Just a quick one you're not terminal Ed please don't think that. Unless someone has told you are. New treatments are being found all the time, mu immunotherapy is for 2 years I've no idea if it will be successful I've had a lot of chemo and none has worked on my cancer so I'm hoping immunotherapy is different. Keep positive Ed and looking at the ocean. Apologies if I sound bossy but we all have to be positive to fight this flippin cancer. Take care

Hi Ed,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having bother with insomnia. I don't know whether or not you have tried the method used by the United States Navy Pre-Flight School? I cannot trace the original email, but the references are at the end of this article. I hope that this helps.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Sorry Ed,

I omitted to post the article on insomnia - here it is.

Regards,

Jolamine  

The fastest way to sleep?

Spending more time trying to fall asleep rather than actually sleeping? You’re not alone.

Just the act of trying too hard can cause (or continue) a cycle of anxious, nerve-wracking energy that keeps our minds awake.

And if your mind can’t sleep, it’s really difficult for your body to follow. But there are scientific tricks you can try to flip the switch and guide your body into a safe shutdown mode.

We cover some science-based tricks to help you fall asleep faster.

How to sleep in 10 seconds

It usually takes a magic spell to fall asleep this quickly and on cue, but just like spells, with practice you can eventually get to the sweet 10-second spot.

Note: The method below takes a full 120 seconds to finish, but the last 10 seconds is said to be truly all it takes to finally snooze.

The military method

The popular military method, which was first reported by Sharon Ackerman, comes from a book titled “Relax and Win: Championship Performance.”

According to Ackerman, the United States Navy Pre-Flight School created a routine to help pilots fall asleep in 2 minutes or less. It took pilots about 6 weeks of practice, but it worked — even after drinking coffee and with gunfire noises in the background.

This practice is said to even work for people who need to sleep sitting up!

The military method

1. Relax your entire face, including the muscles inside your mouth.
2. Drop your shoulders to release the tension and let your hands drop to the side of your body.
3. Exhale, relaxing your chest.
4. Relax your legs, thighs, and calves.
5. Clear your mind for 10 seconds by imagining a relaxing scene.
6. If this doesn’t work, try saying the words “don’t think” over and over for 10 seconds.
7. Within 10 seconds, you should fall asleep!

If this doesn’t work for you, you may need to work on the foundations of the military method: breathing and muscle relaxation, which have some scientific evidence that they work. Also, some conditions such as ADHD or anxiety may interfere with this method’s effectiveness.

Keep reading to learn about the techniques this military method is based on and how to practice them effectively.

How to sleep in 60 seconds

These two methods, which focus on your breathe or muscles, help you take your mind off topic and back to bed.

If you’re a beginner trying these hacks out, these methods may take up to 2 minutes to work.

4-7-8 breathing method

Mixing together the powers of meditation and visualization, this breathing method becomes more effective with practice. If you have a respiratory condition, such as asthma or COPD, consider checking with your doctor before beginning, as this could aggravate your symptoms.

To prepare, place the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, behind your two front teeth. Keep your tongue there the whole time and purse your lips if you need to.

How to do one cycle of 4-7-8 breathing:

1. Let your lips part slightly and make a whooshing sound as you exhale through your mouth.
2. Then close your lips and inhale silently through your nose. Count to 4 in your head.
3. Then hold your breath for 7 seconds.
4. After, exhale (with a whoosh sound) for 8 seconds.
5. Avoid being too alert at the end of each cycle. Try to practice it mindlessly.
6. Complete this cycle for four full breaths. Let your body sleep if you feel relaxation coming on earlier than anticipated.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)

Progressive muscle relaxation, also known as deep muscle relaxation, helps you unwind.

The premise is to tense — but not strain — your muscles and relax to release the tension. This movement promotes tranquility throughout your body. It’s a trick recommended to help with insomnia.

Before you start, try practicing the 4-7-8 method while imagining the tension leaving your body as you exhale.

