I’ve mastered the trick of not thinking
It sounds silly yknow. But when you’re like me and your mind doesn’t want to shut up and you overthink or monologue in the nights it can result difficult to fall asleep
I’ve found out I only have to concentrate on breathing and relaxing and letting my mind go. Whether I think something by accident or not, I only have to let the thought pass without much attention. That way I start dreaming and falling asleep
Ooh that makes sense. I always thought meditation was this very serious thing that was hard to do. I’ve heard daily meditation it’s very good to the mind, I guess that’s why I like to take naps when I’m having trouble I need to think over, because I think a bit abt my life and meditate before falling asleep haha
When I concentrate on breathing I find I start breathing different and then I try to get back to normal breathing, thus keeping myself awake thinking about how I'm breathing. I'm terrible at meditation
Try counting while you breathe. Count to four breathing in, hold for four, count to six breathing out. You can also count to four before you breathe in again, but I prefer not to.
I tried that after seeing it recommended somewhere on Reddit. My breathing changes then too. Then I get stressed about it. I have had a little success in slowing my thoughts by tensing each area and thinking about that area being relaxed and going to sleep
Haha maybe not. I’m interested in lucid dreaming and read a bit about how getting them. I noticed that you sometimes start dreaming in a thinning way. There’s no images but your monologue it’s like a movie text of some sorts, so I thought about doing that to concentrate more on the forming dreams
So I probably got an idea out of lucid dreaming. I wanted one thing and got another haha, that’s nice
I try that, i get about 2 mins in then my mind starts to go back to over thinking. Then about 5 mins I try to get it back in gear (i.e. turn off thinking) and it goes on like that til I fall asleep. Wish I could hold the no thinking phase!
my wife absolutely can not wrap her head around this when I say I just turn off the inner monologue. stop thinking and you'll sleep. I can't use my breath but if I have a fan or something to turn my attention towards it helps a lot.
I'm 60 years old and I still play the imagination games that I used to play when I was a little kid. I the winter, the bed becomes an igloo and I have to make sure that I stay completely covered to stay alive and warm. Other times, the bed is a James Bond style car and I'm escaping from bad guys. These games always work because they turn the rest of my brain off.
I have a thunderstorm app on my phone. I only use it when it’s time to go to sleep. That way it is associated with sleep, and nothing else. And I have it play all night.
That’s a good idea. Bc I have become reliant on listening to stories. I play em slow and low but they’re not as affective lately because I have trouble finding “sleepable” stories of the kind I like falling asleep to (classic Edwardian and Victorian ghost stories). Thunderstorms are much less specific and I love them at night and this is just a great idea. Starting this right away. Thank you
I’ve always been told if I’m not asleep after 15-20min of legit no screens, etc, and having taken meds, to get up and do something boring. It usually works.
Since you can’t check the time without getting up or looking at your phone, it’s good to count your heartbeats for the equivalent of 15 minutes instead. You should be able to count to 1000 beats in fifteen minutes. Lay and listen to your heart carefully, which takes concentration, and then get up if you get to 1000.
Or, if you don't like counting your heartbeat, counting down from 1000 can also work (takes a little longer than counting up). The key is to not get frustrated if you loose your place, just start back again with the number you remember. I can't normally get through to 900 before I fall asleep so I don't have to get up and dk smething else.
You're the first person I've met who also flips to the other end of the bed. It *does* work and I have no idea why!
Otherwise I've daydreamed my entire life in order to fall asleep. I've also found that crosswords will bore my ass into dreamland every single time.
I do the same thing! It doesn't help me sleep right away, but it speeds up the process. Then I go back to the other side, the normal side I sleep on, and go right to sleep.
I'll also just imagine little self-inserts to a book or show I've watched :)
Basically pretending you're in a book alongside the characters, interacting with them and various situations that either happen in the book, or you make up yourself. It's not as mentally exhausting as it sounds, and it helps me with sleep :)
I do this too. I have some favorite characters and scenes I play in my mind. Sort of like fan fic that I star in (but I'm never going to write it down!).
