This military trick helps them fall asleep in 2 minutes: does it work for everyone?

Last time sleeping trick used military with which they supposedly only need 2 minutes fall into the arms of Morpheus. Who has never wanted to fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow? It would be ideal if this worked. However, as explained in the article for Talk sleep expert from Australia’s CQUniversity Dean J. MillerThis is not so simple and is not necessary for the vast majority of the population.

That doesn’t mean this sleep trick doesn’t work. It won’t be foolproof, and neither will the sleep trick. But yes Effective in many cases in the living conditions of military personnel. The fact is that in the case of civilians fall asleep too quickly It could even be an indicator of poor rest during the previous day. One day nothing happens, but if it happens frequently, we will have to find a way to change the daily routine.

However, the sleep military trick can be used by other people. Essentially, this is a fragment of techniques that are commonly used to help people with insomnia. Let’s see what it consists of and then analyze which part should be taken with caution.

What is the secret of military sleep?

The military sleep trick has three parts. The first one, known as progressive muscle relaxationconsists of contracting and relaxing the muscles of the face, shoulders, arms, legs and feet. It can even be made fuller by contracting other muscles, such as the buttocks. The main thing is to do it from top to bottom.

The second part of this sleep trick is to do calm and controlled breathingwith long exhalations.

Finally, it is recommended visualize a peaceful scenefor example, swimming in calm water or lying in a quiet field.

What do sleep experts say?

In fact, the three steps this sleep trick uses are part of something known as Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). It is the psychological therapy that has been shown to be the most effective and has the most scientific evidence in helping people with sleep problems. It also consists of several parts.

First, logically, this cognitive therapy. Often, sleep problems stem from some kind of worry or belief, which can even get worse with each night of poor sleep. This can be cured thanks to cognitive therapy, the function of which is Identify and change negative thinking patterns and irrational beliefs.

Secondly, CBT-I recommends control incentives it may affect sleep. This ranges from the intensity of the light to the temperature of the room in which we are going to sleep.

The third step of this therapy encourages patients use the bed only for sleeping (and a little more). We must train our brains to associate the bedroom in general and the bed in particular with rest, so we should only go to bed when we are ready to sleep. This creates a stronger connection between stimulus and response and helps us sleep better.

Of course there is a fourth step based on sleep hygiene. This consists of established and beneficial sleep patterns, such as avoiding drinking alcohol or caffeine in the last hours of the day, taking a warm bath, or maintaining a consistent schedule.

And this is where the fun begins. The fifth step consists of use techniques that help us calm downHow Jacobson’s progressive relaxation, controlled breathing or mindfulness.

This last point is a stratagem. Jacobson’s progressive relaxation consists of gradually contract and relax musclesas recommended by the military. Breathing techniques are very diverse. For example, very useful abdominal breathingwhich tries to move primarily the diaphragm located between the chest and abdomen. Essentially, what you achieve by doing this is a sigh conscious and relaxed. Exactly what the military recommends. And finally attentiveness This requires us to focus on the here and now and learn to pay attention only to the stimuli of what we are doing in each moment, without thoughts of the past or future invading our minds. However, these types of methods are often also accompanied by visualization exercises. The third point of the military’s sleepy trick.

So is this useful or not?

The Dream Trick involves one of the five pillars of CBT-I. So we might think that this is not enough. However, as Miller explains, the army already subconsciously has some other pillars.

For example, they are great at keeping the bed (or sleeping bag) to sleep only. During training, they often have a spartan sleep schedule. What Not executed when they are doing maneuvers or on a missionOf course, but yes in other cases too. In these cases, in fact, the only thing they can control It’s how they breathe, what they do with their muscles, and what they think about. They are advised to focus only on what depends on them and it will not escape your control. This is what is usually recommended in cognitive behavioral therapy with many other applications, not just sleep related. Despite all this, and also because they are very trained people and are accustomed to using their energy resources as efficiently as possible, this can work for them. They can even fall asleep within 2 minutes.

But don’t expect to fall asleep in 2 minutes.

As Miller explains in his article, for a civilian with a “normal” daily routine, falling asleep at 8 minutes unusual and do it in less than 5 minutes Iindicates excessive daytime sleep. Let’s not talk about 2 minutes. The norm would be to fall asleep 10-20 minutes after the start of class.

Therefore, you should not try to reproduce this military sleep trick point by point. CBT-I is much more suitable for the majority of the population, especially if we meet most of the points. Because in general our sleep hygiene and the environment in which we go to sleep within our controlLet’s start with the fight against insomnia.