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.
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 :-) .
That's the real killer for me. I'm not military, but I've managed to somehow get pretty good at sleeping pretty much anywhere. Sleeping on planes or in departure lounges or really anywhere isn't an issue for me, although maybe a steam catapult might keep me up. I think that the hundreds of nights I've slept on couches and backpackers hostels (as well as overnight buses and car trips) have acclimatised me to sleeping in noisy, moving, well lit environments.
I think it's just something that you just get used to. All through South East Asia you'll see people sleeping in the most improbably places, on parked motorbikes, park benches, even in the middle of a busy roundabout in Vietnam. South East Asian people seem to just love sleeping everywhere they can.
But I can only sleep if there aren't things biting at the back of my mind. If something's bothering me (relationships, work, etc.), it doesn't matter how perfect my sleeping environment is, I won't be able to get to sleep for hours. My mind is sleep's worst enemy.
The power of the shortest of naps to completely reset the body's pursuit of sleep in deprivation scenarios never fails to impress me. Even just a few seconds seems to make a tremendous difference, as if it's clearing a "need sleep" bit simply by falling asleep even if momentarily.
Eh, to be honest I always found the secret to falling asleep in the military was being bloody tired all the time from carrying heavy stuff, running everywhere, going on adrenaline, getting barely a few hours broken sleep, going on stag at silly o'clock in the morning, being put under pressure for days on end, eating crap, running on tea...
But yeah. Sure. Warm baths, camomile tea and mindfulness...
Trying to think "don't think, don't think, don't think" seems like it would stress me out.
I prefer to count 10 slow breaths as a way to clear my mind. I get my body comfortable similar to how the article describes, then I take 10 long slow breaths while focusing only on what number breath I'm on. That seems to be the right amount to knock my internal monologue off of whatever it's been ruminating on so I can fall asleep. Sometimes I don't even make it to 10 -- which is remarkable after a lifetime of insomnia.
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?
You need to look at the terpene profile of the CBD, the wrong terpene profile can actually energize you. Also CBD in small doses can be energizing as well.
I used to have sleepless night once in a while generally due to over-thinking while lying on the bed for years till 2014/15. I experimented with meditation before sleep and since then I haven't had a single sleepless night in all these years.
The practice is simple. Turn lights off. Sit (with hips on the pillow) on the same bed you're going to sleep. Sit straight and comfortably (preferably in cross-legged pose), gently close your eyes.
Now concentrate on the area Right in the middle of your chest. You can feel bone, muscle or anything else when you focus here. Just continue to concentrate on that physical sensation you're experiencing. Just discard every thought that comes even the thought of how much time has passed. If mind drifts onto some thought, gently bring it back to the area and its sensations.
About 8 to 10 minutes of this meditation and you're ready to sleep. Lie down, keep the focus on the same middle of the chest area and don't entertain any thought. They'll still come and if you focus on them, start analyzing/thinking about them, you'll lose the peaceful state just gained with meditation. And you may have to do it again
I generally fall asleep within first few minutes of lying down after this meditation.
The above is my personally tested and daily practiced method. You can also try Yoga Nidra guided meditation audio which has helped people in relaxing the mind before sleep. Go here http://www.swamij.com/Meditations.htm
I just count backwards from 1000. I figured the repetitive chanting bit of counting is what puts you to sleep so starting at a higher number gets you immediately to the repetitive chanty bit, and doing it backwards adds just enough mental overhead that my brain has to mostly shut up all its other chatter (although recently I've noticed that I can just count backwards while also thinking about all the other stuff...)
I just count upwards normally, so it's not a lot of mental work and I can let my mind wander. I also imagine myself hitting the snooze button on my alarm. Nothing makes me fall asleep faster than needing to be awake.
I use high CBD tincture 25:1 and a sleep tincture composed of about 30% indica thc/cbd and the rest non addictive herbs.
I have a lot of pain and am unable to dissociate from it enough to sleep until I’m completely exhausted which several nights a week meant no sleep or just a few hours. These tinctures along with another pain medication (extremely low dose naltrexone, no side effects except better sleep for me) allow me to get a very good nights sleep 80-90% of the time which was a significant improvement in quality of life.
Give it a try if you are having no luck elsewhere!
