A good night’s sleep is essential for optimal health. Your body gets a chance to recuperate and repair itself from the effects of the activities it has done during the course of a day when individuals are sleeping. Not only will individuals find themselves feeling tired when they haven’t slept well, but they are most likely to find it difficult to focus on tasks and work during the next day. A bout of insomnia can be immensely frustrating for individuals. Fortunately, there is a handful of techniques and tricks they can practice for falling asleep in order to ensure that they wake up completely refreshed and ready to face a new day.

Listed below are some of these effective techniques:

Remove Distractions

There is a possibility that individuals are unable to fall asleep because their mind is on overdrive. You need to halt your racing mind and remove all the distractions for relaxing completely. The lights should be turned off and drapes should be closed to prevent outside light from sifting in. Often, the television is a major stimulus that prevents individuals from sleeping and it should be turned off. Computer use and reading are some other stimuli to be avoided. It is key to keep things quiet and calm so children and pets shouldn’t be allowed into the room. Their movements can be disturbing when one wants to fall asleep.

Mental Tricks

Visualizing sheep and counting them as they cross your imagination is one of the oldest tricks in the books for falling asleep. Other counting games like counting backwards from 300 can also be used. Take your time and focus on the numbers while breathing in and out slowly. Keep your mind clear while you are counting and breathing and visualize yourself as resting peacefully or asleep while doing so.

Reset Your Body

Even after repeated attempts, you are unable to fall asleep, and then you need to get out of bed and let your body relax. Take a long shower or run a warm bath. Make tea containing valerian root or chamomile as both comprise of relaxing agents. Caffeinated drinks should be avoided as they will keep you awake. Do some light stretches before going to be again. One or two stretches of yoga accentuated by slow, relaxing and deep breaths will aid in relieving tension from the body.

Adjust Your Bedding

The comfort of the bed is often an overlooked factor in falling asleep, even though it’s highly important. Hot spots often develop in older beds, which are areas of the mattress that retain body heat and become uncomfortable and lumpy. Rotate or flip your mattress or change your sleeping side. Position the pillows in a way that your neck and head feel completely comfortable. Change the sheets if they feel itchy in any way. Heavy comforters should also be removed from the bed and light layers of covering should be used and they aid in maintaining an even body temperature and encourage sleep in this way.