Latest news with #sleephack
Daily Mail
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The simple eye trick to fall asleep in seconds if you keep waking up at 3am: 'You've saved my life'
Millions have been left stunned over a bizarre-but-brilliant sleep hack that promises to knock you out in seconds. And all it involves is moving your eyes around. Jenna Coak, an American content creator known for testing wellness tips, has gone viral after posting a clip now viewed 2.6 million times. In the video, she explained how a trick she saw on Instagram helped her fall back asleep in the middle of the night, something she says she normally struggles with every single night. 'I saw this trick on Instagram for falling back asleep after you wake up in the middle of the night,' she told her followers. 'I was like no way does this actually work. But I've tried it a couple of nights in a row and it literally works.' In the clip, Jenna, who wears an Aura ring to track her sleep, revealed her shocking data showing how often she normally wakes during the night. 'I usually wake up this much. It's insane I know,' she said, flashing a screenshot of her restless stats. Jenna Coak, an American content creator said the trick is: 'You look to the left, you look to the right, you look up, you look down, then they go round in a circle one way, and then you go the other way. And that's it. You just repeat it until you fall back asleep.' 'This was the first night I tried it. So much more restful. Second night it also worked!' Her fail-safe hack couldn't be more low-effort. 'This is what you do. I'm going to demonstrate it,' she said, eyes closed. 'You look to the left, you look to the right, you look up, you look down, then they go round in a circle one way, and then you go the other way. 'And that's it. You just repeat it until you fall back asleep.' To prove her theory, Jenna said she tested the technique multiple nights in a row. 'One night I swear I did it twice and I remember thinking 'no way is this going to work',' Jenna said. 'And the next thing I knew it was 7.30am and my alarm was going off.' To prove her theory, Jenna said she tested the technique multiple nights in a row and recorded it on her Aura ring (pictured) Jenna claims there's a science-based reason behind the success of the technique. 'I obviously looked at the science behind it, and it sounds like it activates our parasympathetic nervous system because it tricks your brain into thinking it's in the REM cycle,' she explained. 'It feels like some type of voodoo magic.' Her followers were blown away by the trick, flooding the comments with praise, personal hacks and pleas for it to work on small children. 'Yes! We do this in therapy and it regulates your nervous system,' one viewer confirmed. 'Can someone tell my baby this hack?' another joked. 'You've saved my life,' a third wrote. And others who tried it were instantly convinced. 'I am chronically up every night, and I tried this last night,' wrote one fan. 'I am sold! It was the weirdest thing. I was very aware of how I was moving my eyes around, and then that would be the last thing I remembered. Thanks for sharing!' Another user added: 'I close my eyes, and say 'nothing, nothing, nothing,' over and over again in my mind. 'It keeps all the intrusive thoughts away. Works every time.'
Daily Mail
31-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
I'm a doctor who works night shifts - this is my go-to sleep hack which ALWAYS works within minutes
If you're victim to sleepless nights, you could be in luck—an NHS doctor has shared his top tip to nod off, fast. According to Dr Arthur Joustra, an paediatrics trainee, taking control of your thoughts by visualising random objects and words can help calm and soothe your anxious mind. It does this by triggering the parasympathetic nervous system, letting it take over from a stressful state of fight or flight. In a TikTok video that has so far been viewed more than 176,500 times, he urged people to try the sleep hack, officially known as 'cognitive shuffling'. Dr Joustra said: 'This is how I've learned to get to sleep in a matter of minutes as a doctor who does loads of night shifts and is chronically sleep deprived. 'Essentially the way it works is it distracts your brain. It is letting your brain know that it is safe to go to sleep. 'It is getting it away from that anxious state of fight or flight that makes your thoughts race around your head and keeps you up literally all night worrying about things. 'To do cognitive shuffling, all you have to do is think of a completely random word and then visualise a thing that that word represents. 'From there, think of a second word and then a third word and a fourth that are all completely unrelated. 'The aim here is to give random thoughts to your brain to stop it from being anxious and allowing it to get off to sleep. 'An easier way that I find is to try and visualise a word that starts with the letter of the last word. 'So if we start with elephant that ends in 't', so we go to tree and that ends in 'e' so we go to engine and so on. 'Keep going until you fall asleep. It will take you a matter of minutes and I promise you it will surprise you just how easy this technique is to do and just how well it works.' This technique has been touted on social media for years, but the method was first developed by Professor Luc P. Beaudoin, a cognitive scientists from Canada. According to the expert, research suggests that when we fall asleep, our minds are often busied with images and distinct thoughts or worries. The goal of this technique is to help the mind mimic this process, but steer clear of thoughts that could induce anxiety. 'These images don't create a clear story line and help your brain disengage from problem solving or worry loops,' Prof Beaudoin told The New York Times. More than five million people in the UK are thought to suffer from chronic insomnia, which is defined as struggling to fall or stay asleep at least three nights a week for more than three months. Poor sleep has been linked to a number of health problems including cancer, stroke and infertility. Experts have long advised that waking up during the night does not necessarily mean you have insomnia. But, sleep deprivation can still take its toll from irritability and trouble focusing in the short term, to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes over time.
