Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Liquid Sky Studio
Topics: Health, Sleep, Social Media, Podcast, Community, Science, Mental Health
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Health, Sleep, Social Media, Podcast, Community, Science, Mental Health
A neuroscientist is confident doing this one thing will help you fall asleep if you have woken up in the middle of the night.
When it comes to sleep, most people hope to wake up refreshed and ready to start the day... unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
A lot of the time, possibly due to a bad sleep schedule, stress or even bad eating habits, you can find yourself waking up in the middle of the night.
And then you get flustered and stressed about how much sleep you have left till you actually have to wake up - nightmare.
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But neuroscientists and podcaster, Andrew Huberman, revealed a little sleep trick that he swears by.
While speaking to Bill Maher on his show last year, he noted it was simple enough and would send you to sleep within five minutes.
A snippet of their chat has started to do the rounds on social media again - kinda showing the desperation for better sleep, eh.
He explained: “Now we are finally coming to terms with the fact that the mind and body are connected, duh. It’s been known about for thousands of years.
“I’ve published clinical trials on some of these things, like the respiration physiology, its role in stress and destress.
“In fact, if you wake up in the middle of the night and you are having trouble going back to sleep, try just doing some long extended exhales.
“And get this, this sounds really weird but it has a basis in physiology.”
Huberman admitted that it might not work 100 percent of the time, but insisted it was worth giving it a go.
He continued: “Keep your eyes closed and just move your eyes from side to side behind your eyelids, back and fourth. Do some long exhales.
“I can’t promise but I am willing to wager one pinky that within five minutes or so, you’ll be back to sleep.”
He noted that there was no mystical trick to it, but rather simple science. He explained that ‘your eyes and breathing and the way you view the world’ are one of the main ways to control your level of stress.
People on social media insisted that they would give his method a go, with some even reporting back their results.
One person noted: “I just tried the sleep one this morning and it worked!
“I woke up way too early and I usually have a hard time falling back asleep. I tried what he said and next thing I know, I'd slept for 2 more hours.”
Another added: “I have been doing this recently; and it does work!”
With a third commenting: “I tried this. It's not like "boom, asleep" but your entire body relaxes somehow and it definitely helps.”