Has been added to the wiki under PLEASE in the Emotion Regulation module.

Sleep hygiene means the healthy habits that help you sleep well, like going to bed at about the same time, keeping your room dark and quiet, and avoiding things that keep your body awake.

Create a sleep schedule for when you need to go to bed by thinking about when you need to get up and how long you need to sleep to feel your best. Pick a realistic bedtime and a wake-up time, then try to keep them the same most days. This helps your body learn a routine, so sleep comes more easily when it’s time.

Deciding to abstain from things that interrupt sleep is important because some habits can make it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep. Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol can keep your body more “wired” or affect how well you rest. Electronics and bright blue light can also trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime, so it’s harder to wind down. Choosing to avoid these (especially close to bedtime) gives your body a better chance to relax and sleep well.

Using sensory stimuli matters because your brain connects what you feel and notice with what time of day it is. When you consistently pair sleep time with calming cues—like dim light, soothing sounds, and relaxing smells—your body can start to feel sleepy faster. This is called Classical or "Pavlovian" Conditioning.

Here is a Markdown Worksheet you can add to your notes app (PDF pending)

## Routine: My daily responsibilities

- **Including travel:** start at: `____` : `____` (am/pm)
- **Morning routine takes:** `____________` hours / minutes
- **I feel best when I sleep:** `__` hours every day  
	- *(It’s ok if you don’t know this yet! You can guess for now and adjust later.)*
- **That means I should try to fall asleep at:** `____` : `____` (am/pm)
- **I like to be mentally / physically active during the day by doing:**  
  `________________________`

***
## Things to Avoid

### Caffeine
- [ ] I don’t (or won’t) drink caffeine  
- [ ] I’ll avoid caffeine **6 hours before bed** (`____` : `____` am/pm)

### Nicotine
- [ ] I don’t (or won’t) smoke / use nicotine  
- [ ] I’ll avoid nicotine **3 hours before bed** (`____` : `____` am/pm)

### Alcohol
- [ ] I don’t (or won’t) drink alcohol  
- [ ] I’ll avoid alcohol **3 hours before bed** (`____` : `____` am/pm)

### Electronics / Blue Lights
- [ ] I don’t (or won’t) use electronics / blue lights  
- [ ] I’ll avoid electronics / blue light **2 hours before bed** (`____` : `____` am/pm)

***
## Using senses as part of my routine

Using small things around you that activate your senses can help remind your body when it’s time to sleep.
### How to remind my body when it’s time to sleep

- **5 things I will see:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** dim amber light, warm nightlight glow, low screen brightness, sunset-colored lamp, candles (non-flicker), sunrise/sunlamp (gentler evening mode), sleep mask

- **4 things I will touch:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** weighted blanket, cozy flannel sheets, soft hoodie, satin

- **3 things I will hear:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** low white noise, ocean waves, rain on window, soft fan noise, lofi sleep music, gentle ambient pads, quiet slow music

- **2 things I will smell:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** lavender, chamomile, vanilla, cedar/sandalwood, warm milk, rose, bergamot (soft), clean cotton sheets scent

- **1 thing I will taste:**
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** chamomile tea, warm herbal tea, vanilla/comfort herbal flavor (non-caffeinated), warm milk (if you like it)

### How to remind my body when it’s time to be awake
Make sure your bedtime cues feel as different as possible from your sleep cues.

- **5 things I will see:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** bright daylight/sunrise simulation, cool-white lighting, open blinds, desk lamp on (daylight bulb), visible fresh/clean space, earlier “morning” colors (less amber)

- **4 things I will touch:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** crisp towel feel after shower, breathable moisture-wicking clothes, supportive shoes, light compression socks, cool water splash, airy sheets, less-weight blanket

- **3 things I will hear:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** upbeat music, morning lofi (slightly faster), birds/chirps (low volume), gentle nature sound, low energetic rhythm, light white noise

- **2 things I will smell:**
  - `_____________________`
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** citrus (lemon/orange), peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, mint, fresh laundry, coffee aroma, clean “fresh air” scent from open window

- **1 thing I will taste:**
  - `_____________________`
  - **Common Choices:** green tea, peppermint tea, citrus water, coffee (if you use caffeine), minty toothpaste flavor taste

Here's this week's wiki page though.

...I'm alive I've just had some combination of head / body / emotional aches for the last 2-3 weeks.

Clarify Your Values and Goals

Weirdly enough I honestly think the finding who you want to be part is easy, it's the staying that person that's difficult (see the Clarify Your Goals bit).

Legitimately though this is one of my favorite skills to teach that makes a big difference really quickly. A lot of people who feel super lost / confused about their life or have low self esteem really benefit from a good solid re-framing to put themselves back on track.

Oh and I may as well share mine:

• be physically comfortable
• make the world a safer place
• be as benignly WEIRD as possible (please enjoy these animated gifs of the sacred geometries)

Kicking off Emotion Regulation with a shameless re-post of: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/48903836

Wiki page for reference

It's still Sunday so I'm not late!

