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Fast days are strange — we do almost nothing, and yet somehow we can’t fall asleep when they’re over. Right after the fast ended, I got a call from my teenage son, Dovid. He’s in camp in the Catskills, and I could hear him sipping (loudly) on his favorite post-fast treat — a freezing cold Ice Cap. It had been a sweltering, sticky day upstate, and I asked him how the fast went. “Great!” he said, full of pride. “I woke up to daven Shacharis, went right back to bed, and my frien

And How Tova Almost Slipped Into Insomnia Without Realizing It Tova is 26 and single. She works hard all year as a high school science teacher — and I mean hard. She juggles over 90 students, grades endless labs and quizzes, and organizes the annual science fair like a one-woman event-planning committee. By the time June rolls around, between finals, report cards, and an end-of-year school trip, she’s completely drained. So when summer break begins, she does what any burned-o

When Chana reached out, she told me she was a night person. She said it casually at first—like a personality trait. Something she’s always been. But underneath her words was a quiet ache. Chana is a young mother of two. A few months ago, she and her husband relocated to Antwerp for his business, leaving behind her hometown, her family, her friends, and her job. Her days feel long, quiet, and unstructured. And her nights? She stays up until 2 or 3 a.m.—scrolling, drifting, wa

Struggling with being awake in the middle of the night while traveling? Learn how Pearl used mindfulness and sensory grounding in Jerusalem to let go of sleep pressure and find true rest. In Part 1 of Pearl’s journey, we explored her deep desire to stop relying on sleeping pills as she prepared for a long-awaited family trip to Israel. 👉 (Missed it? You can read Part 1 here .) After years of chronic stress, a toxic boss, and sleepless nights, Pearl was finally ready—nervou

Pearl is a 49-year-old woman living in Miami with her husband. She’s the kind of person who shows up early, follows through on her responsibilities, and doesn’t make waves—even when the situation is deeply unfair. She works in a high-stress corporate environment where the pressure never lets up. Her boss, to put it gently, is not kind. Over the months, I’ve heard stories that made me feel tense—and I wasn’t the one living through them. Passive-aggressive comments. Impossible

Why Are Insomniacs Practically Living in Bed? (Spoiler: It’s Not Helping) It sounds counterintuitive, right? The less you sleep, the more time you spend in bed—shouldn’t it be the opposite? But that’s exactly what happens to many people struggling with insomnia. They start living from their beds , convinced that if they just rest enough, sleep will eventually come. They work from bed, eat from bed, scroll endlessly from bed. Some don’t even bother getting dressed, spending en

Jilly is 45 years old, a mother, a professional, and someone you’d probably call a high achiever. She’s sharp, capable, and hardworking — maybe too hardworking. Because behind all that productivity was something quietly brewing: an entire childhood worth of pain and pressure that had never been given space to breathe. When Jilly first came to me, she was in rough shape. Worn down. Exhausted. And completely stuck. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint how she got there — but she knew

A Perfect Bedtime Routine—That Didn’t Work Six-year-old Brenda had a bedtime routine that appeared to be everything parents dream of: structured, predictable, and calming. Every evening, after a full day of school, play, and activities, she would wind down around 6:30 p.m. with a warm bath, followed by a quiet story time with her parents. By 7 p.m., she was tucked into bed, surrounded by her favorite stuffed animals, snuggled beneath her cozy blanket. From the outside, it loo

Are you struggling to fall asleep even when you do everything “right”? Meet Hanna, a vibrant 63-year-old woman from Arizona whose story might change how you think about bedtime forever. Meet Hanna: A Life Full of Energy and Routine Hanna swims daily in her backyard pool. On cooler mornings, she walks with her husband through quiet desert streets. She hikes once a week, volunteers twice, and travels often to see her kids across the globe. She is upbeat, full of life, and alway

After writing about grounding and recommending it to clients, I realized—it was time to try it myself. This is the honest follow-up to that first post.(If you missed it, you can read the original here: “Get Charged Up: How Bare Feet (or a $30 Mat) Can Supercharge Your Energy!” ) https://www.chevymermelsteinsleepcoach.org/post/get-charged-up-how-bare-feet-or-a-30-mat-can-supercharge-your-energy A few months ago, I sat in on a professional development session with my sleep coac

Summer mornings are supposed to be peaceful, right? You imagine quiet sunlight streaming through the windows, sipping coffee in bliss, while your kids lazily wake up—ready to start the day. In our house, it’s… complicated. No matter how early we put my 9-year-old, Dina, to bed during the school year, mornings were a battlefield. Dragging her out of bed to catch the bus felt like a full-body workout. She’d groan, bury herself deeper under the blankets, and protest with eyes st

Today, I’ve been reflecting on Libby’s journey. She’s made significant progress, but it’s been a journey—not a quick fix. Let me tell you her story... Some days in my work as a sleep coach, I’m deeply inspired—not just by how hard my clients work, but by their willingness to endure discomfort without expecting instant results. They're showing up, doing the work, staying with the discomfort. And I’m right there with them, holding space, hoping for that moment when it clicks: h

Struggling to sleep after having a baby? Leah’s story sheds light on postpartum insomnia, pressure, and the healing that comes with support. We talk a lot about sleepless babies—but what about sleepless mothers? When the house is finally quiet and everyone else is asleep, some moms lie awake in a storm of exhaustion, anxiety, and pressure. This is Leah’s story—a powerful reminder that postpartum insomnia doesn’t always look the way we expect… and that asking for help isn’t j

SUNSHINE, SPRINKLERS AND SLEEP It’s that time of year—when kids come home lugging crates filled with binders, worn-out folders, and crumpled artwork. Parents everywhere are trying to figure out what to do with all of it. Should we toss it? Save it? Pretend we’ll organize it someday? We’re also packing duffels for overnight camp, labeling socks, scrambling to find missing water bottles—or figuring out how we’re going to keep our kids happy, busy, and cool for the next few week

Let me tell you about the moment I officially became that person in my house. I bought a grounding mat. Yes. A mat. That plugs into the wall. That you stand barefoot on. To “connect with the earth’s energy.” My family’s reaction? Deeply amused. Deeply skeptical. One kid asked if I was building some sort of anti-gravity device. Another offered to find me a YouTube tutorial on “weird mat hacks.” My spouse just gave me that look—the one that says, I support you, but I’m quietly

Meet Dave. Dave is 44, a cabinet maker by day and a human tornado of energy. He spends his workdays wrangling massive machines, turning...

Meet Kayla. At 54, she’s the kind of person most people would call “living the dream.” A highly accomplished writer, she built her career from scratch with determination, passion, and the kind of flair only someone who truly loves their craft can muster. But her life isn’t just work. Kayla is the proud mother of seven—and grandmother to three—juggling school runs, family dinners, homework supervision, and the unique personalities of each child and grandchild. Somehow, she als

If you’ve ever canceled plans, curled up under blankets, and scrolled endlessly on your phone while snacking, congratulations—you’ve officially participated in bed rotting. No, this isn’t a new medical condition or a fungus outbreak (though it might sound like one). It’s the latest trend where people embrace the joy—or the guilt—of lying in bed for hours with no real purpose. But is it self-care, or are we just hibernating our problems away? Let’s break it down. What is ‘Bed