Books can be used as a way to sleep, and I don't
mean by hitting someone over the head with them. I mean by reading them. It is
commonly said that reading a book can send you to sleep but it usually works
the other way around, a book can keep you up all night because you just have to
find out what happens next and next and next.
So how do you pick a book if you want it to send
you to sleep? And how do you read it?
- Pick a book that has boring
material; preferably lengthy, wordy, difficult and not one you'd
normally pick.
- Pick a physically heavy book so
that it weighs on your arms. This will give your brain a subtle message
that this reading is going to be a chore, turning the mind off.
- Dim the light just a little from
the level of what you'd normally read by. When doing this, the aim is to
not read much if at all so that the eyestrain should be minimal to nothing
(you'll strain your eyes more just reading this on a screen).
- Purposely move your eyes in a slow
steady fashion, focusing on shifting them from one line to the next. By
focusing on your eye movement more than the content and meaning of the
book you'll disconnect from the task faster. But whatever you do, don't
put the book down. Keep 'reading'.
- Lie down in a relaxed position you
could sleep in. Having your arms raised to carry the weight of the book is
fine because this will just increase the impression that reading is hard.
- As your alertness decreases you'll
become more aware that you're warm and comfy and you'll start wondering
why you're bothering trying to read anymore. The text will start to blur
and I bet you aren't taking much information in.
- Do all this at a time when you'd
normally fall asleep or want to. There is no point doing this at any other
time unless you've missed a whack of hours of sleep and are already
desperate to sleep.
If this
doesn't send you off to sleep I'll be surprised but then this is useful for
people without major sleep issues, just a temporary glitch in the works.
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