How To Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep | Jim Donovan | TEDxYoungstown 

"87% of teens are chronically sleep-deprived" Education system: I'm going to pretend I didn't see that

Let’s be honest, we all came here to vibe with the 2 am squad who have an exam tomorrow lmao.

I watched this video for the first time about a month ago. I must admit that this technique works! I used to have really bad insomnia, about 4-5 hours a sleep on average. But this really does shutdown my system and I’m able to get on average now 7 hours of restful sleep. Thank you for sharing this, changed my life

I came here to say a big thank you. I watched this video about a year ago and I thought it was a useless piece of joke. But, as a life long insomniac, I finally gave it a try. But, I tried a modified version of yours. I touched my thumb and index finger very quietly while lying down to sleep. I did both left and right hands alternating while slowly breathing as you said and focusing on these fingers only. And IT WORKED!!! Big thank you sir!!!

İm not able to trick my brain,because we watched it together

RU-vid evidently takes the current time into account when recommending videos.

Omg this worked first try!!! I just slept for 7hrs and 45 mins. I woke up by myself and it only took a few mins to drift off - I don’t even remember getting to slow down the tapping. I laid down and crossed my arms and tapped them. This is life changing for me! I have been a insomniac going on 15 years now. I just can’t believe how easy it was to hack my brain.

I cannot believe how this video became so critical for my sleep habits, Jim Donovan, you deserve a big big applause from everyone. Thanks to Jim's tip, I managed to shorten my falling into sleep time into barely few minutes.

Jim Donovan: How To Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep Me at 5am: 👁👄👁

This man underestimates how fast I can eat a bowl of cereal

Best thing for me is to imagine re-arranging my room. It gets the brain in an imaginative state, like the dream state. Try painting walls in your mind, organizing a closet, putting an outfit together, just imagine it.

As a lifelong insomniac, I find this 'tool' to be quite effective. It doesn't always work, especially if I am more preoccupied than usual, but it is one of the most effective methods I have ever tried. Thank you!

Jim Donovan: “How to trick your brain into falling asleep” Me, an intellectual: Imma watch this instead of sleeping.

“87% of teenagers are sleep deprived” Department of education: “I see no problem here”

I remember trying this ages ago. It worked so well that I ended up forgetting that sleep had ever been a problem....until it became a problem again! Somehow I didn't remember this solution until I happened across it again recently and....BINGO! It still works beautifully! Falling asleep quickly and staying asleep ALL night (let me say that again. ALL NIGHT!!) Thank you Jim Donovan!

I watched this at 1a.m. because I couldn't fall asleep after being tired all day. I went into a comfortable sleeping position and started tapping and deep breathing. It took me about 25 minutes to actually fall asleep, but it instantly relaxed me, and I could tell it was going to work--It did! I will be doing this again tonight and in the future because I frequently have insomnia.

Literally every health organization in the world: “people need, on average, 7-8 hours of sleep to be healthy.” Highschools and colleges: “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that.”

How does youtube know I’m having sleep issues😦 anyone else relate to: “if I fall asleep in the next 26 minutes I’ll have 7 hours of sleep”

I've tried it so many times along the years and I can say, it doesn't matter whether you're sitting or lying down or where you touch; you can even just move a part of your body (I usually move my toe), as long as you do the slowing down, this trick almost always work, I'm very thankful.

I've always felt that a great night's sleep is equivalent to the best medicine that you could ever get ahold of so I think what this guy has to say is more important then just about anything else I can think of.

Me: tries to trick to brain Brain: we don't do that here

When the brain invented a way to trick itself and is teaching other brains how to do it

I'll be darned, this worked for me, though my brain still fought and I had to do this 3 or 4 times, I ended falling asleep in probably 15 to 20 minutes as opposed to staring at cieling with my mind racing for 1 to 3 hours. Thank you!

My wife of 48 years has trouble sleeping every night. She is not a dye hard music lover like me. I have several songs that I really love and have them memorized. Almost every night I will start singing one in my mind. I have been doing this for years. Unless I am sick, I can't ever remember finishing a song to the end.

6:50 where he actually starts talking about the method

The technique starts at 8:00. You’re welcome and sweet dreams. 😴

Wow! I fell asleep right after I tapped the first time, woke up in the very early morning to pee, tapped again and then woke up a bit after 9am! I never sleep until 9am, ever! It's wonderful to see how humans can help each other. If we could just move out of the resistance and rigidity of our often mistaken beliefs and conclusions and instead share what we know with each other, we could literally help each other to become more. And our planet would blossom as a place for everyone to become more! Thank you Jim for your expertise and willingness to share what you know in such an effective manner.

I have a hard time falling asleep. I doubted that this method would work for me but I tried it anyway. Holy Cow! It really does work! I don’t do the exercise while sitting on the edge of my bed, I do it once settled in bed. It has worked for me every time I’ve tried it over the last 4 nights. Wow!

Ok, now tell me how to get 8 hours of sleep in 4 hours

"The secret to falling asleep is rhythm." Every parent who ever rocked a baby to sleep knows this, but I guess we don't think it applies to adults.

