If you struggle to fall asleep, a physical therapist has shared some medication-free tricks to getting a solid night’s sleep.
Dr, Dan, who regularly posts his tips and tricks to TikTok, shared the handy advice in a new video – adding you don’t even need to get out of bed to manipulate your body into a restful slumber.
The New York-based physical therapist first suggested trying progressive muscle relaxation.
‘You may know it as squeezing your muscles as hard as you can until you can finally them to turn off and relax,’ he said.
He explained the process and told people to start by laying down and squeezing your chest muscles as hard as you can and hold for about two or three seconds.
New York-based physical therapist Dr. Dan first suggested trying progressive muscle relaxation
‘Keep working your way down until you’re done with the legs and then squeeze all your muscles all at once,’ he instructed.
‘Before you know it, you’re feeling relaxed and ready for sleep.’
The second piece of advice was just general stretching.
‘Stretching is a quick and easy way to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the nervous system that allows you to feel relaxed,’ he advised.
‘Pick four or five of your favorite stretches, hold each for 15 to 20 seconds and repeat for two or three sets.’
The PT reminded people to ‘remember to focus on your breathing’ while you’re stretching.
He also said people should run through the movements in a slow and controlled manner.
‘[So] it gets you to the point where you can fall asleep,’ Dr. Dan said.
The expert also suggested general stretching, holding each position for 15 to 20 seconds
The third and final trick is for those who struggle to fall asleep because they feel jittery and restless.
‘In your legs you have a bunch of nerves, and by gliding these nerves you can get them to calm down and relax,’ he explained.
‘We’ll start with the biggest nerve, your sciatic nerve,’ he said, as he lay down on his back with one leg extended and holding the other up in an L shape using his hands.
‘Hold your leg with both hands while keeping your toe pointed towards your face and slowly extend your knee until you feel a gentle stretch in the back of your leg.
‘Repeat this 15 times on each side.’
The final stretch he suggested was lying on his stomach and stretching the biggest nerve in the front of his leg – the femoral nerve.
‘Bend your knee and lift to the ceiling,’ he said. ‘Also repeat this 15 times.’
In September, a study suggested people struggling to get some sleep should try a banana milkshake at bedtime in order to get some rest.
Researchers found that those struggling to nod off got to sleep faster and slept for longer if they treated themselves to the two foodstuffs last thing at night.
Eating a banana slashed the time it took for insomniacs to drift off, from an average of two hours to 36 minutes.
The research, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed 21 insomniacs as just over half tucked into a whole banana and a small cup of milk every night for six weeks, and half tried to get to sleep as usual.
