Thoughts on falling asleep

[mdmc]

What do you do to unwind and get ready to sleep?
Do you have a nighttime ritual that works for you?
How do you get your mind to a place where you can stop thinking and fall asleep?

[vanlassie]

1. I listen to the Calm app on my phone.

It’s a free perk of my healthcare institution, Kaiser Permanente.

There are lots of 30-40 minute “sleep stories” to listen to, and once you hear them more than once, your brain starts learning that it doesn’t have to pay close attention. I used to do the same thing by setting a tv timer and playing Great American Baking Show. I listened to those for 6-7 years.

[mdmc]

3. I had downloaded the calm app

but I didn't subscribe to it and ended up deleting it.

Thanks for the reply vanlassie

[Timewas]

2. Read

Just read til eyes get droopy....

[Shellback Squid]

4. I ask google to play the sound of the ocean, it works for me

[Phoenix61]

5. I use melatonin and, this is odd but I listen to santaland diaries by David Sedaris

I have no idea why it works but there is something about his voice that I find very soothing.

[mdmc]

9. Thats not odd at all Phoenix61

Thanks for sharing

[hlthe2b]

14. Hah! I do the melatonin, but while I agree that Sedaris voice is soothing, I try to watch 30 minutes of

something that is not too intense, and then I switch from TV to Tune-In radio and listen to MSNBC or BBC news overnight as I have to have something to act as background noise. Too quiet and I wake up. That and ensuring my sweet pup is cozy and set for the night.. and I'm good.

Unless I consume too much caffeine too late in the day, the melatonin does the trick in 30 minutes or less. I walk several miles twice a day with the pup but I make sure the final walk is not done too late. Oh, and if I'm working the next day, I make sure that I eat (whatever passes for dinner) late afternoon and am careful what I eat.

[dutch777]

16. Melatonin helps get me to sleep but once I have metabolized it, I wake up like a shot. Same with valium.

It usually gets me 4 or 5 hours but then more often then not I wake, like wide awake. Better than nothing but not a natural and full night's sleep for me.

[Phoenix61]

17. That's true but at this point anything is better than nothing. nt

[bahboo]

6. I read until I'm really tired...

then relax my body. I find relaxing my face works wonders...sometimes parts, say your jaw, are tense and you don't realize it.

[claudette]

7. Well, for now

while I'm a member of a community chorus, I go over the words to the songs on our program so I will know them 100% by heart without looking at the music.

Also, I take one chamomile capsule before bedtime. Works like a charm.

[chowder66]

8. I listen to free audiobooks on YouTube.

Mostly Agatha Christie books read by Hugh Frazier. Once I start concentrating on the story I fall asleep pretty quickly and just rewind if I get up in the middle of the night or the next night.
I have the YouTube app on my Roku device.

[mdmc]

10. I imagine that I'm in a warzone, in a trench

and all my friends are surrounding me, protecting me.
Sometimes my friends are joined by famous strongmen, like King Arther, Rambo, and Mike Tyson.
I hold my pillow tight like the ground in the trench, allowing my friends to fight my enemies while I fall asleep.

I find that it keeps my mind busy enough not to think about current affairs and the needs of the day.

[Joinfortmill]

11. I use this method from Dr. Mandell. It works really well 99% of the time.

&t=4s

Fall Asleep in Minutes: Rub Your FEET Together and Feel What Happens! Dr. Mandell

[mdmc]

12. interesting

I rub my feet together while falling asleep.

[mdmc]

15. thanks for this

This is very interesting..

[brewens]

13. An edible and a couple of bong hits help. :) I love history. I like to pick a documentary on something

I'm interested in and start that right when I go to bed. I set the off timer on my TV for an hour.

It's just loud enough to hear but not keep me awake. The TV is in a different room.

I lay on my back listening and can feel when I'm ready to go to sleep quite often. Then I roll over, get comfortable and conk right out.

[Beakybird]

18. Am I the only one here who masturbates?

It puts me right to sleep.
The problem is, if you don't know how, there's probably nothing about it on the Internet as it's a rather obscure topic.

[MotownPgh]

19. Podcasts

There are a number of excellent podcasts and I'd also recommend searching "sleep help" on youtube. Some of the podcasts are on both.