1:1 Sleep Coaching

The DREAM Sleep Program

You deserve to sleep better, to have more energy and to live the best life.

Irina’s Coaching Approach

As a Sleep Coach, I will consider all aspects of your life: your biology, psychology, and social context.

My coaching practice covers all dimensions of the human experience, and I coach you as a “whole person.” This coaching technique is what Precision Nutrition (the institution which certified one of my sleep coaching certifications) calls: caching for Deep Health.

The one-on-one nature of the sleep coaching will allow me to create a personalized plan as I get to know you and your lifestyle. While I understand your sleep problems, I will answer questions that are unique to you, adapt my coaching based on your needs, and find the right solutions for you.

My coaching style is client-centered and creates a collaborative relationship. I collaboratively discover and navigate your unique path with you together.

What is included in the DREAM Sleep Coaching Program?

    • We will explore your sleep schedule, habits, and history, to get a full picture of your sleep patterns.

    • We will also discuss your goals

    • Based on that we will build a sleep training plan together that will allow you to achieve your sleep goals

  • This is to make sure your environment is sleep promoting and is not interfering with your sleep

  • In these calls we will troubleshoot and address any challenges or roadblocks, and adjust the plan as needed so you're continually moving forward. There will also be a teaching section from my side, where I explain the why behind the methods we use.

  • To help you troubleshoot between calls, and to give you the support you need to make progress

  • So that we can both keep track of your progress

  • Building your own Sleep User Manual to create your own sleep toolkit that you can use whenever you need

  • Resource guides and support materials that you can reference back when needed

  • This last 60 min session are reserved for doing a retrospective of the past 6 weeks and for making a long term plan. This will allow you to rinse and repeat the practices you learned long after the 6 weeks are over

Is this program for you?

  • This program is for you if:

    • You struggle to get enough sleep (less than 7 hours) and desire guidance on improving your sleep duration.

    • You find it challenging to adhere to a consistent bedtime, often procrastinating and sacrificing sleep for other activities.

    • You experience fatigue and lack of energy despite getting more than 7 hours of sleep.

    • You toss in bed, struggling to fall asleep, and want to fall asleep faster

    • You wake up in the middle of the night and encounter difficulty returning to sleep.

    • You seek to enhance your energy levels, mood, focus, and overall productivity.

    • You aspire to improve their overall health, happiness, and embrace an active lifestyle

  • This program is NOT for you if:

    • If you are experiencing a sleep disorder and are currently NOT under the care of a professional doctor, it is essential to seek medical attention. However, if you are already receiving treatment, sleep coaching can serve as a valuable supplement to further enhance and improve your sleep.

    • If you are seeking quick fixes or relying solely on sleeping pills for sleep improvement.

    • If you are unwilling to make lifestyle changes to support better sleep habits.

    • If your sleep problems are primarily caused by other underlying medical conditions, as behavior changes alone may not be sufficient to address these issues.

The DREAM Framework

I organized the relevant information about sleep, recovery, circadian biology, and behavior change I gained from working with clients and from my studies and systemized it in the DREAM framework. 

The DREAM framework and the one-on-one nature of my Sleep Coaching Program allow me to create a personalized plan as I get to know you and your lifestyle. While I understand your sleep problems, I will answer questions that are unique to you, adapt my coaching based on your needs, and find the right solutions for you.

To get the best results, all the clients who work with me must master the five pillars of the DREAM by the end of the period they work with me.

The 5 pillars of D.R.E.A.M. framework

  • D - DRIVE

    The DRIVE pillar focuses on creating the right balance between sleep and wake drive:

    Improve the quality of your sleep by strengthening your sleep-drive body clock systems.

    Increase energy levels during the day by strengthening your wake-drive body clock systems.

    Sleep-wake homeostasis balances our need for sleep, called a “sleep drive” or “sleep pressure,” with our need for wakefulness. 

    The sleep pressure (or sleep drive) builds up in our bodies when we are awake. The pressure gets stronger the longer we stay awake and decreases during sleep, reaching a low after a full night of good-quality sleep. 

  • R - Rhythm

    The RYTHM pillar focuses on syncing your circadian rhythm with nature’s rhythm as it is crucial for optimizing your sleep.

    Different systems of your body have their own circadian rhythms. But they are synchronized by the master clock in the brain.

    The master clock is directly influenced by environmental cues, especially light and temperature.

    When properly aligned, the circadian rhythm can promote consistent and restorative sleep.

    When the circadian rhythm is out of sync, it can create significant sleeping problems, including insomnia.

  • E - Environment

    The ENVIRONMENT pillar focuses on creating a sleep-promoting environment.

    A relaxing environment is essential for a good night of sleep. It can mean the difference between a night of restful, restorative sleep or one filled with uncomfortable tossing and turning.

    Studies have shown people sleep better when their bedroom is optimized for light and noise levels, temperature, and comfort.

    Whether you notice it or not, your environment shapes your health, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in countless ways.

  • A - Automatic

    The AUTOMATIC pillar focuses on 2 significant aspects:

    Identifying and breaking the loop of automatic thoughts and behaviors that are incompatible with sleep.

    Creating new healthy habits that will make going to bed easy and automatic.

