When you are trying to fall asleep, what do you think about?

I do a breathing exercise. I breath in through my nose for a count of four, hold it for a count of four, then exhale through my mouth for a count of four. Rest. Repeat.

Helps me to relax.

I imagine a beautiful thing I've seen recently - an image, a work of art, a view of natural scenery. I try to decide what makes it beautiful.

I tense up individual parts of my body as tightly as i can for a count of ten, and then let them completely relax.

Imagine what it’s gonna be like in the morning when I salute myself and proceed to touch the affected area.

Romantic/sexual fantasies always relax me

These are all great strategies. I will think about them all as I lie awake in bed, my mind racing with all the possible ways to fall asleep.

I decorate rooms. I think of color, furniture, fabrics and where I would want to live if money were no object.

When I was a child I always dreaded the dark and going to sleep and so I would tell myself that if I just went to sleep as quickly as possible then the night would pass by more quickly and I wouldn’t even notice how scary it was.

Now I listen to white noise or some other ambient sound video on YouTube, though I’ve read this is a terrible habit to pick up.

If you’re having chronic problems going to sleep there are a few general things you can do that help most people:

Get outside and do some exercise in the morning sunshine when you first get up. It will help regulate your circadian rhythm.

Not looking at any screen two hours before bed is a hard one, but definitely use a blue light blocking tool if your device has one.

Don’t drink alcohol near bedtime. A lot of people think this helps them get to sleep but it might just be making them pass out. Restful sleep and a drunken stupor are not the same.

Reshtful shleep ish shertainly not the shame ash a drunken shtupor!

r3 By "individual body parts", do you mean only your butthole? Be honest.

I go through Latin noun declensions.

I take a sleeping pill

Penis.

I jerk off and then roll over.

I do a metta meditation where I repeat the phrase "May I be peaceful" over and over in my head. (More often I do this after I've woken up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep)

Lately, I've been imagining a metal grate, like the kind on the street. And I imagine water dropping through the grate. My thoughts are like the water. There's time to think those same thoughts, tomorrow.

Nothing. I can fall asleep easily anywhere

I usually fall asleep pretty quickly, but if I'm worried or otherwise not nodding off right away, I try to visualize driving across my state, interchange by interchange. (I live in Washington State, so it's a scenic drive that I have made many times).

Focusing on the low-key white noise coming from my C-Pap, and on the rhythm of my breathing, I go quickly under.

Death

I name guest stars on Will & Grace or Friends, or try to name a category of some thing using each letter of the alphabet e.g. cars, flowers, vegetables, countries, zoo animals.

I plan perennial gardens in my imagination.

Hey R7 that's exactly what I do. I've never met anyone else who does that, only on DL. I thought it was a unique little quirk of mine.

Lately, when redecorating Aunt Mabel’s ugly cottage isn’t cutting it,I discovered these YouTube videos. For me, they work, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night; they help me get back to sleep. However, I went through a number of genres before I found the one I liked—hard rain and thunder

"P.S. My partner can't stand lightning sounds, but I was too sleep-deprived to care. My motto: my sleep, my rules! Surprisingly, within days, it's not just me catching Z's, but him too.

R23 here,I forgot to mention that with most of the rain videos, the screen will go very dark, and you’ll just hear the sound. Also, you might have to adjust your TV settings. Some videos turn off after a couple of hours of use.

What about the periodic interruptions for ads, R24?

I visualise the last long haul flight that I took (I live in Sydney so “long haul” = 20+ hours) starting with every step from leaving home. I usually make it to the lounge before falling asleep.

I listen to podcasts on topics I'm not overly interested in and audio books of classics I've read already.

I think about being roughly used by a group of black men.

I fantasize about how much better generic Ambien once worked for me than it does now.

I think about the good looking guys who were hungry for me in the bars back in 1995- they would lean forward to try to catch my glance.

R24 There are no ads at all. It's just by sheer coincidence that I found an article about someone who makes them, and he says there's very little money to be made because of the lack of ads.

I keep my Jonathan Adler ceramic mini canister, Valley of the Dolls, by my nightstand along with an airport-sized vodka bottle. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I pop a pill, take a swig of vodka, and boom, I'm asleep.

ASMR on YouTube. You have to try a few different channels until you find a style and a voice that lulls you to sleep.

This thread is making me sleepy.

I say Hail Marys

Getting a luxurious blowjob from an enthusiastic, noisy hottie if I haven't just enjoyed one.

In which case I'm already asleep.

I've never gotten ASMR but I started following this lady who does different types of it. The videos I must like of her are her going through old (some really really old) magazines and catalogs while she just chats and reminisces or comments on the stuff in the magazines. Between her soft, calming voice and demeonor, talking about the past and memories and the genuinely interesting old magazines she reads, my anxiety lowers in 2 seconds.

I try not to fall asleep.

Like R21, I sometimes play the Alphabet Game. But lately I've been watching old seasons of the Antiques Roadshow UK on the Roku Channel, so once in bed I now try to remember at least 10 things I saw on that night's episode. Sometimes it's a snap, sometimes a struggle (were there any clocks, medals, dolls, Beatles memorabilia, Lalique, Faberge, Staffordshire, etc.?), but it always puts me to sleep.

And like R5, concocting plausible romantic/sexual fantasies works, too.

Thanks r39. I didn't know it had a name.

I also recite the Greek alphabet. Can never remember it all.

Or the police alphabet Bravo Tango whatever it's called. Also can never remember it all.

A guy who fucked me excellently in college. I come up with scenarios where we did it more than the one time.

I listen to the sleep stories on the CALM and headspace apps. They are designed to help you fall asleep and work for me.

The first rule of not being able to fall asleep? Don't give it a care. I just grab my phone and turn CBC radio on, and then tuck the phone under my pillow and listen to some great shows, I fall asleep when my body wants to. Yes, I still have to be at work in the morning, and yeah, maybe a tougher day, or maybe not, but I just won't let myself get stressed about it.

I listen to calming podcasts - usually self-help/mindfulness, or the sleepy stories variety. I take a microdose of melatonin 30 minutes before I lie down and am usually out in 5-10 minutes.

sex.

Him acting.

OP, I have struggled with insomnia since I was about three years old.

One thing that I find helps is counting down from 500 by 3s. I'm forced to focus on something restively mindless, so my mind can't drift to whatever worry is keeping me up at the moment. It works pretty well.

r48 Very interesting. I will try that. I used to count up, but it wasn't very relaxing.

r45 How much is a microdose? Like a quarter of a 1mg melatonin tablet?

I am a low brow insomniac these days. I put TvLand on at 11 pm and dose off to King of Queens - about 2 am Seinfeld is on for a few hours. The local news starts at 4 am. I take care of my old sick mom and I have been almost suicidal lately - money, health, life - too much quiet isn’t my friend. Things are always better in the morning.

I used to take melatonin but haven't tried it again in about 15 years. Kept it out of my house when I found out my brother's ex was using it on their 2 pre-schoolers. Both girls eventually needed speech therapy.

Not in my house when I'm babysitting.

I assume it's ok for adults. Some people are fortunate enough to get sleepy from ibuprofen but I'm told it can also raise blood pressure in those same people, like me.

I read wikipedia articles, usually about serial killers, terrorists, venomous snakes and WW2 battles. I occasionally dream about snakes or people trying to kill me but it does help me fall asleep.

Cannabis Gummies, problem solved.

Apparently it's more common than I thought. First time I walked into a despensory they guided me right there and said "is this for sleep, we get a lot of people your age looking for that". Gummies are there number one seller for people in the "elder" age group.

I quit caffeine around two years ago. I still kind of miss coffee. I still get insomnia. However, I fall asleep faster and earlier, now. I don't have insomnia as much as I used to.

I think about what I am going to wear tomorrow to my job at big law. HUGE BORE, always works.

RF23 R24 I use those rain videos as well.

I recognize the one you put up. I've actually used that one before. My favorite channel is the one hosted by LUCASTA who has many such videos with different levels of rain and/or thunder mixed in. The one at link is my go-to.

[quote] How much is a microdose? Like a quarter of a 1mg melatonin tablet?

Yes, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3, depending how small I can cut the tablet.

Wet ass pussy

I can never shut off my mind so I need a distraction. I watch the news believe it or not. Turn it down low so I can just hear it, takes my mind off of whatever I am fixated on during the day and try for a little while to concentrate on what other people are saying. Then when a commercial comes on, I tell myself I still want to hear what's going on but just close my eyes until the commercials are over. Then boom, fast asleep.