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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

#111

Post by georgeek »

W4ldi wrote: post #103

I read about a method years ago. I usually don't have problems falling asleep. But when I do, I do the following: Try to breath in through one nose hole and breath out through the other. This may sound stupid, but there are two reasons why this works: 1. You focus on doing something else than thinking about stuff that worries you. 2. While doing this your eyes move from left to right. You might remember what hypnotis…

In yoga, this technique is called "virtual" Nadi Shodana or alternative nostril breathing. There are many variants, A/B tested for centuries, that might work better for different people.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#112

Post by bitanarch »

I usually just let my mind adrift, imagining all kinds of crazy bizarre things and worlds, and fall asleep. Trying to focus on "don't think" actually did the opposite for me - instead of falling asleep it made me focus on all the weird things my mind kept creating.

Imagine yourself chanting "don't think" in your head while your mind creates a room, a wooden chair for you to sit on, shadows, light, a window, and the sky and the sea is upside-down outside the window, and walking on the sky is considered normal in this world. Normally I'd be falling asleep in that bizarre world but I kept chanting "don't think" instead. Absolutely useless.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#113

Post by 2sk21 »

Listening to an audio book on some scientific topic will almost always put to sleep within 15 minute. I really like books on cognitive science - I have used books by Daniel Dennet and Dean Buonomano for this purpose. I not only learn interesting things, but I get to relax very quickly.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#114

Post by southerndrift »

W4ldi wrote: post #103

I read about a method years ago. I usually don't have problems falling asleep. But when I do, I do the following: Try to breath in through one nose hole and breath out through the other. This may sound stupid, but there are two reasons why this works: 1. You focus on doing something else than thinking about stuff that worries you. 2. While doing this your eyes move from left to right. You might remember what hypnotis…

I have heard about that method, too. If I remember it correctly then that exercise can be used to both calm you down and energize you. It all depends on the direction, if you breath in with your left or your right hole. Unfortunately I don't remember which direction is aligned with the calming effect. This can be an advantage: on different days, try out either way and observe what happens. If this method is more than some spiritual entertainment then there should be a clear difference.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#115

Post by faichai »

fzeroracer wrote: post #76

Usually when I suffer from an inability to sleep it's because my mind ends up focusing too hard on things that ground me to reality. Existential dread, worrying about work, thinking about technical problems etc. So often my technique to fall asleep has been to focus my mind on the fantastical. Stimulate my imagination a bit, like what if I was a dwarf in a fantasy universe. This tends to focus my thoughts inwards and…

I do this. I fantasise about a fictional point in time when I pump myself full of nanotech, and transition to post-human. Going through the details as they interact with blood, muscle, bone, neurons etc. helps me to cool the dread and drift off.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#116

Post by [deleted] »

W4ldi wrote: post #103

I read about a method years ago. I usually don't have problems falling asleep. But when I do, I do the following: Try to breath in through one nose hole and breath out through the other. This may sound stupid, but there are two reasons why this works: 1. You focus on doing something else than thinking about stuff that worries you. 2. While doing this your eyes move from left to right. You might remember what hypnotis…

[deleted]

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#117

Post by muterad_murilax »

W4ldi wrote: post #103

I read about a method years ago. I usually don't have problems falling asleep. But when I do, I do the following: Try to breath in through one nose hole and breath out through the other. This may sound stupid, but there are two reasons why this works: 1. You focus on doing something else than thinking about stuff that worries you. 2. While doing this your eyes move from left to right. You might remember what hypnotis…

What if only one nostril is "open" at any given time? That is usually the case for me.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#118

Post by Kalium »

southerndrift wrote: post #114
W4ldi wrote: post #103

I read about a method years ago. I usually don't have problems falling asleep. But when I do, I do the following: Try to breath in through one nose hole and breath out through the other. This may sound stupid, but there are two reasons why this works: 1. You focus on doing something else than thinking about stuff that worries you. 2. While doing this your eyes move from left to right. You might remember what hypnotis…

I have heard about that method, too. If I remember it correctly then that exercise can be used to both calm you down and energize you. It all depends on the direction, if you breath in with your left or your right hole. Unfortunately I don't remember which direction is aligned with the calming effect. This can be an advantage: on different days, try out either way and observe what happens. If this method is more than…

Given that there's no real physical notion of "alignment" at work here, this does seem to sound suspiciously like some pseudo-spiritual entertainment.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#119

Post by mywacaday »

I'm not convinced its a military trick rather something forced by necessity. I used to be a terrible sleeper, it usually took an hour to fall asleep and would regularly wake for multiple 30-40 min periods during the night and wake up exhausted.

We're now on baby no.2 and I can fall asleep in a few minutes any time from 6pm on. Just close my eyes and expect sleep and it comes. 10 minute power naps are great.

The ability to fall asleep quickly was forced on me by baby no.1, being woken up multiple times per night and having to fall asleep quickly was a matter of what felt like survival. I'm sure military training causes the same exhaustion and the body learns that it needs to be able to sleep when it can. I'm also sure that sleeping to 12 or 1 on the weekends to recover is detrimental, getting to sleep on a Sunday night was the worst as would not be tired but it would start the week on a the wrong foot.

Any other parents in here have the same experience?

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