Mind racing and can’t fall asleep? Do the cognitive shuffle exercise, outlined by mySleepButton to encourage your brain into a calm state.
Below is a short guide to practicing the cognitive shuffle. For more comprehensive directions, check out the original article.
1. Get yourself into bed, ready to go to sleep.
2. Think of a random, emotionally neutral word consisting of at least five letters such as “bedtime”. Avoid words with too many repeating letters like “banana”.
3. Start with the first letter of the word and think of a word that starts with that letter. Then, imagine the item represented for the word. Repeat this until you get bored of that letter or can’t think of a word starting with that letter.
4. Move onto the next letter and do the same process. If you make it to the end of the word before falling asleep, pick a different word and repeat the cognitive shuffle.
Example with the word “bedtime”:
Since “bedtime” starts with the letter “b”, think of words that start with “b”.
- Baby. Imagine a baby.
- Ball. Imagine a ball rolling down a street.
- Blink. Imagine someone blinking a lot.
- Banana. Imagine a bunch of bananas hanging from a tree.
- Belgium. Image all the flat lands of Belgium.
Move on to the letter E:
- East. Imagine the eastern part of the place where you live.
- Eagle. Imagine an eagle flying high.
- Egg. Imagine an egg cooking.
Continue spelling out “bedtime” until you fall asleep.
Explore the mySleepButton blog for additional tips and strategies to enhance your sleep.
For extra support in achieving restful nights, try the mySleepButton app.