Tell Your Brain to Sleep

“Don’t Sleep Well!” I hear this from people all over the world! My first response is “Stop telling your brain anything that you do not wish to be true.” When you say ‘I don’t sleep well,’ a representation of what they means goes into working memory, located directly behind your forehead. Your brain perceives that ‘if you put it into working memory it must be information to you,’ and the brain does everything it can to help you achieve that goal. In this case, not sleeping well. Therefore, knowing that sleep is independently linked with longevity and that your brain appears to be cleared of toxins during sleep, change what you tell your brain. It can only do what it thinks it can do and you tell it what it can do through your thoughts, self-talk, and directions to your brain. I perceive of my brain as a connected although separate entity so I talk to my brain using the pronoun you. Most nights I tell my brain: “Arlene, you are falling asleep quickly and easily and waking up at ____________ am.” And in most cases that’s exactly what happens.