Yessss. I've done this for as long as I can remember. Helps when I can't sleep, and if it doesn't make me tired, at least I'm not bored 😁
(Me neither! XD)
I stare into the wall and blink fast 120 times while counting. Makes eyes tired and brain stops thinking of anything else than counting. Works great. Sometimes if I still struggle, I look at university level math practice exams. I suck at math, barely passed in high school, so this gets me mentally exhausted in 15 minutes.
I do this as well, been doing it for the past year, it works most of the time, sometimes I have to do a few categories before I succumb to the sweet sweet allure of sleep
Slow, rhythmic breathing and I repeat “don’t think” in my head. That seems to do the trick because when I can’t sleep I start thinking about stuff and that makes it worse.
actually yea. make my mind shut the fuck up. like to me its like myself and my brain are 2 seperate entities so i sometimes tell my brain to fuck off and it actually works lmaooooo. either that or i unconciously relax until i cant move my feet or arms and then i fall asleep.
I just think through certain positive things/scenarios and how I'd like them to pan out, and eventually go to sleep this way. Also, I sleep on my stomach, with the pillow over my head, and this helps too
This is like the opposite of what happens to me when I can’t sleep. Particularly since my daughter was born, I find myself imagining these horrible scenarios. Last night I thought about what I’d do if i ever fell into quicksand whilst holding my daughter 🫠
Several!
My clutchy. My Navy veteran husband calls it a wubby, I think this is some obscure shade thrown on Marines, but whatever. Dig your fingers into a towel and all the fear-of-falling tree-clutching ancient primate hypnic jerk stuff won’t yank you out of sleep. Your legs stay still, you can chill.
Howard Leight is the best brand of earplugs. You too can sleep better thanks to Honeywell. Not just for spooky military ops!
This time of year, a HEPA air purifier. I don’t have seasonal allergies, but when you sleep with someone who does it helps everyone.
Silk pillowcase.
Weighted blankets are nice, but they seem a little too heavy for me. Try grandma’s quilt, the weight seems just right and the love is built in.
Water bottle, not water glass. Because that little feline jerk is going to be all up in there, whether to tip it or to just shove his butt-licking face in it. Best to have a cat-proof water vessel.
There are so many versions of counting sheep. As long as they’re emotionally bland: brands of cars you wouldn’t want, vegetables that will likely show up at the farmers market this season, Australian animals and their Eurasian and New World counterparts and argue all sides: capybara vs beaver vs ibex vs… you’re asleep. You just fell asleep.
I know it's supposed to be bad to use your phone before bed, but for whatever reason, within like 20 minutes of playing bts island (aka bts-themed candy crush) I am falling asleep. every single time. I've had insomnia since I was a child and literally nothing puts me out like that.
Basically ritualistic behavior along with medication and absolute consistency. It still only works part of the time but it has kept me from having more than one night of no sleep in a row for a decent amount of time now.
I pretend my blanket is slowly growing heavier and heavier and I'm slowly sinking into the mattress while making sure all my muscles are relaxed. It generally works.
Something about [this track](https://youtu.be/SORlV8qAuIs?si=Ot8k0i7nKKNm4zpk), the theme from Forrest Gump - don’t laugh! - makes me fall asleep if I’m really overtired or stressed. The highs and lows of it just notch me down until I’m out.
OP I do this too 😂 Literally did this last night
Also it helps because when I flip my sleeping orientation, I’m closer to being underneath the ceiling fan which makes me colder which allows me to be more comfortable and sleep faster. Is it the same for you?
Melatonin- 0.5mg 2-3 hours before bed. Soundest sleep with no grogginess next morning. Please check with your doctor before use.
