5 Not-So-Common Tricks to Help You Fall Asleep Faster



Beyond the Basics: 5 Not-So-Common Tricks to Help You Fall Asleep Faster


One in three adults does not get enough sleep, and the consequences of this shortage can be severe, potentially even deadly. Lack of sleep contributes to hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of crashes in the U.S. each year due to drowsy driving. Furthermore, insufficient sleep has been linked to chronic health problems, including stroke, heart disease, obesity, kidney disease, and diabetes.
Federal health officials recommend that adults aim for at least seven hours of sleep each night to improve memory and maintain health. While most people know to avoid staring at screens immediately before bed, factors like artificial light, stress, disruptive noise, and smartphones frequently keep people awake past their bedtime.
If you are struggling to drift off, experts offer some unusual and counterintuitive tips that may help you fall asleep faster.
1. Get Fuzzy: Warm Up Your Extremities
If you are trying to fall asleep quicker, fuzzy socks may be your friend. Researchers in the U.K. suggest that warming up your toes is one way to encourage sleep.
Taking a warm bath or wearing socks to bed helps you feel drowsier because it aids in lowering your core body temperature. A professor at Imperial College London described this warming strategy as a "natural sleep medication".
2. Fight to Stay Awake (Paradoxical Intention)
It may sound backward, but focusing on attempting to stay awake can actually help people fall asleep. This strategy is known as paradoxical intention therapy.
The goal of this technique is to reduce the anxious thoughts that arise when people are trying too hard to force themselves to sleep. A sleep psychologist at the University of Michigan Health Sleep Disorders Centers notes that if you mentally try to stay up, "sleep will eventually kick in".
3. Imagine You're "Anywhere but Inside"
If anxiety-riddled thoughts are preventing you from sleeping, try transporting yourself mentally into nature. This seemingly strange technique can effectively fight off those intrusive nighttime thoughts.
Why does this work? Research has shown that nature can reduce heart rate and lower blood pressure. Even picturing something simple, like a cozy campfire or a remote cabin, could be enough to help, according to a sleep coach to the U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team.
4. Behave Like a Kid: Blow Bubbles
Believe it or not, blowing bubbles to fall asleep is a technique supported by doctors.
The reason this method works is that it mimics a breathing exercise. Breathing exercises are known to reduce heart rate and lower blood pressure. In addition to the physiological benefits, this technique is simply easy and "pretty silly". If you don't have a bubble wand or solution available, numerous breathing techniques are available online that can provide similar help.
5. The 20-Minute Rule: Start Over
If you have been lying in bed for about 20 minutes without falling asleep, it is time to get up and get out of bed.
According to Dr. Luis Buenaver, a sleep expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine, starting the process over can help you fall asleep. If you find your mind is racing—perhaps you are trying to solve a personal problem or reviewing a work presentation—you should distract yourself. This distraction can involve listening to a recorded book or quiet music for a few minutes.



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