No pharmaceutical aids preferably
Doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me:
Bless Scooter
I watch some comfort shows on my phone with something like this on so it doesnt bother my family.
Just be careful what you’re watching though. I’ve been jarred awake by dramatic violin stings a few times.
What I find really, really, helps is jumping on the bed until you hit your head on the ceiling and just pass the fuck out wherever you land.
Warm drinks, cool room, heavy blankets and no screens or bright light for ~1h before
Sometimes if my thoughts are getting loud it takes longer
The best thing you can do is five hours before going to bed, making sure you get enough exercise and avoid caffeine.
Other than that, I have a routine of stretching and reading before bed, so usually just doing that puts me out.
Failing that, I used to have really bad insomnia, and one thing I would remind myself is that even just laying awake in bed is a kind of rest, and even if you don’t sleep you can kind of drift off into a reverie here and there.
Related, I find having something enjoyable to think about as I close my eyes is fun and distracting. For me that’s creative stuff like writing stories, designing games, or making game levels in my head.
games
have done so much gamedev as I float off into sleep… and some of it has even survived to get written down the next day lol. my partner made me stop getting up to write things out as it was wrecking both of our sleep cycles
- Lifestyle change: exercise often so your body actually gets tired.
- If it’s already late: go for a night walk.
Shove my husband and tell him to stop snoring.
I pay attention to my feet and feel that they are asleep, then my calves, and so on until I feel like my whole body is asleep.
Count backwards from 100 in Spanish in my head, or think about slowly descending through the color wheel from a bright loud red then orange, down through yellow, to green, blue, sleepy deep purple.
Also - don’t get in bed until you are sleepy. Exercise during the day. Yin Yoga before bed.
Then 20 seconds later…
Alphabet game.
Start withAa, think the first word beginning with A that comes to mind.
Go to B and stay on topic this time.
Keep going till you fall asleep.
"A… Albatross (so birds) B… Bluejay. C… Coocoo…"try to be specific but going general is ok too. If you can’t think of something on topic start the next topic from there and move on. Don’t dwell, don’t think too hard.
This almost always works. If not, I get up and go do something mindless until I get eepy.
I essentially think up Skyrim-related fanfic. I got enough hours in Skyrim that’s it takes little effort to think about the universe. It’s a neutral ish subject that is distinct from most real world problems so it usually does the job to distract my brain.
I’ve probably thought up enough fanfic to make a new elder scrolls main story line and a few side stories, or book or something, but alas no one probably cares to hear my stories.
Whatever time you fall asleep, don’t sleep in.
Late to the party, have a very good suggestion.
Some very very short back story. In my younger years I had a lot of issues with anxiety when going to bed. Thinking about things I needed to fix or what tommorow would bring. And I realised that imagining a story or a world and setting specific foundational points, like a framework that a story as an example could be worked from. Then each night building something additional on that framework every night in my mind, keeping the core fixed and every new addition as part of this world or story. I would eventually get less and less added and become relaxed and fall a sleep sooner and sooner.
Just like a child wanting the same story every night.
Going back to something known and adding just a little bit or playing with an idea within the set framework is soothing for the mind. Because it familiar.
Edit: a spelling
For me, audio books. I have to constantly restart chapters but I’m usually out within 20 minutes.
Breathe deep, hold for five seconds, breathe out, hold for five seconds. Repeat until asleep.
I’ve slept on sidewalks, in ditches, in beds, and in snow banks. Focusing on your breathing works.
When I can’t fall asleep it’s usually because my mind is racing and worrying about things so I just put on a podcast that’s only mildly interesting enough to distract me but not get me fully engaged.
I do low volume old radio shows, Vincent Price in The Saint puts me down in about 10 minutes, CBS mystery theater can do it in 4. Just interesting enough, usually no big volume shifts and I love the music.
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