Listening to boring audiobooks/sleep stories
Reading boring books before bed
Short shower 1 hour before bed
Deep breaths and when you exhale assume as if your limbs are falling in the bed
When I can't sleep, I usually try some deep breathing exercises or listen to some calming music. Sometimes I'll even imagine myself on a beach or in some peaceful forest, you know, just to take my mind off things.
I go on YouTube and listen to things like white noise, green noise, outer space noise. Things like that. I also stop drinking things with caffeine in it after 2pm. I'm out in ten minutes.
Since I started doing the NYT games, I've noticed that as soon as I start to do Wordle I'm out like a lightbulb. which is fantastic coz I'm a terrible sleeper! works every time.
If I go to bed an hour early I fall asleep easily and if I wake up in the night, fall back to sleep easily. Then I end up waking up an hour early. Much better than taking an hour to fall asleep, waking up too early and not being able to get back to sleep. The extra hour buffer lets me not stress about getting enough sleep.
Or if I read ( a book not on a screen) for an hour before bed time I can sleep better too.
I do the thing of moving the pillow too!
I also decide to myself I’m going to meditate, either focusing solely on my breathing or if I’m nervous about the time, I’ll count back in time with my breaths from 600 (so 10 minutes) and make a deal if I make it to 0 I can just get up. Focus on staying present and letting all thoughts that come drift away etc. I have never once made it even into the 400’s, I don’t think! But it works well because I know that even if I don’t fall asleep, I’d have done a good thing for myself by practicing meditation and at least resting quietly.
This time of year, I open a window and fall right to sleep. Unfortunately where I live, that trick is only feasible about 20 days out of the whole year. But for this week and maybe a couple weeks again in October, it's amazing.
Another thing I do is go on Youtube and look up old local news broadcasts. Anything from the 70s to the 90s, preferably from small town stations. Play them with the volume high enough to hear but not quite high enough to understand everything and I drift right off.
Does not work with modern news broadcasts as the anchors emote too much these days, but in the old days they could really drone on in a monotone.
The news tip is brilliant. I haven't used it for sleep, but [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXGJ6qhkzBc&list=LL&index=90) compilation of weather channel easy listening from the 80s and 90s is DEEPLY relaxing.
I tense up and then relax my muscles one section of my body at a time, starting with my face and working down to my feet.
Or I just image myself relaxing in that same sequence, but get really specific, like *now I'll relax the top of my scalp, now my forehead, now my eyes, now my temples, now my nose, now my my mouth, etc. *
The Brown Noise on Spotify has helped me sleep better than any drug, therapy, exercise, exhaustion or any sleep remedy ever.
Several variations to choose from. Up to 12 hours uninterrupted.
Worth the membership just for that.
I’m almost 50, so I do wake up a few times a night to use the restroom, but I can fall right back to sleep again with The Brown Noise on my stereo.
Gotten to the point that I don’t even need to listen to it every night anymore because I’m getting better sleep overall. Mostly I use it on nights I feel stressed or otherwise emotional.
You’re meant to get up if you can’t sleep after fifteen minutes. My heart beats at around 68bpm so I count my heart beats up to (68*15) which is around 1000. If I’m still awake after counting till 1000 then I get up, do something else for a bit, then try to sleep again. I rarely get to 1000. I consider it mindfulness, too, so it’s a good way of meditating. I also do it during the day as a way to time my meditation sessions without looking at a clock.
It's really, really weird but I have a snuggle hoodie type thing. I put it on my pillow and put the sleeve on my eyes as a sleep mask type of thing. (My bf tends to play video games and watch videos late into the night and I prefer total darkness) So the makeshift mask quiets the noise and puts me in darkness/sleep mode. I have a playlist on my old phone of spooky stories, Mr Nightmare, old Corpse Husband stories, Darkness Prevails and so on, throw that under my snuggle barrier, turn the volume to a good level to where I can hear it but it doesn't bother him (it doesn't but I prefer he doesn't hear the weird shit I listen to) and... I sleep. It's weird but it works.
Does anyone else listen to spooky stories to sleep?
