Military sleeping method that sends you to sleep ‘in two minutes’ works for 96% of people

Getting to sleep often isn't easy, particularly when you start to worry about how little sleep you're going to get.

Unless you're completely free of stress or worry, which seems improbable considering the current state of the world, you've almost certainly spent at least one night of your life tossing and turning.

Doctors have suggested that getting between seven and nine hours a night is the best thing for our health, so naturally we start feeling a bit cranky or worn down if we're regularly not getting enough sleep.

Fortunately, that's where some techniques can come in, and when counting sheep isn't getting you enough deep sleep, then you can reap the rewards of a military-approved method, used by fighter pilots who need to be well-rested to ensure their reflexes aren't affected.

Soldiers in the army have also used it to get some valuable minutes of sleep while in active war zones and battlefields, so you know it's pretty effective.

You might not even need the whale sounds anymore (Getty Stock)

Fitness coach Justin Agustin has claimed that the particular position can help people fall asleep in just two minutes, and it reportedly works for 96 per cent of the population, so it's definitely worth a go if you're getting desperate.

Unsurprisingly, you start by getting yourself comfortable on the bed, or wherever it is you're settling down for the night, and try to relax your entire body.

The technique, which was first shared with civilians in the 1981 book Relax and Win: Championship Performance, written by American track and field coach Lloyd Bud Winter, then instructs us to start relaxing our scalp before moving down to our temple and forehead.

From there, we ensure that our arms and legs are feeling loose and imagine a warmth spreading from our head to our fingertips. I'm starting to drift off just thinking about it.

Other factors might prevent the method from working (Getty Stock)

Deep breaths can make us feel even more relaxed, and we're then asked to clear any things that might be causing stress from our brain, whether it's work, relationships, or fantasy football.

If you picture yourself in calm and peaceful surroundings, such as in a canoe on a clear lake or in a comfortable hammock by the beach, then at this point you're probably seconds away from the land of nod.

In the unfortunate circumstances that you have an overactive brain like me, then you can also just repeat 'don't think' to yourself for 10 seconds, which should hopefully help to clear your mind even more.

While you might be hoping that this is an instant fix, the fitness coach did warn that it could take as long as six months to perfect this method, so you might want to start getting some practice in tonight if you want to permanently change your sleeping habits for the better.

If that still doesn't work, then you may well to make other changes to your lifestyle, with several sober folks suggesting that better sleep was one of the most significant benefits of giving up booze.