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I sat down to a double espresso at 10 p.m. I know. Some of you are already thinking, Are you crazy?! But it was delicious. It was finally quiet in my house. The kids were sleeping, nobody needed me anymore, everything I needed to do was done, and I had finally closed my phone for the day. And I was relishing the quiet and my coffee. I'm a huge coffee drinker, and here's the part that might surprise you: Coffee does not keep me awake. I can drink a double espresso and be aslee

I have some exciting news to share! I had the honor and privilege of being invited by Chani Schreibhand to write for The Uplift Magazine, Issue 26: UNCHARTED. I’m so excited to be part of this issue and to have the opportunity to share my work with the readers of The Uplift. For this issue, I answered one of the most popular questions I get as a sleep coach. It’s a question I hear over and over again, and I was excited to have the opportunity to share my perspective and answe

“Can you confirm that not sleeping is dangerous?” That was the question a school secretary asked me. She was struggling with insomnia, but it wasn't just the lack of sleep that was frightening her. She was terrified of what might happen because she wasn't sleeping. What she was doing in the middle of the night really struck me. She wasn't Googling how to sleep. She wasn't searching for another sleep tip. She was Googling: “What could happen if I never sleep again?” Think abou

Want to get your kids back on schedule, and teach them how to become independent sleepers? Reach out to me. I can help you understand what’s really happening with their sleep and create a plan that works for your child. Schedule a Free Sleep Consultation School hasn’t even started yet. So why are some kids suddenly sleeping worse? I was thinking about this after receiving an email from a former client this morning. She has been doing exactly what so many parents are told to

“I am SO bored.” Those were the words I kept hearing from my daughter, and honestly, I understood why. We are in that crazy stretch of summer when day camp is over, school hasn’t started yet, and we are all trying to keep the wheels on. Work. Kids. Meals. Schedules. School supplies. Uniforms. Shoes. Trying to remember who needs what, when, and where. Preparing for Yom Tov. Answering emails while someone is asking what’s for dinner. Trying to get everything done while there ar

I woke up in the middle of the night, and I thought I knew exactly what to do. Usually, when I wake up and realize I'm not falling back asleep, I give it a few minutes. If I'm still awake, I get out of bed, read a book, or do something quiet until I feel tired again. I'm generally very calm about it. I don't look at the clock and panic. I don't think, Oh no, I'm never going to fall back asleep. I know it will pass. But recently, I woke up toward morning and waited a few minut

My fridge broke a few days ago. Thankfully, I have a regular-size refrigerator downstairs in the basement and a very small refrigerator upstairs. Normally, I have one working, full-size refrigerator in my kitchen, so the little fridge upstairs is simply a convenience. It holds a few drinks, some yogurts, and whatever else I happen to put in it. But when my kitchen fridge stopped working, that tiny refrigerator suddenly became very important. I started making do with whatever

Do you remember what it feels like to be yourself? Not the exhausted version of yourself. Not the person who wakes up already counting the hours until bedtime. Not the person who has forgotten what it feels like to have energy. When you are living with insomnia, it is not just about being tired. It changes everything. Your mind feels foggy. Simple decisions suddenly feel overwhelming. You stand in front of the refrigerator trying to decide what you want on your bread, and som

“Melatonin is a healthy sleeping pill, right?” I hear this question all the time, and I understand why people ask it. When you are exhausted, when you have spent another night staring at the ceiling, when you are desperate for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, you want something that will help. You want something that feels safe. You want something that feels natural. And because melatonin is sold in the supplement aisle, many people assume it must be the healthier version

Sometimes insomnia isn’t the diagnosis. Sometimes it’s the clue. When 19-year-old Malka came to me, she thought she had a sleep problem. She was exhausted. Her energy was unpredictable, and she didn’t feel like herself anymore. She had reached a point where she had even given up her job because she didn’t feel like she could handle everything she was experiencing. In her mind, the answer seemed simple: “If I can just fix my sleep, everything else will fall into place.” So tha