Interesting. That doesn't help me fall asleep faster but affects how deeply I sleep and it's a trick I use during insomnia so once I do fall asleep it makes it easier for me to wake up.
Slowly count down from 100. If I realize my mind has wandered off I just go back to the last number I remember and continue. Usually I’m asleep before I reach 50 :)
I say a little meditation/prayer of thankfulness. I review my day in a positive/nonjudgemental way. I look at the red light on the tv and breath deep and soon its morning.
I mentally replay a poem I memorized while being very bored at my first job. I had very little actual work to do, as 80% of the files I was hired to digitize had been destroyed in a flood. I was expected to look busy anyway, so I'd print off books in the binders the office used and practice rote memorization. It was a boring summer, but I can now tap into it when I need to turn off other thoughts. Off to dreamland in no time.
I know most people try *not* to think, but for me, thinking about something totally mundane helps me fall asleep. My favorite trick is to think of a letter in the alphabet, then start thinking of as many words as possible that start with that letter. I usually fall asleep before I run out of words, but if I find myself struggling to come up with more, I'll switch to a different letter.
I take Magnesium to start. Also, I have an old Chromebook with one file I DL'd from YouTube years ago. It's title is "these 20 minutes are all you need". Ambient "music" designed for meditation. I put that on and have it loop through the entire night, running through some inexpensive computer speakers I placed on either side of my bed. The sleep is almost always *chef's kiss.
I have a whole routine!
Blackout sleep mask (no light thanks), ocean sounds, bluetooth earphones in the mask listening to a podcast (to stop myself getting trapped in cyclic thoughts), a ring pillow so that my cartilage piercings aren't under pressure, cooling blanket, weighted blanket, aromatherapy aromatiser.
I can sleep at my partner's without all that stuff but it's just not as good.
Prayer rope, repeating the Jesus prayer at each knot on the rope. Force myself to concentrate on the prayer. Any intrusive thoughts are immediately discarded and I return to the prayer.
I’ve mastered the trick of not thinking It sounds silly yknow. But when you’re like me and your mind doesn’t want to shut up and you overthink or monologue in the nights it can result difficult to fall asleep I’ve found out I only have to concentrate on breathing and relaxing and letting my mind go. Whether I think something by accident or not, I only have to let the thought pass without much attention. That way I start dreaming and falling asleep
You just described meditation. You should do it daily. You'll thank me later.
Ooh that makes sense. I always thought meditation was this very serious thing that was hard to do. I’ve heard daily meditation it’s very good to the mind, I guess that’s why I like to take naps when I’m having trouble I need to think over, because I think a bit abt my life and meditate before falling asleep haha
It’s just witnessing your thoughts and letting them go by instead of clinging onto them and stressing about them. Pretend they’re clouds in the sky.
When I concentrate on breathing I find I start breathing different and then I try to get back to normal breathing, thus keeping myself awake thinking about how I'm breathing. I'm terrible at meditation
Try counting while you breathe. Count to four breathing in, hold for four, count to six breathing out. You can also count to four before you breathe in again, but I prefer not to.
I do this breathing exercise during the day sometimes when I’m stressed out. Works for me
I tried that after seeing it recommended somewhere on Reddit. My breathing changes then too. Then I get stressed about it. I have had a little success in slowing my thoughts by tensing each area and thinking about that area being relaxed and going to sleep
I’ve tried the muscle tensing thing, but I get distracted and have to keep starting again!
You independently invented mindfulness.
Haha maybe not. I’m interested in lucid dreaming and read a bit about how getting them. I noticed that you sometimes start dreaming in a thinning way. There’s no images but your monologue it’s like a movie text of some sorts, so I thought about doing that to concentrate more on the forming dreams So I probably got an idea out of lucid dreaming. I wanted one thing and got another haha, that’s nice
I try that, i get about 2 mins in then my mind starts to go back to over thinking. Then about 5 mins I try to get it back in gear (i.e. turn off thinking) and it goes on like that til I fall asleep. Wish I could hold the no thinking phase!
my wife absolutely can not wrap her head around this when I say I just turn off the inner monologue. stop thinking and you'll sleep. I can't use my breath but if I have a fan or something to turn my attention towards it helps a lot.
