Is It Possible To Control Our Thoughts In Order To Sleep?

image: iterasura.blogspot.com/

A lot of people have trouble sleeping. Mostly, they blame the thoughts that pop up whenever it is time to sleep. Like many, I am also curious why this happens and curious if there is a way to control it.

I am glad I have stumbled into an article in Scientific American sharing an explanation from Barry Gordon, a professor of neurology and cognitive science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He shares:

We are aware of a tiny fraction of the thinking that goes on in our minds, and we can control only a tiny part of our conscious thoughts. The vast majority of our thinking efforts goes on subconsciously. Only one or two of these thoughts are likely to breach into consciousness at a time. Slips of the tongue and accidental actions offer glimpses of our unfiltered subconscious mental life.

The thoughts that just instantly appear when we are widely awake or before going to bed are a proof that some of our mind’s functions are not within our control. We acquire power over our thoughts by directing our focus on other things.

Basically, we only have a partial control of the thoughts that appear in our mind so trying to shut down our mind before sleeping is impossible.

Can we control our thoughts? Why do thoughts pop into my head as I’m trying to fall asleep? | Scientific American