The "mind racing" is itself the main problem you need to fix, and lavender drops (or any kind of harmless physical remedy) won't do that.
What has worked well for me is to deliberately focus my mind on simple, pleasant topics instead of negative, annoying ones. That time at work when I solved a difficult problem. Dream vacation plans. The great view at the end of a long hike.
I'm aware this may not be easy (or possible) for everyone to do.
I had the same problem for years and technique that helped me is "to put day to rest". 30 minutes before sleep I write on paper all good and bad stuff that happened today, and everything that worries me right now. Last part is HUGE sometimes. Then, I write down when I will take care of every worry. It can be "tomorrow", "next week", "next month", "this year". It can't be "today".
Additionally, I don't work or talk or message 1 hour before bedtime.
Additionally, I implemented all advice from CBT-I. It took few months to develop a habit, and I'm feeling better every day now.
I used to have insomnia in college because of stress. To this day, the night before any high pressure event like an on-site interview or exam, I only manage to get a few hours of sleep. I think I was somehow traumatized by college that now this happens all the time without fail. Before college, I could always just sleep, but I was never stressed before college. It's not even the military, it's just a test, but it still happens since the outcome of that one day could very well shape the next few years of my life.
But for fighter pilots and such, who are sometimes on call 24/7, the use of "go pills" (formerly methamphetamine, and now modafinil) and "no-go pills" (such as zaleplon and zolpidem) is quite common. But then, no-go pills aren't so great, because it takes hours for effects to wear off. So modafinil plus relaxation training seems like a great solution. I can say from personal experience that modafinil doesn't prevent sleep.
Yeah modafinil is a weird one, it just feels to me like I've had 4 or 5 coffees, but can sleep alright in the evening. I find it makes me grumpy if I get interrupted though so it can make working on some teams harder.
> I can say from personal experience that modafinil doesn't prevent sleep.
These effects on sleep are highly dependent on genetics. They couldn't test this stuff much longer than a decade ago.
The difference is large enough that it could potentially improve certain stages of sleep in some individuals. Contrast to caffiene which is detrimental to sleep quality across the board.
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.
I am floating on a planet made almost entirely of water, about 70-73f, small waves, nothing extreme. Very fine sand alternating with course sand, in about 2-3 feet of water. Overhead is something that looks like the milky way but isn't. The water is very buoyant and sand is close, there is no fear of drowning or predators. The stars are so close, it feels like you are voyaging through space.
I do the same, except not thinking about black, but just focusing my attention of the visual artefacts that pop up when I have my eyes closed.
Just like meditation, but instead of focusing on a part of the body, I focus on the eyes and their visual artefacts when closed.
I've actually found that forced "tangential" thinking makes me fall asleep really fast. Basically, free association but you have to move onto the next thing instantly (eg. Think of a feather and then it's like a comb and maybe the comb is green then green grass, etc). I just seamlessly transition into dreaming. The key is not dwelling but moving on right away so you don't get stuck on things like "where are my car keys" or whatever.
Hmm, sometimes I wake up in few minutes after falling asleep and realize that my mind did exactly what you described, but without my intent. Just quickly changing thoughts with no focus, as if gc started its mark phase.
That's why I consider this behaviour as more like a symptom of falling asleep. When things get fast and weird it's the sign that the slow consciousness has almost disconnected.
That sounds really similar to what I often do. I often start picturing a tree, then I force one transition and feel like I let the brain switch images without my involvement.
It's really hard to describe it but here is a simplified example.
Tree -> zoom into the leaves which are actually a field of grass -> there is a small pond -> pond is now growing -> I see a sky now -> random colors and shapes are showing up... And it keeps on going and I don't even notice when I fall asleep.
My technique is similar. Start at the toes and identify each toe then muscle individually and let each relax before moving on to the next. I have never got past the knee before falling asleep.
Not foolproof though; sometimes your thoughts break through and stop the process. So you start again...
I used to do something similar. These days I start planning my retirement. I imagine some deserted moon base orbiting a Saturn like planet orbiting a small red dwarf star ejected out of its galaxy into the void. No people, no chance of anybody or anything ever finding it. Trillions of years of quiet solitude before the star burns out. I've never gotten much farther than a few ideas into how it will all come together before zzzzzzzz....
