Why it can be hard to sleep

Sleep can seem really complicated when we suffer from insomnia. We try and try to get to sleep, but hour after hour we’re left frustrated, anxious, and wondering how we’ll get through the next day. All the little tricks we’ve learned , all the supplements and sleeping pills we’ve tried don’t seem to work.

So what is the mystery behind sleep, and why is it so hard?

The truth is that there’s really very little mystery to sleep. Sleep happens when we stop trying.

Do you know what creates hunger? Not eating creates hunger. when we’ve gone a certain amount of time without food, we feel hungry. Messages from the brain tell us it’s time to eat and we head to the fridge. So what does this have to do with sleep?

Everything.

What creates sleep is being awake. But wait, you say, I’m awake most of the night and I’m still not sleeping. Well, let’s think about hunger again. Imagine you haven’t eaten in two days, you’re starving, and someone hands you a plate of rotten food that stinks to high heavens. What will happen to your hunger? Your brain has the ability to apply the brakes to our natural needs. This is part of the wonderful natural built-in survival mechanism we all have.

What are the brakes to sleep? One thing to realize is that we’re all a little more vulnerable in the night. We’ve evolved to be active and surrounded by our “tribe” in the day, and that makes us feel active and safe.

Most cases of insomnia begin with a precipitating event. Job stress, pressure at school, a bad sports or musical performance, relationship problems, a move to a new neighbourhood. Whatever causes stress in our lives can interfere with sleep. And that’s because at night, without other distractions, it’s easy to feel vulnerable and feel those stresses, which cause a state of hyperarousal. and that hyperarousal is the brake that interferes with sleep.

These are situations what would interfere with the sleep of anyone and everyone. A few night’s bad sleep is not chronic insomnia. But some people feel scared when they miss sleep — scared that something is wrong with them or that maybe they’ve lost the ability to sleep. This fear leads to even more hyperarousal, which begins to repeat itself night after night, and in some people leads to anxiety that takes over the days as well as the night.

The natural drive to sleep is the gas, and the hyperarousal is the brake. Simple as that. The Freedom to Sleep programs work with you to understand how to release the brake so the natural sleep drive can express itself and you can have peaceful sleep again.

I hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to have more peace in your life. I look forward to meeting you and working with you.