I am a sinner when it comes to practising good sleep hygiene. I’ve been known to fall asleep with my phone in hand, the New York Times crossword half-finished, or with my phone next to my head, comfort video essays playing for the umpteenth time. I fall asleep while watching movies. I fall asleep while reading books. I fall asleep when all the lights are on and sound is blaring from some device somewhere in the room.
The problem is, when I inevitably wake up on the couch or to the grating noise of a YouTube ad, I cannot fall back asleep the way sleeping should be done – in the dark, in a bed, in silence. My mind races and my body gets restless. I wake up in the morning feeling borderline hungover. It’s a problem I’ve been working on at the behest of my doctor but sometimes, bad habits prevail.
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When I heard about the military sleep method that claims to have you dead to the world in under two minutes, I obviously knew I had to give it a go. The idea is that through a series of scientifically-backed, mindful relaxation techniques, you can fall asleep amidst the chaos of a literal war. I’m incredibly privileged to only need to sleep through a man’s snores, a cat’s midnight zoomies and the unrelenting noise of my own thoughts, but if this method works for the military, it should surely do the trick for me, too.
How it went
To give this experiment a realistic shot, I didn’t do anything else special before bed. I didn’t take melatonin, I gave myself plenty of blue light screen time and I enjoyed a little nighttime snack. Then, at around 11pm, I flicked on my space heater and climbed into bed.
Per the internet’s instructions, I lay down on my back, closed my eyes and tried to slow and control my breath. I began relaxing every muscle in my body, starting from the top. I released all tension from my scalp, forehead, eyelids and jaw. I dropped my tongue from the roof of my mouth. This progressive muscle relaxation felt delicious – until my partner waltzed in to announce he would also be ready to go to sleep soon.
So, I had to restart, consciously relaxing everything from the top of my head downward, dropping my shoulders away from my ears and letting go of the stress I carried in my neck. I focused on mentally soothing the muscles in my left arm. Then, I fell asleep.
How to do it
I can’t say for sure if I was just unusually tired or if the military sleep method is just that good but regardless, I woke up this morning before my alarm, feeling refreshed and ready to greet the day. And that was after going through just a third of the method! If you’d like to try the military sleep method in its entirety, here’s how it works. After you’ve settled in, slowed your breathing and relaxed every centimetre of your head, neck and shoulders, shift your focus to your torso.
Give each section the time it deserves, releasing the stress you’ve been holding in your upper back, chest and abdomen. Go limb by limb, allowing your left arm to feel completely weightless before moving to your right. There’s a theory that we subconsciously store negative emotions and stress in our hips. As you relax, give this area some extra love before devoting time to relaxing each of your legs.
Once your body feels light from top to toes, it’s time to declutter your mind. Picture yourself in a calming scene: lying in a hammock in Switzerland, resting alone on an empty beach or enjoying a private bathhouse room. Try to keep yourself there.
If that doesn’t work, simply repeat “Don’t think” to yourself for ten seconds. Acknowledge any distracting thoughts and let them drift away. You may not fall asleep in under two minutes on your first go, but within six weeks, you should become a military sleeping master.
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This article I tried TikTok’s viral ‘military sleep method’ to fall asleep in under two minutes appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-06-04 09:01:00
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