Name: What If You Can't Fall Asleep?
Uploaded: 2026-02-05T17:04:51.000Z
Duration: 3 min 24 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Gerund

Getting a good night's rest is important to your physical and mental health.

But for many people, falling asleep can be a challenge.

There are a lot of different reasons why this could be the case, such as overstimulation from electronics, sound or light disturbances, certain medications, or stress.

Identifying and eliminating the cause can get you over that hurdle.

But if you're still having trouble, there are other things you can do to help you fall asleep.

What it all comes down to is relaxation, baby.

When you're in bed and ready to sleep, after you've gotten rid of any sources of stimulation, it's time to relax your body and mind.

Since that's easier said than done because, you know, it seems like the whole world is falling apart around you.

Let's go over a few different relaxation methods.

The first is controlled breathing, or pranayama breathing.

This is a series of slow, deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Scientists believe this has an effect on both the nervous system and the production of melatonin, which helps to relieve stress and promote relaxation.

The first relaxation method you can try is mindfulness meditation.

This couples slow, steady breathing with focusing on the moment.

Studies have found that it helps to manage stress and reduce anxiety.

One way of doing this is through body scan meditation.

This works by paying attention to the things your body is experiencing, like the position of your head or the sensations in your legs.

This helps you keep your focus on what's happening right now.

Or you could try progressive muscle relaxation.

This method was reportedly used by Navy airmen during World War II to fall asleep in just two minutes, and

some military service members still use it today.

In this method, while you slowly breathe in and out, you tense and then relax each group of your muscles working your way down your body.

While this technique was developed to help patients with anxiety, studies have found that it can also effectively treat chronic insomnia and reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.

Another method that has demonstrated its abilities to fight insomnia and improve sleep is imagery training, also called guided imagery or visualization.

In this method, you calm down by picturing a relaxing place and focus on all the details.

How it looks, sounds, feels, smells, and tastes.

Like right now, I'm on my brain island, relaxing on a lounge chair.

Bob hasn't asked me 692 times to make macaroni squares, whatever the heck that is.

And you can hear the imaginary waves crash into the brain because the animator downloaded a sound effect for it anyway.

While these methods may take some time to master, with a little practice, soon you'll be sleeping like a baby.

So does it take you a long time to fall asleep?

Let me know in the comment section below.

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Click here to watch this video we did on sleep and click here to watch this video.

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