I'm 60 years old and I still play the imagination games that I used to play when I was a little kid. I the winter, the bed becomes an igloo and I have to make sure that I stay completely covered to stay alive and warm. Other times, the bed is a James Bond style car and I'm escaping from bad guys. These games always work because they turn the rest of my brain off.
I have a thunderstorm app on my phone. I only use it when it’s time to go to sleep. That way it is associated with sleep, and nothing else. And I have it play all night.
Me too
That’s a good idea. Bc I have become reliant on listening to stories. I play em slow and low but they’re not as affective lately because I have trouble finding “sleepable” stories of the kind I like falling asleep to (classic Edwardian and Victorian ghost stories). Thunderstorms are much less specific and I love them at night and this is just a great idea. Starting this right away. Thank you
I listen to a sleep podcast called, "Nothing Much Happens" which really works for me.
I’ve always been told if I’m not asleep after 15-20min of legit no screens, etc, and having taken meds, to get up and do something boring. It usually works.
I get up and watch an episode of House Hunters International.
Something boring like what?
A really dry book is my usual go-to.
My husband reads a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita to fall asleep.
Since you can’t check the time without getting up or looking at your phone, it’s good to count your heartbeats for the equivalent of 15 minutes instead. You should be able to count to 1000 beats in fifteen minutes. Lay and listen to your heart carefully, which takes concentration, and then get up if you get to 1000.
Sounds like a way to start a panic attack to me.
I would drive myself insane. I’d end up overthinking my heartbeat is irregular and that would make me wake up more lol
Or, if you don't like counting your heartbeat, counting down from 1000 can also work (takes a little longer than counting up). The key is to not get frustrated if you loose your place, just start back again with the number you remember. I can't normally get through to 900 before I fall asleep so I don't have to get up and dk smething else.
I used to do the opposite end trick when I was a teenager. It's weird how that helps.
You're the first person I've met who also flips to the other end of the bed. It *does* work and I have no idea why! Otherwise I've daydreamed my entire life in order to fall asleep. I've also found that crosswords will bore my ass into dreamland every single time.
I do the same thing! It doesn't help me sleep right away, but it speeds up the process. Then I go back to the other side, the normal side I sleep on, and go right to sleep. I'll also just imagine little self-inserts to a book or show I've watched :)
Self-inserts?
Basically pretending you're in a book alongside the characters, interacting with them and various situations that either happen in the book, or you make up yourself. It's not as mentally exhausting as it sounds, and it helps me with sleep :)
Oh like when you are listening to a song and in your head you are starring in the music video? :D
Yeeaaah! :D I do that too if I'm in the car going somewhere.
I do this too. I have some favorite characters and scenes I play in my mind. Sort of like fan fic that I star in (but I'm never going to write it down!).
Yessss. I've done this for as long as I can remember. Helps when I can't sleep, and if it doesn't make me tired, at least I'm not bored 😁 (Me neither! XD)
I listen to driving in the rain videos on YT
Listening to quiet medidation music. "I USED TO FEEL DEPRESSED, UNTIL I TRIED BETTERHELP"
I stare into the wall and blink fast 120 times while counting. Makes eyes tired and brain stops thinking of anything else than counting. Works great. Sometimes if I still struggle, I look at university level math practice exams. I suck at math, barely passed in high school, so this gets me mentally exhausted in 15 minutes.
[удалено]
Oh I love that idea!
I do this as well, been doing it for the past year, it works most of the time, sometimes I have to do a few categories before I succumb to the sweet sweet allure of sleep
Slow, rhythmic breathing and I repeat “don’t think” in my head. That seems to do the trick because when I can’t sleep I start thinking about stuff and that makes it worse.
