how to fall asleep

Unless certain medical conditions or medications are the cause of your sleeplessness, the most common culprit is anxiety, says Lisa Meltzer, an education scholar for the National Sleep Foundation and associate professor of pediatrics at National Jewish Health in Denver. “If you’re anxious and worried, it’s very difficult to relax and fall asleep,” says Meltzer. “When you’re not sleeping well, you’ll be more anxious and you’ll have a harder time regulating emotion. It feeds on itself.”
Want to coax yourself into dreamland as soon as you hit the sack? Try the following scientifically-supported methods, that include relaxation techniques, distraction exercises, and more ways to prepare your body for slumber.

Try to force yourself to stay awake

Is there anything reverse psychology isn’t good for? In this case, it may alleviate excessive sleep anxiety. A small study conducted at the University of Glasgow found that sleep-onset insomniacs who were instructed to lay in bed and try to stay awake with their eyes open fell asleep quicker than participants told to fall asleep without this “paradoxical intention” (PI). Participants in the PI group fell asleep easier and showed less sleep performance anxiety.
 
“I always tell people, sleep is the one thing in life where the harder you try and the harder you work at it, the more likely it is you’ll fail,” says Meltzer. “Reverse psychology is not a long-term solution, but it can help.”

Get up and do something for 10 minutes

If you wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep within 15 minutes or so, get out of bed and do an activity that requires your hands and your head, like a jigsaw puzzle or a coloring book, says Richard Wiseman, professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University if Hertfordshire and author of Night School: Wake up to the power of sleep. Stay away from the TV and digital screens, whose blue light has been proven to suppress melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone. “The key is to avoid associating your bed with being awake,” Wiseman says in his 59 Seconds video.
“This is a stimulus control theory,” says Meltzer. “Everything in life has a stimulus value, even your bed,” meaning your body should recognize that lying in bed means it’s time to go to sleep. To give your bed that value, the only things you should be doing in it are sleep and sex, she explains. “Getting out of bed if you can’t sleep is the hardest one to do, but it’s so important. If you’re spending 10 hours in bed, but only sleeping six, that’s really bad. Your bed becomes a place for thinking, worrying, watching TV, and not for sleeping.”
 

Hide your clock

You toss and turn, trying to fall asleep, watching the minutes tick toward morning on your bedside clock. Does this scenario sound familiar? Do yourself a favor: Hide the clock. Constantly checking the time only increases your stress, making it harder to turn down the dial on your nervous system and fall asleep. “If you stare at the clock, it increases your stress and worry about not falling asleep,” says Meltzer.
 

Cool your room

Did you know your internal body temperature is integral to regulating your biological body clock? When you’re falling asleep, your body temperature drops slightly, which some experts believe actually helps the process along, according to the Harvard Medical School. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a bedroom temperature of 60 to 67 degrees F for the most sleep-friendly conditions.
“The secret is cool, dark, comfortable bedrooms,” says Meltzer. “Darkness cues the brain to make melatonin, which tells your interior clock that it’s time to sleep. Melatonin cools your internal body temperature, which reaches its lowest point between 2 and 4 a.m.”
 

Take a warm shower before bed

Warming your body up with a hot shower an hour before bed and then stepping into cooler air will cause your body temperature to drop more precipitously. Studies show that this rapid temperature decrease slows your metabolism faster and prepares your body for sleep. “Showers can also be very relaxing, so that helps, too,” says Meltzer. If you shower every night around the same time, making it part of a consistent bedtime routine, you’ll see the most sleep value from it, she adds. “Then your body has an expectation of what’s coming next.”
 

Wear socks to bed

Researchers from a Swiss study published in the journal Nature observed that warm feet and hands were the best predictor of rapid sleep onset. In the study, participants placed a hot water bottle at their feet, which widened the blood vessels on the surface of the skin, thereby increasing heat loss. Shifting blood flow from your core to your extremities cools down your body, working in concert with melatonin.
 

Immerse your face in very cold water for 30 seconds

If you’re anxious or distressed at bedtime, the best medicine may be a face full of ice-cold water. When you’re in a full-on state, your nervous system desperately needs to be reset to help you calm down. Submerging your face in a bowl of cold water triggers an involuntary phenomenon called the Mammalian Dive Reflex, which lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. Then it’s off to bed with a soothed system.
 

