EP 92 Why You Can’t Force Yourself to Sleep

Have you ever found yourself struggling to sleep, obsessing about falling asleep, and getting anxious about being awake? Today on UPLEVEL, Dr. Jenna is diving deep into why you can’t force yourself to sleep, why trying harder is so counterproductive, and what you can do about this. Tuning in, you’ll hear all about what you can do to create conditions conducive to sleep instead of commanding yourself to sleep, how you activate the arousal system when you try to fall asleep, and more! We delve into conditioned arousal, learned association, and when your bed becomes the problem before discussing four things that actually help you fall asleep. Dr. Jenna even shares her own experience with sleep anxiety and monitoring sleep. Finally, she leaves us with an action step to start becoming aware of sleep effort patterns and create the conditions for sleep. Thanks for listening!Key Points From This Episode:Today’s topic: why you can’t force yourself to sleep.Creating conditions that are conducive to sleep. What happens when you try to force sleep: sleep effort.A breakdown of when the bed becomes the problem. The power of working with your brain, not against it.What you can do to help yourself fall asleep.  One: Reducing the effort and monitoring. Two: Stimulus control. Three: Genuine nervous system regulation. Four: Addressing thoughts about sleep. Action step: awareness of sleep effort and inviting sleep.  Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:UPLEVEL Holistic HealthUPLEVEL Holistic Health on InstagramBook Your FREE Discovery Call with Dr. Jenna Blasi