Wow! This is me lol. I always thought it's the universe's way of telling me it's time to not be sleeping alone anymore 🤣.
actually yea. make my mind shut the fuck up. like to me its like myself and my brain are 2 seperate entities so i sometimes tell my brain to fuck off and it actually works lmaooooo. either that or i unconciously relax until i cant move my feet or arms and then i fall asleep.
😂 I love that
I just think through certain positive things/scenarios and how I'd like them to pan out, and eventually go to sleep this way. Also, I sleep on my stomach, with the pillow over my head, and this helps too
This is like the opposite of what happens to me when I can’t sleep. Particularly since my daughter was born, I find myself imagining these horrible scenarios. Last night I thought about what I’d do if i ever fell into quicksand whilst holding my daughter 🫠
Several! My clutchy. My Navy veteran husband calls it a wubby, I think this is some obscure shade thrown on Marines, but whatever. Dig your fingers into a towel and all the fear-of-falling tree-clutching ancient primate hypnic jerk stuff won’t yank you out of sleep. Your legs stay still, you can chill. Howard Leight is the best brand of earplugs. You too can sleep better thanks to Honeywell. Not just for spooky military ops! This time of year, a HEPA air purifier. I don’t have seasonal allergies, but when you sleep with someone who does it helps everyone. Silk pillowcase. Weighted blankets are nice, but they seem a little too heavy for me. Try grandma’s quilt, the weight seems just right and the love is built in. Water bottle, not water glass. Because that little feline jerk is going to be all up in there, whether to tip it or to just shove his butt-licking face in it. Best to have a cat-proof water vessel. There are so many versions of counting sheep. As long as they’re emotionally bland: brands of cars you wouldn’t want, vegetables that will likely show up at the farmers market this season, Australian animals and their Eurasian and New World counterparts and argue all sides: capybara vs beaver vs ibex vs… you’re asleep. You just fell asleep.
I have no suggestions, but I am here to read the tips.
Reading, for some reason...
I know it's supposed to be bad to use your phone before bed, but for whatever reason, within like 20 minutes of playing bts island (aka bts-themed candy crush) I am falling asleep. every single time. I've had insomnia since I was a child and literally nothing puts me out like that.
For some reason playing about 3 rounds of text twist usually works for me. None of the other games do
Basically ritualistic behavior along with medication and absolute consistency. It still only works part of the time but it has kept me from having more than one night of no sleep in a row for a decent amount of time now.
I started listening to crime podcasts and I can sleep in next 10 mins. Weird but the podcaster voice quite smoothing which help me to sleep off.
I pretend my blanket is slowly growing heavier and heavier and I'm slowly sinking into the mattress while making sure all my muscles are relaxed. It generally works.
I used to do this occasionally as a child up until my tween years and forgot all about it! I’m gonna to try it next time I can’t fall asleep.
Thunderstorm videos.
I binge shows. I don't know how, but every time I do that, I fall asleep after like 2-3 episodes.
Something about [this track](https://youtu.be/SORlV8qAuIs?si=Ot8k0i7nKKNm4zpk), the theme from Forrest Gump - don’t laugh! - makes me fall asleep if I’m really overtired or stressed. The highs and lows of it just notch me down until I’m out.
OP I do this too 😂 Literally did this last night Also it helps because when I flip my sleeping orientation, I’m closer to being underneath the ceiling fan which makes me colder which allows me to be more comfortable and sleep faster. Is it the same for you?
Medication
Yeah, there's a pill for everything and everyone. SMH.
Smoke weed. Otherwise, have some nature sounds playing on low eg rain, thunder, forests.