Use the “4-7-8” method

Championed by best-selling author Dr. Andrew Weil—and various wellness bloggers, the “4-7-8” breathing technique is purported to help you fall asleep in under a minute. The method is said to relax you by increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood stream, slowing your heart rate, and releasing more carbon dioxide from the lungs. According to DrWeil.com, here’s how you do it:
  1. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise.
  2. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
  3. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
  4. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
  5. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
  6. Repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

Scent your bedroom with lavender

Not only does lavender smell lovely, but the aroma of this flowering herb may also relax your nerves, lower your blood pressure, and put you in a relaxed state. A 2005 study at Wesleyan University found that subjects who sniffed lavender oil for two minutes at three, 10-minute intervals before bedtime increased their amount of deep sleep and felt more vigorous in the morning.
“Some people respond really well to scents,” says Meltzer. “If they’re breathing it in deeply, it can help them clear their minds. Also, if it’s part of a bedtime routine, that might be the secret.”
 

Picture your favorite place

Rather than counting sheep, visualize an environment that makes you feel calm and happy. The key to success is thinking of a scene that’s engaging enough to distract you from your thoughts and worries for a while. In an Oxford University study published in the journal Behavior Research and Therapy, insomniacs who were instructed to imagine a relaxing scene, such as a beach or a waterfall, fell asleep 20 minutes faster than insomniacs who were told to count sheep or do nothing special at all.
“As adults, finding ways to manage stress can get lost, but it is so important,” says Meltzer.
 

Listen to music

Studies have shown that classical music, or any music that has a slow rhythm of 60 to 80 beats per minute, can help lull you to sleep. In a 2008 study, students aged 19 to 28 who listened to relaxing classical music for 45 minutes before bed showed significant improvement in sleep quality. Bonus: They also reported decreased symptoms of depression.
 

Eat dinner by candlelight

When it comes to sleep, the less blue light you expose yourself to in the hours before bedtime, the better. Light of any kind can suppress your body’s production of melatonin, but blue light waves do so more powerfully, thereby shifting sleep-friendly circadian rhythms, says Harvard Health Publications. Besides electronic devices like tablets and smartphones, the biggest blue-light offenders in your home are likely fluorescent lightbulbs and LED lights, which many people use because of their energy efficiency and powerful light. Give yourself a romantic break from all the blue and eat dinner by candlelight.
 

Blow bubbles

Got grandkids? That means you probably have a plastic bottle of bubbles around the house. The benefits of blowing them before bed are two-fold: Bubbles are slightly hypnotic to look at and require a process of deep breathing to blow, said Rachel Marie E. Salas, M.D., a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in a recent New York Post article. “It’s like a deep breathing exercise, which helps calm your body and mind,” she says. “And since it’s such a silly activity, it can also take your mind off of any potential sleep-thwarting thoughts.”
 

Practice progressive relaxation

Recommended by the National Sleep Foundation as a way to fall asleep fast, progressive muscle relaxation involves slowly tensing and then relaxing each muscle in your body to help your body relax. The Mayo Clinic describes the technique as follows:
Start by tensing and relaxing the muscles in your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head. You can also start with your head and neck and work down to your toes. Tense your muscles for at least five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and repeat.
“I encourage patients to try progressive relaxation,” says Meltzer. “It’s not enough by itself, but in combination with other things, it definitely makes a huge difference.”
 

Give yourself acupressure

Derived from acupuncture, acupressure is an alternative medicine technique based in the Chinese medical theory that a network of energy flows through specific points in your body. Pressing on these points is meant to restore balance and regulate your mind, body, and spirit. A faculty member from leading natural health university Bastyr University suggests these acupressure techniques to alleviate sleeplessness:
  • Between your eyebrows, there is a small depression on the level of your brows, right above the nose. Apply gentle pressure to that point for a minute.
  • Between your first and second toes, on top of the foot, there is a depression. Press that area for a few minutes until you feel a dull ache. 
  • Imagine that your foot has three sections, beginning at the tips of your toes and ending at the back of your heel. Find the distance one-third back from the tips of your toes and press on the sole of your foot for a few minutes. 
  • Massage both of your ears for a minute.
Falling asleep isn't always as simple as placing your head upon a pillow and shutting your eyes. Thoughts, worries, and discomfort all have a way of worming their way into your mind, preventing you from falling asleep. Fortunately, there are quite a few positive things you can do to help to restore your ability to fall asleep quickly and regularly.

