I used to dread the moment my head hit the pillow.

That's when the circus would start.

Work deadlines. Family worries. That email I forgot to send. The conversation I replayed for the thousandth time. My mind transformed from exhausted to electric the second the lights went out.

"Just relax and rest,"

my husband would say, as if it were that simple. As if I hadn't tried every breathing technique, meditation app, and sleep hack on the internet.

Meanwhile, my life was falling apart in slow motion.

I'd drag myself through work meetings, forgetting important details and struggling to focus. My patience with my kids had worn paper-thin – I was snapping at them for the smallest things, then drowning in guilt afterward.

My marriage had become two exhausted people passing each other in the hallway. I even started looking bad – weight gain, constant headaches, a face I barely recognized in the mirror.

"The worst part? I was starting to believe this was just... me. That something was wrong with me. That people who could easily unwind at night were a different breed of human I'd never belong to.

If you're reading this late at night, your thoughts going a mile a minute while you feel completely drained, I need you to know something: there's nothing wrong with you.

And you're not alone.

I had tried everything:

• Supplements

• Cutting caffeine

• Expensive weighted blankets

• Meditation apps
  

Nothing worked. Not really. Not long-term.