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Feeling good in the morning is seriously affected by how well I sleep, and nothing is worse than laying there ready to sleep but not sleeping!
- When I find that my mind will not give way to sleep I follow this method and I fall asleep every time.
- I first discovered it a few years ago by experimenting with my thoughts.
- Then I tested it one afternoon when I was not even sleepy and found myself waking up an hour later.
- So what is it?
Here it is — Alternate the following two steps every few seconds.
Step 1: Listen to the sounds in the room with your eyes closed and try to listen for something that is absent! For example – 1) if there are no bugs flying around, listen for flying bugs. Make a note of all the other sounds, but filter them and search for the flying buzz sound. 2) if you so not live near a train listen for a train sound. By listening for something that is not there you are effectively filtering out everything else!
Step 2: Focus on relaxing some specific part of your body. Your jaw, your eyes, your ears, your nose, your arms, your fingers, etc. It can even be something that you think you really have no control over – like your hair, or your fingernails. Your body needs to relax in order to sleep and your brain can actually help it with these thoughts.
After a while you can get to where you do step 1 on inhaling, and step 2 on exhaling.
Listen – Relax – Listen – Relax – Listen – Relax
Start of a New Day 
I like this idea. I’ve often tried using relaxation techniques while trying to sleep, but my mind ends up losing focus and I start pondering about something senseless that’s unproductive to achieving sleep. I’ve never heard of listening for an absent sound, before. I will give this a try, tonight, and possibly the next time I feel I could use a nap (I have never had success with naps…).
I know this is an odd technique. Sometimes I try to listen to a spot somewhere in the air in the middle of the room, like the centroid of the room. I never hear anything there, but maybe someday I will!