For those working a nine to five or just experience busy days, there’s nothing more satisfying than getting a good night’s sleep. While our intention is to immediately hit the hay, we sometimes get hit by a little insomnia instead, which can leave us exhausted when we wake up the following morning. Every minute counts and the sudden lack of sleep may result to a shortage of effectiveness on your part. Worry not however, if sleep somehow escapes you when you’re already snuggled up in your bed; here are a few methods that’ll get you snoring in no time.
- 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. Exhale completely through your mouth. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. Exhale completely through your mouth to a count of eight. This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat three more times for a total of four cycles.
- If that seems too cumbersome or doesn’t work, try only breathing with your left nostril. Lie on your left side, and block your right nostril so as only to breathe with the left. This helps particularly when you can’t sleep when overheating.
- It’s always good to open the windows or cool down a room when it gets too hot, a little warning though, sleeping in colder conditions may cause nightmares. Similarly, if it’s too cold, attempt to warm up your environment to make sleeping easier to accomplish. If your surroundings are too bright or noisy, also ensure the same are reduced for your comfort.
- Try a little reverse psychology on your brain; attempt to stay awake and your mind will not conform to it. Keep your eyes wide open while continuously repeating “I will not sleep”, soon you will feel your eyes getting heavy and off to dream land you go.
- Create a switch; do something unusual but relaxing like stroking your arm, or hair and focus on that feeling as you fall asleep. When you do it again, your body will recall it as a sign to fall asleep overtime.
- Imagine a serene environment that makes you feel at peace. While doing so, try engage your sense of touch and smell. If it’s a beach for example, imagine hearing the birds and waves while feeling the sand in between your toes, this should get you relaxed and nodding off faster.
- Pressing special pressure points on your body also encourage you to fall asleep faster. Put your thumb on the point between your eyebrows at the top of your nose, where there’s a slight indent. Hold for 20 seconds, release and repeat twice more. Then find the slight indent between your big toe and second toe and press in the same way. Lastly, find the point just below the nail on the upper side of your second toe. Using the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, gently squeeze the toe.