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Topics: World News, Sleep, Hacks
Jess Hardiman
If you often struggle to get off to sleep quickly at night, there’s a very simple hack that you can try - and it's one that requires next to no effort.
According to ‘Sleep Geek’ James Wilson, the key to nodding off quickly is making sure you’re relaxing for the hour or so before you hit the hay.
Sure, that’s probably advice you’ve heard before, but he’s got a knack that might just help you get there, and it’s something you can do while watching TV in the evening.
Wilson, a sleep practitioner and co-founder of Beingwell, it’s just important that you allow your body to wind down first – something he says aids sleep quality.
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He recommends grabbing a hot water bottle and filling it with lukewarm water, before resting it on your bare feet while you relax.
Speaking to The Sun, he explained how it’s a way of altering your core temperature, which is an important part of getting to sleep.
Wilson said: “What that does is that it will raise your core temperature slightly. And then as you sweat a little bit, it will then drop your core temperature.
“Dropping core temperature is part of that process before we fall asleep. So it's kind of like saying to your body that you're ready for sleep now, and that helps the relaxation process.”
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He said a bath or shower ‘does the same thing’ as the hot water bottle trick, adding: “But if you haven’t got time for that, it's quite handy.”
“Particularly in the summer it works really well.”
However, while it might be tempting to take a nice, toasty hot water bottle to bed with you, Wilson warned this is a bit of a no-go.
This, he said, is because it could make your sleep environment too warm.
Last year, an acupuncture specialist shared another 'sleep hack' on TikTok, having posted a video about an area located behind the ear known as the 'anmian'.
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Doctor Josh Hanson (@doctorhanson) explained how this should be rubbed between 100 and 200 times to help relax the nervous system.
He said: "If you're having trouble sleeping, you want to rub the spot right here - it's called 'anmian'. Anmian means peaceful sleep.
"What you want to do is come to your ear, slide your finger back. You're going to find a little ridge, a little notch right here. It's going to be tender and sore.
"Rub in a circular motion 100-200 times, and that's going to help relax your nervous system, calm things down and make sleep easier."