Most people here would agree that a good night’s sleep is a very faraway thing for them. Sleeping disorder or lack of sleep or simply put, insomnia, is a common occurrence nowadays, and almost everyone suffers from it. Many others suffer from the ill effects of inadequate sleep.

So what can be the reasons why a person cannot sleep perfectly? Let us start by analyzing some very common factors. For starters, stress is one of the most common causes of improper sleeping habits. Another very valid and common factor that can disrupt anyone’s sleep is the very sleeping environment. A person cannot sleep well in a different environment. What we mean to say here is that any change in the sleeping environment, be it small or a very obvious one, can affect the sleeping pattern of a person very adversely. For example, a person may not be able to sleep well if staying in a friend’s or relative’s home. Even if the person is sleeping in his own room, a change of the position of the bed or even any foreign noise can create problems for a sound sleep.

Sleep therefore, is directly related to the kind of environment one faces. Usually a person becomes habitual to a certain environment and when the smallest thing such as the pillow or the lamp gets changed, it can cause disturbance in the sleeping pattern. So how does one sleep well, despite the odds? Do we keep taking our pillow and bed sheets everywhere we go? No! The method for sound sleep is fairly simple. It all requires harnessing the power of our mind and focus it towards peaceful and sound sleep.

The counting backwards or reverse counting method

As you try to sleep, start counting backwards from 100. Try to focus in your mind a point, say number 92, and think of it as the point from where you’ll start feeling sleepy. Then as you keep counting, you would see that you are actually feeling sleepier, and losing your consciousness that after a point, you are already deep in sleep.

By doing this mind exercise regularly, you would soon become habitual to it and then slowly your mind would accept deep sleep even as you begin your counting session. This method of focusing one’s mind and harnessing its power to sleep is called Self Hypnosis.

How does the method work?

The technique is fairly simple. Our sleep has three significant stages –the preliminary stage, the unconscious deep sleep state and the deepest sleeping stage, where your sleep cannot be disturbed by outside noises. In the preliminary stage, one is remotely aware of the surroundings. At this stage, the sleep is very light and the person can wake up with the slightest of disturbance. In the next stage, the person may not be aware of the surroundings any more, but the sleep is still not in its deepest form. The deepest sleep is where the mind and body relaxes perfectly and the person is at peace. The reverse counting method therefore, helps you achieve the deepest stage of sleep.