Why is it so hard to fall asleep when we want to?
Sleep's Shy Game
Why is it so hard to fall asleep when we want to?
You're lying in bed. Eyes closed. Perfectly still. You've been ready for sleep for twenty minutes. And your brain? Your brain is thinking about dinosaurs, that weird thing you said in third grade, whether penguins have knees, and literally everything except sleep.
Here's the thing: your brain doesn't have an off switch. It has a dimmer. And dimming takes time. All day, your brain's been in high gear—solving problems, tracking conversations, keeping you from walking into walls. You can't just flip it to sleep mode like a light.
