Ask Lemmy

I’m gonna chime in here. My wife asks me this a lot because she too has trouble going to and staying asleep. I however have some kind of sleep superpower. I can be asleep within 2 minutes after going horizontal.

I’ve always done this: start building a scene in your head. Any scene. Action, nature, whatever. Now picture yourself there in first person. Focus on the details. Make sure the trees have leaves. The pavement has lines and cracks and texture. Imagine feeling the wind on your body. From grass to cars to sky paint as detailed a picture as you can. Begin to form a story. Walk around and interact with things, people, animals. Maybe you have a storyline. As a boy I had an action sequence I would play out every night. Cuz you know. Boys. But as I got older those turned into hikes in fun places. Or keeping company with my current crush. Or a fun road trip…You get the idea.

I promise not long after you begin you will naturally begin to drift off. At least this is what has always come naturally to me.

Good luck and sweet dreams!!!

Minecraft Sweden on loop at low volume

wear yourself out during the day. easier to fall asleep if you're exhausted

If you have the "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" like me, get a fan.

Relax all the muscles in your face.

Don't use blue lights. That includes most lights. Use red or orange lights after dark. Blue light wakes you up. (I mean do this in addition to some of the other suggestions.)

Achieve alot during the day

For me I need some background noise. Something to keep my mind from wandering.

I used to have a playlist of more relaxing songs I'd listen to when trying to fall asleep. But lately I honestly just put on a youtube video I've seen before. In particular videos where it's mostly just someone talking about something. Being the computer nerd I am vwestlife of cathode ray dude are my go tos

Been using asmr for years. Probably not for everyone, but works well enough for me. Also, I sleep infinitely better with background white noise of some sort, but that's due to tinnitus :/

I have a lot of them. Sleep and I are in an... enemies to lovers kind of relationship.

There's hate-fucking, is what I'm saying. I hate it so much and it's all I want.

Some of my advice might be bad advice due to my ADHD but I can't tell what might work for you so.

Also, I have left off a lot of stuff that I have done that is... not good. If you need harm reduction options, let me know.

1. I wear an eye-mask. The gentle, soft, cool (not cold!) pressure is a reminder to my brain that it's bed-time.

2. Don't eat too close to bed.

3. Make sure there's nothing uncomfortable (like a tag from the sheets) touching me.

4. Play a TV show I find comforting but that doesn't need my 100% attention, at a low enough volume that I can't quite hear it unless I'm very, very, very quiet. This helps make me some moving/jittering/jiggling. (I play Futurama. Can't get a nightmare from Futurama.)

5. I take l-theanine. It's supposed to make people "alert" and "calm" but my doctor recommended it to me and it's sedating effect is so strong it significantly drops my blood pressure. (Very useful if I have to take stimulant medication.)

6. Which leads to I take prescription medication. It doesn't quite do it, and is hit-or-miss, hence the list.

Whenever thoughts are too much for me, I try to focus my focus my eyes on the black presented whilst they're closed. Don't think about all the stuff that's bothering you, just focus on that bit of black, right there in front of you. keep focusing long enough, and it always sends me to sleep.

Course, I also take a muscle relaxer (or couple benedryl if I'm out) before bedtime and that shit helps immensely lol

Following the breath works for me regularly. Meditation makes me sleep.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VMUYmhGI3Oqfb0V7X5R2EXoFkrJXOIj

Scientifically composed to put you to sleep. I’ve been listening to it for a few weeks now both with headphones and with the phone on the pillow.

If you have trouble sleeping in general, it might be a bad habits thing. Melatonin supplements can help to get you tired. 1mg before you go to bed is enough, if you try to relax and sleep. They don't do anything if you do stuff that keeps you awake however.

This particularly anything exciting like sports, listening to energetic music, watching tense movies, playing fast or demanding games etc. Avoid any such thing for at least two hours before you try to sleep.

I listen to video game retrospectives. I don't game anymore but these guys yapping on and on about morrow wind or whatever for 3 hours puts me to sleep immediately. I never played these games which is why I choose them. If I choose games I'm familiar with I'll watch it instead of zoning out.

Check out down the rabbit hole's 6 hour video about Eve for pure audio Xanax.

When I had trouble sleeping, I would have even more trouble sleeping because I was upset I wasn’t sleeping. Then I read somewhere that just lying there with your eyes closed and not moving was like 80-90% as effective as actual sleep.

I didn’t bother to check if that was true, but it did allow me to let go of worrying whether I was sleeping. And that allowed me to actually fall asleep.

No.

By which I mean... I've tried many tips/tricks and none have consistently worked.

I was searching for the same thing recently, and found someone who suggested choosing a category, e.g. city names, and going through the alphabet thinking of one for each letter. I find it works pretty well to sort of occupy my mind and help me drift off.

cuddle with big dog

I am a chronic insomniac. At my worst I can average less than 90 minutes of sleep in a 24 hour period, which is actually very dangerous. Before bed I eat some bland protein (plain super firm tofu and a handful of almonds), never carbs, and I microdose either Indica or if that is not available, Indica based Delta 8. Microdose is the key word here. I take two deep puffs and that's it. Enough for a little head buzz but not enough to get high. Bundle up, close my eyes, and most of the time fall asleep for a solid 4-6 hours.

Drink for 48 hours straight.

New years was fucking way to much this year.

Breathing exercises to steady your heart rate

Meditation to clear your mind

Ultimately, becoming wholly present so that your mind is at rest. A clear mind and consciousness will wrap you in a comforting blanket and sweep you off to Dreamland!