How to cure insomnia and fall asleep in 10 seconds
The sleep hack used by the military that will cure your insomnia and help you fall asleep in just 10 SECONDS
- An effective method to fall asleep in ten seconds is going viral
- The ‘military method’ was first used by soldiers to fall asleep in difficult situations
- It involves relaxing muscles, breathing techniques and visualizations
A pediatrician has explained a new method to cure insomnia that can put you to sleep in minutes and, with some practice, in about 10 seconds.
Called the “Military Method,” it was reportedly popularized by soldiers in the United States Army who would use it to fall asleep in awkward conditions.
First documented in Lloyd Bud Winter’s 1981 book Relax and Win: Championship Performance, it was claimed to have a 96 percent success rate after just six weeks of practice.
The method involves muscle relaxation, breathing and visualization tricks and is outlined in a video by Dr. Jess Andrade, a pediatrician and osteopath in Boston.
The method requires you to put yourself in a quiet scene to clear your mind of distracting thoughts. One suggestion was on a canoe on a still lake
First, relax your whole face, including all your facial muscles. If it helps, you can start with your forehead and work your way down, relaxing your jaw, cheeks, mouth, tongue, and even eyes.
Then lower your shoulders and hands and let them fall down naturally with gravity. Relax your neck and arms, starting at the top of your right arm and moving slowly to your biceps, forearms and hands. Repeat on the other left side.
Continue to breathe slowly and deeply. Exhale and relax your chest.
Now relax your legs. Start with your right thigh and sink it into the chair or bed. Then do the same with your calf, ankle and foot and repeat the process with your left leg.
Clear your mind now. If you’re having a hard time, try keeping an image in mind (one suggestion is to imagine a canoe on a still, calm lake).
You should then fall asleep. While it can take up to two minutes when you first try, that can be reduced to about ten seconds with practice.
The method involves muscle relaxation, breathing, and visualization tricks, and is outlined in a video by Dr. Jess Andrade, a pediatrician and osteopath in Boston
Dr. Lindsay Browning said the method works because it “replaces unwanted thoughts in your mind with the task at hand — successively relaxing your muscles in your body.”
The Trouble Sleeping expert, and author of the self-help book Navigating Sleeplessness, added that there’s also a physical element, because the more your muscles relax, the less stressed and anxious you’ll feel.
She said, “The military sleep method is very similar to the progressive muscle relaxation technique I teach my insomnia clients. Often people cannot sleep because their heads are too busy or because they are physically anxious.’
Browning said there are other relaxation techniques you can do in bed to help with sleep, including “take slow, deep breaths and do mental calculations, such as your multiplication table of sevens or counting back from 1,000 in threes.”
However, she insisted that additional help may be required depending on the severity of the situation.
“If you have a serious sleep problem, you may need extra help, and a relaxation technique may not cut it,” she said. “CBT-I is the scientifically proven recommended treatment for insomnia and helps people learn how to sleep again.”