Introduction
If a person becomes 85 years old and don’t know how to fall asleep, on average, that person is going to spend around 6-7 years of his time trying to fall asleep. Falling a sleep is a skill that can learned and this post can hopefully help with that.
Quick Sleep Advice 2.0
- Breath deeply and slowly to slow down you heart rate. Breath with nose and not mouth.
- Relax you whole body, from top to bottom. For example: face, shoulders, arms, hips, legs.
- Find and focus on inner calm.
- Don’t force Sleep. Sleep cant be forced. If a thought arises, simply allow it without engaging, and it will eventually fade away.
What To Think About And Feel When Sleeping
You want to visualize and imagine yourself sleeping. Get a clear image on what it will look like when you lay down on the bed. The reason for doing this is because if you are present and focused enough, the body will not know the difference between what you are imagining in your mind and what you are experiencing in real life. The body will then create a response to what you are imagining and you will fall asleep. The feeling you want to feel is the feeling of falling asleep. Like your consciousness is fading and drifting away while being relaxed.
The only thing that is causing you not to fall asleep is your own mind. So you need to focus your mind on something that is going to make you fall asleep.
A Good Sleeping Method
I’m a strong believer in that we should focus almost all of our time and attention on the things we can control and not be too affected by the things we can’t control. So the advice here based on this belief.
First is to decide what things we can control and what things we can’t control. The things we can control is where we direct our attention and our environment. The thing we can’t control is the amount of time we stay asleep. So as long as I’m trying my best to relax, then then either result is fine since there is nothing else I can do. Below is a method used in the military for falling asleep.
The military method:
- The room should be dark and quiet.
- Lay down on your back and then relax your entire face. Like eyes, cheeks, mouth and all other muscles on the face.
- Then work you way down. Drop down and relax your shoulders let your hands drop to the side of your body.
- Repeat this process down your entire body. It should feel like you kinda sinking and are being pulled down into the bed.
- Then empty / relax / clear you mind. Try to think of nothing.
- Then repeat steps 2 – 6 and just try to relax even more.
You cant expect to fall asleep If you are thinking about a lot of random things.
One Big Thing That Negatively Affects Sleep
It’s uncontrolled thinking. Uncontrolled thinking is caused by stress, worry and regret. These feeling will keep your brain very active. If you feel any of these, then you should try to fix them as soon as possible. Ask yourself why you are feeling these things. This could for example be that you need get something done you have been putting of or ask someone something. Just recognising these feelings can also help because then you know you need to fix.
General Advice For Better Sleep
Here’s a list of common advice on how to get better sleep.
- Sleep in a colder room. To fall asleep you body temperature needs to drop around 1°C. Recommended room temperature is between 18°C – 19°C.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
- Do some kind of exercise during the day. I try to leave the house 2-3 times each day for a walk.
- Room is dark and quiet.
- Go to bed and wake up same time every day.
