Lots of folks have trouble sleeping and I am no exception. I have some physical things going on that make sleep tough, not to mention age. Back when I was working full time with a fairly stressful job, I had problems then, too. I have had my share of sleep deprivation moments. No fun waking up and realizing you’re driving. Or being in a meeting and suddenly everyone is looking at you and you’re not even sure where you are. Yes, I’ve had to work at this sleep thing for a few years. But I’ve gotten much better at it.
There’s massive information out there about good sleep habits and you need to do all that stuff. You know – dark room, quiet, regular sleep times, exercise, light dinner, limited alcohol. You’ve heard it all and you’re probably doing it. Me, too. Meantime, the brain just doesn’t want to turn off sometimes. The bad puppy that’s your brain decides the best thing to do is to review every bad decision you’ve ever made or needs to plan in detail everything you need to do the next day. The body is yelling, “Please let me rest!” and the brain is saying, “Nah, we got things we need to think about”. I’ve figured out a way to fix this and that’s what this post is all about. Good sleep is the foundation of health and the rewards penetrate all aspects of life.
I have used this technique for several years now with very good results. It’s basically all about taking control of your brain to lead it in the direction of sleep. The technique is simple, but can still be difficult to implement, so some patience is needed. I will describe how it’s done, then get into some of the science for those interested.
So, you’re laying in bed and the brain just will not turn off. Here’s what you do:
- Start by working to relax your muscles one at a time. This is a yoga technique. When you think stressful thoughts, your muscles tighten. But this works both ways. If you relax the muscles, stress is reduced. Start with your face. Brow muscles tightened? Relax them. Muscles around the eyes, the jaws, back of the neck, relax them one at a time. Work your way down through your whole body. Check the belly, it can hold a lot of stress. This takes practice but pays big dividends. Take your time.
- Then, start to focus your attention on your visual thoughts. That is, watching the visual imagery that happens with your eyes closed. Might be just some vague swirling dim colors, but that’s okay.
- This procedure is not like a “light switch”. You will have to start over multiple times as your mind just naturally wants to revert back to just pumping out stressful thoughts. But that’s okay, it’s natural. Don’t stress out when it happens. Go looking for those face muscles that have tightened up again then refocus on the visual.
This probably won’t be easy to do at first, but I promise it gets easier with practice. After a while, you’ll manage to start the muscle relaxing and the visual focus at the same time. Look at it this way, when laying there unable to sleep, what else do you have to do? Just keep at it.
Now for the science. The first part of the process is simply taking conscious control of the stress expressed through the tightening of muscles. You can not control the unconscious control of your muscles due to stress, but you can control the relaxation of those muscles. Fortunately, the process works both ways – stress tightens the muscles but consciously untightening the muscles reduces stress. This alone can make you sleepier.
The science behind the second step is way more interesting. Focusing on visual thoughts or imagery can help calm an overactive mind and ease the transition into sleep. This phenomenon ties into several psychological and neurological principles:
Guided Imagery and Visualization
Research on guided imagery, where individuals focus on mental images, shows that it can reduce stress and promote relaxation, which are key for falling asleep. By engaging in visual thoughts, you’re essentially practicing a form of guided imagery that distracts your mind from stressful or intrusive thoughts, helping your brain wind down.
Shifting Brain Activity
When you focus on visual imagery, you activate areas of the brain linked to imagination and visual processing in the occipital lobe, rather than areas involved in verbal reasoning or problem-solving in the prefrontal cortex. This shift can reduce the cognitive load that keeps your mind active and alert, creating a mental state more conducive to sleep.
Hypnagogic State
The hypnagogic state is the transitional phase between wakefulness and sleep. During this state, people often experience vivid mental imagery and dream-like thoughts. By focusing on your visual thoughts, you will guide your brain into this state, where consciousness naturally starts to fade, and sleep begins.
Relaxation and Parasympathetic Activation
Visualizing calming or neutral images can stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for rest and relaxation) while dampening the sympathetic nervous system (responsible for fight-or-flight responses). This relaxation response can lower heart rate and reduce anxiety, which are essential for sleep.
Reducing Default Mode Network Activity
The Default Mode Network (DMN) in the brain is active during wakeful rest and mind-wandering. Over activity of the DMN is linked to rumination and an inability to fall asleep. By focusing on visual thoughts, you’re giving your brain a specific task, reducing DMN activity, and helping your mind transition into sleep.
This is a great technique, but it does not always work. According to a leading sleep scientist (check my reading list), if you can’t fall asleep for 20 minutes, get up and do something low stress. I always have a good book to read on standby.
The Blog of Tim Schmitz 