How to Fall Asleep And Stay Asleep [INFOGRAPHIC]

Do you want to know how to fall asleep fast at night? Try these effective tips to boost your sleep!

RELATED: 5 Cool Sleep Tricks You Probably Haven’t Heard About

In this article: 

1. Always Sleep on Your Right Side 

2. Slow Down Your Breathing

3. Bed by 10:30 PM at Least or Maybe Even a Little Earlier

4. Regulate Your Pulse Rate

5. Use a Massage Tool

6. Visualize Happy Thoughts and Images

7. Try Reading

8. Minimize Caffeine Intake

9. Write Your Own Journal

10. Try Aromatherapy

11. Take Sleep-Promoting Supplements

How to Fall Asleep Quickly 

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Why You Need a Good Night’s Sleep

People will experience some sleepless nights and sleep problems several times in their lifetime. It’s fairly common for students studying for exams or busy individuals who lose themselves in their work during projects. Suffering constantly from lack of sleep, on the other hand, is a different story. Insomnia or sleep deprivation can cause other health problems in the long run. Here is the to-do list of suggestions and ways on how to fall asleep better:

1. Always Sleep on Your Right Side

Which side of your body do you favor when you fall asleep? According to experts, it’s better to turn to your right side for a good night’s sleep. Why? This is because your heart is on the left side and the liver is on the right side. Many people have either a fatty liver or a congested liver. When you sleep on your left side, the weight of the liver can press on the heart. 

It’s much better if the heart is sitting on top of the liver, which occurs when you’re on your right side. You’ll breathe and sleep better this way.

2. Slow Down Your Breathing

Focus on your breathing to get a good night’s sleep. When your adrenals are overstressed, the breathing is different. The exhalation is shorter than the inhalation. Here’s how you can slow your breathing to release excess adrenaline:

• Sync your breathing with an equal amount of inhalations and exhalations –  about 4-5 seconds each. Slow down the counting as you reach four or five while breathing in. 

• Breathe in, one-two-three-four, and then pause for a few seconds.

• Then, breathe out, one-two-three-four.

You’re slowly breathing in and slowly breathing out – as you’re falling asleep. That really helps you fall asleep faster. Some people catch themselves holding their breath as they’re trying to sleep. This is a really good thing to focus on as you drift off.

3. Go to Bed by 10:30 PM at Least or Maybe Even a Little Earlier

Here’s the problem: you miss out on your circadian rhythm when you go to bed past 10:30. What does this mean?

Circadian Rhythm Definition: Behavioral, mental, and physical changes in the body that follow a cycle in response to light and darkness, aka. sleep-wake cycle.

You might get tired around 9:30, and think, “Man, if I just went to bed now, I can sleep,” but then suddenly you wake up  – that’s what I’m talking about. Get to bed by 10:30 PM because the optimum time of that circadian wave is about 10:45-11:00.

That’s when your body drifts off into a sleep mode. I consistently go to bed at that time and can doze off very fast, but if I go to bed around 12, I’ll be laying there for an hour.

4. Regulate Your Pulse Rate

If you ever go to bed and hear your pulse rate on the pillow, what that means is you’re deficient in potassium. If you’re deficient in potassium, your heart will beat louder, harder, and at a higher pulse rate. Normal pulse rate is 72, sometimes 65 or 60 (if you’re in better shape). What you may want to do for this is to eat more vegetables because you don’t have enough potassium in your body. The pulse rate is a good indicator of low potassium, and if you increase those vegetables, you’ll drift off to sleep better.

But really, what causes potassium deficiency are two things: 1) stress and anxiety for many years (stress depletes your potassium), and 2) sugar. Eat too much sugar and it will definitely deplete your potassium causing your pulse rate to go higher.

5. Use a Massage Tool

The massage tool I use before I go to bed is a tool I developed for my own body. I have information on how to use it so you can get some good ideas. I work on my neck points before I go to bed. I do my mid back points, and I do my adrenal points every night before I go to bed. It’s a really simple no-brainer. I take it on vacation wherever I go because it helps me get to sleep fast.

There are certain acupressure points you work on in your neck, and your adrenals will just turn things off so you will sleep a lot better. It helps pull stress out, but it’s kind of a do-it-yourself model. Depending on how big you are, you can use the really small knob, the medium one, or the large one. You just have to massage the points indicated above to help your body relax and ultimately, fall asleep or have a good night’s rest.

RELATED: High Pulse Rate and Sleep Quality

6. Visualize Happy Thoughts and Images

How to fall asleep and stay asleep can be achieved if you learn how to visualize happy thoughts and images, too. Upon lying in bed, instead of thinking about stressful thoughts, try thinking about positive things you look forward to or make you happy. This helps you feel peaceful and relaxed. A study showed that imagery distraction with instructions helped participants with insomnia fall asleep faster. The activity aimed to occupy the participants' minds with good thoughts rather than concerns and worries.

7. Try Reading

Reading is a healthy activity as it primarily sharpens your imagination. Aside from that, it can also aid you in relaxing and staying calm before going to bed. Reading may also help your mind separate stress from sleep time. It is important to take note though that healthy reading should be done with the paper book, not the electronic one. Books read from electronic devices produce a type of bright light that may lower the production of melatonin, a hormone that stimulates the sleep-wake cycle. 

8. Minimize Caffeine Intake

Most people might like drinking coffee, especially in the morning as it may help them feel awake, but caffeine can have negative effects on your sleep if consumed in high amounts. Because caffeine promotes alertness by preventing chemicals in the brain that trigger good sleep or encourage regular sleep cycle, this will make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. The effects of caffeine may vary from one person to another, though, so it's advisable you should not consume caffeine at least six hours prior to sleep.

9. Write Your Own Journal

Writing a journal is a fun and creative activity, especially for people who have a passion for writing or who have a lot of thoughts in mind. It helps people express what they think and remove the thoughts from their minds. Writing down happy and positive events that happened in the day may help calm the mind, resulting in better sleep. Try writing something in your journal for a few minutes before going to sleep.

10. Try Aromatherapy

One popular way to fall asleep easy and fast is through aromatherapy. Aromatherapy uses essential oils that promote sleep, such as lavender, chamomile, and jasmine. The primary reason aromatherapy is good for sleeping is it relaxes your senses, which aids in helping you fall asleep faster. You can put the essential oil in your room at a distance you can slightly smell its scent or mix some in your warm bath at night. You can even apply it to your pressure points but you need to use a carrier oil, like coconut oil, to combine it with as the essential oil is extremely concentrated, which can irritate your skin.

11. Take Sleep-Promoting Supplements

Taking sleep-promoting supplements is also another way to fall asleep when you can’t. Supplements work by either calming your brain or enhancing the hormones that regulate sleep. You can try my Sleep Aid supplement; it is not a sleeping pill but something that helps in calming your body and allowing you to sleep better at night. Its formula contains nutrients and herbs safe for the body. It has zero melatonin, too! You can take one capsule 30 minutes before bedtime.

Don't forget to download, save, or share this handy infographic for reference:

Knowing how to fall asleep faster will help your body work better toward wellness. Getting time in dreamland helps your body heal from the day’s work and reduces your accumulated stress levels.

Have you experienced sleepless nights? What’s your bedtime routine? Share your own tips on how to fall asleep fast in the comments section below!

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Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on July 13, 2016, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.