I used to be the champion of all sleepers. When I was about 5 years old, my dad tried to wake me to watch our cat have kittens and I pretty much told him to stuff it. Not even the miracle of kitten birth could be better than my bed. For some stupid reason now that Iβm grown up, Iβm having trouble sleeping. Once Iβm asleep, Iβm fine. I could sleep for years but getting to sleep is proving to be quite the pain in the arse for me. Iβve tried a few different things over the years (researching tricks to fall asleep is a weird hobby of mine) but I’ve been trying these recently and they seem to help. Tip: try them on rotation. I think it’s better if you try to surprise your brain with something different each night. Here are 3 weird little tricks to help you fall asleep.
Β 1. Breathe only through your left nostrilΒ
This is a technique I learned at my yoga retreat in Bali last year. You lie on your side and block your right nostril and breathe slowly and deeply only through your left nostril. My yoga guru said itβs great for regulating your body temperature so itβs great for women who are menstruating or men that are made of lava.
2. Have a cold shower before bedΒ
If you want to get to sleep, you need to drop your core body temperature. Have a super quick cold shower and jump into bed. Youβll doze off in no time – this is why itβs so much easier to sleep in winter!
3. Put some socks onΒ
Have you been camping or slept over at a friendβs house and been totally unable to sleep because your feet were cold? Thatβs an actual thing; if your feet are cold you will not be able to fall asleep. So hop up and get your tootsies all nice and warm and then you can easily doze off to sleep.
Do you have trouble sleeping? Or staying asleep? Any remedies youβd like to share?
P.S Also you should totally sign up for my newsletter.Β Itβs full of cool stuff.
P.P.S Donβt forget Crochet Coach has a free trial offer period at the moment so make sure you sign up!
22 Comments
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For some silly reason I find 99.9% of the time I can’t fall asleep until my husband is in bed beside me snoring. Super annoying that I can be in bed and awake for hours, then he comes to bed, and I’m asleep soon after. I love my sleep time and my bed. Maybe I was a sleepy cat in a previous life. π
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I’m a bit similar actually! Mr Smaggle comes to bed at least 2 hours after me but if I spoon him for just 5 minutes, I’m out like a light!
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Great ideas! I have no trouble sleeping at all, guess i am just lucky! It can be annoying at times to though, especially when i all i want to do is lay in bed and read and i only ever seem to get a page or two read before i’ve nodded off!! Takes me forever to get through a book these days LOL.:)
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You are so lucky! You have kids though – I suspect you take sleep whenever you can get it!
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Love these tips! I have trouble falling asleep all the time, so I have two little techniques I use to help me… I will think about something simple, silly and lovely – like what I want to wear the next day. So I’ll think about the weather, what I’d like to wear, which shoes I’ll pick out and by the time I get to my accessories or how I want to do my hair, I’m generally fast asleep! The other trick I use is to concentrate solely on my breathing: in for four counts, out for four counts. By the time my mind chatter goes silent and I’m somewhat meditating, I’m also somewhat sleeping. x
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Oh I love those ones! I also have a sleep mediation that I listen to sometimes that I love. It goes for about 13 minutes but I’m usually conked out by that stage! π
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Such cool tips! I’m totally going to try these out. If I’m really desperate I spray a bit of Lavender spray around the room, and I’ve heard a few drops of lavender essential oil on the pillow can work a treat too!
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Oh definitley! I find that lavender oil works for a while and then it stops working and I need to give it a break but it can knock me right out if I haven’t used it in a while!
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I am the worst sleeper. I find that letting go and not stressing about the sleep works for me. I get up enjoy the quiet world that is all mine and know that eventually, my exhausted body will sleep. If not today, then tomorrow or the next day.
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Tried to do this again last night and just didn’t work! I’m totally sucking at it!
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I’m still not absolutely certain that this works, but… http://www.byrdie.com/how-to-fall-asleep-fast x
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Oh I’ve seen that and I’ve tried it but I think I got it wrong… Will try it again tonight! π
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Oh man, I came in to post the same link that Maxabella did! It sounds crazy, but the premise is that you breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds. It helps regulate your heartbeat and calm you down. I tried it last night when I couldn’t sleep because I’d had caffeine too late, and it absolutely helped slow my too-rapid heartrate and *probably* helped me fall asleep quicker.
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I have to be so careful about late in the day caffeine. It leaves me all buzzy!
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I used to be a great sleeper too. Then i went out with an arse hat who inflicted a certain amount of emotional pain about 16 months ago and I’ve struggled since then. I struggle to fall asleep and then I either wake up at 11pm and stay awake until about 3am or I wake at 2am and don’t fall asleep again until 5am or just before my alarm.
None of the tricks work. Only prescription pills. Which I ran out of a long time ago and my hatred for GPs and their floozy grasp on time and keeping to scheduled appointments has prevented me from getting more.
Sigh. Today is not a good day.-
Oh my god that’s the actual worst! I can’t handle GPs either. They drive me totally bonkers. Try the breathing tip that a few readers linked to here – the 7:4:8. It’s actually really good!
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I find using one of those fancy eye mask things (like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanys, she wears that turquoise coloured one with fake eyelashes on the outside of it?) really helps me. No idea how I even got my first one, but I’m so glad it’s in my life now. When I pop it on it kinda forces my eyes to stay closed and tells my brain it’s time for rest. Plus it keeps any sneaky early morning sun beams from waking me up before my alarm π
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Mr Smags and I always wear eyemasks. Can’t sleep without them now. We’re both Canberra kids and used to sleeping in pitch black dark so when we moved to the city in Melbourne we just couldn’t sleep because it’s never truly dark in Fitzroy. Now, I need it all the time. I bought mine off Etsy but the lady doesn’t make them anymore and I’m so sad about that. π
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Love these tips Carly. I sleep ok but wake up during the early hours sometimes finding it hard to get back to sleep. V x
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There’s an app called Buddify that has a wee hours rescue meditation – perhaps you could try that?
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I’ve had this struggle for quite a few years. A lot of it is to do with back and shoulder pain but there are times that I just can’t get to sleep or wake up early hours of the morning and can’t get back to sleep. I’ll have several days of this then be so damn exhausted that I’ll finally get one good nights sleep. I’m definitely going to be trying these out tonight as I’m positive I’ll need to.
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