1
Ensuring You Fall Asleep

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    Make your room cool, clean, and quiet. The best conditions to sleep are when you are:
    • Cooler than room temperature, a little below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (or 20 degrees Celsius).
    • In soft, breathable clothing. You want room between your skin and the fabric.
    • In the dark. You should turn off all lights and keep nightlights at a distance.
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    Use muscle and mental relaxing exercises to prepare your brain for sleep. Once you've laid down and are ready to sleep, it's time to think about anything but sleep. Use the following techniques to distract your mind. Remember, stressing or thinking about falling asleep is the quickest way to stay awake.
    • Contract and relax your muscles. Tense, then release each and every muscle in your body slowly. Focus on "moving" from your toes to your neck, then back again.
    • Count your breaths. Focus on deep, regular breaths. Inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, then exhale for eight seconds.
    • Visualize something repetitive. Watch yourself shoot free throws, water your garden, or count sheep. Pick an activity you know and drift into it, counting each one.
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    Five minutes before bed, turn on light music or white noise. Constant sounds, unlike those coming from a window or snoring partner, make for great sleep. Even more importantly, they make the odd noises in the night -- like a barking dog-- seem less loud by comparison, soothing you to sleep.
    • Try a classical music station on Pandora, Spotify, or any music player that you know.
    • Listen to waves, raindrops, wind noises, or other calm, consistent sounds. You can find them on many white noise and music apps.
    • Make use of a meditation app like Slumber, Calm, or Headspace.
    • Try dimming the lights 30 minutes to an hour before bed. Research shows this to be helpful falling asleep.
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    Fifteen minutes before going to bed, stretch out gently. Reach down and gently touch your toes. Pull your foot back to your bum to stretch your thighs. Slowly reach your arms up and stretch to the sky.
    • Do the stretches that you love, holding them gently and without pain.
    • A little basic yoga is often used to go to sleep. Try out yoga for meditation.
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    A half-hour before going to bed, take a bath or eat a light snack to start getting drowsy. A warm bath, especially with a little lavender oil, will slow down your body's activity and make it easier to fall asleep. A light snack will do the same thing, creating a pleasant sense of drowsiness.
    • Good snacks include bananas, dairy, avocados, lean proteins like poultry or fish, and also nuts. Anything that isn't sugary or fatty will generally feel best.
    • Lavender oil, or lavender essence, is a great way to get the drowsy benefits of a bath without actually taking a bath.
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    An hour before going to bed, turn away from all electronic screens, media, and work. The time for screens and work is over. Computer screens actually trigger your brain to stay awake, as the blue light subconsciously tricks you into thinking that it's daytime.
    • Once work is over, there is nothing you're going to fix or make better by continuing to think about it. If you're really struggling to turn off work mode, try writing your thoughts or plans by hand in a journal.
    • Reading, talking to a partner, and preparing lunch, clothes, etc. for the next day are great ways to get off the screens and start the process of relaxing.
    • Sleep is not a switch you just turn on. The earlier you start relaxing, the easier it will be to sleep.
    • If you feel that using your phone before you go to bed is a way for you to relax make sure to use apps like Twilight that reduces the blue light and don't do anything engaging or stressful. That means, stay away from email, social media, heavy reading, and movies. Instead, engage in things that make you more relaxed like meditation videos, playing sleep games, or light reading.
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    Two hours before bed, dim the lights in your house. Bright light after sundown tells your brain that the sun is coming back up, and it's time to sleep. Use your dimmers, adjust the brightness on computers and TV, and aim for soft, yellow-orange lights. Yellow light can signal sunset, and the need to sleep.
    • Try a computer program like Flux that automatically lowers your screen brightness as the sun goes down, helping your brain adapt.
    • You may not feel like the light is keeping you up, but it actually prevents the creation of melatonin, a neurochemical essential for sleep.
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    In the afternoon, avoid drinking any caffeine or consuming a lot of alcohol. Both of these chemicals will keep you up and lead to uneven, difficult nights in bed. Instead, try exercising in the afternoon, which will give you a boost in metabolism and energy in the short term and make it easier to sleep when night approaches.
    • Switch to decaf after 12:00, as caffeine will stick in your system hours after you've felt the effects.
    • While some people think alcohol makes you drowsy, it leads to uneven, restless sleep in the long run.