News.com.au
30-07-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Wake up at 3am? Hack promises to get you back to sleep ‘instantly'
If you constantly find yourself waking up in the middle of the night and struggling to get back to sleep, a viral hack might just do the trick. Jenna Coak, a nurse, has shared with her followers a hack she learnt on Instagram to help fall asleep within minutes, calling it the 'best' sleeping hack ever. She even revealed her sleep statistics from her Oura ring, a smart ring designed to track various health metrics including sleep, which proved it actually worked. The simple trick to fall back asleep 'I saw this trick and I was like, 'No way does this actually work', but I've tried it a couple of nights in a row and it's the best trick I've ever tried,' Ms Coak began her TikTok, which now has over two million views. She then demonstrated the trick. 'Your eyes need to be closed while you're doing it,' she explained. 'So you look to the right, you look to the left, you look up, you look down, and then you go around in a circle, and then you go the other way. 'You then repeat that until you fall back asleep.' She then showed her Oura data from a standard night's sleep before trying the trick, where her total awake time was roughly one and a half hours. There were frequent and prolonged periods where she was awake throughout the night, especially between 3am and 5am, with multiple instances where she took some time to get back to sleep. Then she shared her sleep stats after implementing the hack, with her total awake time dramatically reduced by over two-thirds to around 24 minutes. Her awake periods were far less frequent and much shorter, with most being extremely brief. 'It feels like some voodoo magic,' she laughed, noting that one night she did the process just twice and fell asleep. According to Olivia Arezzolo, an Australian sleep expert, this eye-rolling trick 'definitely' helps people fall back asleep. 'The pattern of the eye is called bilateral stimulation, increasing connectivity between right and left hemispheres, which helps reduce anxiety,' Ms Arezzolo told 'It also uses cognitive reframing, which distracts from mental rumination and requires mental focus. 'It avoids the use of a phone, which is the typical go-to for those waking through the night, and contributes to greater anxiety, restlessness and sleeplessness.' Stress and sleep While this hack might help you fall back asleep, if you're aiming to decrease mid-sleep wakeups altogether, Ms Arezzolo says the key is managing your stress levels. 'Waking frequently in the night could be due to high cortisol levels driven by stress, anxiety, alcohol or excessive caffeine,' she explained. 'Many people believe that just because they wake due to stress, the only solution is to reduce stress.' But while that's one approach, she says you can also cut it down through physiology during the night, like cooling your core body temperature, breathwork or meditation. Before bed, sleep aids like magnesium and ashwagandha are effective, as is reading and avoiding blue light devices. Another method to fall back asleep Ms Arezzolo emphasises that while this hack may be effective, it won't necessarily work for everyone. Other tips she recommends for falling back asleep include: – Using stimulus control: get up from bed if you're struggling to fall back asleep. – Using lavender: activates the parasympathetic nervous system. – Going into the loungeroom and engaging your mind in a tech-free activity like reading, as reading can reduce stress by 68 per cent. Use red night lights or other red-tinted lighting to prevent increasing cortisol further, which can happen with regular lighting. – Returning to bed when you're just about to fall asleep.
