First, there is no one reason why you cannot sleep.
But the most common mistake (#1 mistake) that all Insomniacs commit.
I was guilty of this and the mistake is
Trying too hard to sleep.
The biggest paradox of sleep.
When it comes to sleep this is often the biggest paradox. Check out any skill for example public speaking or writing.
The more you spend time on it. You become better and it becomes second nature to you.
But when it comes to sleep you can find the best sleepers are the ones who do not even try to sleep.
Sleep pressure and how trying hard makes things difficult
Generally when you wake up to the point you go to sleep the Sleep drive builds up and the more you are awake the Sleep drive builds up.
You will fall asleep once the pressure builds up but when you try to sleep. You are waiting for the sleep drive to build up.
But the minute you see the pressure is not building up the brain senses a problem. The minute the brain sees a problem the brain is in an overdrive and wants to solve the problem.
Sleep drive does not build up and you cannot sleep. This creates Anxiety and this ends up in a loop where Anxiety feeds Insomnia and Insomnia Feeds Anxiety.
How to get over this?
The solution may seem counterintuitive but you need to stop trying to Sleep.
Practices like meditation, and mindfulness help in building the sleep drive
While it seems tough the key is to stop trying hard.
This is because when you give the signal to the brain that there is no danger the brain can stop getting in the way and ensure that you sleep well.
You can also consider subscribing to the News letter on the Home Page to improve your Sleep.