Awake During the Night?

Are you one of those who wake at 3:00 a.m. stay up for an hour or so then resume your nightly sleep?

If so, you’re likely counted in the 70 million Americans who suffer from insomnia.

Even though you might use sleep aids like melatonin, warm milk, shots of whiskey or other widely known methods to encourage sleep, you may have challenges falling asleep and staying asleep for the recommended 7 – 8 hours of nightly slumber.

As I was reading Dr Mercola’s newsletter published October 7, 2023, in the early morning hours before 5:00 a.m., I was fascinated to learn that the military provided guidelines to improve sleep. 

 “Relax and Win: Championship Performance,” is a book written in 1981, and claims to have a 96% success rate after six weeks of consistent implementation.

Why not try this? It’s natural, nothing to swallow and you only spend two minutes retraining your brain.

Military Method Preps Your Body for Sleep

The method centers around preparing your mind and body for sleep by deeply relaxing for about two minutes. The following summary of the process was published in the Evening Standard:

1. Relax your whole face, including your tongue, jaw, and the muscles around your eyes
2. Drop your shoulders and relax your arms
3. Relax your chest as you breathe out
4. Relax your legs, from your thighs to your feet
5. Relax and clear your mind, then picture yourself in one of the following scenarios:
   1. You’re lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but blue sky above you.  
   2. You’re snuggled in a black velvet hammock in a pitch-black room.
   3. Simply repeat “Don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” for 10 seconds.

This seems like a viable method of relaxing and preparing your mind and your body for sleep. I especially like the black velvet hammock scenario which is reminiscent of being snuggled and safe.

Sleep, sometimes elusive, is vitally important to our good health. Yes, 7 to 8 hours of sleep is recommended, or you might find yourself groggy and inattentive without it.