Why Are Empaths More Likely To Be A Light Sleeper

Why Are Empaths More Likely To Be A Light Sleeper? What is the key difference between light sleepers and deep sleepers? What makes empaths and highly sensitive people more likely to struggle to achieve deep quality sleep, and what can they do to shift and change that?

What Is A Light Sleeper?

A light sleeper is someone who is easily aroused during sleep by various internal and external factors such as noise, vibration, movement, temperature, pain, light, smells etc. They suffer a lot from broken sleep which stops them reach the restorative stage of sleep which is stage 3 of the sleep cycle, low- wave sleep.

For example if you are more noise sensitive than other people, or even if you are someone who suffers from hyperacusis or noxacusis. You are more likely to wake up to the slightest sound around you which can lead to complex sleep issues.

What Is A Deep Sleeper?

Deeper sleepers are people who can often sleep through a lot of noise and disruption around them. Compared to a light sleeper, deep sleepers moves easily through the 5 Stages Of The Sleep Cycle.

What makes someone a light sleeper?

Well there are a variety of things that can make someone a light sleeper,

• Adenosine metabolism
• Age
• Brain Activity
• Chronic Anxiety
• Chronic Stress
• Energy Absorbtion
• Environment
• Genetics
• Health Conditions/Diseases
• Hypersensitivity
• Hypervigilance
• Lifestyle
• Pain
• Toxicity
• Trauma

Our health, our wellbeing, how we experience and process the world around us, past wounding and trauma that keep us in a hypervigilant state can all be contributing factors to being a more light sleeper.

Why Empaths Are More Likely To Be Light Sleepers

Empaths are not just highly sensitive but are widely known for absorbing the energy, emotions and even physical pain of the people and world around them. This can lead to a lot of emotional overwhelm and stimulation build up by the end of the day.

They also suffer from a lot of general sensory overload because they are more finely tuned to their environment and the patterns in the world around them. They process more deeply, as they notice things most people don’t notice. This level of processing leads to not just hypersensitivity but also hypervigiliance and even burnout in many cases, which sadly can be a big contributing factor to many fatigue type disorders.

Many empaths struggle with setting and maintaining boundaries, they are very uncentred and ungrounded in their body and very disconnected to the earth. Which again can make them more hypervigilant to the environment and world around them.

The problem is with most empaths light sleeping has become a habit, it can feel normal to them because it is something they have lived with for so long. I know compared to my own siblings and parents I was an extremely light sleeper and suffered disturbed sleep most of my life. I felt for a longtime in my life I was not getting into or enough NREM and REM sleep. So it something I had to work on.

8 Things Every Light Sleeper Empath Should Do

Become More Grounded And Centred

Calm And Soothe Your Nervous System Throughout Your Day Not Just Before Bedtime

Avoid And Reduce Stimulants

Use Sleep Aids That Block Out Light And Noise; blackout blind, eye mask, earplugs.

Get A Comfortable Pillow, Mattress And Bed- Just think how much time we spend in bed.

Create A Healthy And Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Address Nutritional Deficiencies That Could Be Impacting Your Quality Of Sleep

Use Natural Aids To Help You; such as essential oils, herbal remedies, pillow mist.

Recomended Essential Oils For The Light Sleeper:

Vetiver Oil is a natural sedative and is a great aid at helping light sleepers get into a more deeper state of sleep. NOTE: Please use sparingly and don’t use every night.

Ylang Ylang blended with Lavender encourages deeper sleep and dreams instead of restlessness and nightmares.

Frankincense and Sandalwood are extremely grounding and centring and can be blended with lavender, ylang ylang and rose.