10 Tips to Fall Asleep Fast

To fall asleep quickly, experts recommend keeping a regular schedule, reducing stress, watching what you eat, and not thinking too much while trying to fall asleep. So, with that being said, here are 10 ways to fall asleep quickly.

1. Keep your feet warm, use socks.

Before going to sleep, add a pair of socks to your pajamas. If your feet are warm, you redirect your blood flow from your core to your extremities. This tells your mind that it’s bedtime due to the redistributed heat throughout your body. And this is the perfect signal for your brain that you are ready for a good night’s sleep.

2. Squeeze your toes.

With your feet warm, try to tense and relax your toes alternatively. Do this to a count of 10 each time, and then try to fall asleep. All the tension in your body should go away, and you will feel much more relaxed. This is part of a very well-known technique used to fight insomnia, called progressive muscle relaxation.

3. Try to stay awake.

You will be surprised that all you have to do to fall asleep is...try to stay awake. A study showed that this can actually work. If you tell your brain that you don’t want to sleep, then it will interpret your request in exactly the opposite way, making you fall asleep sleep faster. This may sound like a paradox, but it is called reverse psychology. So lie down in bed and repeatedly say to yourself, “I don’t want to sleep,” and feel how your eyes start closing.

4. Review your day in reverse.

Another reverse psychology trick that you can use is to replay your day in your head. Try to make yourself think of the most mundane things you did, like what you ate for dinner, what train you took back home, what exercises you did at the gym, and who you talked to. Apparently, this technique will help you relax and clear your mind of worries.

5. Don’t count sheep, count your breaths.

Counting sheep is an old-school technique, but instead, try the 4-7-8 breathing technique and see how quickly you fall asleep. All you have to do is inhale for 4 seconds, hold your breath for another 7 seconds, and then exhale for the next 8 seconds. Try to do this several times, but it shouldn’t take you more than 60 seconds to fall asleep.

6. Wash your face with cold water.

Before going to bed, put some cold water on your face and get ready to sleep. No, it will not shock you awake, but instead, it will trigger this phenomenon called the mammalian dive reflex, making you fall asleep. The method lowers your heart rate and your blood pressure, preparing you to sleep like a baby.

7. Hum like a bee.

Lie in bed and make yourself comfortable and ready to sleep. Close your eyes, inhale, then start humming like a bee. Even though bees buzz, not hum, this technique is a game-changer for insomniacs. It is also known as the “bumblebee breath,” and it basically helps to clear your mind of stress and all negative thoughts. A positive mind stimulates the production of serotonin, the hormone of happiness and the precursor of another hormone, melatonin, which helps you sleep better.

8. Put a pillow under your knees.

A pillow is not just for the head or neck; it can help you to find ways to sleep in a better position. If you sleep on your back, put one small pillow under your knees. This will reduce the stress on your spine and allow your lower back to assume its natural curve. If you sleep on your side, put a pillow between your knees. It will help your spine to be more aligned.

9. Eat brinner (breakfast for dinner).

The foods that you would normally eat for breakfast can be your magic ingredients at night. Eat a banana before going to bed; it has potassium and magnesium, 2 substances that will help you fall asleep in no time. You can also opt for some banana tea. Simply cut a banana into a cup of boiling water, leave it for a few minutes, then drink the tea together with honey. It helps regulate blood sugar.

Almonds are also a great help with cases of insomnia since they slow down the heart rate. As much as possible, try to avoid very spicy or fatty foods before going to bed, as they will be hard to digest and cause your body to be in distress.

10. Eat low-fat cheese.

Although high-fat cheese is not recommended late at night, low-fat cheese might have the opposite effect. It’s rich in tryptophan, which is an amino acid that is considered a sleep aid. When making a late-night snack, try mixing cottage cheese with some fruit or honey for the perfect snack that will help you get to sleep faster.

If falling asleep does not happen even with these unusual tips, then we recommend you to go see your doctor, because your health is of the utmost importance.

What other atypical activities have you tried that helped you fall asleep straight away? Share them with us in the comment section below.