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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

#171

Post by armandososa »

dataflow wrote: post #147
nstricevic wrote: post #136

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfo…

> 5. Start removing thoughts from your brain. As you start thinking about something, just stop. Another thought comes in. Kill it. Just kill thoughts. You can think only about your breathing. Nothing else. If only it was this easy!! It almost feels like a variation of "start outlining the owl... now when you have the outline, just draw the rest of the owl". :-)

Here's a technique that works for me:

So, when I close my eyes I can "see" things. I don't know if it's light coming trough my lids or blood vessels or just my mind's eye. I don't know. But what I'll do as a last resource when I have trouble sleeping is to pay full attention to those things and find patterns in them. I even say out loud in my mind like: "oh there's a dog", "a canoe", "a cigarrette".

Then I'm dreaming in no time.

I told my wife and she says that she sees nothing when she close her eyes so, maybe this won't work for everybody.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#172

Post by bovermyer »

segmondy wrote: post #168
nstricevic wrote: post #136

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfo…

This is like giving an advice to someone who doesn't know how to bike. Get on the bike, hold the handle bar so the bike doesn't fall, place your butt on the seat, place your feet on the pedals and start pedaling. Good luck biking

The instructions are not wrong, and your snark is not helpful.

Perhaps the missing instruction is:

> Practice until the desired effect happens regularly, then continue to practice.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#173

Post by maroonblazer »

dataflow wrote: post #147
nstricevic wrote: post #136

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfo…

> 5. Start removing thoughts from your brain. As you start thinking about something, just stop. Another thought comes in. Kill it. Just kill thoughts. You can think only about your breathing. Nothing else. If only it was this easy!! It almost feels like a variation of "start outlining the owl... now when you have the outline, just draw the rest of the owl". :-)

I've found that the approach of "killing" thoughts sets up an impossible and never-ending conflict that distracts from the goal of trying to fall asleep.

Instead I try to focus on something, e.g. my breath entering and existing my nose or lungs. Then, as thoughts arise I simply acknowledge them and 'let them go' returning my focus back to my breath.

It's perhaps a subtle distinction but it works much better for me than thinking about thoughts as a game of whack-a-mole.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#174

Post by vorpalhex »

nstricevic wrote: post #136

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfo…

> a pillow isolates my left ear, while my right biceps isolates my right ear from sounds

Have you experimented with any kind of ear plugs? I have really good hearing which makes falling asleep stressful if the house isn't otherwise quiet, even with white noise.

I'd love to find a good set of ear plugs or ear muffs or something that can be worn to sleep. Like a sleep mask, but for your ears.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#175

Post by mrcsparker »

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 too. Fantasy universe works best for me. Always asleep after a few minutes doing this

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#176

Post by [deleted] »

nstricevic wrote: post #136

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfo…

[deleted]

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#178

Post by jwl »

grasshopperpurp wrote: post #163
dataflow wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 5. Start removing thoughts from your brain. As you start thinking about something, just stop. Another thought comes in. Kill it. Just kill thoughts. You can think only about your breathing. Nothing else. If only it was this easy!! It almost feels like a variation of "start outlining the owl... now when you have the outline, just draw the rest of the owl". :-)

For many people, and myself, telling yourself to think of something is a good way to make your mind blank.

I have heard several guided meditations having an instruction like "let your mind do whatever it wants to do". Surprisingly it works very well to let the mind do nothing.

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#179

Post by [deleted] »

sysstemlord wrote: post #102
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…

And i thought i'm the only one with a fantasy world that progresses a little every night before sleeping. Not much progress though because i fall asleep very quickly when i'm there.

[deleted]

Re: A military technique for falling asleep in two minutes

#180

Post by scallycat »

dataflow wrote: post #147
nstricevic wrote: post #136

I nap for 20 minutes every day at work (at my previous company, for 4 years or so and now since I'm working remotely). Here are my steps for taking a nap: 1. Find a good place to nap. Use the same place every day. I used to nap under my desk on a lazy bag at my last job. 2. Quickly find a comfortable position. Quickly fix everything that bothers you (like watch on your wrist or anything else that's making you uncomfo…

> 5. Start removing thoughts from your brain. As you start thinking about something, just stop. Another thought comes in. Kill it. Just kill thoughts. You can think only about your breathing. Nothing else. If only it was this easy!! It almost feels like a variation of "start outlining the owl... now when you have the outline, just draw the rest of the owl". :-)

It sounds a lot like the "body scan" meditation. I expect there are scripts/videos available to follow until you get used to doing it without.
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