Sleep deprivation is a common complaint in our current culture because of things like excessive stress, poor diets, emotional or mental health issues, and a whole host of other complicated factors. In fact, statistics show that up to 70 million people in the United States suffer from sleeping disorders.
But there exists a technique that’s said to help you fall asleep fast, one that was originally developed by army chiefs concerned about their soldiers’ performances; exhaustion and sleep deprivation can lead to mistakes, and those can be deadly when dealing with soldiers on a battlefield. You can read about it in a book called Relax and Win: Championship Performance, that was published back in 1981.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
The method, detailed below, has been proven to be successful 96% of the time after 6 weeks of implementing it.
You should ideally spend 1.5 minutes on each step, and then it should take you only 120 more seconds to fall asleep!
Supposedly.
Step 1
While laying down, relax your facial muscles, including your tongue, jaw, and the muscles around your eyes.
Step 2
Drop your shoulders as low as you can manage, then relax your upper, then lower, arms on one side and then the other.
Step 3
Breathe out slowly and relax your chest, then your legs from your thighs to your calves and down your lower legs.
Step 4
Completely clear your mind.
This step is gonna be hard – it’s not easy to empty out your mind if you’ve never tried before. But it gets much easier with practice.
Lloyd Bud Winter, the author of the book mentioned above, suggests envisioning one of the following three images:
1. lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but a clear blue sky above you,
2. being snuggled up in a black velvet hammock in a pitch-black room, or
3. saying ‘don’t think, don’t think, don’t think’ over and over again.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
With a little practice, this method is supposed to drastically reduce problems falling asleep.
And since not getting enough sleep is linked with issues like a weakened immune system, memory trouble, high blood pressure, weight gain, and others, giving it a try is worth a shot!
Have you ever done something like this? Did it work?
Share what happened in the comments!