Hah I like this! For a while I used to imagine being on a spaceship on a long interstellar trip with my family on board with me. Planning where all the cabins were, what the living area looked like, views of interstellar space outside always used to send me off...
Are you that guy on that inner moon with the shiny rooftop who keeps reflecting the sunlight at me twice per orbit?
Seriously, you'll retain heat better with a dark, matte finish on your dome, and you'll blind me less often. In any case, you might also want to reconsider your choice of moons, as yours seems a bit deep into the radiation belts. Out here we orbit much more slowly, peacefully, and we're far from the radiation.
>you'll retain heat better with a dark, matte finish on your dome
No, they won't. There's a reason a perfect radiator is known as a "black body". Emissivity (a coefficient that describes the degree to which an object radiates, compared to a black body) is the exact inverse of reflectivity. That's why space blankets are shiny.
Of course, dark objects also absorb more heat, so depending on how much radiation you're getting from the sun, a black roof might result in a warmer home. But it won't be because it's retaining heat.
At the temperature that we generally keep our vacuum-facing surfaces they absorb far more energy in the form of light than the energy that they radiate. Energy management is tight when you're orbiting a small red dwarf star ejected out of its galaxy into the void!
Must try this though - my wife is often asleep in a minute or so while I take tens of minutes. I wonder how much using mobile devices in bed at night has affected sleep patterns.
Mobile devices- anything with a screen that emits blue wavelengths IIRC - are terrible for getting to sleep. I avoid mine except for turning my alarm on.
Exactly right, which is why I adjust my monitor settings down if I stay late at the computer. Do do it in steps, and the adapted eye can go down even farther than "xrandr --output HDMI-0 --brightness 0.05 --gamma 2.0:1.0:0.5" and still see quite well... ;-)
Also, for people who read from a tablet or phone in bed, use software that supports a night mode. Set background color to black and font color to dark amber. Then gradually shift down overall brightness. Personally, I use "Cool Reader", which is really good for that, as it lets you adjust brightness just by sliding up/down on the left screen border.
Yet for centuries people have taken siestas in the blueish noon Sunlight, 5500 to 9000 Kelvin.
Why the sudden claimed sensitivity to blue light at night? Correlated to the ubiquity of indoors electrical lighting mimicking the colour of candlelight perhaps?
Or perhaps Westerners aren't going to bed physically tired after a day of sedentary work?
I've taken to not using a screen within about an hour of going to bed, and never using the phone in the bedroom (because of association), and my sleep is much better - I fall asleep quicker, and study asleep longer. I tested the opposite on myself previously (intentionally using the phone in bed right up to lights out), and took longer to get to sleep, and woke up around 4-5am feeling not very rested.
Yup something like this works for me too. I close my eyes and imagine a dark void of nothing. If my mine wanders off I refocus on the dark void again. If my mind is still too active, I have a boring book at hand that I read for a few minutes to clear my mind and get me tired. Then I try again.
> and revert back to my black space. As long as I kept fighting the temptation for my mind to wander
I do the same, but sometimes - when your mind is racing, full of thoughts - this can be hard. I found if I have an equivalent to the black void, which is more interesting, then I don't have to have this fight. Sleep comes easily.
I am fascinated by black holes. So I imagine flying close to the center of the Milky Way, nearing the black hole. Might be nerdy, but it works fine for me.
I have the same problem often, I really enjoy (as I'm sure many of us do) time to myself to think, so being alone with my thoughts and willing myself to relax and not to think of the millions of things I'd like to is akin to telling someone not to eat sweets while dangling a cornetto in front of them.
it's impossible to keep all thoughts from your mind.
meditation is having focus on an anchor like breathing so you are aware of the thoughts that occur.
im not saying there's a wrong way to meditate, i just don't want people suffering to try the impossible and feel they have failed.
being aware you are lost in thought is a huge success.
"Nothingness" is the most difficult way to meditate. Its often seen as the way one meditates by people who are ignorant about meditation and mindfulness.
Generally, there is one focus point. This could be sounds, it could be breathing, it could be visualisations, it could be focusing on walking. It could even be multiple focus points in one session (shifting the focus point throughout the session). Which is pretty much what a body scan does; it focusses on different body parts throughout the session.
Also, it is far easier to do guided meditation, and the goal of meditation is to relax and become focussed; not necessarily to fall asleep. Though, if you are tired, that might very well be a byproduct.
