How To Fall Asleep Without Counting Sheep
You've been tossing and turning all week. What now? Sleepless nights are frustrating and can affect your performance the next day. Below we have some methods you can try out to get a better night's sleep and reclaim your sanity.
Finding that sleep is becoming harder to come by these days? You aren’t alone. There is a lot to worry about between a global pandemic, often volatile political climate and all of the other issues that stem from those problems. Living a stress free life is virtually impossible with everything going on and that can affect our sleep, which in turn can cause us to stress even more. It can be a vicious cycle, but the good news is there are some techniques you can try in order to get better sleep to face the world with a little more ease.
One of the better ways to calm your mind and fall asleep is to think about a place you find peace at. The idea is this calm place will take up space in your mind so there isn’t room for negative thoughts to circulate. The key is to pick somewhere special to you. The middle of the desert, at the beach, or hiking next to a babbling brook all have the ability to elicit a feeling of peace, it’s just a matter of where it will resonate most with you. Once you have picked your spot, allow your imagination to run wild visualizing it and how you feel being there, eventually you should be so calm in your happy place that you fall asleep without even realizing it.
Maybe visualization and imagination aren’t your strong suit. That’s ok. Another option you can try utilizing to relax and get yourself to sleep is through controlled breathing. The most popular practice is the 4-7-8 breathing method. What you will need to do in order to practice this method is to close your lips and inhale silently through your nose counting to four in your head. Once you have inhaled for four seconds you are going to want to hold that breath for seven seconds. Finally, you will exhale for eight seconds releasing the air with a “whoosh” sound. Do this practice four times or until you feel relaxed enough to sleep.
The military method combines a little of both the above mentioned practices to calm your nerves and help you fall asleep fast. (Some have reported being able to fall asleep in 10 seconds, even if they are sitting up.) To do the military method you will first need to relax all of the muscles in your face and mouth. Next drop your shoulders releasing any tension in your arms and hands. With a big exhale relax your chest and let that flow down to your legs. Once you have your body feeling loose think about a relaxing scene for 10 seconds as you calmly breath.
If you are still having problems sleeping you may want to look into some of these environmental tweaks that could be blocking your ability to relax.
1. If you have a clock that is visible from where you sleep try hiding it so you aren’t tempted to watch the time.
2. Try a warm shower before crawling into bed to help your body relax more.
3. Open a window or run the air-conditioning to keep your room cool.
4. Wear socks to keep your feet warm.
5. Practice yoga to clear your mind.
6. Keep your phone away from your bed.
7. Use aromatherapy to bring peace to your sleeping environment.
8. Eat your last meal earlier so your body isn’t digesting close to bedtime.