2
Falling Asleep Quickly

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    Try muscle relaxing exercises. Starting from the very tips of your toes, gradually flex and then loosen all of your muscles one by one. Move to your ankles, then calves, knees, and upwards towards your neck.
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    Try muscle clenching exercises. Lightly squeeze your left fist, release it, and then repeat it with the right hand. Alternate back and forth, counting each clench as if they were sheep.
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    Try laying meditation. Focus on loosening your muscles and sinking into the bed. Don't judge or resist any thoughts, or feel like you need to go blank and avoid all thought. Think of clouds, a quiet place, or nothingness.[1]
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    Count yourself to sleep. Starting at one, slowly work your way up. If you lose track, simply go back to one and start over.
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    Escape into your imagination. Take your mind off sleeping and put it on something relaxing.
    • Build your perfect house or room in your mind.
    • Picture something calming from nature. Explore all the sense in your mind.
    • Invent a movie or story starring you.
    • Imagine yourself walking through your house looking at all the walls and etc.
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    Blow some bubbles. Get a bottle of bubbles, the kind children play with. Blowing bubbles makes you focus on deep breathing.[2]
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    Force yourself to stay awake. Get comfortable, close your eyes, and try your best to stay awake — you'll be happy when you fail. It is scientifically proven to work.[3]
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    Try self-hypnosis. This is just a calm, relaxed, and perfectly at peace state of mind that is accessible to anyone. To do so:
    • Picture yourself in a warm, safe space.
    • Imagine yourself walking down stairs, relaxing more with each step.[4]
    • Repeat some words to yourself, over and over. "Falling deeply asleep, sleeping deeply," should be enough.
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    Breathe the "4-7-8 Method" to put yourself under. To do so:[5]
    • Place the tip of your tongue behind your two front teeth.
    • Exhale completely.
    • Close your mouth.
    • Inhale through your nose for four seconds.
    • Hold your breath for seven seconds.
    • Exhale completely through your mouth again for eight seconds.
    • Repeat until you fall asleep.[6]
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    Take a few minutes "off" if you still can't sleep. Turn a dim light back on and read for 10 minutes. You could also go for a walk, do some light yoga, or make a small snack.[7][8]
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    Try sleep supplements. There are many supplements which may help you fall asleep, but results vary from person to person. Try out:
    • Chamomile tea. When brewing it, make sure to use 2-3 bags, and keep a lid on the pot to trap the essential oils.[9]
    • Melatonin is the most common sleep supplement on the market. It is naturally produced by the body, found in many foods, and is non-addictive.[10]
    • Chlorpheniramine maleate, also sold as 'Chlortrimeton' or 'Coricidin-HBP', is an antihistamine that causes drowsiness without raising blood pressure.[11]
    • Valerian is a relaxing herb that helps with sleep.[12]


Getting Comfortable

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    Turn off all lights, including phones and computers. Once you're ready for bed, all sources of direct light need to be off. This includes this article, as soon as you finish reading. Lower the brightness of all lights, screens, etc. 1-2 hours before bed.
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    Position yourself so that your head is level and your spine straight. You want your neck to be straight when your head rests on the pillow, not curved or bent in one direction.
    • If you have sinus problems or a sore throat, prop yourself up with 2-3 pillows so that your back is still straight and your neck is elevated. This lets fluids drain naturally.
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    Get loose, comfortable sleepwear. Put on loose cotton pajamas or a long nightshirt. If that's still not working, strip down to nothing at all. Your skin needs to breathe in order to feel healthy and regulate your temperature. Tight clothing will prevent this.
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    Put on socks. Warmed feet are scientifically proven to help your fall asleep quickly. If you don't like socks, place a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed.[13]
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    Eat a small, healthy bedtime snack. Try bananas, avocado, peanuts, almonds, figs, and milk-based drinks.[14]
    • Avoid a sugary or all-carbohydrate meal that releases stress hormones, keeping you awake.[15]
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    Acknowledge distractions instead of trying to block them out. Recognize everything that you notice: "I smell the lotion I just applied to my hands; I feel my legs' weight on the bed; I hear my spouse/partner breathing, etc." Fighting off feelings takes energy. Energy keeps you awake. Accepting things relaxes you, putting you to sleep.
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    Use aromatherapy. Lemon balm oil, chamomile oil, lavender oil, and marjoram can be used singly or in combination for the bath, a massage, or as an air or pillow spray. All of them, alone, also promote sleep.[16]

