Why You Shouldn’t Try To Force Yourself To Sleep, From An Expert [Video]

People have strong opinions on sleep hygiene. Some folks think watching TV before bed is a cardinal sleep sin, some consider sleeping in on the weekend a false sense of quality rest, and some people say that when you can’t fall asleep, the best thing to do is lie there and count sheep. 

Sleep medicine psychologist Jade Wu, Ph.D., DBSM, author of Hello Sleep has something to say about that last point, and it’s not what you might expect.

To come, a tip she shared on the mindbodygreen podcast for resetting your rest if you just can’t sleep.

“Anything you’re doing to try really hard to get to sleep is going to put more of a spotlight on the fact that you’re not sleeping and put more pressure on yourself to get to sleep,” Wu says.

This is the same reason she doesn’t suggest going to sleep whenever you can scheduling-wise but rather waiting until you feel tired. 

Instead …