Popular Mechanics shared a handy meditative technique used by US Army pilots in World War II that would help them fall asleep within ten minutes. It uses conscious breathing and self-guided relaxation to help empty the mind in order to rest.
This method uses a formula of specific steps that was originally used to help US Army pilots during World War II to relax and fall asleep. The method takes just 10 minutes.
This is very similar to traditional yoga nidra, a traditional practice of using guided meditation to foster relaxation and rest.
Yoga nidra, also known as ‘yogic sleep’, is a simplified form of an ancient tantric relaxation technique. The most general description of the practice is that it combines guided mental imagery with a specific yoga posture called Shavasana (or “corpse pose”). The goal of yoga nidra is to promote a profound state of relaxation, which differs from sleep inasmuch as there is still an awareness of one’s surroundings.