Managing Noise

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    Use white noise to fall asleep in noisy environments. White noise is a constant, unobtrusive noise that helps you ignore other irregular sounds. It can be the sound of static, raindrops, rustling leaves.
    • Calm, wordless music is a great way to settle into bed with some white noise.
    • Many music apps have an "ambient" option that provides great white noise, like the sound of waves crashing.
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    Consider earplugs if you have constant, inescapable noise. Small earplugs, or bigger, noise-eliminating ear muffs, can provide the tranquil soundscape you need to drift off to sleep.
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    Make a sleep mask. If you're really struggling, make an impromptu sleep mask out of an old tie or a pillowcase rolled lengthwise and tie it gently over your eyes. You can also buy one, or make an effective one at home.
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    Drown out or eliminate sudden/irregular noise. If you're trying to fall asleep but keep getting interrupted by noises from the street or around the house, try to block them out with a regular noise.
    • Turn on a fan.
    • Close the windows.
    • Invest in thick, sound-dampening curtains.
    • Turn your phone on silent, not vibrate.

Implementing Lifestyle Changes

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    Avoid caffeine and alcohol before sleep. Caffeine, in particular, should be avoided after 2-3PM, as it takes a long time to leave your system and will absolutely affect the quality of your sleep. Alcohol may make you drowsy, but it will interrupt deep sleep, leading you to wake up later in the night or feel restless or tired the next day.[17]
    • Nicotine has a similar effect as caffeine, so you should avoid smoking before bed for the best sleep.
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    Stick to a regular sleep schedule, even on weekends. If you go to bed at the same time each day, your body will quickly adapt and help you fall asleep at that time each and every night. This same thing happens if you wake up at the same time each day, as you body will adapt to become tired when 7-8 hours before it expects to wake up the next morning. The best way to fall asleep regularly is to make sure your sleep cycle is regular. If you don't know your schedule, or how long you should sleep for:
    • For two weeks, go to bed at the exact same time.
    • Get out of bed when you wake up in the morning — don't hit snooze or keep sleeping.
    • Write down the time you wake up each morning.
    • After two weeks or so, you'll notice that you start getting up at the same time every morning. If you've been going to bed at the same time, you can use this to find out exactly how much sleep your body needs, personally, each night.[18]
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    Exercises 3-5 times a week. Regular exercise, including 1-2 hours of cardio (running, biking, swimming, etc) each week and 2-3 strength training sessions (yoga, weights, aerobics) as been shown by the University of Maryland to significantly decrease sleeping problems in adults.[19]
    • Don't exercise in the three hours leading up to bedtime. Exercise awakens you, with the impact often lasting up to three hours after you've completed the exercise, as well as decreasing the secretion of needed melatonin (naturally helps regulate your sleep).[14]
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    Avoid naps during the daytime. If you need a nap, nap no more than 15 minutes (a power nap). Naps break up your sleep schedule and make it much harder to fall asleep in the future. Anything longer can make it much harder to fall asleep in the evenings.[20]
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    Reduce your stress levels. Stress, anxiety, worry, and depression can all contribute to an inability to fall asleep. Seek help for stress management, including finding positive techniques to handle stress such as yoga, relaxation, cognitive behavioral therapy, self-hypnosis, assertiveness training, meditation, exercise, visualization, etc.[21]Psychotherapy can be helpful if you have underlying anxiety, trauma, or depression issues.[22]
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    Know when to see a doctor. Stress, anxiety, or depression can all affect your sleeping patterns.[23] If it's bad enough that you're losing sleep on a regular basis, contact your primary care physician. Some symptoms to look out for include:
    • Long standing insomnia, continuing for several weeks or months.
    • You are unable to stay awake during the day, especially during crucial moments.
    • You have mood swings, irritability, or constant feelings of stress.
    • You wake up in pain, or unable to breath.[24]

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