Curious about how active military fell asleep during high-stress situations, American track and field Olympic coach, Lloyd Bud-Winter, wrote a book called “Relax and Win: Championship Performance” in 1981. Recently, the military sleep technique from his book has been trending in a TikTok account.
With over 141,000 comments and 128,000 shares, the military sleep technique TikTok video creator Justin Agustin suggests taking six weeks to try and practice the technique. After committing to the technique, Bud-Winter shares that military Naval pilots fell asleep within two minutes even during active duty. For many suffering from insomnia, using this technique helps shift the mind to sleep well with quality as the main goal.
Insomnia and CBT
Insomnia affects 50-70 million Americans which includes only those seeking help and getting diagnosed. A lot that are diagnosed may be individuals who sleep a full seven or more hours but are not receiving a quality night’s sleep. What is the difference and how does quality matter? Quality is defined as the excellence of something or a distinctive attribute. Without a complete, quality-filled seven or eight hours, the sleep is unfortunately all for nothing.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that treats problems and boosts happiness by modifying dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and thoughts resting on the idea that thoughts and perceptions influence behavior. CBT can help control or eliminate negative thoughts or worries caused by insomnia. With the practice of good sleep habits and avoiding patterned behaviors, certain techniques can be valuable in treating insomnia.
CBT can guide people through “the process of ‘cognitive restructuring,’” which typically involves three steps:
- Identifying negative thoughts;
- Challenging negative thoughts; and
- Replacing those negative thoughts with realistic thoughts.
Reaffirming statements alone can positively alter your cognitive behavior like starting a sleep journal to write down your immediate thoughts. But practicing the military sleep technique for six weeks can be a solution to your insomnia.
How to Practice the Technique
- After taking a shower or completing your nighttime routine, lay in bed and relax your body focusing on your face.
- Keep your eyes closed while taking deep, slow breaths.
- As you move closer to a relaxed state, relax your entire body by going slack.
- Keep your jaw slightly open while deeply breathing and keeping your tongue loose.
- Shift your focus to your shoulders, arms, and hands.
- Focus your mind on the released tension in your hips, thighs, legs, knees, calves, and feet. Throughout each focus, take deep, slow breaths.
- Although it is hard to relax at bedtime for many as intrusive thoughts begin, bring your mind to the present to remain calm. Visualize a relaxing place and think to yourself “Don’t think” for 10-second intervals.
Be patient as you begin this process and retrain your body. Exercise can help move your mind and body in the right direction with meditation or yoga taking center stage.
Exercise and Wellness
Exercise including yoga, meditation, or running can help unwind your anxiety and release the toxins clogging your mind and body. By pursuing the right mix of physical activity, a short 30 minutes creates the balance needed for a restful night and a clear conscience. According to the Sleep Foundation, a nationally representative sample of more than 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week “provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality.”
Another avenue for some is weight or powerlifting. Though recommended at 8 hours of average sleep a night, an athlete who is focusing on lifting requires more sleep (up to 10 hours) a night.
“Getting 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night is the equivalent of fasting. Fasting is catabolic to engaging muscle growth in athletes and bodybuilders. Many people will try to eat a small meal of protein before sleep to further encourage protein synthesis that can lead to bigger gains and faster gains over time.”
Repairing the muscle in recovery during sleep can ensure not only a healthier frame of mind when focusing on lifting, but it will also help prepare the body during the rest stage for leaner and stronger muscles.
By combining a cognitive approach to solving your insomnia condition with exercise and a relaxing sleep technique like the military 1981 practice, hopefully, you will be on your way to quality sleep.
For a comprehensive analysis, you will need to schedule a sleep study with your local sleep clinic, such as Alaska Sleep Clinic. Our experts can provide a fully comprehensive evaluation of your sleep troubles and prescribe the best treatment for your dilemmas. If you live in the Alaska area, then be sure to give our experts a call for a free evaluation.
