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When you are ready to nap, get comfy, and take six really deep, slow, breaths. If you can, breathe in from the nose, and out through the mouth. Nice, slow, easy. This triggers the relaxation response which is the process of deescalating the stress response and inducing relaxation through the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

How to do it:
With one hand on the chest and the other on the belly, take a deep breath in through the nose, ensuring the diaphragm (not the chest) inflates with enough air to create a stretch in the lungs and breathe out through the mouth. The goal: Six deep slow breaths.

When we grow up we were told many times to be quiet, close our mouth, swallow in our emotions and to tighten our jaws. We tighten our jaws when we feel stress or anxiety. It becomes a habit to tighten our jaws, each time we feel emotions or an urge to share something.

How to do it:
Without moving, take a quick inventory of the aches and pains you feel, especially around the face, the neck, your jaw, and your lower back. Then with eyes closed visualize each of the muscles one at a time, relaxing and extending then releasing the stored tension

By increasing the temperature of your skin--but not your core body temperature--just a little bit can help you achieve deeper, more restful sleep and avoid waking up too early in the morning. The reasoning behind the phenomenon is that skin warming has been shown to stimulate areas in the brain that are involved in regulating sleep.

How to do it:
Imagine sending liquid warmth through those parts, such that the warmth pours over the aches, and washes them down out of your body off the bed, and onto the floor.

It’s not easy to take a good look in the mirror and acknowledge the years of reflexive thoughts and actions that have spawned many of your worries. But if you don’t, you will never embrace full and joyous living. However, it’s one thing to recognize them and quite another to try to rid yourself of them. The world changes and has a certain level of unpredictability. Reactions to life’s real or perceived disruptions have become ingrained and reflexive. Now is the time to let them go and sleep soundly.

How to do it:
Say to every bothersome thought that comes into your head, “I can’t fix you right now. I’ll get back to you later.” Everything that comes up is not meant to be solved right now. Your brain’s just trying to get rid of them. Even reminders. “I’ll remember you when I wake up.” Let them all go.

Remember, our internal clocks have adapted to the 24-hour time cycle, so thinking of your wake up time in terms of physical, man made clocks will be helpful. Your conscious anticipation will be guiding your subconscious. We’re not sure how the brain monitors the passage of time, but it does.

How to do it:
Before you sleep, actively visualize the time of awakening. Think about when you want to wake up, and how. Get creative. Imagine yourself waking up and looking at the clock, which – in your imagination – will be set to the correct time. It’s all about implanting that time in your mind.

Visualization has proven helpful in developing the appropriate brain wave patterns to achieve restful sleep. The more you practice these techniques and build them into a ritual, the better your opportunity for repeatable success. Just like Speed Sleep it is about increasing the speed at which you achieve those deep levels of sleep. The speed at which you get to sleep after practicing these improves as you practice.

How to do it:
Close your eyes and imagine......you're walking across a big open field, the warm sun is shining down, a gentle breeze, .........or, you’re in a hammock, up off the ground, wrapped in a cocoon of comfort, swaying gently in the open air. The warmth of the sun on your face, and there’s a breeze blowing you back and forth.