If you start with meditation, it is normal that you're not very good at it. It takes time, practice, and effort. In that sense it is actually hard work; not 'relaxing'.
> Relax all my facial muscles
Normal procedure to relax your muscles at the start and during meditation (if you have to reset).
> and imagine an empty, black (literally #000) void in my mind's eye.
This is one of the many visualisation techniques. Other examples are included in the article's URL.
After meditating for a few months this I have started to notice that the increased mental awareness can make it harder to sleep. I’m more aware of myself gradually falling asleep and sometimes that sudden awareness of ‘oh, I’m falling asleep’ is enough to wake me up a bit.
> It takes time, practice, and effort. In that sense it is actually hard work; not 'relaxing'.
I like this :) I think of it as furious concentration on stillness.
Beginner meditators often think they're not cut out for meditation because their minds are full of noise during meditation. This is normal.
The usual progression is: observing thoughts to gain insight ("hey, I'm thinking lots of angry thoughts", "why do I keep thinking about my boss?"); then focusing on one thing only, an anchor, like breathing; finally, focusing on nothing.
For me, successfully focusing on nothing happens occasionally, and only a moment at a time.
I love the feeling though - it feels like the top of my head has come off and my brain's turned into hamburger meat.
I know this might not sound desirable :) But for me it felt like my mind was a clenched fist that finally relaxed.
I practiced mindful meditation to overcome sleeping issues. The technique was as follows:
- Lie down on the back, in a way that feels like you can release body tension in limbs, neck, and back.
- Take a couple deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling fully. Then, focus on your natural breath: breathe normally for about a minute; don't try to control its rhythm, rather observe it (is it slow? fast? deep? shallow?) and acknowledge it without judgement, focusing on the flow of air in your lungs or throat, or the area in your chest that goes up and down with each breath (whichever is easier for you).
- Focus on body contact with the bed. Feel the weight of the different parts of your body pushing down against the mattress.
- Focus on your feet, and relax just this part by consciously observing how it feels (is it tense? at ease? hot? cold? restless? it doesn't matter, just notice it) and acknowledging it, not combating it. Then consciously think "ok, I'm turning that part off".
- Move gradually upper (lower legs, thigh, and so on), repeating the "observe, acknowledge, turn it off" process, until you reach your head.
- If you're not asleep at that point, focus on the breath again and take note and acknowledge the difference from when you started. Then proceed with the body again.
- if you mind wanders off at any point from your body, observe and acknowledge the thought you just had, then focus on a couple breaths again as previously described, and simply resume where you left off.
The key is being observing, not judgemental about your state (whatever it currently is), realising that thinking "I shall sleep" or "I shall relax" only makes you more aware of you not sleeping, and more tense, thus isn't going to go anywhere.
I also do something similar. Just count (1, 2, 1, 2..) on each breath for as long as I can. When I stop counting I know I've either become distracted or fell asleep. Focusing on one thing ironically (such as counting) tends to be better than letting my mind completely relax (where then it will latch onto any topic it finds).
I have a somewhat limited ability for visual hallucinations, apparently called Aphantasia, discussed before on hn [Aphantasia]. As such, when meditating I tend to simply look at the "blackness" of my eyes closed. What I mostly see is a very dark pulsating tunnel pattern. A quick search suggests this is called phosphenes [phosphenes]. I find it interesting that as I fall asleep the pattern abruptly stops; somewhat like having a LCD screen set to black and the having the backlight turned off.
It works for me, particularly when trying to nap. In the evening I prefer to listen to podcasts. As dzhiurgis mentioned, finding the right podcast makes a big difference. I look for podcasts where are interesting enough to keep listing, but not interesting enough to keep me awake. Usually podcasts with 5-15 minute segments are best. I like The History of English podcast [podcast 1] and The Naked Scientists [podcast 2].
I have been listening to podcasts while falling asleep for years now, it has worked very well for me. It is just a little annoying to find one with a very consistent volume, so I can set the volume on my laptop to that goldilocks zone where I can understand everything without having to focus too much, while it is still quiet enough to let me sleep.(Astronomycast.com works wonders for me.)
