Live data from Hacker News

Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

news.ycombinator.com

11–20 of 49 posts

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#11
post #10
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may be missing something, but: what about showering without washing your hair?

that doesn't wake me up/isn't that refreshing.

Even with a purely cold shower, ie, absolutely no hot water? I find those bracing to the point that I subconsciously baulk at doing it.

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#12
post #10
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may be missing something, but: what about showering without washing your hair?

that doesn't wake me up/isn't that refreshing.

shower cap? That will allow you to get the full experience without getting the hair wet, I would think.

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#13
post #7

Possibly related: swimming seems to do the trick reliably for me, although extremely inconvenient, time consuming and expensive if I did it regularly... (lets me fall asleep in 2-3 minutes vs tossing & turning until 2-4am)

Any chance this is related to the mammalian diving reflex?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex

    *Immediately upon facial contact with cold water, 
    the human heart rate slows down ten to twenty-five percent.*

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#15
I fall asleep pretty easily when I read. Obviously something not too riveting! Takes my mind of my current focus and that's usually enough.

Also, I have some mp3's I bought from hypnosisdownloads.com. I think they have a few too many on there now (some look flaky), but there are a couple of really good ones. I'd never considered myself a candidate for hypnosis but have found they're able to knock me out for 15-20 min during the day, even when I'm filled with coffee! Works (for me) probably about 70% of the time - invaluable when deadlines are near.

[edit - at least one is specifically for insomnia]

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#16
Your mind is probably thinking about too many things. You can also try this trick.

I read about a simple technique in a meditation book (the purpose of this was not falling asleep, but it works for me). Close your eyes and start counting with a special technique to infinity.

The trick is to count one number while breathing in... slowly counting in your head until you are done breathing in and when your breath out immediately switch to the next number. There should basically be no moment where you have time to think about anything else besides the numbers. The switch from i to i+1 must be instant. Because if you are leaving gaps your mind starts wandering again.

If you find out that you got distracted start again at 1. Don't cheat.

Just run this JavaScript code in your head the next time (recognize that there are no calls to mind.thinkAboutSomethingElse()!):

___

var i = 1;

while(!body.isSleeping()) {

  body.startBreathingIn('slow');

  mind.thinkAbout(i++);

  body.startBreathingOut('slow');

  mind.thinkAbout(i++);
}

___

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#17
post #13
post #7

Possibly related: swimming seems to do the trick reliably for me, although extremely inconvenient, time consuming and expensive if I did it regularly... (lets me fall asleep in 2-3 minutes vs tossing & turning until 2-4am)

Any chance this is related to the mammalian diving reflex? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex *Immediately upon facial contact with cold water, the human heart rate slows down ten to twenty-five percent.*

Very interesting - the cold shower effect might be, but not the swimming. Call me a wuss but there's no way I'm swimming in water with less than 21°C voluntarily. :-)

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#18
Interesting that you post this at 2am Pacific. I'm falling asleep but had to write mail anyway.

To keep this on-topic: I (nearly) always have success with milk, cookies, quiet music, a fiction book, and a bed. Getting off the computer and into the bed can be trying at times however.

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#19

Interesting that you post this at 2am Pacific. I'm falling asleep but had to write mail anyway. To keep this on-topic: I (nearly) always have success with milk, cookies, quiet music, a fiction book, and a bed. Getting off the computer and into the bed can be trying at times however.

Yup, 7pm Australian Eastern Standard Time :).

Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia

#20
Yes, the shift in body temperature helps facilitate sleep. You don't necessarily even need to take a cold shower. Even a warm shower should do the trick just as well, since your body temperature will still be shifting from its natural state.
Post reply on HN