You may wonder, did I suffer insomnia myself - is that why I got into sleep?
Or did I just have an incessant passion for it?
To be honest, I didn’t suffer insomnia, but I have suffered extremely poor mental and physical health -
which lead me to the position I am in today, and penning this for you.

As a youth, at the tender age of 14, I suffered major depression, including a suicide attempt. Years of ongoing struggle evolved into bulimia by the age of 15, and then anorexia at 16 - the latter granting me hospital admission into an eating disorder ward for 6 weeks and 3 months of outpatient treatment. In this experience, I had to choose: was I going to live or die? Was I going to win the battle, or be one of ‘those’ girls, who had repeated admissions year on year. 

One night in hospital, at the age of 17, it dawned upon me: if I didn’t get better, I would miss out on life. You see, I wanted to go to a friends birthday party but my team wouldn’t let me out. It was awful. But it was exactly the lure I needed to recover. In that moment, I decided that I didn’t want to miss out anymore. I wanted to be part of the experience. I wanted to be part of the parties. I wanted to be part of life. 

And with that decision, I threw my full force at recovery. Food? I ate it. Therapists? I went to all the appointments. Negative thoughts? I beat them down with a 10 foot pole. A few months later, I was steaming ahead with my recovery - when I do something, I do it properly.

With recovery came all I wanted: memories, joy, laughter, friendship, connection to community and more. I very quickly went from my darkest dark to my best self, and loved feeling happy, healthy and content once more.

If you think i’m going off track, stay with me. See, this experience changed my life. In getting my life back and feeling like a new person, I knew my purpose in this life was to help others do the same. I didn’t know how, but I knew it was what I was destined to do.

Hence, after school, I studied a range of degrees in the wellness space - psychology, nutrition, sleep, and fitness. I didn’t know what I was going to help with, I just knew I was going to help.

As I was progressing through my studies and starting to help clients, it turns out that I was really good at fixing sleeping problems. For me, it was very simple: sleep is holistic, and so were my studies, so I just amalgamated them and created straightforward yet science based strategies to improve sleep. 

After a few months, I knew I was onto something - not only were my sleep coaching clients coming at me left right and centre, I was approached by global brands Sealy Posturepedic and Ikea to be their media spokesperson. I tell you - if there is any doubt in your mind you’ve found your ‘thing’, it’s when two of the biggest companies in the bedding world popped into my inbox completely out of the blue, and asked me to represent them. 

That was 2018. Since then, I’ve been featured in Forbes (a career highlight, definitely), have appeared multiple times on The Today Show and been interviewed by the leading radio station in the world BBC Radio.

 Media aside, I’ve helped individuals exactly like you feel their best again - by helping them sleep properly. To this date, 100% of my private clients have seen improvements in their sleep in less than 7 days, and I have no doubt this pattern will continue. 

Another career highlight has been publishing a book - due for release in 2020. Rather than general sleep tips, I centered the book around chronotypes and chronobiology - a novel area of sleep health that has granted me even faster results and greater improvements in my clinical practice.

See, the interest in chronotypes evolved along the journey when after extensive research, I noticed some clients had greater difficulty sleeping and being awake at particular hours. Furthermore, I noticed by using chronobiology and adapting my strategies to their specific chronotype, we saw rapid results and greater clinical outcomes - reduction of sleep latency (time taken to fall asleep), improved sleep quality and fewer nighttime wakings. More importantly, these clients have regained control of their life even quicker than before: they are feeling energised in the morning once more, aren’t as stressed, and feel confident going to sleep. They, quote unquote “Have their lives back”. 

As a result, I now integrate chronobiology into my clinical practice - I trust that all clients want to see greatest results in the quickest amount of time, and I know this is the path to do so. 

