What helps you fall asleep?

I usually have no problem falling asleep.

Otherwise… weed, Nyquil, or the Norco I got for my broken ankle.

Music, without it I would think, and I don’t want that

@Tink1113 I forgot to mention that music keeps me awake. I really enjoy music and I can’t clear my brain enough to sleep if its on because I follow along. Any other ideas?

Read then try. Or what I do is I try to think of absolutely nothing until I fall asleep :)

Reading puts me right out ( this was a hurdle in college).

Also I use my iPhone and Pandorabox to find free apps and apps on sale to play with the next day.

Mmm what about having a midnight snack? Or closing your eyes and not opening them till you fall asleep. (which you will find out if it worked or not in the morning)

I am currently Fluthering at 4:30 something in the morning so I am no expert. Usually, I read for about 30 minutes and that does it. This morning I felt like company.

Sometimes a cup of chamomile tea helps me.

sleeping pills.

Ok well I’m gonna put these ideas into practice. Goodnight.

Music (you can buy sleep music specifically designed to activate delta waves in your brain).
Movies that I love, usually of the comic nature so that there’s no need to stay awake till the climax – I especially love Monsters, Inc, The Marx Bro’s, and Marilyn Monroe.
Heating pads
Tea that has lavender, Valerian root, chamomile
Sleeping pills
Benzodiazepines

Being read to. Bless audiobooks and literary podcasts. Selected Shorts uses some really wonderful readers.

Reading always makes me sleepy at night, which is irritating when I’m involved in a good book! I have to have a fan running, no TV or radio noise and I sleep with a flat pillow on my head not covering my face, I sleep on my side so it covers the side of my head and face

Breathe properly. Breathe out longer than you breathe in. Count 2 times when you breathe in and 3 times when you breathe out. Look for other meditation ways.

The mind can never stop thinking. So you need to instruct it to think of something pleasant and calm. No anger, no surprises and no worries. Listen to New Age music like YIruma, listen to meditation music ( from You tube), I like sleep better when it is rainning outside so i downloaded Ipod application that mimic the rain sound.

Find your optimum sleeping time. Try to relax yourself 30mins before you sleep. Don’t take long naps in the evening.

Your bed should only be used for sleeping. Make it as comfortable as possible. Try not to do any work, reading or whatever on your bed. It is a special place for you to take a break.

Drink something warm at night before you go to sleep. I like hot chocolate before i go to sleep. Some like hot milk. Depending on individuals.

Honestly? Having sex.
Or smoking.

Pot will help you get to sleep if you’re in the right state of mind. I am high right now and I am not tired at all.

A cup of tea and a book usually does the trick for me. Sometimes a walk around the block.

Some really crip bud often does the trick.

LOL, I didn’t even see you had already posted, @petethepothead!

@MacBean – that’s a great link. I am trying to give you lurve for it, but I can’t seem to do it!

Peace of mind. If I don’t have a certain amount of that then nothing helps me sleep.

ooops I forgot to answer the question. I too use audio books on my iPod, puts me to sleep in minutes. The only time I ever actually hear a book I am listening to is when I run or ride my bike, one earphone in and it makes the exercise more pleasurable and the exercise makes me tired at bedtime.

Being in bed with my eyes closed. I can fall asleep anytime of the day or night even after a red bull with no problem. it might also help that I work 13 hour shifts and come home physically and mentally exhausted

Exercise is great and very important to stay healthy, but not exercising 2.5 hours before you want to go to bed helps you falling asleep.

Before I watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose I would imagine a misty field – but since then I find that listening to music like Bon Iver or Bright Eyes helps a lot.

I got A History of Britain recently on DVD. It’s a series of 15 programmes. My original plan was to watch 2 episodes an evening, but as I discovered, presenter Simon Schama‘s voice will knock me right out.

On Monday, I had watched the first programme at 9 and fell asleep by around 10, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then I watched another one the next day starting at 6 and was drifting off by 6:30. Then on Thursday, I put one on at 8 and yes, by 8:30, I felt my eyelids drooping.

Simon Schama: the best sleep aid I can get without a prescription.

Depends on how desperate you are really. Because if nothing else, then go for masturbation. Apparently hormones get released after orgasm which help to make one sleepy.

Thinking of the person you like/love being beside you?

I’m with @chelseababyy, definitely an orgasm or two (or 5).

@MacBean – I would not be able to even approach going to bed with being out of work and my marriage problems if it were not for this

Nyquil and then some sleeping pills. And even then I don’t stay asleep. But it knocks me on my butt for about 2–3 hours!

I have a neat little mental trick that seems to work. To clear my mind, I simply focus on giving my brain something else to do. Usually it is a simply counting exercise. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1, repeated endlessly in my mind until I fall asleep.

Or simply curling up next to my dog seems to work. She is quite an efficient sleeping pill, albeit a tad fuzzy. =)

If you can’t stand music, how about a sound machine? Some say waves crashing against the shore is relaxing. the orgasm thing is right, too. knocks me right out with a smile on my face

Bad TV.

If I lay in the bed too long and need to sleep I go to the couch, put on something that is just distracting enough to keep me from thinking, and 15 minutes later I’m out. Whenever I wake up I shuffle off to the bed and sleep the rest of the night.

Sudoku on the iphone can work wonders as well.

Whiskey.

