In this article, we will discuss the best ways to fall asleep naturally. Lisa Meltzer, an education scholar at the National Sleep Foundation says that the most common culprit of lack of sleep is anxiety unless certain medical conditions or medications caused it. Another expert in sleep disorder, Meltzer also says “If you’re anxious and worried, it’s very difficult to relax and fall asleep.” And, if you’re not sleeping soundly, you’ll be more anxious and have a difficult time regulating emotion. It is self-feeding. If you want to persuade yourself into dreamland as shortly as you hit the sack, then try these following scientifically supported methods that include distraction exercises, relaxation techniques, and more ways to prepare your body for sleep.
Top Ways to Fall Asleep:
1.) Give Yourself Acupressure to Fall Asleep
Acupressure, derived from acupuncture, is an alternative medicine system based on the Chinese medical system that a chain of energy flows through particular points in your body. Pushing on these points is meant to restore stability and improve your mind, body, and spirit. A faculty member from Bastyr University, a leading natural health university, recommends these acupressure techniques to ease sleeplessness:
- There is a small point between your eyebrows, on the level of your brows, right above the nose. Apply a gentle pressure to that point for a minute.
- On top of the foot, between your first and second toes, there is a point. Apply a pressure on that area for a few minutes until you sense a low ache.
- Assume that your foot has three sections, starting from the tips of your toes and ending at the back of your heel. Find the one-third distance back from the tips of your toes and press on the spot on the sole of your foot for a few minutes. Massaging both of your ears for a minute can be helpful.
2.) Get Up and Do Something for Ten Minutes to Fall Asleep
According to the Richard Wiseman, who is a professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, says, “If you wake up in the night and unable to get back to sleep within ten minutes or so, get out of your bed and try to do an activity that involves your hands and your brain, like a Rubik’s Cube, a puzzle or a coloring book. But you should avoid sitting in front of the TV and digital screens, as its blue light has been proven to suppress melatonin, which is a hormone, responsible for sleep. Wiseman says “The key is to avoid associating your bed with being awake,” in his 59 Seconds video.
3.) Hide Your Clock to Fall Asleep
You toss and turn, trying to get asleep, looking at the minute’s tick near morning on your bedside clock. Does this scenario seem to be familiar? Do yourself a favor, Hide the clock from your site. Checking the time constantly only increases your stress, which makes it harder to turn down the dial on your nervous system and get asleep. Meltzer states, “If you stare at the clock constantly, it increases your worries and stress about not falling asleep.”
4.) Cool Your Room to Fall Asleep
Did you know your internal body temperature is essential for regulating your natural body clock? Your body temperature goes down slightly when you’re falling asleep, which actually helps the process along, according to the Harvard Medical School. It is recommended by The National Sleep Foundation that a bedroom temperature of 60 to 67 degrees F for the most comfortable and sleep-friendly conditions.
5.) Take a Warm Shower to Fall Asleep
Taking a hot shower before going to bed can help get a quicker and sound sleep. Warm your body with the hot shower an hour before going to sleep and then walk into a cooler air, it will get your body temperature down precipitously. Research shows that the rapid decrease in the temperature slows your metabolism faster and prepares your body for sleep. Meltzer says that showers can also help as it is very relaxing. She also states that “If you take a shower every night at the same time, and make it as a part of the consistent bedtime routine, you will notice the most sleep value from it. “Then the body demands of what is to come next.”
6.) Wear Socks to Bed to Fall Asleep
It is observed by the researchers from a Swiss study published in the journal nature that warm hands and feet were the best predictors of quicker sleep onset. In the study, a hot water bottle was placed by participants at their feet, which leads to widening the blood vessels on the surface of the skin, thereby enhancing heat loss. Shifting blood flow from your core to your extremity, this cools down your body, working in concert with melatonin.
7.) Immerse Your Face in Very Cold Water to Fall Asleep
Immersing your face full of ice-cold water may reduce anxiety or distressed at the bedtime. Your nervous system urgently needs to be reset to help you calm down when you are in a full-on state. Submerge your face in a bowl of cold water; this will trigger an instinctive phenomenon called the Mammalian Dive Reflex, which drop your heart rate and blood pressure. Then it’s off to bed with a soothed system.
8.) Picture Your Favorite Place to Fall Asleep
Your negative thoughts and worries can be a stumbling block in the way to get a sleep. Visualize an atmosphere that makes you feel calm and happy, instead of counting sheep. The key to victory is an imagination of a scene that’s engaging enough to divert your mind from your negative thoughts and worries for a while. A study which was carried out in an Oxford University, published in the journal behavior research and therapy, participants who were given instructions to imagine a relaxing scene, such as a waterfall, or a beach, fell asleep 20 quicker than the participants who were told to count sheep or do nothing special at all.
9.) Listen to Music to Fall Asleep
Music is considered to be a great remedy for a person to get asleep. It has been found in studies that any music which has a slow rhythm of 60 to 80 beats per minute, especially the classical music can help you to get asleep. A study carried out in 2008, students aged 19 to 28, listened to relaxing classical music for forty minutes before bed that showed notable improvement in their sleep quality. Bonus: They also noticed reduced symptoms of depression.
10.) Eat Dinner by Candlelight to Fall Asleep
When it comes to sleep, it’s better for you to protect yourself from blue light before bedtime. Light of any kind can cause suppression of your body’s production of melatonin, but particularly, the blue light waves do so more powerfully, thereby changing sleep-friendly circadian rhythms, says Harvard Health Publications. In addition to electronic devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones, the biggest blue-light offenders in your home are likely fluorescent light bulbs and LED lights, which is widely used by many people because of their energy efficiency and bright light. Give yourself a romantic break from all the blue and eat dinner by candlelight.
11.) Blow Bubbles to Fall Asleep
In a recent article in New York post, Rachel Marie E. Salas, MD a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, states “That means you possibly have a plastic bottle of bubbles around your house. The two-fold benefits of blowing bubbles before bed is, It is slightly hypnotic to look at the Bubbles and it requires a process of deep breathing to blow the bubbles. “It helps soothe your body and mind, as it also works as a deep breathing exercise,” she says. “And because it seems such a stupid activity, it can also get your mind off of any potential sleep-thwarting thoughts.”
12.) Practice Progressive Relaxation to Fall Asleep
Relaxing your muscle can be a great way to get asleep faster. According to the National Sleep Foundation, a progressive relaxation is a way to get asleep fast, which involves slowly tensing the muscle and then relaxing each muscle in your body to make your body relax. The techniques described by Mayo Clinic are as follows:
Start with your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head, tense and relax the muscles in your body. You can also do the opposite and start with your head and neck and work down till your toes. Tense your muscles and keep it on for at least five seconds and then relax for one minute. Repeat this for least ten minutes.