[Kench]

Can I read Kindle books in bed when I can’t sleep?
I can’t switch on the light and read physical books

[Chee2308]

Hello and welcome to this forum!

Absolutely you can! Your ability to sleep is independent of everything you do or think, it will happen just as long as you have been sufficiently awake to be sleepy. Think of it like hunger, you may not feel hungry now but you will at some point when you haven’t eaten and it will happens regardless of whatever you think affects your appetite in any way

[Kench]

Thanks

[bezsenny]

You absolutely should not read in bed. The bed is supposed to be associated with sleep. People suffering from insomnia are advised to avoid excessive time spent in bed when they are awake. You should read out of the bed or even bedroom and go to bed only when you feel sleepy. Also remember that you should not go to bed outside your designated sleeping hours.

[Martin Reed]

When we consider how many people read in bed and have no issues with sleep, we might see that reading in bed doesn’t stop sleep from happening.

Insomnia isn’t maintained by being awake in bed — it’s maintained by all our efforts to make sleep happen.

So, reading in bed might be a problem if you are reading in bed in an attempt to generate sleep — because, as your experience probably tells you, sleep cannot happen through effort.

(Anything we do with the intent of generating sleep is more likely to create a struggle that makes things more difficult.)

If reading in bed feels good, is something you find pleasant, and if it helps you practice experiencing wakefulness with less struggle I think it’s perfectly fine to read in bed.

Of course, if you’d prefer to get out of bed to read you can do that — but I don’t think it’s required!

I hope this helps 🙂

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