Yahoo
27-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
No, don't boil lettuce before bed — try these science-based hacks to fall asleep quickly instead
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. I've seen an old TikTok 'sleep hack' doing the rounds again and I'm here to tell you that no, boiling lettuce in water and drinking it before bed will not result in the best night's sleep you've ever had. Shocking, I know. I was pleased to see the rise of the 'sleepmaxxing' trend, as you can imagine. Being the Sleep Features Editor for Tom's Guide, it's great to see people recognizing just how important sleep is for our overall health. However, as expected from the tiresome world of social media, it brought with it a lot of unsolicited, unconfirmed ways to hack your sleep. Enter lettuce water. I will briefly debunk this method of falling asleep quickly, but I'm also here to provide some real, science-based ways you can fall asleep quickly tonight. And the next night. And the next. Why drinking lettuce water won't help you fall asleep fast So, we've established that it doesn't work. But why not? If you put the kettle down and pop that lettuce back in the fridge, I'll explain. The reason this hack became popular was thanks to a simple, 50 second TikTok video of a woman trying it. After making a mug of steaming lettuce, the content creator videos herself barely able to open her eyes, thanks to how effective the sleep-inducing benefits of lettuce are. This video racked up an impressive 1.5 million likes and over 13,000 comments of users expressing their excitement over this new hack. Lettuce has long been known for its sedative effects, thanks to an ingredient called lactucarium. However, the only scientific evidence around the effects of this substance on sleep is in mice. The study often cited, sleep-inducing effect of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) varieties on pentobarbital-induced sleep, measured sleep latency and sleep duration. While they did see an decrease in sleep latency with certain types of lettuce (Romaine), some made no difference. It was sleep duration that increased for all the different lettuce used. But, the researchers used dried, powdered lettuce leaves and seed extracts, and to reiterate, results seen on mice do not equate to the results we'd see in humans. So, evidence backing up this sleep method is severely limited. And, even if the sedative effect of lettuce was proven in humans, you'd likely not see the effect with a cup full of wilting leaves in water. 3 science-backed ways to fall asleep quickly Okay, debunking over. Now it's time for the good stuff. Real, science-based, factually accurate ways to fall asleep quickly — starting tonight. 1. Breathing exercises A study published in 2019 found that using breathing techniques like slow, deep breathing, is an effective treatment for insomnia and can help you fall asleep quickly. One reason these exercises are effective is because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for our rest and digest responses and needed for falling asleep, as opposed to our sympathetic nervous system which activates our 'fight or flight' response. As you can imagine, the latter response is not very conducive to sleep. Breathing techniques like the 4-7-8 method or box breathing (inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for four seconds and exhaling for four seconds) are super easy to try from the comfort of your bed. You'll notice just how effective they are when you feel your body let go of any tension. 2. Progressive muscle relaxation Studies have proven that an exercise known as progressive muscle relaxation can improve sleep quality, increase slow-wave sleep (known as deep sleep) as well as relax the mind and body. Again, this is a simple method you can use in bed when you're struggling to fall asleep. It involves working your way down from the top of your body, gently tensing each muscle group and then letting it go. Placing your attention on the sensation of tensing and then relaxing helps focus your mind and brings you into your body, and the release of tension helps relax your body. When paired with deep breathing for each release of tension, you can stimulate your vagus nerve which will activate your parasympathetic nervous system and slow down your heart rate. Together, this helps you achieve a mindset and physical state that is ready for sleep. 3. Keep a consistent sleep schedule Now, while you can try the previous two methods tonight, this one might take some planning. But it's arguably the most important and effective way to fall asleep quickly. Our sleep is controlled by our circadian rhythm. This is an internal body clock that regulates when we feel sleepy and when we feel energetic depending on the release of sleep hormones like melatonin and cortisol. By keeping the same wake and sleep time every day, you'll naturally feel sleepy in the evenings and energized in the mornings. Essentially, you keep your internal clock 'in time', meaning melatonin (the sleepy hormone) will be released close to your bedtime to make it easier and quicker to fall asleep. A recent study found that this kind of sleep regularity is actually more important than how long you sleep for. So don't underestimate this simple lifestyle change. Instead, check out our guide on how to fix your sleep schedule.