Relaxation script

1. Raise your eyebrows as high as possible for 5 seconds. This will tighten your forehead muscles.
2. Relax your muscles immediately and feel the tension drop. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Smile widely to create tension in your cheeks. Hold for 5 seconds. Relax.
4. Pause 10 seconds.
5. Squint with your eyes shut. Hold 5 seconds. Relax.
6. Pause 10 seconds.
7. Tilt your head slightly back so you’re comfortably looking at the ceiling. Hold 5 seconds. Relax as your neck sinks back into the pillow.
8. Pause 10 seconds.
9. Keep moving down the rest of the body, from your triceps to chest, thighs to feet.
10. Let yourself fall asleep, even if you don’t finish tensing and relaxing the rest of your body.

As you do this, focus on how relaxed and heavy your body feels when it’s relaxed and in a comfortable state.

How to fall asleep in 120 seconds

If the previous methods still didn’t work, there might be an underlying blockage you need to get out. Try these techniques!

Tell yourself to stay awake

Also called paradoxical intention, telling yourself to stay awake may be a good way to fall asleep faster.

For people — especially those with insomnia — trying to sleep can increase performance anxiety.

Research has found that people who practiced paradoxical intention fell asleep faster than those who didn’t. If you often find yourself stressed out about trying to sleep, this method may be more effective than traditional, intentional breathing practices.

Visualize a calm place

If counting activates your mind too much, try engaging your imagination.

Some say that visualizing something can make it real, and it’s possible this works with sleep, too.

In a 2002 study from the University of Oxford, researchers found that people who engaged in “imagery distraction” fell asleep faster than those who had general distraction or no instructions.

Image distraction

1. Instead of counting sheep, try to imagine a serene setting and all the feelings that go with it. For example, you can imagine a waterfall, the sounds of echoing, rushing water, and the scent of damp moss. The key is to let this image take up space in your brain to prevent yourself from “re-engaging with thoughts, worries, and concerns” pre-sleep.

Acupressure for sleep

There’s not enough research to confidently determine if acupressure truly works. However, the research that’s available is promising.

One method is to target areas you know and feel are particularly tense, such as the upper part of your nose bridge or your temples.

However, there are also specific points in acupressure that are reported to help with insomnia. Here are three you can do without sitting up:

1. Spirit gate

The technique

1. Feel for the small, hollow space under your palm on your pinky side.
2. Gently apply pressure in a circular or up-and-down movement for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Press down the left side of the point (palm facing) with gentle pressure for a few seconds, and then hold the right side (back-of-hand facing).
4. Repeat on the same area of your other wrist.

2. Inner frontier gate

The technique

1. On one palm facing up, count three finger-widths down from your wrist crease.
2. With your thumb, apply a steady downward pressure between the two tendons.
3. You can massage in circular or up-and-down motion until you feel your muscles relax.

3. Wind pool

The technique

1. Interlock your fingers together (fingers out and palms touching) and open up your palms to create a cup shape with your hands.
2. Position your thumbs at the base of your skull, with thumbs touching where your neck and head connect.
3. Apply a deep and firm pressure, using circular or up-and-down movements to massage this area.
4. Breathe deeply and pay attention to how your body relaxes as you exhale.

Prepare yourself fully before tackling these techniques

If you’ve tried these methods and are still finding yourself unable to fall asleep in 2 minutes or less, see if there are other tips you can take to make your bedroom a more sleep-friendly place.

Have you tried…

1. hiding your clock
2. taking a warm shower before bed
3. opening the window to keep your room cool
4. wearing socks
5. a gentle 15-minute yoga routine
6. placing your phone far away from your bed
7. aromatherapy (lavender, chamomile, or clary sage)
8. eating earlier to avoid stomach digestion or stimulation before bed

If you find the atmosphere in your room to be damaging to your sleep, there are tools you can use to block out the noise. Literally.

Try investing in blackout curtains, white noise machines (or listening to music with an auto-stop timer), and ear plugs, all of which you can buy online.

On the other hand, sleep hygiene, or clean sleep, is real and effective.

Before you truly take on the military method or 4-7-8 breathing, see what you can optimize to your bedroom for soundless slumber.

