How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#111

Post by yacse » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:16 PM UTC

pmoriarty wrote: post #110

There's a new trick I found that's been working out pretty well for me recently. To backtrack a bit, I've been having decent success with meditating to fall asleep. Namely, the basic technique is to simply focus on my breath -- specifically, on the very point at which I can feel my breath entering and exiting my nostrils (or wherever the outermost point of my body is that I can feel my breath going in and out of), an…

I think I use the same technique with another variation you might want to try out. Focus on your breath like in meditation but, at some point, slow it down as much as you can. So slow that you are on the edge of the body forcing you to breath again. You may calm down and shift into sleep quite easily.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#112

Post by eeZah7Ux » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

digi_owl wrote: post #29

benmarks wrote: post #21

Yes, "Art of Manliness" website, please send me all of your push updates to my browser

Honestly the way the page is styled reeks of "overcompensation".

Starting from the name.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#113

Post by JosephHatfield » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

slfnflctd wrote: post #88

sdrothrock wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can vouch for this too, but the down side for me is that because I've done this for so long, it's nearly impossible for me to fall asleep quickly if the room is remotely warm already...

This is where strategic fan deployment comes into play. Works for me, anyway.

When I was younger, and living in an unconditioned house in central Florida, I used to sleep with a big box fan at the foot of the bed pointing directly at my feet. It kept me cool and kept the mosquitos at bay as well

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#114

Post by ams6110 » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:26 PM UTC

yacse wrote: post #87

Any steady stream of thoughts can stop me from falling asleep, even for hours. I have noticed that long hours of programming or programming late in the day causes this state of constant hard thinking that keeps me awake. It can be really exhausting and even end in nightmares. I think that the article is right that you need to stop this cycle before falling asleep. Meditation practice helps to stop your thought cycle…

What works for me is to just put on a documentary and something about the monotone narration voice just shuts my brain down. I don't even pay attention to the words. I'm generally asleep within minutes. I assume audio books might have the same effect.

I guess it might be related to my young childhood as I had parents who would almost always read to my brother and me at bedtime. So possibly there's a part of my brain that has associated falling asleep to the sound of a voice speaking.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#115

Post by kakarot » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:40 PM UTC

gilbetron wrote: post #71

I have had weird sleeping issues all my life, and the key for me to falling asleep was when I found out that our body gets tired not when it is warm, but when it warms up. So next time you can't fall asleep, take off the blankets, make sure your room is cold, and then get really, uncomfortably cold, and stay that way for at least 15 minutes. Then, and this is key, cover your whole body only with your sheet, and then…

I can't fall asleep if the temperature is above 65-70°F, and my feet have to be sticking out from the covers. I have to sleep with a very thin blankets. I honestly have never been able to figure out how people get to sleep any other way.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#116

Post by kakarot » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:41 PM UTC

yacse wrote: post #87

Any steady stream of thoughts can stop me from falling asleep, even for hours. I have noticed that long hours of programming or programming late in the day causes this state of constant hard thinking that keeps me awake. It can be really exhausting and even end in nightmares. I think that the article is right that you need to stop this cycle before falling asleep. Meditation practice helps to stop your thought cycle…

If you want to fall asleep, just start doing something you've been putting off for a while. You'll feel sleepy in minutes.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#117

Post by jwdunne » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:50 PM UTC

balabaster wrote: post #103

jwdunne wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same for me. Sometimes on bad nights it can be hours but I need that time to "unwind". The music is awesome. I sometimes get hypnogogia. I can imagine the music and then, as I get closer to sleep, I actually hear the music. If I don't imagine music and I get hypnogogia, I'll hear people chatting next to me. That was quite scary before I understood what was going on. If I don't get hypnogogia, I'll start imagining odd…

What on earth... I've never heard of hypnogogia. I just looked that up to discover hypnopompic... auditory hallucinations as you transition from sleep to waking up. I haven't constantly suffered this, but at periods in the last 5 years, I have often woken with a jump and an impending sense of dread to either the sound of a doorbell, or my ex yelling my name. In both cases, I know these were hallucinatory, the doorbel…

Yeah, a friend told me about that a while ago. He was pretty freaked out and worried it might be some kind of psychosis!

Don't think you have to worry. I haven't had any issues with my mental health for 8 years, beyond maybe periods of high work stress, and it's appeared at night often since then.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#118

Post by jwdunne » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:53 PM UTC

auxym wrote: post #54

jwdunne wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same for me. Sometimes on bad nights it can be hours but I need that time to "unwind". The music is awesome. I sometimes get hypnogogia. I can imagine the music and then, as I get closer to sleep, I actually hear the music. If I don't imagine music and I get hypnogogia, I'll hear people chatting next to me. That was quite scary before I understood what was going on. If I don't get hypnogogia, I'll start imagining odd…

While I don't recognise the music/art part, I have this happening pretty regularly: > If I don't get hypnogogia, I'll start imagining odd scenarios. Sometimes I'll recognise that it's a sign I'm about to drift off and then bang I'm awake. Almost like lucid dreaming, but when I'm only half-asleep, and becoming lucid wakes me up.

Only had one lucid dream and it was pretty disappointing.

I woke and my light was on. I remembered that I'd definitely turned my light off - hey, this must be a lucid dream! So I looked at my hand for a few seconds and everything turned to white. Then I woke up, pitch black with my arms under the covers. The excitement of lucid dreaming woke me up!

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#119

Post by grzm » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 5:57 PM UTC

benmarks wrote: post #105

benmarks wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valiant anonymous downvoter, please explain.

Well, HN is not devoid of shittiness.

Speculation: I suspect your initial comment drew downvotes because it's pretty insubstantial. Yeah, requests for notifications are a annoyance. Commenting on it isn't likely to promote any kind of worthwhile discussion, and whatever discussion it does engender is likely to be off-topic as well. While not always successful in practice, HN members do tend to value substantive, on-topic discussion.

Your second likely drew downvotes because it's explicitly against the site guidelines.

> "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

FWIW, at least from its text color, it looks like the initial comment is non-negative. In my experience, things like this often balance out.

Re: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or Less

#120

Post by lgats » Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 6:29 PM UTC

Froyoh wrote: post #101

peterburkimsher wrote: post #79

The relaxation method in the article requires physical comfort, which isn't always available. I used to lie awake for hours when I was younger; now I can fall asleep quickly in all places (bus seats, desk chair, etc). What changed? I ride a bicycle. That fixed my blood circulation, so I don't get cold feet. I also read the Bible and pray. It's very easy to fall asleep in church on a hard wooden pew. The same approach…

God bless you

Gesundheit