CNET
25-07-2025
- Health
- CNET
A Ring and a Smart Bed Tracked My Sleep for 30 Nights. Here's What I Learned
Did you know CNET has a dedicated sleep team? Over the years, we've tested around 350 mattresses from dozens of brands. We've tried numerous bedding items, including pillows, sheets, blankets, comforters and more. We've researched and reviewed countless sleep-related products, from white noise machines and sleep masks to supplements and bedtime mocktails. If there's an obscure "sleep hack" trending on social media, you can bet we've given it a shot. CNET's sleep team tests and reviews much more than just mattresses. Cole Kan/CNET We aim to sort through the overwhelming amount of sleep-related information available online to find what works -- and help you avoid the things that don't. Everyone has varying health needs and sleep preferences, so there's no one-size-fits-all approach to enhancing sleep quality. Still, we do our best to back our conclusions with actual sleep data, which is why it's essential for us to use accurate sleep trackers. Our CNET sleep editors have tested various trackers over the years to find those that work best for each of us. Types of sleep trackers The most accurate sleep test is a polysomnography, which is conducted in a lab. It uses sensors to monitor physiological factors such as brain waves, eye movements, heart rate, etc. It's extremely precise -- but it's not practical for everyday use. Most people who receive a polysomnography only do so because they're being tested for a sleep disorder. While not as accurate as PSG and unable to diagnose sleep disorders, many other types of sleep trackers are available for everyday use. They come in all shapes and sizes, from wearable rings and watches to mattress covers or pads. Dr. Carlos Nunez, chief medical officer at Resmed, explains, "Many wearable devices allow you to track your sleep patterns, such as bedtime, wake time, how often you wake up at night and some even track your sleep stages, like REM. Tracking these metrics over time can offer insights into the quality of your sleep health and empower users to make lifestyle changes to improve sleep and overall health." As part of our 30-night mattress testing series, my partner and fellow CNET sleep expert Dillon and I have tested several trackers, including Whoop, Apple Watch, Garmin, Eight Sleep and Oura. We've found wearables generally more accurate than devices you lie on, such as sleep tracking bed frames or mattress covers. Given that information, I have to admit that I was surprised by the results of our experiment testing the Oura Ring against our Sleep Number smart bed. An example of the nightly sleep data provided by my Whoop band. Aly Lopez/CNET Comparing Oura and Sleep Number Dillon and I recently tested the Sleep Number ClimateCool smart bed. This high-tech setup uses integrated sensors and SleepIQ technology to monitor body movements, sleep data and biosignals such as heart rate, breath rate and heart rate variability. Read more: 90-Night Review of the Sleep Number ClimateCool Smart Bed The cover is pulled back to show the tracking sensors running across the top third of the Sleep Number smart bed. Aly Lopez/CNET It tracks sleep metrics such as total time in bed, restful sleep, restlessness, bed exits and the times you fall asleep and wake up. The Sleep Number app collects and displays all this information, providing actionable insights and tips to help you improve your sleep quality. Dillon and I began wearing the Oura Ring 4 while testing our Sleep Number bed. This allowed us to compare and contrast our sleep data and assess the accuracy of both. Oura is widely considered one of the most precise wearables for tracking sleep, thanks to its placement on your finger near the radial artery for heart rate sensing. It tracks more than sleep, monitoring your fitness and activity, menstrual cycle, stress levels and more. For this review, I'll focus on the sleep and biosignals offered by each. Dillon and I have been wearing Oura rings to bed each night to compare our data with Sleep Number. Aly Lopez/CNET Oura offers a bit more detailed sleep data than Sleep Number, including the time spent in light, REM and deep sleep. Knowing when and how much time you spend in each stage provides valuable insights into your overall sleep quality, especially if you struggle with insomnia or other sleep disorders. The symptoms of insufficient REM and deep sleep are similar. Oura's breakdown of these sleep phases can provide more helpful