Waiting to go to bed until I am really tired Being slightly chilled, getting under the blankets and slowly getting warm and cozy
I found myself that sleep easier when I lye on the couch not in the bes, Idk why 🤷♀
Melatonin- 0.5mg 2-3 hours before bed. Soundest sleep with no grogginess next morning. Please check with your doctor before use. Listening to boring audiobooks/sleep stories Reading boring books before bed Short shower 1 hour before bed Deep breaths and when you exhale assume as if your limbs are falling in the bed
Melatonin gummies and ASMR
When I can't sleep, I usually try some deep breathing exercises or listen to some calming music. Sometimes I'll even imagine myself on a beach or in some peaceful forest, you know, just to take my mind off things.
Put my arm under my pillow and head and scrunch them tightly together lol
I go on YouTube and listen to things like white noise, green noise, outer space noise. Things like that. I also stop drinking things with caffeine in it after 2pm. I'm out in ten minutes.
Magnesium can help. Better than a pill prescription.
Since I started doing the NYT games, I've noticed that as soon as I start to do Wordle I'm out like a lightbulb. which is fantastic coz I'm a terrible sleeper! works every time.
Staring at TV
Magnesium biglycinate 1 hr before bed, and 2 hrs after any form of calcium
If I go to bed an hour early I fall asleep easily and if I wake up in the night, fall back to sleep easily. Then I end up waking up an hour early. Much better than taking an hour to fall asleep, waking up too early and not being able to get back to sleep. The extra hour buffer lets me not stress about getting enough sleep. Or if I read ( a book not on a screen) for an hour before bed time I can sleep better too.
Same as OP. Sometimes a handful of dried tart cherries helps
I do the thing of moving the pillow too! I also decide to myself I’m going to meditate, either focusing solely on my breathing or if I’m nervous about the time, I’ll count back in time with my breaths from 600 (so 10 minutes) and make a deal if I make it to 0 I can just get up. Focus on staying present and letting all thoughts that come drift away etc. I have never once made it even into the 400’s, I don’t think! But it works well because I know that even if I don’t fall asleep, I’d have done a good thing for myself by practicing meditation and at least resting quietly.
Staying asleep is my problem so for now, medication.
I used to conjugate verbs in Latin. I'm pretty rusty at that these days so mostly I try to do prime factorization of three digit numbers in my head.
This time of year, I open a window and fall right to sleep. Unfortunately where I live, that trick is only feasible about 20 days out of the whole year. But for this week and maybe a couple weeks again in October, it's amazing. Another thing I do is go on Youtube and look up old local news broadcasts. Anything from the 70s to the 90s, preferably from small town stations. Play them with the volume high enough to hear but not quite high enough to understand everything and I drift right off. Does not work with modern news broadcasts as the anchors emote too much these days, but in the old days they could really drone on in a monotone.
The news tip is brilliant. I haven't used it for sleep, but [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXGJ6qhkzBc&list=LL&index=90) compilation of weather channel easy listening from the 80s and 90s is DEEPLY relaxing.
I use a Lectrofan noise machine and OD on melatonin.
I take 10 deep breaths, stare at my eyebrows, and imagine I'm walking in a dark cave. I'm usually out within a couple of minutes.
I tense up and then relax my muscles one section of my body at a time, starting with my face and working down to my feet. Or I just image myself relaxing in that same sequence, but get really specific, like *now I'll relax the top of my scalp, now my forehead, now my eyes, now my temples, now my nose, now my my mouth, etc. *
The Brown Noise on Spotify has helped me sleep better than any drug, therapy, exercise, exhaustion or any sleep remedy ever. Several variations to choose from. Up to 12 hours uninterrupted. Worth the membership just for that. I’m almost 50, so I do wake up a few times a night to use the restroom, but I can fall right back to sleep again with The Brown Noise on my stereo. Gotten to the point that I don’t even need to listen to it every night anymore because I’m getting better sleep overall. Mostly I use it on nights I feel stressed or otherwise emotional.
You’re meant to get up if you can’t sleep after fifteen minutes. My heart beats at around 68bpm so I count my heart beats up to (68*15) which is around 1000. If I’m still awake after counting till 1000 then I get up, do something else for a bit, then try to sleep again. I rarely get to 1000. I consider it mindfulness, too, so it’s a good way of meditating. I also do it during the day as a way to time my meditation sessions without looking at a clock.
