6 Weird Ways To Trick Your Mind Into Sleep That Actually Work

Jeffrey Durmer, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and sleep coach to the US Olympic Weightlifting Team, said the sounds and darkness of nature are natural ingredients for inducing sleep. After all, nature is known to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, reduce hard rate, and decrease muscle tension. 

To get to sleep, Durmer recommended thinking about nature — like the last time you slept in a remote cabin or laid out under the stars. This can even be as simple as starting a fire, lighting a candle, or spending “time on a porch, patio, or deck to allow darkness and quiet to reverberate in your mind, rather than light and noise,” Durmer said. 

Focus on the sound of your breath

Slow, deep belly breathing — like the 4-7-8 method in which you inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds and exhale for eight seconds ― is known to increase relaxation and bring on sleep. 

Furthermore, simply focusing on your breath can take the mind off other concerns and worries and bring you to the present moment. “Taking your focus away from the environment and placing it on something entirely in your control (the breath) helps the mind to settle and become calm,” Durmer said.  

Exhaust your mind, not your body

There’s a common misconception that exercising at night can help you sleep easier. But while working out tires your body out, it doesn’t necessarily exhaust your mind.

“After a marathon, your body might be tired, but that doesn’t mean your mind will be ready for sleep,” Conroy said. Note: Regular exercise improves sleep, in general, but exercising in order to fall asleep won’t do you much good.  

Instead of working out to facilitate sleep, Conroy recommended engaging in activities that can tire you out mentally. “We are social people, our brains love to learn, and so if you’re not engaging with the world in the day, it may affect your sleep,” Conroy said.  

Read a book, do puzzles — have something that you are really mentally engaged in. “Otherwise, there is no difference between the day and the night for some people,” Conroy said. 

This post originally appeared on HuffPost.