A mother called me about her 16-year-old son, and within two questions, the entire conversation changed. Her son was learning in Israel and was finally on break. His days were filled with everything a teenager dreams about: surfing, ATVing, hiking, exploring, spending time with friends, and creating memories he would probably talk about for years. But one morning, he called his mother embarrassed. His friends had been telling him that he was talking in his sleep every single

A friend shared something with me recently that I have not stopped thinking about. She has a thyroid condition and, over the years, her medication had been adjusted until she was taking the tiniest dose every other day. And she was feeling great. She had her energy back. She was exercising again. She was able to work. She felt like herself. Then one day she thought: "Do I really need this anymore?" It was such a small pill. How much of an impact could it really have? So she s

Have you ever had one of those nights where you are lying in bed, staring at the clock, and thinking: “I have to sleep.” “Why am I still awake?” “Tomorrow is going to be terrible.” The more you try to force sleep, the further away it seems. But what if the problem isn’t that you are awake? What if the real struggle is the fight against being awake? I recently came across a story about an experiment that completely stopped me in my tracks. Researchers wanted to understand how

Living in Montreal, we don’t get endless weeks of warm, beautiful weather. That is why, when those perfect summer days arrive, I try to soak up every moment. Yesterday morning was one of those mornings. I was sitting on my back balcony, enjoying breakfast. The sun was shining. The air was warm. Everything felt peaceful. It was one of those rare moments where you stop and think, I don’t want this moment to end. And then suddenly… A smell. Not just an unpleasant smell. A terrib

What is one thing you believe about your sleep habits that you’ve never actually questioned? Maybe it’s: “I’m just not a morning person.” “My body doesn’t work that way.” “I could never fall asleep that early.” “I’ve always been someone who stays up late.” But what if some of those beliefs are not facts? What if they are simply patterns your body has become used to? A few weeks ago, I experienced something that reminded me just how adaptable our bodies truly are. I was away o

If bedtime has become a nightly battle… If you feel defeated every night trying to get your child to sleep… If your child takes hours to fall asleep, wakes up repeatedly, or bedtime has become a source of stress and frustration… You are not alone. Many parents reach the end of the day exhausted and desperate for their child to finally fall asleep. After a long day of caring for everyone else, it can feel overwhelming when bedtime stretches on and on. But sometimes, in our att

Last night, something got into my eye. It sounds small. Minor. Almost insignificant. But in the moment, it felt anything but. At first, it was just uncomfortable. That scratchy, irritating feeling that something is there and shouldn’t be. Naturally, I did what most of us would do: I started rubbing it, trying to get it out. Just a quick rub, I thought. But instead of helping, it got worse. Within seconds, the irritation turned into real pain. Sharp. Burning. My eye started te

If you have gone through a major life transition, experienced a stretch of poor sleep, and found that even after life settled down your sleep did not return to normal, sometimes the issue is no longer the original stressor. Sleep itself has become the thing you now worry about. If that sounds familiar, reach out https://calendly.com/chevymermelstein/30min This is exactly the kind of work I help people navigate. A few nights ago, my son-in-law was sitting at our dinner table,

Do you find that you are waking up multiple times a night? Do you realize that the food that goes into your body all day will have an effect on your sleep? And you’re frustrated? Then let’s talk. Let’s figure out what’s actually driving your sleep, and what needs to shift so your nights feel different again. https://calendly.com/chevymermelstein/30min It was close to midnight. The kind of midnight that doesn’t feel rushed or chaotic, it feels soft. Almost suspended. Like th

Malka, 32 years old, came to me after two years of severe insomnia that had slowly taken over every part of her life. By the time she reached out, she had already tried everything she could access—multiple sleep programs, a long list of sleeping pills, adjustments, switches, dosages, and she described a point where she felt like she was just “popping pills like a drug addict,” because nothing was working anymore. At some point, her doctor added a small dose of Ativan. It didn