information if you struggle to get quality rest. However, it's important to remember that you shouldn't try to interpret this data on your own. "If you're interested in more advanced data like REM versus deep sleep, sleep apnea detection or unusual breathing patterns, consult your doctor. Sleep trackers are a helpful tool, but not diagnostic devices. Medical guidance is essential for interpreting deeper metrics or addressing potential sleep health concerns," explains Nunez. Sleep trackers compared Sleep Number vs. Oura Ring 4 Metrics Oura Ring Sleep Number Overall sleep score ✓ ✓ Total sleep time ✓ ✓ Time awake ✓ ✓ Time in bed ✓ ✓ Sleep latency ✓ ✓ Heart rate variability ✓ ✓ Heart rate ✓ ✓ Respiratory rate ✓ ✓ Movement ✓ ✓ Helpful insights ✓ ✓ Recovery index ✓ x Light sleep ✓ x REM sleep ✓ x Sleep efficiency ✓ x Body temperature ✓ x Blood oxygen ✓ x Readiness score ✓ x Bed exit x ✓ At the beginning of our test, I didn't have high expectations for Sleep Number's tracking capabilities. However, when comparing the numbers with Oura, the results were surprisingly similar (for the most part). As you can see in the nightly sample below, Oura reported 6 hours and 42 hours of total sleep, while Sleep Number reported 6 hours and 44 minutes. Oura said I spent 44 minutes awake, while Sleep Number reported 38 minutes of restlessness. While it's hard to pinpoint the exact moment on either app, both Sleep Number and Oura reported my sleep and wake times within minutes of each other. Comparison of my sleep data from the Oura Ring (left) and the Sleep Number ClimateCool bed (right). Aly Lopez/CNET/Oura/Sleep Number Oura indicated my total time in bed was 7 hours and 25 minutes, while Sleep Number noted 7 hours and 35 minutes. Sleep Number gave me a SleepIQ score of 80; Oura gave me a 78. As expected, there were nights when the data did not match this well. In those scenarios, Sleep Number almost always displayed the more generous sleep scores and total time slept. Part of this discrepancy is because the Sleep Number smart bed occasionally assumes I've fallen asleep while watching television or reading, while Oura recognizes I have not yet entered dreamland. The bed may sometimes mistake Dillon's body movements or our dog's as mine, whereas our Oura rings don't have that issue. Read more: I Tested Three Sleep Trackers for 30 Days. Here's the One I'd Actually Use Sleep data compared External factors occasionally affected our sleep quality, resulting in data that didn't accurately reflect Oura or Sleep Number's tracking capabilities. An example is when I'd fall asleep on the couch and then move to the bed in the middle of the night. There were a few nights when I put my ring on its charger and forgot to put it back on before falling asleep. Additionally, factors like illness or menstrual cramps sometimes make me uncomfortable enough to sleep somewhere other than our smart bed. I excluded these nights to ensure the accuracy of this comparison. As a result, the sleep data presented here is not perfectly consecutive. Instead, to paint a better picture of how they track, it includes 30 nights of solid sleep on our Sleep Number smart bed while wearing Oura. Using both trackers for 30 nights, Oura reported an average total sleep of 7:35 hours (7.58), and Sleep Number reported 7:36 hours (7.60) -- just one minute difference. Aly Lopez/CNET For 30 nights using both sleep trackers, the average total sleep reported was only one minute apart: 7 hours and 35 minutes according to Oura, and 7 hours and 36 minutes according to Sleep Number. Both reported an average of exactly 1 hour of restlessness or time awake per night. Sleep Number gave me an average sleep score of 86, and Oura gave me 82. The health metrics tracked were also similar: Sleep Number reported my average resting heart rate as 53, and Oura indicated it as 52. Both trackers registered an average breath rate of 17. Oura reported my average heart rate variability to be 64, while Sleep Number reported it as 124. This discrepancy isn't necessarily because one brand is more accurate than the other, but because they calculate HRV differently. Both measure the time intervals between heartbeats throughout the night, but Oura uses a method called Root Mean Square of Successive Differences, while Sleep Number uses Standard Deviation of NN Intervals. Regardless of how it's calculated, higher HRV numbers are considered better, indicating good recovery and physical adaptability. Lower HRV numbers can be indicative of high stress