A good definition of insomnia is “high anxiety and reactivity regarding not sleeping, which in turn inhibits or interrupts normal sleep.”

Although insomnia-related distress can be felt in the body, insomnia doesn’t start in the body, it starts in the mind. 

Insomnia is not a condition the way heart disease or cancer is a condition. 

This doesn’t mean you’re to blame or that the suffering isn’t real or difficult to bear, and it also does not mean that you’re broken. 

It just means there is a way out because, unlike certain physical conditions, you can change your mind over time and change the factors that give rise to insomnia.

You also can’t lose the ability to sleep, but you can get stuck in a loop where your natural ability to fall asleep and stay asleep is constantly interrupted by a stressed-out mind and nervous system. 

All this is to say that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with you. 

—

Looking to end insomnia for good in 8 weeks? Get my FREE cheat sheet:

The 7 Proven Steps I Used to Beat Insomnia After 5 Years of Hell—Without Pills, CBT-i, or Useless Sleep Hacks