Can't Sleep? Here's How to Fall Asleep Fast

You may feel exhausted, but there are just those times when no matter what you do, you simply can’t sleep. It’s a scene far too familiar for many of us:

You, lying in bed, wide awake, tossing and turning, painfully aware of the hours ticking by.

The more time passes, the more stressed you feel that you’re still not asleep and about how tired you’ll feel the next day. And this just makes you more worried and anxious…and even less likely to fall asleep. Around and around it goes.

When you’re up in the middle of the night, it might feel like you’re the only living soul still awake—but you’re not. Nearly a quarter of American adults report a problem sleeping. The reasons range from conditions that interfere with breathing, causing sleep apnea, snoring and restless sleep, to nervous tension in the body and unconscious fears that arise in slumber.

One of the most common sleep problems is insomnia—when you can’t fall asleep or you wake up and can’t get back to sleep. More than 30% of people struggle with occasional insomnia, and 10% suffer from a chronic condition.

If we’re all so tired, why can’t we just go to sleep?

The body and mind need one thing in order to fall asleep and stay asleep: relaxation. Deep relaxation. Anything that interferes with that state keeps us awake.

Often, restlessness starts in our heads. When we’re busy or worried, it can be difficult to “turn off” the thinking brain enough to allow the body’s natural relaxation response to kick in. Stimulation from caffeine, sugar, nicotine, alcohol, or from electronics can also interfere with the body’s sleep cycle. And pain or illness, or in some cases, too much sleep, can also keep evening rest out of reach.

Whatever the cause of a sleepless night, worrying about your lack of sleep only fuels anxiety and stress and pushes the possibility of relaxation further away.

Our brains are solution machines: always analyzing, interpreting, remembering, solving problems, rehashing the actions of the past, and planning for the future. Usually, all this hard-mental work means that by bedtime, our minds, as well as our bodies, are ready for a well-deserved and restorative break. (Cue: Yawning.)

But every once in a while, the thinking brain goes into overdrive, staying on the job long after the rest of the body has clocked out.

Research indicates that journaling may help counter a restless mind at bedtime. Recording your thoughts is a powerful way to get them out of your head to where you can see them more clearly. It also reassures your mind that an important memo won’t be forgotten and allows it to take its rest.

Take a few minutes before you turn off the lights to jot down some notes about your day: an encounter, a memory that stuck with you, an idea, or something from your to-do list that you didn’t get around to. Whatever mental leftovers you have, write them down.

Here are some other tips for nighttime journaling:

• Don’t worry about trying to write “well.” This is only for your eyes.
• Keep it brief. Bedtime isn’t the right moment to deeply reflect on the past or to try and figure out your future. Just take 5-10 minutes to note anything still on your mind from the day.

Sleep is a basic biological need that ensures vital functions, such as tissue repair, growth, memory storage, and much more can happen. And like respiration and digestion, sleep is an action of the autonomic nervous system. This means that your body knows how to do it, and when to do it, on its own. When you’re lying awake, worrying about not getting enough sleep and feeding anxious thoughts, it can help to remember:

My body knows how to sleep. My body is designed to sleep. My body will take care of itself and get the sleep it needs.

Trusting your body also means that if, one night, you don’t get the amount of sleep you’d like, you can be sure that your body will eventually find its rest.

Every once in a while, we need to concede that we’re not going to win the struggle with sleep from our comfy beds. Our mind is too ramped up, and our body has followed its signal by increasing our heart rate and blood pressure, making relaxation out of the question. At this point, your best course of action might be to get up.

Instead of jumping up and turning on the lights, try to keep a restful environment, moving quietly and slowly as you make your way to:

• the floor to do some gentle stretching or yoga
• a chair or couch where you can sit and do a calming activity like knitting
• another room that feels more relaxing, maybe to do some light reading

The physical act of getting up and moving and interrupting the spin-cycle of your tired mind might be enough to discharge restless energy and tension, allowing a more relaxed state where sleep is possible.

The only thing worse than not being able to fall asleep is when you do and then wake up, completely alert, and spend the next frustrating hours trying to get back to sleep. All the methods to fall asleep are useful when you wake up from sleep.

• Get out of bed
• Do a breathing exercise
• Try a few gentle yoga poses
• Try Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• Avoid alcohol
• Cool your bedroom
• Journal any remaining thoughts from your day
• Do a few gentle stretches or yoga poses before bed
• Eliminate noise or light sources that might wake you
• Eat earlier to prevent digestion-related sleep disruptions
• Establish and stick to a regular wake and sleep schedule
• An hour before bedtime: dim lights, turn off electronics, and do quiet activities like laundry
  

• Drink herbal tea
• Take a warm shower at night
• Read instead of watching TV
• Do self-massage on your hands and feet
• Harness the relaxation power of essential oils, such as chamomile, lavender, bergamot, and Ylang-ylang