Spoken hypnosis and subliminals. I go on youtube. I listen to Thomas Hall mostly (his 10 hour rain subliminals are my favourites), and sometimes Jason Stephenson and for pain-related insomnia Trigram Healing helps me the best.
Sleep stories, meditation. Youtube because all meditation apps give 2 or 3 freebies but have to pay to unlock everything
I generally prefer listening to music, meditating and sometimes using eye masks that you get on air flights, so that I can have Undisturbed sleep and wake up afresh.
Simple. 1) stopping caffeine. 2) breathing meditation at bedtime like the sleep meditation in the fabulous app. 3) putting my phone far from the bed. 4) exercising in the morning rather than at night. 5) a sleep mask. 6) an earlier than you’re used to bedtime. All these things come together to make it much easier to get a good rest. Stopping caffeine is likely the most difficult of these. I can’t say it works for everyone, but for me it dramatically reduces work stress and makes for better sleep - and it’s rare I feel run-down exhausted anymore.
For now, I am just stretching in my bed. That helps you to fall asleep and it makes you tired. But I’m trying to find others things to help me to fall asleep. You can find a lot of things on the internet.
I’ve found the following to be very helpful: 1) Stopping caffeine. Maybe you don’t want to go to this extreme - then perhaps your goal is not to drink it after 10 am or cut down, etc. But if you can’t sleep routinely, this is one of the very first things to try. 2) A sleep mask. 3) A breathing meditation. 4) No cell phones or iPads reachable from the bed
I first do a 7 minute pm qigong routine from Lee Holden, then I use Sleep Well guided meditation (aka hypnotherapy) by Surf City apps.
I never had big problems falling asleep but if that happens, I usually try to meditate and calm my mind or put on a relaxing type of music, like gongs and bells.
I set alarms with gentle chimes to remind me to start winding down well before bedtime, after which I also don’t watch TV. I have a fountain and plants in my bedroom to improve the air quality (a humidifier is also nice during certain seasons), and a glass of water by the bedside. I have a white noise generator that I use to minimize outside noise. I have a scarf that I use like a blindfold to block out all light in my bedroom. I find this more helpful than blackout curtains because natural light helps me wake up in the morning. I use LED lightbulbs that can be programmed to change their settings, getting dimmer and warmer as the time approaches bedtime. They’re also programmed to turn off at bedtime and start turning on again and get brighter and bluer near wakeup time. This also helps me establish a regular schedule so I sleep and wake at approximately the same time every night, without the "social jet lag" of different workday and off-day sleep schedules. I try to take a walk outside during the morning or at lunch to make sure my body knows when daytime is! I use twilight (blue blocker) apps on all my computers and my phone that automatically adjust at sunset/, sunrise. I also leave my laptop out of my bedroom, and use two apps to help with enforcing bedtime as sleep time: one helps me circumvent mental chatter by telling me a gentle bedtime story which I choose each night, and once the story has started I turn on an app that does not let me use my phone at all (without breaking progress on a goal) during the hours I have chosen for bedtime and wake time. The app also helps encourage/enforce regularity by resetting the goal progress if I change those times in the app.
I do a few things: I go to bed only when I’m tired. I make sure my room is tidy, I turn on my lamp, get my book ready, turn down my bed, have the room cool. I personally usually have no problem falling asleep but sometimes wake up during the night. If I can’t fall back asleep, I use one of the meditations or Sleep stories on the Calm app. If there is some particular thought buzzing in my head - if there is something I can do about it, I write it down to action the next day. Other random thoughts I let pass and go back to my breathing meditation. Hope that helps :)
Answers reflect the personal experiences of Fabulous community members. They are not medical or professional advice — for guidance about your health, talk to a qualified professional.