I use valerian on occasion when I'm having trouble sleeping for any variety of reasons. I find it's reasonably effective at helping me get to sleep, sort of like a mild benzo, but the dreams I get when I've taken valerian are weird as hell, often weird enough to wake me during the night.
This article is very poorly written regardless of how accurate its contents are. It seems to be based on suggestions, rumors (or rumour since it's UK based), and a 1981 book that very few have read. No actual sources and repeated use of the word secret. Trash.
Additionally these kinds of techniques are strong positive feedback loops.
When I started caring about sleep (instead of a neverending jetlag lifestyle) I started to sense sleep cycles more vividly, and didn't delay going to bed, and instead of worrying I was just rushing to relax and enjoy highly probable deep and long sleep.
Reading calculus proofs always did it for me :-) But more seriously this is very nearly a meditation technique (except when meditating you don't try to actually go to sleep). But start at one end of your body and try to tense the muscles there then relax them (you won't be able to feel they are relaxed if you haven't tensed them first, if they are already tense you will feel them relax, but it is the transition from tense to relaxed that you feel) then move up the body to the other end until you've relaxed every muscle you feel you have voluntary control over, keep you eyes closed and if images come move them away or imagine a black curtain coming down to cover them, "listen" for your voice saying something of two syllables (doesn't really matter what it is) over and over (forces internal dialog to stop).
In my experience if you do this and you can sleep (like your not full of caffeine or something) you will.
What you mention is similar to yoga nidra. I found this helpful when I want to meditate and relax. All you need to do is to lie down (or sit in the office), close your eyes and listen to the voice' instructions. I feel very refreshed after but sometimes I fell asleep when tired.
I used to struggle with sleep as well. Infact, I thought that it wasn't natural to be awake while lying on bed in the dark. Then I noticed a pattern. It was that I would always fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of lying in bed, only if I didn't worry about when the sleep would come.
From then on, I have just let go. I let my mind wander wherever it wants to go. And without fail, sleep always catches up within 10-15 minutes.
Of course, it helps if you are tired from the days work and haven't had a very heavy dinner.
It's easier to go earlier to sleep if you wake up very early. Don't delay your wake up time and you're more tired in the evening. Also don't spend the night with activities that keep you awake. Just watch a movie/series or something or read a book. Usually makes me tired.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 223 ms ] threadThis 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.
Step 2 is to get permission to fall asleep.
;)
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.
That's the real killer for me. I'm not military, but I've managed to somehow get pretty good at sleeping pretty much anywhere. Sleeping on planes or in departure lounges or really anywhere isn't an issue for me, although maybe a steam catapult might keep me up. I think that the hundreds of nights I've slept on couches and backpackers hostels (as well as overnight buses and car trips) have acclimatised me to sleeping in noisy, moving, well lit environments.
I think it's just something that you just get used to. All through South East Asia you'll see people sleeping in the most improbably places, on parked motorbikes, park benches, even in the middle of a busy roundabout in Vietnam. South East Asian people seem to just love sleeping everywhere they can.
But I can only sleep if there aren't things biting at the back of my mind. If something's bothering me (relationships, work, etc.), it doesn't matter how perfect my sleeping environment is, I won't be able to get to sleep for hours. My mind is sleep's worst enemy.
if you're in the US military, at least, that part would be pretty much impossible (unless, of course, you're either brainwashed or delusional)
But yeah. Sure. Warm baths, camomile tea and mindfulness...
I prefer to count 10 slow breaths as a way to clear my mind. I get my body comfortable similar to how the article describes, then I take 10 long slow breaths while focusing only on what number breath I'm on. That seems to be the right amount to knock my internal monologue off of whatever it's been ruminating on so I can fall asleep. Sometimes I don't even make it to 10 -- which is remarkable after a lifetime of insomnia.
I generally fall asleep within first few minutes of lying down after this meditation.
The above is my personally tested and daily practiced method. You can also try Yoga Nidra guided meditation audio which has helped people in relaxing the mind before sleep. Go here http://www.swamij.com/Meditations.htm
I have a lot of pain and am unable to dissociate from it enough to sleep until I’m completely exhausted which several nights a week meant no sleep or just a few hours. These tinctures along with another pain medication (extremely low dose naltrexone, no side effects except better sleep for me) allow me to get a very good nights sleep 80-90% of the time which was a significant improvement in quality of life.
