For the past few nights I've had some trouble falling asleep. When I told my girlfriend, she told me to count sheep. Honestly. I told her I always thought that was a joke -- but she says she does it whenever she can't fall asleep and that it's very relaxing.

Well, I tried it last night and thought it was anything but relaxing. It was just more thinking -- it's hard for me to picture sheep --- and I believe I fall asleep best when my mind is "blank."

So:

Do you count sheep or some other animal/object when you can't fall asleep? Or do you have some other method to clear your mind and drift off?

i scream as loud as i can until i am too exhausted to continue then i drop off pretty quick

I've been having trouble sleeping too, and I tried to give it a go. Never worked. Just remained restless, like you said, just made me think even more. Trying to imagine sheep jumping over a fence irritated me for some reason.

I have a related question, to those who do count sheep. Do you count sheep walking, single file, through a gate. Or perhaps jumping, again single file, over a broken wall. Or do you imagine a big field of sheep and try and count them all??

Your neighbours must love you. :laugh:

I tried counting sheep once when I was a kid and it didn't work. Nowadays, I just have six.

Nope, can't do rhythmic things like that. The worst is when I play music in my head, and it gets stuck on the same loop for the entire night and makes it really difficult to go to sleep.

What I usually do is imagine dreams before they happen. Sort of set myself up in a "daydream" about something nice before falling to sleep. That way there's no melodic beat that keeps my brain ticking awake.

Edit: Also don't waggle your toes or move your feet around too much. It promotes blood circulation in the legs and makes it harder to go to sleep. You do the toe waggle in the morning when trying to wake up.

Your hand must love you :laugh:

Does anyone ever get pissed off when you are in deep thought about something silly before you go to sleep, then realise you were in deep thought, which leads to you back to thinking about how you can't sleep? "DAMN, I was so close to drifting off <_<"

:rofl:

I just stay up until I'm really exhausted, then it's pretty easy to fall asleep. If I try to sleep early I'll just end up lying there wide awake for hours.

Counting sheep never worked for me. NEVER.

Do you happen to be a young woman living in the Greater Geelong area? If not then my neighbour is far more murdery than I thought

Yes I count sheep...but I'm startled awake when a billy goat jumps over.

I have to have the TV on low, or some background noise. :mohawk: :snoring:

I can't sleep when it's too quiet.

I think the problem with it being too quiet is, at least for me, then I end up thinking and I stay awake faaaar longer; I'll seriously lay there for like two hours.

An impasse for me falling asleep with the TV on, though, is light. There cannot be light shining on my eyes in any form, hence me rolling away from it. Even the light on the receiver of the cable box are too bright. Can't do it

Anyways, some nights I have problems falling asleep absolutely horrendously, and when I have to wake up on a schedule for school or work, it results in me sleeping for five hours or less; the only way for me to fall asleep easily is to stay up so long I'm exhausted. :sadvaultboy:

Never counted sheep in my life for any reason... I don't have any techniques to get myself to sleep besides popping some Lunesta

>implying I can count

No, I don't. My technique for falling asleep is lying in bed for hours.

Yeah, songs kill me too. The dreaded endless loop. Bad songs mainly. Pop music.

Come to think of it I have been moving my feet a lot in bed for the past three days. . .hmmm. . .maybe that's why.

Counting sheep has never worked for me, unfortunately... I usually just occupy myself until I reach the point of utter exhaustion and then I lie down an sleep. I can't stand lying in bed and not being able to sleep, I have serious anxiety issues so lying there in the dark with my constant worrying and nothing to distract me is .... :pinch: ... very unpleasant.

songs on infinite loop have been killing my ability to fall asleep fast lately. Usually I can fall asleep in 20 minutes, but for the past week or so, it's been well past an hour because of stupid songs :banghead:

i imagine paint drying
it makes me sleepy

I take melatonin tablets. :thumbsup: Helps my mind shut up and go to sleep.

I just stay up really late until I pass out. The way I figure it, if I'm not tired, I don't need to sleep yet.

Wow...

20 posts in, and not a single Blade Runner/Electric Sheep reference? I am dissapoint.

Posted this again because I'm impatient and I think it got missed the first time round

A magical pill indeed, but one that never seems to be around when needed (or worse: I think "If I get up now what if I miss my chance to fall asleep? D: )


Or, because no one here counts sheep, so no one responded :teehee: