Thread: Having a problem falling asleep in general.

Hey, I have this problem too. And I hated being lying on the bed and can't fall asleep while all my family members are in a deep sleep. I thought about taking pills to help me sleep, but then I found a way that might help me sleep.

First, find the most comfortable position -the lesser of two evils- and lie. Don't move and start visualising anything that would keep you away from thinking about sleeping. Like flying, doing something you always wanted to do and so on. Trust me This works.

Another way s listening to relaxing music. You can find it on Youtube on a channel called relaxdaily. These pieces of music work like magic!

Just forget about sleeping and you will go in a deep sleep.

I think counting numbers have no benefit, but you can try it too!

I hope this will help you fall asleep fast. Happy dreams!

Originally Posted by Darklord1515

Hey, I have this problem too. And I hated being lying on the bed and can't fall asleep while all my family members are in a deep sleep. I thought about taking pills to help me sleep, but then I found a way that might help me sleep.

First, find the most comfortable position -the lesser of two evils- and lie. Don't move and start visualising anything that would keep you away from thinking about sleeping. Like flying, doing something you always wanted to do and so on. Trust me This works.

Another way s listening to relaxing music. You can find it on Youtube on a channel called relaxdaily. These pieces of music work like magic!

Just forget about sleeping and you will go in a deep sleep.

I think counting numbers have no benefit, but you can try it too!

I hope this will help you fall asleep fast. Happy dreams!

Thanks. I'll try it tonight.

Originally Posted by ShadowCoder

Thanks. I'll try it tonight.

You're welcome ^_^

I've always found getting to sleep a challenge. If I lie in bed thinking about all the things I have to do at work then I can stay awake for hours and hours. If I feel any pressure to sleep then I can't, i.e. you have to be up in 3 hours for something important so you'd better get some sleep! Recently I've been waking (by intentionally using my internal alarm clock) at between 3 and 5am to try some WILDing but I can't actually manage to get back to sleep which is horrible.

The trick is to distract your mind (especially from your concerns) in order to let it wander by itself and thereby relaxing it to sleep. Reading a book before bed normally works but I do find it occasionally does the opposite and wakes me up more. Watching a certain types of TV program gets me really sleepy - like MotoGP with the bikes going round and round the track!

If you have the patience then relaxation techniques can work really well - particularly the ones where you focus on each part of your body to relax them.

I used to have problems falling asleep.

Then I read about and tried to implement the WILD technique using this tutorial: WILD Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

I was unsuccessful in WILDing based on this tutorial thus far, but I can usually very quickly fall asleep while counting my breaths, and visualizing numbers now.

OK, thanks for the advice.

To: Revery I'll definitely try it.

To: JoannaB Thanks for the tutorial. I'll try it.

Have a look at the 61-point technique. It sounds a lot but it's actually very simple and easy.

I don't remember exactly where, but I read somewhere that says that some people tend to get into deep sleep by counting 1 mississippi, 2 mississippi...... till they mess up and try again. I tried this yesterday and I almost got to deep sleep. My body was completely motionless, except for a little motion once in awhile. Was I doing it right? I got to a stage where I could see a very brief visual, perhaps a face. But then, I just move, and then it goes away. Am I doing something wrong?

That sounds right except you don't stop when you mess up, you just continue counting. You can just start again from beginning or continue where messed up somehow any way, just as long as you don't pay too much attention: the goal is not to successfully count, so messing up does not really matter, one just goes on.

From another of my posts:

For falling asleep, as has been said, just don't think about it too much. If however you are still having trouble, start by relaxing each muscle in your head. Just visualize the tension and release it. There is really no need to go over your whole body unless you are having trouble with relaxing in general.

Next, with every out breath (breathe normally), imagine your consciousness receding (this is difficult to explain). As you breathe out, feel as though you are losing a little more consciousness each time, like letting go of tension in your mind, or your brain if that visual works better for you, releasing your thoughts. It is important that you actually feel this release. You may want to visualize yourself descending a ladder if that helps, halting when inhaling and resuming when exhaling. When you start to get imagery, just passively watch it until you lose consciousness. This has only failed me under very extreme circumstances, but then, everyone is different.

I sometimes have the same problem as you; but now when I sense I am thinking too much I just do the above and I am asleep within a minute or two. I've actually used this while in a bivvy and sleeping bag during hurricane Irene. It won't work for everyone though, there is a very important element of being able to let go.

....and the counting sheep thing actually works, but it takes a long time and feels like a chore in my case.

Good luck.

Thanks for tips. I'll see the night goes with them.

Originally Posted by Meskhetyw

From another of my posts:

For falling asleep, as has been said, just don't think about it too much. If however you are still having trouble, start by relaxing each muscle in your head. Just visualize the tension and release it. There is really no need to go over your whole body unless you are having trouble with relaxing in general.

Next, with every out breath (breathe normally), imagine your consciousness receding (this is difficult to explain). As you breathe out, feel as though you are losing a little more consciousness each time, like letting go of tension in your mind, or your brain if that visual works better for you, releasing your thoughts. It is important that you actually feel this release. You may want to visualize yourself descending a ladder if that helps, halting when inhaling and resuming when exhaling. When you start to get imagery, just passively watch it until you lose consciousness. This has only failed me under very extreme circumstances, but then, everyone is different.

I sometimes have the same problem as you; but now when I sense I am thinking too much I just do the above and I am asleep within a minute or two. I've actually used this while in a bivvy and sleeping bag during hurricane Irene. It won't work for everyone though, there is a very important element of being able to let go.

....and the counting sheep thing actually works, but it takes a long time and feels like a chore in my case.

Good luck.

Great tips - I'll definitely try this.