Give it a try if you are having no luck elsewhere!
What has worked well for me is to deliberately focus my mind on simple, pleasant topics instead of negative, annoying ones. That time at work when I solved a difficult problem. Dream vacation plans. The great view at the end of a long hike.
I'm aware this may not be easy (or possible) for everyone to do.
Additionally, I don't work or talk or message 1 hour before bedtime.
Additionally, I implemented all advice from CBT-I. It took few months to develop a habit, and I'm feeling better every day now.
But for fighter pilots and such, who are sometimes on call 24/7, the use of "go pills" (formerly methamphetamine, and now modafinil) and "no-go pills" (such as zaleplon and zolpidem) is quite common. But then, no-go pills aren't so great, because it takes hours for effects to wear off. So modafinil plus relaxation training seems like a great solution. I can say from personal experience that modafinil doesn't prevent sleep.
These effects on sleep are highly dependent on genetics. They couldn't test this stuff much longer than a decade ago.
The difference is large enough that it could potentially improve certain stages of sleep in some individuals. Contrast to caffiene which is detrimental to sleep quality across the board.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_muscle_relaxation
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.
I think of black, but I make it a little more interesting as the black of deep space.
Like meditation, any thoughts that come in, and I focus back on the black.
Generally, I don't even need to do this - I tend to fall asleep pretty fast.
It's really hard to describe it but here is a simplified example.
Tree -> zoom into the leaves which are actually a field of grass -> there is a small pond -> pond is now growing -> I see a sky now -> random colors and shapes are showing up... And it keeps on going and I don't even notice when I fall asleep.
Not foolproof though; sometimes your thoughts break through and stop the process. So you start again...
Seriously, you'll retain heat better with a dark, matte finish on your dome, and you'll blind me less often. In any case, you might also want to reconsider your choice of moons, as yours seems a bit deep into the radiation belts. Out here we orbit much more slowly, peacefully, and we're far from the radiation.
No, they won't. There's a reason a perfect radiator is known as a "black body". Emissivity (a coefficient that describes the degree to which an object radiates, compared to a black body) is the exact inverse of reflectivity. That's why space blankets are shiny.
Of course, dark objects also absorb more heat, so depending on how much radiation you're getting from the sun, a black roof might result in a warmer home. But it won't be because it's retaining heat.
Must try this though - my wife is often asleep in a minute or so while I take tens of minutes. I wonder how much using mobile devices in bed at night has affected sleep patterns.
Two solutions to this - get a standalone alarm clock, or set up an alarm to repeat on weekdays so you don't have to do it every evening.
Why the sudden claimed sensitivity to blue light at night? Correlated to the ubiquity of indoors electrical lighting mimicking the colour of candlelight perhaps?
Or perhaps Westerners aren't going to bed physically tired after a day of sedentary work?
Smartphones are the devil.
I do the same, but sometimes - when your mind is racing, full of thoughts - this can be hard. I found if I have an equivalent to the black void, which is more interesting, then I don't have to have this fight. Sleep comes easily.
I am fascinated by black holes. So I imagine flying close to the center of the Milky Way, nearing the black hole. Might be nerdy, but it works fine for me.
Yes, it is a form of mindfulness.
> Stay still and focus your mind on nothingness
"Nothingness" is the most difficult way to meditate. Its often seen as the way one meditates by people who are ignorant about meditation and mindfulness.
Generally, there is one focus point. This could be sounds, it could be breathing, it could be visualisations, it could be focusing on walking. It could even be multiple focus points in one session (shifting the focus point throughout the session). Which is pretty much what a body scan does; it focusses on different body parts throughout the session.
Also, it is far easier to do guided meditation, and the goal of meditation is to relax and become focussed; not necessarily to fall asleep. Though, if you are tired, that might very well be a byproduct.
If you start with meditation, it is normal that you're not very good at it. It takes time, practice, and effort. In that sense it is actually hard work; not 'relaxing'.
> Relax all my facial muscles
Normal procedure to relax your muscles at the start and during meditation (if you have to reset).
> and imagine an empty, black (literally #000) void in my mind's eye.
This is one of the many visualisation techniques. Other examples are included in the article's URL.
I like this :) I think of it as furious concentration on stillness.
Beginner meditators often think they're not cut out for meditation because their minds are full of noise during meditation. This is normal.
