure effective long term recovery.

Mindful Sleep Therapy - is centred on what good sleepers do to sleep, which is essentially nothing more than trusting their body’s natural ability to sleep. Everyone can sleep, but at certain points in our lives we experience something that causes it to be disturbed. As we become anxious, angry or frustrated about not sleeping we inadvertently get in the way of this natural process. Mindful Sleep Therapy teaches you to stop fighting, avoiding or trying to get rid of your insomnia as this is what fuels it and keeps you locked in its vicious cycle. It also understands that whilst ‘doing’ things to help you sleep may satisfy your internal desire to feel like you are coping or at least fixing the problem, ultimately it pushes you further away.

Learning how to slowly let go of struggling with your insomnia and play with your fear of not sleeping allows your sleep to emerge naturally once more.

Techniques include:

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approaches- teaches you how to “just notice”, accept, and embrace your current mental state rather than trying to fight, avoid, or change it.  ACT aims to help you clarify your personal values and to take action on them, allowing you to free yourself from your insomnia and bring more vitality and meaning to your life in the process, rather than just spending your whole time trying to find a solution to your insomnia.
  • Mindfulness Approaches – learn how to live your life in the present moment rather than always being stuck in the past or imagining the future. You will learn how to spend your time sleeping rather than worrying about past poor quality sleep or how you could feel tomorrow if you don’t sleep. Learn to stop trying to switch off your mind and instead become familiar with your thoughts and emotions and begin to choose how you wish to react to them rather than been driven by well rehearsed habitual responses.
  • Stimulus Acceptance Therapy – learn to fall in love with your bed again and make it a place of sleep rather than a battleground. Understand how our reaction to being awake at night determines your ability to get back to sleep. For example constantly avoiding your bed by getting up in the middle of the night may offer a short term solution but ultimately pushes you further away from the place you want to be. Learning how to be with wakefulness rather than fight against it is the balance that brings sleep.
  • Sleep Restriction Therapy – Not needed for everyone, but a helpful tool for establishing a robust sleep wake cycle, as well as improving sleep quality and efficiency (the amount of time spent in bed asleep).
  • Sleep Hygiene Awareness – realise that sleep hygiene guidelines are not as black and white as most people will tell you and must be tailored to the individual to avoid them becoming a further source of sleep anxiety. For example avoiding caffeine or alcohol, exercising everyday or ritually having a cup of warm milk and a bath before bed does not guarantee a good night’s sleep!).
  • Dietary and Fitness Analysis - to correct poor eating and exercising habits that could be inhibiting good quality sleep (only if considered to be necessary following initial consultation).

The success of his plans is due to their holistic nature and the fact that ‘no stone is left unturned’ when identifying why an individual cannot sleep. The prevention plans give people the tools and knowledge to combat their insomnia, as well as the support from Dr. Guy Meadows, an insomnia specialist, to ensure individuals are not alone during this difficult time.

What people have said on the day:

“Extremely helpful - It is reassuraing to know your’re not the only person with insomnia! I have achieved so much this weekend. I now have so much knowledge, plus new skills that insomnia is no longer a problem”

“Excellent - good mix of talking, group work, exercises and humour”

“It gave me an increased insight and a broadened skillset to manage my insomnia and improve how I respond to life’s difficulties in the future”

“It has provided the impetus for me to look at my sleeplessness in a completely new way”

Wishing you the best of sleep,

Guy

London Insomnia Clinic - Director