If you are among the 68% of Americans who report having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep at least once a week, then you understand the struggle! It’s a toxic pattern that you can quickly become trapped in – But, what if there was a secret?
In 1981 Bud Winter and Jimson Lee published a book titled ‘Relax and Win: Championship Performance’, a book intended to assist track and field athletes to better manage the stresses and pressure of high-level competition. In it, they discuss a number of different topics including how to improve physical coordination, tips to increase self-confidence and how to discover new energy. However, the one tip that has largely been overlooked all these years is their secret to falling asleep quickly and easily.
That was until Teen Vogue discovered the secret, sharing it in a recent article. The technique, they report, is used by the U.S. military to help soldiers fall asleep in approximately 120 seconds or 2 minutes. Even more impressive? While there is obviously no way to confirm their findings, the men’s lifestyle site ‘Joe’ reported that this trick has a 96% success rate after using it regularly for just 6 weeks! Sound promising?
The trick uses a similar concept to that seen in meditation, focusing on calming the mind in order to ultimately calm the body and bring true relaxation – body, mind, and soul. While there is no scientific evidence that can confirm the claims, it all sounds promising! Better yet, it’s going to cost you no money and just a little bit of your time each night. What do you have to lose?
The trick works in two parts, the first designed to help you calm down and let go of the stresses of your day, and the second taking this calm state and transitioning that into sleep. Are you ready?
Fall asleep in just 2 minutes with this easy trick:
Part One:
You need to start by calming yourself down and letting go of the day’s stresses. We live in an incredibly fast-paced and high-demand world, and this can put a great deal of pressure on us from day to day. Laying down, find a comfortable position in your bed. Start by relaxing the muscles in your face, including around your eyes, through your cheeks, down into your jaw and even your tongue. Feel as the stress and pressure from the day is released.
Allow this relaxation to then continue from your face down through your neck and across your shoulders. Slowly allow your arms to relax, starting with the upper arm, through the lower arm and then down into your hands, relaxing each individual finger. Take a deep breath and release it as this relaxation makes its way down through chest, throughout your abdomen, down into your legs, until it reaches as far down as your toes.
Throughout all this, put all of your focus into the movement of this relaxation, releasing all other thoughts from your mind. Some people find that it helps to actually visualize this process, seeing the relaxation as a calming blue light that slowly works its way throughout your body.
Part Two:
Once you are completely relaxed, it’s time to move onto the second step. This is where you will use a visual in order to help you transition your relaxation into sleep. There are three different options during this stage. Allow yourself to experiment with them to find which will work best for you.
The first involves picturing yourself lying in a canoe on a calm, quiet lake. You are alone, no other distractions in the near vicinity. The water around you is still, and above you is only a clear, blue sky. The second option involves you picturing yourself in a black velvet hammock in place of the canoe. You are in a pitch-black room, void from any noises and disruptions, just you and the hammock. Finally, if neither of those options work, simply repeat the words ‘don’t think, don’t think, don’t think’ over and over for 10 seconds, focusing on nothing but your words. Push all other thoughts, images or ideas from your mind.