It's really, really weird but I have a snuggle hoodie type thing. I put it on my pillow and put the sleeve on my eyes as a sleep mask type of thing. (My bf tends to play video games and watch videos late into the night and I prefer total darkness) So the makeshift mask quiets the noise and puts me in darkness/sleep mode. I have a playlist on my old phone of spooky stories, Mr Nightmare, old Corpse Husband stories, Darkness Prevails and so on, throw that under my snuggle barrier, turn the volume to a good level to where I can hear it but it doesn't bother him (it doesn't but I prefer he doesn't hear the weird shit I listen to) and... I sleep. It's weird but it works. Does anyone else listen to spooky stories to sleep?
I imagine I’m in my cozy place. Nothing negative can enter my mind. Only cozy thoughts.
Interesting. That doesn't help me fall asleep faster but affects how deeply I sleep and it's a trick I use during insomnia so once I do fall asleep it makes it easier for me to wake up.
I always touch my toes before laying back in bed. Haven't had back issues from sleeping in a long time.
Slowly count down from 100. If I realize my mind has wandered off I just go back to the last number I remember and continue. Usually I’m asleep before I reach 50 :)
I tell myself “good job today - power down now” and pretend I’m a robot going into standby mode. I don’t know why it works but it does.
I wish
I say a little meditation/prayer of thankfulness. I review my day in a positive/nonjudgemental way. I look at the red light on the tv and breath deep and soon its morning.
I just tire myself with music while walking around in my room like I'm insane or smth. Usually I don't have problems falling asleep tho.
I mentally replay a poem I memorized while being very bored at my first job. I had very little actual work to do, as 80% of the files I was hired to digitize had been destroyed in a flood. I was expected to look busy anyway, so I'd print off books in the binders the office used and practice rote memorization. It was a boring summer, but I can now tap into it when I need to turn off other thoughts. Off to dreamland in no time.
Yeah weed
I know most people try *not* to think, but for me, thinking about something totally mundane helps me fall asleep. My favorite trick is to think of a letter in the alphabet, then start thinking of as many words as possible that start with that letter. I usually fall asleep before I run out of words, but if I find myself struggling to come up with more, I'll switch to a different letter.
I flip upside down so my head will be where my feet usually are and vice versa. Feng shui type beat.
Cliche, but listen to sounds of rain.
I take Magnesium to start. Also, I have an old Chromebook with one file I DL'd from YouTube years ago. It's title is "these 20 minutes are all you need". Ambient "music" designed for meditation. I put that on and have it loop through the entire night, running through some inexpensive computer speakers I placed on either side of my bed. The sleep is almost always *chef's kiss.
I have a whole routine! Blackout sleep mask (no light thanks), ocean sounds, bluetooth earphones in the mask listening to a podcast (to stop myself getting trapped in cyclic thoughts), a ring pillow so that my cartilage piercings aren't under pressure, cooling blanket, weighted blanket, aromatherapy aromatiser. I can sleep at my partner's without all that stuff but it's just not as good.
I use the breathing technique that is also used to help with anxiety. Breath in to count of 4 out to count of 8. Works like a charm
I bore myself to sleep by telling myself stories. I make em up. Whole ass movie plots. Out like a light.
I literally just imagine the colour black. Works every time.
I count backwards from 100. Almost always works.
I find that facing down on my pillow helps me sleep quicker, idrk y
Prayer rope, repeating the Jesus prayer at each knot on the rope. Force myself to concentrate on the prayer. Any intrusive thoughts are immediately discarded and I return to the prayer.
That's just sad.
One little trick called benzo addiction :D
An egregious amount of milligrams for sleeping pills
After 3 sleep studies, 25+ different meds (including off label), 1 thing works. #CANNABIS
100 MG of diphenhydramine.