levels, dehydration, alcohol consumption, poor sleep and more. Here's an example of the biosignals reported in Sleep Number's monthly summary. Aly Lopez/CNET/Sleep Number Why does tracking your sleep matter? As Vanessa Hill, PhD, sleep research and specialist, explains, "Tracking your sleep can offer helpful insights into what happens after your head hits the pillow. For many of us, sleep can feel poor quality, maybe because of fragmented sleep or nighttime awakenings. Tracking can show whether you're actually getting the recommended 7 to 9 hours a night." Observing your biosignals over time helps explain how your habits and lifestyle impact your sleep quality and patterns. For instance, my sleep quality on nights after consuming alcohol, not exercising during the day or going to bed later than usual is always worse, and it's reflected in my lower HRV numbers on both trackers. "What's more valuable than a single night's data is looking at sleep trends over time. A month or more of sleep tracking gives a better picture of your overall sleep health," adds Hill. If you're just beginning your sleep tracking journey, making sense of all the numbers can be overwhelming. Nunez recommends starting with the following basics to help you build a consistent sleep routine and improve your sleep health overall: Sleep-wake times: Track what time you go to bed and wake up each day. Research shows that a consistent sleep schedule is key to improved focus, productivity and mood. Track what time you go to bed and wake up each day. Research shows that a consistent sleep schedule is key to improved focus, productivity and mood. Total sleep duration: Aim for the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Aim for the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Time awake during the night: Frequent disruptions may signal restlessness or a potential health condition worth exploring with a medical professional. Frequent disruptions may signal restlessness or a potential health condition worth exploring with a medical professional. Sleep interruptions: Noting events like snoring or movement can provide added context to your sleep quality. Noting events like snoring or movement can provide added context to your sleep quality. Trends over time: Focus on patterns, not a single night's data, to make more meaningful lifestyle changes. What sleep tracker should you use? The type of sleep tracker you should use largely depends on your personal preferences and the health information you're looking to uncover. If you're not a fan of wearing a device to bed, such as a wristband or ring, consider a sleep-tracking mattress cover or pad like the Withings Sleep Tracking Mat, which was chosen as the best non-wearable tracker by our CNET sleep editors. There are many types of sleep trackers on the market, as CNET sleep editor Caroline Igo shows here. Caroline Igo/CNET Nunez explains, 'When considering a sleep tracker, it's important to note there is no one-size-fits-all. When choosing one, you can consider: Comfort: You need to be able to easily sleep in it consistently. You need to be able to easily sleep in it consistently. Compatibility: Check that it works well with your smartphone or other devices to access the data without challenges. Check that it works well with your smartphone or other devices to access the data without challenges. Reliability: Some devices have been well-tested and approved by the FDA for sleep monitoring, while others are more general consumer products. Some devices have been well-tested and approved by the FDA for sleep monitoring, while others are more general consumer products. Privacy: Understand how your data is stored and shared. Ultimately, the best tracker is one you'll wear regularly, and that makes accessing and understanding your data simple.' The bottom line If you have a Sleep Number bed and are wondering how accurate the sensors are, I'm pleased to share that they appear pretty dang precise. I had not been expecting the results of this 30-night comparison between the Oura Ring 4 and Sleep Number ClimateCool smart bed to be so similar. Still, there's much more room for error with trackers like smart beds and mattress covers compared to a wearable worn tightly on your body. If you're looking for one of the more accurate sleep trackers, I recommend opting for a wearable like Oura or Whoop -- but as Hill put it, "Choosing a sleep tracker really comes down to comfort and budget. Choose what works best for you, including something you'll actually use."