Medically reviewed by Deborah Weatherspoon, Ph.D., R.N., CRNA

— Written by Christal Yuen

Source:

• Ascher LM, et al. (1979). Paradoxical intention and insomnia: An experimental investigation. DOI:
  10.1016/0005-7967(79)90015-9
• Broomfield NM, et al. (2003). Initial insomnia and paradoxical intention: An experimental investigation of putative mechanisms using subjective and actigraphic measurement of sleep. DOI:
  10.1017/S1352465803003060
• Harvey AG, et al. (2002). The management of unwanted pre-sleep thoughts in insomnia: Distraction with imagery versus general distraction. DOI:
  10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00012-2
• Paradoxical intention for insomnia. (n.d.).
  div12.org/treatment/paradoxical-intention-for-insomnia/
• Progressive muscle relaxation script. (n.d.).
  law.berkeley.edu/files/Progressive_Muscle_Relaxation.pdf
• Trahan T, et al. (2018). The music that helps people sleep and the reasons they believe it works: A mixed methods analysis of online survey reports. DOI:
  10.1371/journal.pone.0206531

HI Kallie

Hope your treatment with immunotherapy is going well and not as brutal as chemo. Yes Im with you on the label incurable rather than terminal. At the end of the day life is terminal for everyone even if they have no illness. Ive not met anyone who has been told their cancer is terminal. Is this an American thing? Im around 6 months into immunotherapy and making the most of life dong the things I can do and accepting the things I cant do and dealing with cancer and treatment side effects as best I can. 

Ed

HI Jolamine

Thanks for your replies on insomnia. There is a huge amount of ideas to work through there and Ill sift through them to find if one will work for me. I hope life is going OK for you and see that you are very active here supporting members. Well done as it does take up valuable energy and time to do so. A pity more of the hundreds of those who read posts here do not contribute anything at all. So if you are one of those reading this how about making a resolution to one post once a week helping someone out with advice on an aspect of cancer you have some experience of. 

Ed

Hi Ed 

Thanks for your reply, yes terminal is scary isn't it. How are you finding immunotherapy? I hope it's making a difference for you, what are you're side effects if any, although my chemo wasn't successful I never had any of the side effects apart from fatigue for a couple of days, that goes beyond the boundary of just feeling tired.

I've just had one immunotherapy so no reaction/side effects just yet, I may not even get any.. hopefully. Like you I'm just enjoying life and keeping a positive attitude, taking breaks away when possible.

I'm in the north so my treatment is in a specialist hospital up there, not sure if you know it. Keep positive and keep going as they say.

Kallie

Hi Kallie

The cemiplimab and denosumab immunotherapy is working really well. Many of the tumours have disappeared or shrunk to almost nothing and the metastasis to my bones is being kept at bay with the denosumab. I get a few side effecrs fatigue and an itchy skin rash and insomnia which may not be a side effect. Also am a bit foggy in my thinking proccess. But it is manageable and Im enjoying my extended lease of life. Ive been visiting friends and family both in UK and abroad in short breaks between the endless hospital visits for blood tests scans treatment and consultations. Wishing that your treatment is as successfull as mine has been so far.

Ed

Hi Ed 

I'm so pleased for you that your treatment is having a positive effect, long may it continue! I'm hopeful for the same, it's been a long road so far since 2022 unsucessful chemoradiation treatment. Then major surgery, then cancer reacurrence, more biopsies, bloods, scans, treatment, chemo again that failed, chemo is harsh! and now immunotherapy, fingers crossed for the next journey.

We seem to have a busy diary Ed but not by choice hahaha, it's lovely to hear your positive story but I'm guessing like me some days are difficult. Saying that I'm always positive I have to be and you sound the same.

How is your insomnia is it any better? 

Did you find something that helped you to sleep.

Take care

Kallie

Hi Kallie

You have certainly been put through it the last few years. Everyone here will recognise how much this takes to get through both physically and mentally and the effects on your life. Social nerworks are broken because you are too unwell to attend a party BBQ whatever and dont get invited again. Friends and relatives call less frequently or not at all. You would think cancer is contagious. Work suffers or you lose your job. Finances get ruined. You get in debt lose your home etc etc. Those that rely on you for support still expect you to deliver even when you have little energy for yourself. So staying positive through all this for those of us with cancer really is an achievement. Yes there are bad days when the end seems like a blessing but today is a good day and the sun is shining and Im going to enjoy every minute.

Ed