The usual progression is: observing thoughts to gain insight ("hey, I'm thinking lots of angry thoughts", "why do I keep thinking about my boss?"); then focusing on one thing only, an anchor, like breathing; finally, focusing on nothing.
For me, successfully focusing on nothing happens occasionally, and only a moment at a time.
I love the feeling though - it feels like the top of my head has come off and my brain's turned into hamburger meat.
I know this might not sound desirable :) But for me it felt like my mind was a clenched fist that finally relaxed.
- Lie down on the back, in a way that feels like you can release body tension in limbs, neck, and back.
- Take a couple deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling fully. Then, focus on your natural breath: breathe normally for about a minute; don't try to control its rhythm, rather observe it (is it slow? fast? deep? shallow?) and acknowledge it without judgement, focusing on the flow of air in your lungs or throat, or the area in your chest that goes up and down with each breath (whichever is easier for you).
- Focus on body contact with the bed. Feel the weight of the different parts of your body pushing down against the mattress.
- Focus on your feet, and relax just this part by consciously observing how it feels (is it tense? at ease? hot? cold? restless? it doesn't matter, just notice it) and acknowledging it, not combating it. Then consciously think "ok, I'm turning that part off".
- Move gradually upper (lower legs, thigh, and so on), repeating the "observe, acknowledge, turn it off" process, until you reach your head.
- If you're not asleep at that point, focus on the breath again and take note and acknowledge the difference from when you started. Then proceed with the body again.
- if you mind wanders off at any point from your body, observe and acknowledge the thought you just had, then focus on a couple breaths again as previously described, and simply resume where you left off.
The key is being observing, not judgemental about your state (whatever it currently is), realising that thinking "I shall sleep" or "I shall relax" only makes you more aware of you not sleeping, and more tense, thus isn't going to go anywhere.
It works for me, particularly when trying to nap. In the evening I prefer to listen to podcasts. As dzhiurgis mentioned, finding the right podcast makes a big difference. I look for podcasts where are interesting enough to keep listing, but not interesting enough to keep me awake. Usually podcasts with 5-15 minute segments are best. I like The History of English podcast [podcast 1] and The Naked Scientists [podcast 2].
[Aphantasia 176 comments on a fb hosted article] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11554894 [Aphantasia comment by blakeross to a BBC link ] http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34039054 [phosphenes] http://scienceline.org/2014/12/why-do-we-see-colors-with-our... [podcast 1] http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/ [podcast 2]https://www.thenakedscientists.com/
Also podcasts work amazingly well, just make aure they are around 10 minutes long.
I learned this using techniques you can do to have lucid dreams. When your concentration is not the best one in the day, the result is sleep.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16671944
However, the number of people who have read a book published in 1981 has no bearing on the validity of the book as a source.
When I started caring about sleep (instead of a neverending jetlag lifestyle) I started to sense sleep cycles more vividly, and didn't delay going to bed, and instead of worrying I was just rushing to relax and enjoy highly probable deep and long sleep.
and
> The secret is detailed in the book Relax and Win: Championship Performance, which although first published in 1981
I guess 37 years is "just" for the author.
In Humvees, in the dirt, on a stack of rifles...
Just a couple faps and you'll be out guaranteed. :)
In my experience if you do this and you can sleep (like your not full of caffeine or something) you will.
https://archive.org/details/YogaNidra
https://ia800301.us.archive.org/1/items/YogaNidra/YogaNidra....
From then on, I have just let go. I let my mind wander wherever it wants to go. And without fail, sleep always catches up within 10-15 minutes.
Of course, it helps if you are tired from the days work and haven't had a very heavy dinner.
> Here’s how to do it:
1. Relax the muscles in your face, including tongue, jaw and the muscles around the eyes
2. Drop your shoulders as far down as they’ll go, followed by your upper and lower arm, one side at a time
3. Breathe out, relaxing your chest followed by your legs, starting from the thighs and working down
4. You should then spend 10 seconds trying to clear your mind before thinking about one of the three following images:
* You’re lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but a clear blue sky above you
* You’re lying in a black velvet hammock in a pitch-black room
* You say “don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” to yourself over and over for about 10 seconds.
> The technique is said to work for 96 per cent of people after six weeks of practice.