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A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

independent.co.uk

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Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#12

Post by gk1 »

killjoywashere wrote: post #2

Military for 24 years, never heard of this, but I learned to take naps in crazy situations: next to a hot landing zone, under an aircraft catapult, in cargo planes, etc. Only common denominators I can think of: exhaustion, a clear conscience, and trust in those around me.

> exhaustion

This is key. Aboard a ship I was able to nap "on command" no matter the time of day or my surroundings. No mental tricks necessary.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#13

Post by panorama »

I can actually vouch for this, but I discovered it independently for myself. I realized that the nights I couldn't fall asleep were nights my brain kept racing and thinking about different things. Kind of like a wikipedia rabbit hole where my mind keeps racing onto the next tangential thought.

So I found a foolproof solution: Relax all my facial muscles and imagine an empty, black (literally #000) void in my mind's eye.

The physical cue is to be cognizant of your eyes; every time my eyes began to squint, I know it was because my mind was wandering off. I'd reset my closed eyes to be as loose (imagine a very bored expression) as possible and revert back to my black space. As long as I kept fighting the temptation for my mind to wander, and maintain loose eyes, I fell asleep. All anecdotal of course, but I did use this just recently at burning man while soundcamps blasted my tent, and it's nice to see this method validated in this article.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#15

Post by sandworm101 »

killjoywashere wrote: post #2

Military for 24 years, never heard of this, but I learned to take naps in crazy situations: next to a hot landing zone, under an aircraft catapult, in cargo planes, etc. Only common denominators I can think of: exhaustion, a clear conscience, and trust in those around me.

Not in 24 just yet, but in long enough to understand. For me the big difference is how non-complex your life is on deployment, or even just while on course. By the time sleep is an option, there aren't any other jobs to do. I'm not worried about long term tasks or office politics. I don't have to worry about neighbors, traffic cameras, or even whether I remembered to pick up groceries. The one job I am supposed to be doing is sleeping. Everything else is someone else's job.

It is a little different for officers. They (we) do sometimes stay up worrying about longer-term tasks. I find sleep far easier when I'm not the one in charge.

On that note: time to sleep. Got to get up at 0345 for an 0530 meeting.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#16

Post by nkozyra »

ruminasean wrote: post #6

I've tried pretty much everything in the course of my lifelong insomnia, and still my nighttime mind racing is still consistent enough that it's literally my username across all my online apps ("rumination" plus my name). I've had some success with lavender drops right before bed, but I'll give this a shot too, because why not?

If you're open to some other experiments, I've had success with ashwagandha and CBD.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#18

Post by maxxxxx »

killjoywashere wrote: post #2

Military for 24 years, never heard of this, but I learned to take naps in crazy situations: next to a hot landing zone, under an aircraft catapult, in cargo planes, etc. Only common denominators I can think of: exhaustion, a clear conscience, and trust in those around me.

When I was in military I could also sleep anywhere, anytime, to a certain degree even while standing or walking. I attribute it to excessive drinking :-) .
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