Why Are Empaths More Likely To Be The Light Sleeper

Why Are Empaths More Likely To Be The 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 that?

What Is A Light Sleeper?

A light sleeper is someone who is easily awakened during sleep by various internal and external factors such as noise, vibration, movement, temperature, pain, light, smells, etc. They often suffer from broken sleep, which can stop them from reaching 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 Absorption
• 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 built up by the end of the day.

They can also suffer from general sensory overload because they are more finely tuned to their environment and the patterns in the world around them. They process more deeply and notice small things especially patterns and subtle energy shifts that most other people don’t pick up.

This level of processing leads to not just hypersensitivity but also hypervigilance and even burnout in many cases, which sadly can be a big contributing factor to many fatigue-type disorders.

Many empaths struggle to set and maintain boundaries; they are often very uncentred and ungrounded in their body and very disconnected from the earth. Which again can make them more hypervigilant to the environment and world around them.

The problem is that, for most empaths, light sleep has become a habit; it can feel normal to them because they have lived with it for so long. I know, compared to my own siblings and parents, I was an extremely light sleeper and suffered from disturbed sleep most of my life. I felt for a long time that I was not getting enough NREM and REM sleep. So it’s something I had to explore more of and 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, and pillow mist.

Recommended Essential Oils For The Light Sleeper:

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

Ylang Ylang blended with Lavender encourages deeper sleep and dreams rather than restless sleep and nightmares.

Frankincense and Sandalwood are extremely grounding and centring, and can be blended with lavender, ylang ylang, and rose to suit individual needs and scent preferences.

Check out my Essential Oils For Home Use if you would like to learn how to use essential oils safely and effectively for you and your family’s health and wellbeing.