Tips For Falling Asleep

Listening to calm music or practicing relaxation techniques can help us disconnect and fall asleep. Also, focusing on the breath can have effects similar to meditation.

More and more people are unable to sleep. Stress, problems, daily agitation or poor diet can be some of the causes that one cannot sleep.

In addition to leading a healthy life, you can try some of these tips to get to sleep. So you can get enough rest to be able to continue your rhythm of life with energy.

Tips for falling asleep

Listen to soothing music

Listening to soothing music before bed can help you fall asleep. Several studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of listening to soft melodies before going to sleep. In this way, many problems related to sleep can be improved.

But also, it doesn’t matter what your style is, as long as the music is soft and slow, about 60 to 80 beats per minute. This can stimulate physical changes to promote sleep, such as a lower heart rate and more relaxed breathing.

Warm milk

Glasses with warm milk

The New York Times reported that milk and other protein-rich foods actually block the sleep-inducing effects of tryptophan. Therefore, from a scientific point of view, this drink would not help you sleep better.

However, there could still be a psychological benefit of warm milk to help you fall asleep: As the article states, surveys show that many people do report better sleep after drinking a glass of milk.  It could be similar to the effect of sleeping with our favorite blanket or with a personal habit that gives us the feeling of rest.

Imagine a relaxing scene

Woman walking through the woods

If your goal is to get bored to sleep, you can try counting sheep or counting backwards by multiples of three or any number of other combinations. However, one study found that  imagining a relaxing scene might be more effective.

The study observed 41 people with insomnia for several nights and asked them to try a variety of different techniques that induce sleep, just like counting sheep. When told to imagine relaxing scenes like a beach, a massage, or a walk in the woods, they fell asleep an average of 20 minutes early.

Breathing exercises

We cannot forget about breathing, which is key to our health and our rest. Unfortunately, most people breathe well below their means.

Focusing on your breath can have effects similar to meditation in bed preparation, such as lowering your heart rate. We just have to try it and in the moment we will notice the results.

Hot bath

Our body temperature drops about two hours before going to bed. Our brain triggers this natural change for the initiation of sleep.

Hot baths temporarily increase the temperature. This then causes rapid cooling that relaxes you and makes it easier for you to sleep.

Avoid alcohol

Many people long for a drink to relax at the end of the day. However,  alcohol before bed can interrupt sleep, as well as being harmful to the body in general.

Alcohol is metabolized in the liver and takes a couple of hours during this process. Therefore, it is recommended not to consume alcohol very close to bedtime.

Get out of bed

It seems crazy, but how do you get to sleep if you are not in bed yet? But it works, because when a person stays in bed and cannot sleep, the bedroom can induce a certain level of anxiety. 

After 15 or 20 minutes you can’t fall asleep? Well, the best thing is to get out of bed and sit in another part of the house. And so on until one feels a little drowsy and goes back to bed.

Image courtesy of Tony Alter.

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