As title. Got my wee book of zen-thinking for nodding off but i feel even too wound up for that today.

Stop my cognitive thought!

Read some of the threads you’ve started?

EDIT: Sorry, couldn’t resist. 🙂

Or read mine.

Deep breathing. Think about filling your lungs. Then fill them a bit more, to your stomach. Then empty your lungs, completely.
Repeat.

Concentrate on a little orb in your big toe moving vveeerrrryyyyy sllllowwwwlllly up through your foot, up through your legs etc. Hopefully, by the time the orb gets to your head, you’ve fallen asleep.

Well if it all kicks off in the Crimea and WW3 starts perhaps we won’t have to think about how to get to sleep any more as we’ll all be dead. Which somehow feels like a relief, sometimes. Like now.

Tell yourself a bed-time story based on little animals driving heavy machinery. Just keep going with the surrealism – work it like a Max Mallett, spontaneous storylines etc… generally works for me.

Bottle of whisky should do it.

In all seriousness, I’ve always found doing this zen shizzle at bedtime to be counter-productive. We often associate relaxation with sleep, but we can be relaxed and wide awake too, which really is the whole premise of Zen. To be completely lucid. And there’s something about trying to sleep that will guarantee you will never get to sleep.

Do it earlier in the evening. You’ll still be more settled come bedtime, and you’ll hopefully be thinking about sleep less when the time comes, and thus more likely to sleep. Failing that, book or film in bed…

Beer Wine Whyskey and step away from the device that is making your brain more active.

Pick your favourite MTB route and imagine in detail that you are riding it. See how far you get before you drop off (good pun but honestly not intended).

Deep breathing. Think about filling your lungs. Then fill them a bit more, to your stomach. Then empty your lungs, completely.Repeat.

This has worked for me, in the past.

I’ve also used counting sheep, which takes your mind off of what’s keeping you awake. I found that only worked sporadically though.

These days, I tend to just think about riding, or my kids, and eventually drift off.

As Matt Johnson from The The once wrote –
“, I’ve got too much energy to switch off my mind
But not enough to get myself organised”

Never been a great sleeper, unfortunately.

I picture blackness and don’t let any other thoughts into my head if I’m struggling.

Red-dot meditation works for me. Or beer, lots of it.

talksport on the radio – better than a blow to the head. (not right now, 10pm-1am it’s good)
coughcoughmumbleoneoffthewristcoughmumble

^ the missus doesn’t always react favourably to that one

EDIT: the radio, of course….ahem

I always used to re-ride spooky woods in my head.. not working tonight as been in pain and been napping all day..

Don’t bother with that counting sheep crap. I’ve never had more than two sheep in my bedroom at any one time, so at best it takes two seconds.

Stop drinking caffeine after 1pm / lunchtime.
Think about a blank rectangulat blackboard with nothing written on it.
Try reading a book you have already read.
Switch off all electronics 30 mins before you want to go to sleep.
Maybe do more prep for the morning so you are not getting frazzled by rushing around at 0700 to get out the door asap.

Then relax and stop worrying about stuff that you have no control over , and at the end of the day are not really that important.
I used to suffer from what i call 100mph head. Body really tired and just wanting sleep, brain going full tilt trying to sort out work related problems. Till I stopped caring more than neccessary about work related issues . Now normally fully asleep within 10 mins of lights out , and 8 – 9 hrs later wake up, even at 8.30pm.

Colleagues stay up till 11 as they ‘ dont feel they have had any free time ‘ if they go to bed early . What do they do with all the extra ‘freetime’ they have by staying up later?
Watch rubbish tele.

I always try and remember my favourite route up blencathra. That usually does it. Trying to remember what comes next takes my mind if stuff and I’m off pretty quickly. Unusual for that not to work for me.