I have a different exercise for next time around but I've got the entire emotion regulation module to worry about writing that one up. In the meantime here's something to vibe to. The audio on these kinds of things can vary in enjoy-ability so my recommendation is to mute it and put on some lofi or jazz or classical or whatever else your vibe is. It's like the mindfulness version of watching smut!

ACCEPTS & IMPROVE

Right now I'm really into Stardew Valley.

A little late today, sorry. Still haven't figured out how to get the bot working. This week’s skill is Check the Facts, which helps you figure out whether your emotions are pointing to something useful or just overwhelming you. Before diving into distraction or emotion-numbing tools, pause and ask: is this emotion Relevant, Important, and Actionable?

• Relevant: Does this emotion actually make sense for what’s happening? If it doesn’t, you might be reacting to something else. Use skills like STOP or Behavior Chain Analysis to slow things down and get clearer on the real issue.

• Important: Will ignoring this cause more problems later? If so, it might be time to shift focus to other skills like PLEASE (for physical self-care), Build Mastery (for skill-building), or DEAR MAN and FAST (for communication and boundaries).

• Actionable: Can you do anything about this right now? If not, it's okay to use coping tools like Opposite Action, ACCEPTS, or IMPROVE to get through the moment and deal with the situation later.

This skill doesn’t solve the problem for you, but it helps you choose the right next move. It’s like running a quick systems check before deciding which tool to grab. More on this is in the wiki.

I also didn't do my mood logging this week, I wanna update the applet to store the data better but haven't gotten around to it. It stores the data well enough for it's own use but one of the features is supposed to be a csv output so that you can analyze it in a spreadsheet app.

STOP and Pros & Cons are basically just ways to conceptualize slowing down long enough to think about the consequences of your actions. They kind of work under the assumption that you already know what you're supposed to do, you just need a second to talk yourself into it.

This was my mood log for the week:
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
(I didn't do one. It was a weird week. Will try harder this week.)

Wiki Pages for: TIPP | Sensory Self-Soothe

Pictured is actually me with my self-soothing cup of herbal tea. It's specifically this one if you're curious.

good time for this module I feel like complete garbage. Imma go with pros and cons I think. The pros of obeying my sleep hygiene schedule right this second are numerous and the cons are few. Similarly, doing dumb shit has very few upsides especially in the long term. See you all when I wake up.

edit: lol forgot to even include the wiki page.

IDK why the scheduler bot didn't go off but this week's theme is Radical Acceptance (and turning the mind which is basically just brute forcing that shit until you're good at it).

I'm just gonna roll the mood long post into this one because I'm tired. I'm trying to make sharing it wordle style ⋆˙⟡A Thing✧˖°. but I don't actually know enough about programming to make a mood logger app with that feature. Here's my week though:

⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩🟨

My insight for the week is that I suck at remembering to log my mood.

If anybody wants to help me with the tech end of this it would be much appreciated.

The moral of the story is, you can accept the existence of something but still hate it.

Wiki page for reference

i started this space because i wanted something a little more structured than most online support groups and rooted in real-life coping tools—but still chill and decentralized. this isn’t therapy, and it’s not medical advice. it’s just a peer space to share specific skills that have helped, and maybe learn a few new ones along the way.

for context: i am a mental health professional, but i’m not your therapist. i’m not here in any official or clinical capacity—this is a volunteer project, a mutual aid effort to make skills more accessible. i’ve received a lot of therapy personally, and while I don't provide a lot of talk therapy at work, I've definitely seen what lack of access does to people, so I just wanted to give something back to the community.

My Current Plan

• weekly-ish posts about one specific skill at a time, mostly drawn from DBT, CBT, WRAP, and similar approaches

• if you want, you can respond with something that helped you, or drop a quick snippet from your diary card or mood tracker (like “i felt X and realized it was connected to Y”)

• this isn’t a course or a step-by-step system. there is a suggested order on the wiki, if you want a place to start—but the whole point is that you get to set your own pace and focus on what’s most relevant to you

• this isn’t a crisis space (see the wiki for how to find support if you’re in danger), and it’s not a replacement for therapy. but if you’re looking for practical tools, shared experiences, and mutual support—welcome.

a few other notes...

• suggestions on how to make this space better are very welcome. when i do teach these kinds of skills professionally, it’s usually 1:1—so doing it asynchronously and in a community format is new to me.

• i’m okay with tech stuff but still struggling with stuff like getting a bot working. probably going to just use a scheduler service for now. if you’re into that kind of thing and want to help, let me know.

• i’m also building a resource archive of links (so that nothing is hosted here) so we can keep track of useful worksheets, videos, etc. if there’s a piece of media that helped you understand a skill, feel free to share it. i’ll try to link to it on the relevant wiki page. and if you ever find a broken link, dm me and i’ll fix it.

Wiki | Matrix

thanks for being here.