It’s time to sleep. There is lots to do tomorrow... must, sleep...
Look at the dog; one stretch of the legs, one yawn before flopping down, and then the animal is asleep within seconds. No tossing, no turning. Let’s figure out how they do that, and maybe we humans can start getting some good rest, naturally.
In order to mimic the dog’s ability to fall asleep, we might find clues on the technique by looking at our own instincts for a second.
Remembering a Few Old Habits
Humans have been busy for the last few thousand years, and most of us don’t have time to learn about our brains or bodily functions. Somewhere along the way though, we forgot many of our instinctive habits that allowed us to survive this long on Earth. With our fancy brains, we got so smart that we abandoned some of the simpler things that made life on Earth comfortable and good.
The Natural Way
When we humans go to sleep, it is normal for our bodies to then automatically go around releasing stored energy from the muscles and organs that won’t be used, relaxing the entire body in order to reach a deep sleep.
Until these muscles are relaxed, the brain stays awake taking care of these chores so that it too can rest.
An automatic system, each muscle must be relaxed before a true deep sleep can be reached, and this involuntary bodily process takes time to complete. The brain cannot rest until the chores are done, thus shortening our good rest time.
Hacking Your Own Brain
Given that the relaxation of the body happens automatically as we sleep, most people trust that system to work each night, naturally shutting down all waking functions as we begin to rest. This process may take minutes to complete, or it could take hours, but either way, no real rest is happening until the body is completely relaxed.
Manual Shutdown
Are you sure you want to shut down your body now? If so, there is a way to speed up the shutdown by doing it ourselves before sleeping.
By combining the instincts of the animals with our human reason and intellect, there are tricks which make it possible to shorten the time that we need to sleep each night, while still getting the deep sleep that is needed for proper rest.
Relaxing on Purpose
Remembering how the dog stretched before laying down, we can borrow that technique as a way to relax our muscles:
1. Laying down flat, take a deep breath of air and, holding it, tense up every muscle in the body, as if you were lifting a gigantic boulder-- every toe, finger, and even the muscles in the face.
2. Now completely tensed up, release that breath as you relax everything, while picturing the energy from each muscle being released, drifting easily away from the body.
3. Repeat. (This is where we have an edge over the animals; if a stretch is good before sleep, then we might reason that two good stretches is even better.)
4. Starting at the toes, manually imagine the energy in those muscles drifting easily away. Next are the ankles, then the lower legs, then the upper thighs. Back muscles are next, then hands, arms and shoulders. Don’t forget the stomach muscles, and entire front of the torso, then relax the neck muscles, ears, head and finally the facial muscles. All energy, floating away from the body.
As the energy leaves these body parts, check back down to the feet (they have probably worked hard for much of the day) and scan the whole body with a relaxing glance from the imagination, until each section is completely loose and is at rest.
Are you still awake? There’s a chance that you will fall asleep before the above steps are completed, but it's ok, you will still have taken the short cut to deep sleep, or the natural route.
By manually shutting down our bodies, even slowing our breath on purpose as we prepare to sleep, we have relieved the brain of some last-minute chores in that department, and the manual, conscious shut-down of the body is quicker than our brain’s automatic relaxation features.
One Last Thing
Still awake? There is one more step then, now that the body is relaxed;
Think about the spot between your eyes.
If you are still awake after the manual shutdown of the full body, put your attention on the spot between your eyes, and while still relaxed all over, concentrate on that spot.
The mind may try to wander away, and that’s ok, because it won’t get far now.
Concentrate on That Spot, Again...
Yes, the mind may still try to flit around, but now, there is a thought-- a spot-- to focus on, and the imagination can be thus herded into a selected place to prepare for sleep-- that spot between the eyes.
Remembering how to go to sleep like an animal may require a slight change in habit for a fully grown human, but even a good stretch and a yawn, just like the dog, will give the body a head-start towards that deep sleep that is needed, and can even mean that less sleep time is needed each night.
The quick version, for those in a hurry to get some rest:
DEEP BREATH
Deliberately flex tightly every single muscle from eyebrow to fist, hip to toe.
Let it all out, then focus on the spot between your eyes. Goodnight!
Taking back some of the animal instincts that we were born with might seem like the opposite of evolution, but learning how to put our bodies to sleep could be seen as intelligent, and might mean that we can fall asleep as easily as a dog or a cat-- just like that.
images above thanks to Pixabay. For more variety on this page, click below these birds:
I had also sleeping problems and I am taking melatonin - natural remedy that should help me to fall asleep and I must say IT WORKS!
However, I shall go back to yoga and exercise, if I get tired enough or if I smoke a little tiny spliff before to fall asleep, I fall asleep like an angel.
Man, I'm prone to bouts of insomnia, I am definitely giving this a shot next time it happens :)
I've been using these tricks for a while, the relaxation technique was especially helpful when out on the road, trying to cram a night's sleep into a four-hour slot, and then still be able to drive a marathon the next day, I had to teach my body how to do that!
I just work myself to the exhaustion and then I collapse, but it takes me a few days because I recuperate on the go, kind of a natural ability. Still, I never had any problems with the sleeping to be honest, I fall asleep when I see a bed.
I mostly used this technique when traveling, it was a way to shorten the time that I needed to rest, or to get better rest in less time, when sleeping in strange hotels and such.
This is such a great way to think about techniques to help people fall asleep. I stress to my clients all the time how important it is to sleep but I have never given them an explanation on how to fall asleep easier quite like this one! I am going to use this and try it with a few of my clients if you don't mind! Framing the act of falling asleep like an animal is genius! haha
Awesome post! :)
There's a lot to be learned from the animals! I think that the conscious, deliberate relaxation of each little body part sends a message from the will to the body, and the body takes it as a command, it knows the boss is serious this time. Happy dreams!
thank you sir..this is what i wanted since few days..i find myself difficult to sleep at night now..and i used to sleep till late in the morning..i will try this..i think it will work for sure :)
I hope that it helped, it may take practice for a few nights. I had to practice before I could get this to work, but it has helped me since then in a lot of ways.
Thanks for the great post,i have some problem for sleep,i will definitly try your tricks.Thanks .
THANK YOU!!
I have problems to fall asleep, specially when I have problems, and for me it's something horrible, insomnia is the worse, I can't think clearly, I get sad, It just awful don't being able to sleep. I had tried with affirmations before... but nothing...
Something that help me sometimes is to get very tired by doing exercise.
I am going to do that relaxition and that about thinking on the spot between my eyes.
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hmmm, I definitely am having sleeping problems so I'm going to try your method tonight. I will point out that when I concentrate on the spot between my eyes I experience some discomfort in that spot and have to squint. I'm not sure what causes it but I'll try to get past it.
Sometimes I find my eyes trying to look at that spot, and that probably means they are not relaxing yet. Supposedly our eyes tilt upward slightly while we sleep, and the slight upward tilt feels surprisingly relaxing when done deliberately. The relaxation of each muscle is often enough to put me to sleep before I can get that far along anyway. May your dreams be pleasant!
hmmm. Im going to try and pay attention to what's happening while I try this. Hopefully it will get better as I practice
It does take a little practice getting used to the feeling of complete relaxation, it feels like a familiar glow from each muscle, a sleepy sort of glow.
Will try it and hope it is beneficial,as i only sleep for 4 hours a day
It could be a way to get a better rest, even if it is short.
Seems so!
I've always had a terrible time falling asleep, but my biggest problem is REMAINING asleep. I wake up consistently a couple hours apart, throughout the entire night. Its awful. I wake up unrested, irritable, and unable to find the drive to fulfill my goals for the day. I appreciate the article. Helps a lot.