We all know how important it is to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. We also know we need around eight hours of shuteye—but sometimes falling and staying asleep aren’t the easiest thing in the world. Some nights, it’s just impossible to switch off your brain.
A survey of over 4,000 Americans conducted by Consumer Reports discovered that 27 percent of people have trouble falling or staying asleep most nights, and 68 percent (which comes out to around 164 million people in the U.S.) have trouble sleeping at least once a week.
But wait! This might become a thing of the past. Apparently, there’s a secret US military technique that’ll get you to sleep in only two minutes! That’s right, two minutes.
The method was revealed in a 1981 book titled Relax and Win: Championship Performance. The book supposedly helps readers “improve sports performance and reduce injuries by learning to relax and release tensions prior to competition,”
The technique was developed for soldiers and pilots to ensure they get enough rest for optimal performance and minimal errors, and is said to have a 96 percent success rate after six weeks of practice.
Here’s how it’s done, as described by Joe.co.uk:
One: Relax the muscles in your face, including your tongue, jaw, and the muscles around your eyes.
Two: Drop your shoulders as low as they’ll go. Then relax your upper and lower arm on one side, and then the other.
Three: Breathe out, and relax your chest.
Four: Finally, relax your legs, first thighs and then calves.
So what comes next? Well, after ten seconds more of trying to clear your mind, Lloyd Bud Winter (the book’s author) suggests that you picture one of the following three mental images:
Lying in a canoe on a calm lake, nothing but blue sky above you.
Snuggled in a black velvet hammock in a pitch-black room.
Saying “don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” over and over for ten seconds.
In essence, you just need to relax EVERYTHING. Your face, arms, legs, butt…everything. Then, clear your mind completely.
However, as I mentioned before, this method takes six weeks of practice to master, and even then it has a 96 percent success rate. If you happen to fall into the four percent that cannot fall asleep using this technique, here are some alternative pieces of advice for you:
Sleep naked
When you sleep in the buff, you’re eliminating anything that can be restricting or uncomfortable during the night, and you’re keeping your body temperature cooler than it would be with pajamas, which is crucial for falling and staying asleep. For you to physically be able to fall asleep, your body needs to cool down roughly .5 degrees Fahrenheit and stay that way.
“If anything prevents that decline in temperature, the brain will wake itself up to see what’s going on, meaning you’ll struggle to get to sleep or you’ll have disturbed sleep,” reads a research paper on sleep regulation.
Use a bed fan
Speaking of staying cool at night, if your bedroom is warm and/or sheets are heavy, you might break a sweat, which will definitely keep you from falling asleep quickly.
The solution? A bed fan! Having airy, breezy sheets all night long will change your life.
Have sex before bed
According to a recent study from Aussie sleep researcher Dr. Michele Lastella, the secret to knocking out real fast and having an amazing night’s sleep is indulging in a little bedtime nookie.
“What we found was 64 percent of our respondents indicated they slept better when sex was with a partner and it involves an orgasm,” he told Adelaide Now. “When you’re engaging in sex, you’re not thinking about what to do the next day, you’re not going through your phones. It distracts you.”
In other words, it clears your mind, and as everyone already knows, all those post-orgasmic hormones make you super sleepy. That is the winning combo.
Good night and sweet dreams.
H/T: Daily Mail