    When it comes to sleep issues, there are a lot of alertness-promoting behaviors that keep us awake but are often hidden from our awareness. You might be familiar with some sleep-incompatible behavior of habits, but others might surprise you.

    In the evening, when you have to prepare your body for sleep, the willpower levels are the lowest. Developing and automating good will enhance sleep quality and make sleep feel effortless.

  • M - Mindset

    The MINDSET MANAGEMENT pillar focuses on managing and reducing stress's impact on sleep.

    Stress is an important part of human biology, allowing people to react quickly and decisively in challenging or dangerous situations.

    Stress and sleep have a reciprocal relationship. However, too much stress can profoundly impact sleep and overall health. High-stress levels can contribute to trouble sleeping, and poor quality or insufficient sleep can lead to maladaptive changes in the stress response.

    We will focus on how to train your active mind to be quiet in bed, relax your body to quiet your mind, and how think like a good sleeper.

Why I created this?

When I talk to people, they often express difficulty with day-to-day activities, whether trivial or complex. Some have a hard time remembering things, feeling like they have brain fog. Many have low energy despite feeling like their life is fueled by caffeine. Others experience mood changes, getting irritated from trivial things. 

What most have in common is trouble falling or staying asleep.

Maybe you can relate to some of these?

  • Feeling tired but wired when going to bed; becoming tense when trying to fall asleep as all the worries from the past day or about the next day flood your mind.

  • Anxiety around falling asleep; frequently checking the clock and making mental calculations about how many hours you have left to sleep until the alarm goes off.

  • A trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night quickly turning into additional hours of tossing and rolling awake in bed

Nowadays, the easiest and most common solution to sleep problems is taking sleeping pills. 

But what most people miss is that sleep issues are primarily rooted in our behavior. 

Taking a sleeping pill will address the symptom of your problem instead of the problem itself. You can significantly improve your sleep quantity and quality without any medication by implementing small, simple everyday actions. 

Other sleep training programs use pre-defined recommendations and promise you quick fixes in just a few sessions. They offer some suggestions and general advice on your sleep habits, and then they let you implement these on your own. 

But that's not the approach I take. There's no overnight transformation when it comes to changing our sleep and other recovery behaviors sustainably. My DREAM Sleep Program is build on my signature DREAM framework. Using this framework I organized all the relevant information and systemized it in a way to give you tactical strategies to help implement PROGRESSIVE behavior change that takes you to your goal, step by step. In this program I also help you implement those changes, empower you to take action, troubleshoot issues as they arise, and help you to get unstuck.

The DREAM Sleep Coaching Program is ideal for people who are struggling with

  • falling asleep,

  • staying asleep or

  • getting a restful sleep

If you are willing to do changes to get a better sleep, energy and health (that doesn't involve taking medication) this program is for you.

FAQ

  • Outside of weekly 30 min Zoom calls, we will use text message or voice/video message platform app if programming related. I usually respond quickly, but always within 24 hours.

  • Any number of things depending on the person's needs, including evaluating the previous weeks goals, troubleshooting, going over what is in the program we designed at the beginning, covering resources/handouts, and just chatting up about life. This is a real relationship, and I take a whole person approach.

  • I allow one rescheduling with at least a 24 hour notice to another time within that same week. If I'm told of the absence with enough time in advance, I can add a week on to the end of the current 6 weeks. However, for your success, momentum, adjustments and implementation, it's really important to consistently maintain the recurring time we agree on at the start. 

  • This program is designed to be 6 weeks long. 

  • The program is 6 weeks long and it covers these sections:

    • Pre-program call and Assessment

    • Week 1-6 - 30 min Zoom sync up

    • Post-program - Retrospective and Next Steps

  • No, a sleep tracker is not necessary. We can keep a Sleep Log on paper/online. However, I recommend having one, so we can better track your sleep and have a better way to measure progress.

    I advise against tracking your sleep in case tracking sleep makes you anxious. These details we will decide on these in the Assessment call.

  • Your Sleep User Manual is a collection of entries that identifies what works for you that allows you to get better sleep, feel more relaxed, and have more energy.

    The Sleep User Manual will be your own SLEEP TOOLKIT that you can use whenever you need, weeks, months, or even years after we finish working together. Though you might get better sleep now, life can happen and can through your balance away and end up counting sheep again. Going back on your Sleep User Manual will help remind you what you have done in the past that has worked for you or what hasn't worked.

Apply to work with me:

Please take a minute to fill out this form to work with me for Sleep Coaching. This form must be completed before deciding whether or not we can collaborate. It will give me the information I need to determine if we are compatible and if I can help you. Upon submission, I will review your application and contact you within 72 hours if we are a good fit and with any next steps. Submission doesn't guarantee a coaching spot.

Book a discovery call:

If you are unsure if this program is for you or if we are a good fit, just book a 30 min discovery call where we will learn more about each other. During this call, I'll learn more about you and you about me. We will talk about your struggles and goals and see how I can help you.

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Sleep And Beyond email newsletter topics range from solving common sleep issues like insomnia to optimizing your sleep for peak performance. We'll dive into the science behind sleep, explore chronobiology, and discuss how your mindset and daily habits impact your rest. You'll also get a dose of personal growth tips and stories from my own experiences, all aimed at helping you achieve a balanced and fulfilling life. So, if you're ready to take your sleep and well-being to the next level, you're in the right place!