Stop counting sheep. These tricks can help lull you to sleep.
If you struggle to fall asleep at night, these tips should help do the trick.
It takes around 10 to 20 minutes for the average person to fall asleep at night, but the 70 million Americans who live with sleep troubles may say otherwise. Oftentimes, poor sleep latency (the amount of time it takes to fall asleep) is the result of anxiety or stress that debilitates you from having a mindset prepared for sleep.
You may be harming your quality of rest if it takes you longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep. And in turn, poor rest can have a negative effect on your mood, metabolism, cognitive skills, your immune system and overall health. So it's important to find ways to calm your body and mind long enough that you feel relaxed enough to take a snooze.
Continue reading to learn how the military method, meditation and muscle relaxation can improve sleep latency and lull you to sleep faster than you ever could counting sheep.
For more help improving your quality of rest, check out these seven common sleep myths that may be keeping you from good sleep and six habits you can change for better shut-eye.
Progressive muscle relaxation is a form of meditation that effectively helps you feel sleepy. One study involving 32 young volunteers analyzed the effects of progressive muscle relaxation. The results revealed that PMR was successful in lowering the heart rate, improving sleep efficiency and sleep latency. The goal is to use mindfulness, breathing techniques and muscle relaxation to relieve stress and promote a restful sleep.
Individuals in the military have irregular sleep schedules, early morning rises and not-so-cozy sleeping quarters. In response, members created the "military method" to quickly and efficiently fall asleep.
If you're lying in bed trying to fall asleep and 20 minutes pass, don't keep lying there. The longer you lie in bed without falling asleep, the more you stress that you aren't falling asleep. Get out of bed and practice a relaxing activity or hobby until you feel yourself getting drowsy. This may include: