Turning in your bed from one side to another, staring at the ceiling, checking on the clock every 5 minutes. If these things sound familiar you are probably experiencing sleeping problems like 50-70 million Americans. According to the American Sleep Association these many people suffer from some sort of sleeping disorder. The most common of all is the insomnia which can have numerous causes among which depression, stress, bad sleeping habits, taking certain medications, and others. The recommendations by the health organizations are that an average adult should get between 7-9 hours of sleep every day. However, the reality is quite different and around 35% Americans get less than 7 hours of sleep daily, which may affect their mood and health. But no matter the cause of your sleeping problem, there seems to be an easy solution that will allow you to overcome the issue and make you fall asleep in just two minutes. What is great is that it’s all natural, no meds or any kinds of pills involved.

This is actually a sleeping technique used by the military and was first described in the book Relax and Win: Championship Performance by Lloyd Bud Winter. The book was first published in 1981 and teaches us how to fall asleep in a matter of minutes, the way soldiers do, even with bombing and gunfire in the background. In the book, Winter explains, “The US Navy Pre-Flight School developed a scientific method to fall asleep day or night, in any conditions, in under two minutes. After six weeks of practice, 96 percent of pilots could fall asleep in two minutes or less. Even after drinking coffee, with machine gunfire being played in the background.” This is how it works. The first thing to do is to sit on the edge of the bed with only the bedside light on. What follows is relaxing the facial muscles by scrunching up the face. Next you should try relax your arms and shoulders, while breathing in and out. Listen to yourself breathing and relax the chest more and more while breathing out. After this, try to relax your legs. Once the body is relaxed, we should now do the same with our mind. Clear it for ten seconds and then choose to do one of the following: you may either try to picture yourself lying in a canoe looking at the blue sky, picture yourself in a pitch-black room lying in a velvet hammock, or chant “don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” for ten seconds. Once these three relaxing steps are accomplished, the body is calm and ready to fall asleep in a couple of minutes time.

Although this may not be a success for some people, many find it useful and say it helps them fight the insomnia. However, don’t expect for this technique to work after the very first try. According to the author, in order for it to start working, you should practice it for at least six weeks. Around 96% of the military men say it worked for them. So if you feel like it’s not working for you, you may try switching between the mind relaxing techniques and see which one suits you best. Are you among those who suffer from a sleeping disorder? If yes, would you give this sleeping trick a try?