Alongside the clinical benefits of identifying and using chronotypes, knowing mine has helped me understand myself better too, and function at my best. See - I’m a lion. Early to rise, early to sleep, with a tenacious appetite for idealism. A natural born leader, optimistic and strategic - yep, that’s me in a nutshell. Recognising this helps me plan my day more effectively: I know if I want to ‘eat that frog’ (aka do my most important task), it needs to be in the morning. Perspectively, 2 hours of work for me between 7-9 is the equivalent of 4 hours (or more) after 2pm, so by planning my day accordingly, I ‘win back’ time that I would have otherwise spent dragging my feet at my desk. And with that time, after smashed my work targets for the day, I now can dedicate that to other areas of my life: be it reading a book, playing with my puppy Jackie, chatting with my mum or simply soaking up my beautiful (bondi) beach. Knowing my chronotype has taken the guesswork out of what to do when, and instead, me a science based guide to optimise my life - including facets of mental and physical health, work, relationships and, as you may assume, sleep. 

Identifying and understanding chronotypes has also been an absolute asset for my interpersonal relationships too: for example, my mum, who is a humble bear, needs a little encouragement in the morning. Thus, when visiting after our morning meditation, I brew her a cup of coffee - and she couldn’t be happier. Similarly, when I know a friend is a wolf, I’m more compassionate that they are likely to be suffering sleep deprivation - so don’t hold it against them if they dip out at last minute from our 8am walk.

Finally, appreciating chronotpyes has been an absolute game changer for my productivity. As mentioned, my 2 hours of working output in the morning is 4 hours after lunch, so instead of pushing through and producing sub par work in the afternoon, I ensure it gets done in the morning - and if it doesnt, it’s pushed to the next day. Meetings are always scheduled for the afternoon as I know I’m generally a bit chattier and craving social time, and if a client asks to see me beyond 7pm, I know I’ll need to take time out in the afternoon to recharge back up. As a result, my business is going from strength to strength, and most importantly, I’m showing up as my best self in every situation, and able to help more people overcome their sleeping problems - people exactly like you. 

So you’re across it, as mentioned and described, the lion is one of the chronotypes. Bears are another sleep persona. They are reliable, dutiful, and approach all situations with a ‘can-do’ attitude - nothing is too much for the bear. Though i’m not a bear, as my mum is, I have a lot of love for bears - even if they don’t have as much gusto as I do at 6am. As a strength to the bear, they encourage balance - after a day of work, in the evening they’re ready to relax - which is an asset to me with an a-type, perfectionistic personality. The other chronotype featured in this book is the wolf - late to rise and late to sleep, they ‘come alive’ in the evening. Fun, creative and social creatures, wolves love to take risks, defy boundaries and push the limits. Consequently, they often face a multitude of health problems, including insomnia. I have a few wolf friends, but mostly, I am familiar with wolves as they are the most common chronotype I see in clinical practice. 

Before I go further, I should note - I have intentionally left off the dolphin chronotype from from my research, which you may see on google searches. While this was identified by Dr Michael Breus in his book The Power of When, the research which supported this book - largely based on findings conducted with the MEQ scale, a psychometric test for identifying your chronotype - didn’t have this chronotype. Instead, the MEQ ranks individuals from “most” morning preference to “most” evening preference. Perspectively, this is ordered lions (morning), bears (middle), wolves (evening). The dolphin doesn’t really fit into any of these categories: they have no set sleep schedule. 

The personality research into different chronotypes also doesn’t align with a dolphin - they are are typically fatigued, irritable (understandably) and have extreme personality tendencies. They are highly intelligent, intuitive and driven when the mood strikes; and often face a myriad of health challenges posed by insufficient sleep - anxiety disorders, depression, weight problems and diabetes, to name a few. Based on my research, the evidence indicates the dolphin is most likely to be classified as a wolf. 

If i’ve thrown a curve ball out to you - lions, bears, wolves - and you’re wondering what on earth they mean and how knowing yours can help you, fret not - all will be revealed with a simple email.

All you need to know right now is that if you’re eager to live your best life, including sleeping properly, you’re in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. So step back, take a seat and take a read of the content here and over on instagram - the life you’ve always dreamed, and becoming the person you’ve always wanted to be, is within your grasp. All I ask you is to trust the process, follow the plan and reach out for support as you need - remember, I’m only an email away.