I don't know what made it start clicking but I WOULD NOT night ride to get comfortable. IMO that is a horrible idea as new as you are. My experience is night riding is fun, a totally different experience but it is also scary because you can see so little. I did it on a trail I ride more than any other and have rode on average once a week. It may be different for others but for me being a bit timid I wouldn't do it until I had been riding for a while.

But trying to figure out what is going on when you are riding is a good idea. Are you looking over the edge? Well don't do that! You know your bike goes where you look and you don't want it going over the edge.

Slow drills will help you get comfortable with body english. My instructor had us ride our bikes as slow as possible in a straight line. This will give you the confidence in your balance.

One thing I do on challenging sections of trail is mentally try to remember where I got the last time and go past it. It is kind of my reward, maybe I didn't ride the whole way but I knew I was progressing.