Doom metal, booze, or masturbation. Or the combination of the three

When I am relaxed about what I ahve to do the enxt day, I can fall asleep fine. If I have any anxiety about it, I’m usually done for and then nothing except a sleeping pill will help. I’m off work all summer ans sleeping just fine1 I do usually take a hot bath before getting into bed most nights whether anxious or not.

I just don’t bother until I’m at my computer and can barely keep my eyes open.
Typically, if I’m not on the verge of passing out, it’ll take me 45+ minutes to fall asleep (Took me well over an hour last night).

Music, tv and wanking have never helped me to fall asleep.
My head is way too full of too many annoying-as-hell thoughts at all times.

Having a toddler.

I eat cereal before I go to sleep,
I listen to music,
I read a chapter in my book,
I drink cold water =]

Music and television always keep me distracted enough to fall asleep in no time. Techno will probably not help you fall asleep, but if you pick the right music and use this piece of software you will fall asleep in no time!

I take 5-HTP and Melatonin half hour before bed, start reading and out I go. Both have other benefits besides just sleep, Melatonin is a potent anti-oxidant, and 5-HTP has been found effective against depression and anxiety.

Pills.

Physical and mental exercise during the day.

Take a warm bath shortly before bed, so when you lie down your body cools off. That should kick start your sleep cycle.

Otherwise, there are a lot of suggestions here, many of which I have used over the years.

Reading a book before bed or counting down from 100.

Feeling in love
Really awesome sex
The company of good friends
A challenging and inspiring job

I’ve never had a problem sleeping so i cant speak from experience. I hit the pillow, think about what I did that day, or anything I’m excited for in the next day or so, and i’m out.

@sarcasm that basically describes me. I have to sit at my computer until my eyes get really heavy. And if I take more than a minute to get to bed after that, I won’t be tired and have go go back on the computer.

Lying down usually does it for me. Sometimes sitting up does it too.

I usually read for an hour at bedtime just as a way of spooling down.

I must read to be able to fall asleep. However, it has to be a familiar book. If it’s a new read I get too involved and can’t fall asleep. The other thing I do is the deep breathing that mea05key mentioned above. I have used Benadryl to help me sleep, but I don’t like to.

doing progressive relaxation exercises…i usually fall asleep within 10 minutes….

btw progrssive relaxation is when you lay on a soft surface and you concentrate all your thoughts onto parts of your body…once you’ve done that you tense you muscle groups systematicly then relax them…then when your done your body will feel heavy and it will feel tired, then usually you’ll fall asleep…
Step 1: Lay on a flat, soft surface, without any blankets on you, and a pillow under your head, make sure the room is VERY dark

Step 2: Slowly concentrate and think about how your muscles in certain parts in your body feel, first start with your legs (do they feel relaxed, tight, sore?), after about a minute move to the next body group your abdominal region (how does it feel?), next group is arms and hands (how do they feel), next region chest (how does it feel), next face (how does it feel?)

Step 3: Strongly concentrate and tense each muscle group for about 3 minutes, then relax the group for about a minute. Tense the muscle groups in this order: Legs for 3 minutes, relax, Abdominal region for 3 minutes, relax, arms for 3 minutes, relax, chest for 3 minutes, relax, face for 3 minutes, relax

Step 4: Concentrate on how your whole body feels, if this was sone correctly, you should feel really heavy (like you don’t wan’t to or can’t move) and should fall asleep shortly!

Enjoy your sleep!

sometimes for even for heaviness too, if you lift your legs while tensing, when you rekax afterwards yo may get a better result

@jdogg – I have done step #3 in your post and it’s very effective. I start with my toes. When I untense (detense?) them, I say to myself, “relax toes, relax.” (This is in my head, not out loud! My husband already thinkgs I’m crazy enough.) I work my way up and have only gotten to my glutes one time.

lol, yah we learned this in health class in school…

I would have gotten more use out of that lesson than the one on condoms! (I was a nerd in high school and there was no sex in my life. But there were sleepless nights.)

Yeah I actually remember that one now from health class lol. Tensing your muscles. I guess I should try that one again. Thanks for all the replies btw.

I just remembered two more.

1) Put the palms of your hands over your eyes so that you can still have your eyes open, but no light gets in. Stare into the darkness, blinking very rarely. Something about looking into the darkness helps me feel sleepy.

2) Deep breathing and counting backwards from 100. In your head, say 100 and inhale deeply with your eyes open, then say 99, close your eyes and exhale all of the air slowly, 98, open your eyes and inhale. And so on. The idea is to spend more time exhaling and with your eyes closed. Go more slowly with each consecutive number.

Unless I’m really distracted by some big issue, both of these work for me.

Sorry if I duplicate some answers here – I just scrolled down – but I take three Melatonin, a couple of OTC sleeping pills and wash ‘em down with a big glass of milk.

why was my post deleted i wonder?

do you have homework to do? if so, try starting it. that puts me out every time.

@tiffyandthewall ,I KNOW RIGHT!

listen to the most boring audiobook possible on the audiobook app on my ipod touch

I read… the most boring shit I can find around the house.

I have a theory concerning insomniacs; if they haven’t fallen prey to chronic medication, they are the best trivia experts in the world. We read anything out of desperation and the result is a head full of the most useless information one can find on the planet—of which the only constructive use is to make a late-night call to another insomniac and bore them to sleep.