How do I fall asleep faster?

[Jo1234]

I wish I could fall asleep faster, it usually takes me 1-3 hours. It's usually just an hour if I listen to music, but then the music is on all night (bad for my ears) and I can hear it in my dreams, and then in the morning the song sounds completely different. Does anyone else experience that? I'm going to stop drinking caffeine, and I was wondering if I should just stop drinking and eating before bed entirely. I've heard that helps. Any thoughts on how to fall asleep faster?

[Aerial]

resist the urge to roll over & take a warm bath before hand.

[AngelZlayer]

Go see a pharmacist or a doctor. It took me 1-3 hours to fall asleep too, but I got a perscription drug called Theralen, and now it takes less than 1 hour to fall asleep. (It takes about 1 or 2 hours for the drug to take effect btw.)

[TheLight]

Hi Jo, in my experience eating before going to bed does makes it harder to fall asleep while drinking doesn't(some people say you might wake up during the night if you've drank too much though). And before seeing a doctor why don't you try the 'reverse blinking' technique(use the search option in the forum) - it has worked well for me.

[jarrhead]

Do NOT move, you'll be out in 10 minutes. I lie on my back with my hands naturally around my crotch, they usually tend to cross, so im holding my right hand with my left. If I don't move at all and just keep visualizing a dream I'd like to have, not only do I eventually have that dream later that night (not instantly) but I don't even have to do a RC when I get there. It's also quite entertaining of a way to go to sleep.

[SweetMelancholy]

Not moving usually helps a lot. Try not to think of your everyday worries. Be warm, not too hot, not too cold. Listening to music doesnt help me at all, but it may be different for you.

[jarrhead]

I need absolute quiet.

[Jo1234]

I stopped listening to music, and that seems to help.

[JamesLD]

start meditating. through meditation ive learned how to silence my mind and stop all thoughts at any given time, so i do that when trying to sleep and im out in like 10 minutes.

[jarrhead]

Don't watch a movie before you sleep. My mind was racing through the movie and I wasn't able to concentrate enough to VILD/V-WILD. NOt even after I woke up at night. Can't recall a single dream.

[Wildman]

A more general suggestion, if your schedule allows it: try to always wake up at the same time, and only go to sleep when you feel tired enough to fall asleep within 5-10 minutes: that is, you have a set time at which you wake up, but no set time at which you go to sleep. It might be hard to adjust the first few days, but it's supposed to be quite effective once you get into the habit. As for moving around, I agree with most of what has been said. Sometimes if I'm having trouble falling asleep I'll do one roll over, then roll back a few minutes later, and fall asleep like that, but that might just be me.

[jarrhead]

I have a set time to sleep and wake up. 9:30 PM - 7 AM. Parentals' rules. Sunday-Thursday nights of course.

[Mariano]

just watch your thoughts, don't analyse them or create them, just let them be, and observe them. this helped me a lot, and I fell asleep in 10 minutes. the point is, when you don't force thoughts, when you are fallings asleep, it start to appear random thoughts....and then boom...you are out

[Jo1234]

That's good advice, I think I'm thinking too much.

[jarrhead]

This. It may not help with LDing (for me, anyways) but it certainly does help you fall asleep to move around and think about anything! :p

[Jo1234]

Does or doesn't help?

[jarrhead]

You fall asleep faster if you move around and let your thoughts go wild. But when you do this, its hard to LD. (For me, anyways)

[Muggler]

I repeat, I guess you could say a mantra, to myself. "Clear my mind of all thoughts and go to sleep." I have been using it for about 4 years, and I must say, it works incredibly.

[Polilla]

Exercise regularly. The way I see it is if you're worn out your body doesn't have much choice but to recuperate.

[Jo1234]

Yeah, I've been joggong 30 min everyday at 8:00pm so I'm tired, that seems to work fairly well, but its freakin cold outside, and I gave up

[Bluemangroup]

I found that taking in long deep breaths have helped me sleep. I don't know if it's me relaxing or me just focusing on one thing, but i've fallen asleep withing the first 20 minutes sometimes.

[bobbybobster]

I have a problem sleeping too, but this thread gave me alot of ideas =) thanks

[nina]

I used to have the same problem. Taking Melatonin before bed will help you fall asleep very quickly. Also Valerian Root helps as well. You could even try a hot sleepy tea blend with Valerian Root, but I find the yucky smelling capsules to work more effectively. Also practicing Transcendental Meditation when I'm trying to sleep is a surefire way to put me out much faster. (tylenol PM/benedryl really helps too, if you don't mind diph)

[tommo]

AH.... me too! I am going to try melatonin and b vitamin complex. It seriously takes me 4 hours to get to sleep sometimes. I think eating well and exercising every day plus not watching tv or being on computer 30 mins to an hour before bed helps too. But that's not all necessary I don't think. Just helps a lot.

[Squaddle]

You fall asleep faster if you move around and let your thoughts go wild. But when you do this, its hard to LD. (For me, anyways) Jarrhead.. .you must tell me how you dream with the visualizing part... what do you visualize exactly? Dreams? A scenery? A plot? Or just moving about and doing what you want... and when do you stop?