A relaxation drill: relax the face, then shoulders and arms, chest with slow breathing, then legs - then clear the mind with a calm image or a repeated neutral phrase.
The viral "asleep in two minutes" claim is marketing, but the components are real: progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery both have evidence for shortening sleep onset, and both improve with weeks of practice. It costs nothing and has no side effects - a sensible first tool, though schedule, caffeine, and phone problems still need their own fixes, and 3-month insomnia is the chronic form that responds best to CBT-I.
What to do
Common questions
What is the military sleep method?
The military sleep method is a relaxation sequence, popularized by a 1980s book on military performance: lie still and progressively relax - face first (including jaw and tongue), then shoulders and arms, then chest with slow breathing, then legs - and once the body is loose, clear the mind with a calming image (a canoe on a still lake is the classic) or a repeated neutral phrase for about ten seconds. The viral claim - sleep in two minutes - is marketing; the realistic version is that the technique is a packaged form of progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery, both of which have legitimate evidence for shortening the time to fall asleep, and both of which improve with weeks of practice rather than working on night one. It costs nothing and has no side effects, so it is a sensible first tool - with the caveat that insomnia fed by irregular schedules, caffeine, or 3 a.m. phone checks needs those fixed too, and insomnia past 3 months is the chronic form NHLBI says responds best to CBT for insomnia. Pymander, a free AI doctor available 24/7 by text, can walk you through the sequence tonight.