Jim Donovan THANK YOU - this is BRILLIANT! When I first tried it, I soon realized standing/sitting up would not work at all... so I did the obvious = got into bed, lights out, snuggled into blankets. I also made a major modification to your technique - no big movements of whole hands required - the tiniest movement of one finger tapping a pillow/blanket was plenty enough, as the physical component, to accompamy the mental component. As the proud owner of "Busy Brain" [useful when working, but not sleeping!] this is what I think happens: this tiny movement, synced with breathing - in practice, this is several tiny movements per breath, but in sync - these TWO focal aspects are just enough to kinda "pass by" Busy Brain. For some of us, any meditation-like practice - that uses just one pattern - breathing - simply isn't enough, it's too easy to fall off track, for thoughts to interrupt! Which has been a great puzzle for years - if it works for others, why not me? Because ONE pattern is not enough. This is basically adding a second pattern [tapping] that flows WITH the first pattern [breath] => occupies most/enough of the "attention" so hyped in meditation practice. Kinda tricks the brain: "Hey feel this - then feel this too." Good Night Busy Brain! Brilliantly simple. Who would have thunk it.

After trying the exercise, i thought it didn't work. But then he said "notice how your mind feels". And wow, i actually felt lighter. Thank you, i'm definitely calling my friend tonight to get more sleep !

It worked! I am typing this inside my dream.

Me: doing the tapping at 2 AM My wife wakes up: what are you doing? Me: I'm having a mental breakdown

Not only to help sleep.. but calming music can help with memory, especially with the elderly

Thank you! This is working for me. I had to repeat, or tap for longer the first few nights, but I'm sleeping well now. My average sleep was 2-3 hours per night before this. Now I get 7.

I listened to this in double time and now I fall asleep twice as fast as this guy ..

dude this comment section is so useless. i came down here to see if this actually worked and all i see is shitposting

The older I've gotten, the more trouble I have sleeping. I've been doing this for 1 week and it has worked, every. single. time. Thank you Jim

Ive been on sleeping pills for three months and now weaning off experiencing rebound insomnia. Was so grateful to see this video come across my screen. I will definitely be trying this tonight and I will report back. Felt very relaxed after doing the practice run. ❤❤

Tried this twice. After about 3-4 minutes, I thought, "This ain't working." That's all I remember because it did work.

10 years of never being able to sleep without help, where I have heavily relied on watching youtube or movies til I drop, or reading books to sleep, where even with these methods there's no assurance I'll be able to sleep. Important events that I needed sleep for but ended up sleeping very late because my mind won't let me. Sleep should be rest and not feel like heavy work. I've tried so much methods, I've tried sleeping early but eventually got to sleep at 3 or 4 AM, I've tried not moving for 15 mins., music therapy, ASMR, doing a light activity before sleeping, drinking milk or water before sleep, keeping my mind at peace while eyes are shut, hypnosis videos which I've watched til dawn but never worked, and a whole lot that I can't even remember in this 10 years of sleep deprivation but to no avail. Even with my partner to cuddle I couldn't sleep without a youtube session to drop me. I already gave up trying at this point. Then one day this video randomly appeared while watching Ted vids. For one night I dropped my reliance to watching youtube videos for sleep, I studied what he did then tried it. Next thing I knew, it's morning. I couldn't believe it worked so tried it again for 4 days straight and it still worked with no problems, I even woke up easily at 5AM at times on my own, without feeling groggy. So to Jim Donovan, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and for the 10 years of pain that I still couldn't believe you've cured. Because of you I can see myself having years of healthy sleep. And because of you...I can finally drop those late night cereals for good.

This is an amazing technic. After my time in the military, for years it took me well over an hour fall asleep... and it was really light sleep... but i found this video and tried and changed my life. I alternate tapping the tips of my finger and counting to 100 and back... and im passed out all night. Thank you

I tried this last night and starting yawning after about 2 minutes. Fell asleep, after waking up at 3am, did it again and fell asleep. Thank you

Title: "how to trick yourself into falling asleep" This guy: "I had a heart attack. IM DYING"

He is the only Public Speaker in the world who actually wants his crowd to sleep during his presentation 😅

I tried it a year ago when I was really anxious and had trouble sleepign and it didn't work but I didn't try it that many times and I was worried that I wasn't doign it right. I tried it recently and wow it knocked me out after about 3-4 minutes of it. Don't give up so easily. Thank you Jim.

I’ve tried this a few times now and it works! Sometimes I’ll wake up at 3:00 AM with my mind racing over something or other. This exercise diverts the focus and the next thing I know, it’s morning! You can pay a ton of money for sleep therapy or try this. It works!

For those after precise information: It's manipulating rhythm. For instance when you unconsciously start rhythmically moving a body part relative to the beat when you hear a great song that's called frequency following response. FFR relaxes your mind from erratically jumping to new ideas or thoughts and grounds them to pattern occurring. This relaxes you helping you calm down for sleep. Lying down gently tap your thighs with your hands like a ticking clock: left, right, left, right... gently. Do this for as long as it takes while taking, deep, relaxing breaths. Progressively get slower and slower as you pay attention to how relaxed and comfortable you feel while just focusing on the rhythm of your taps. Be calm, relaxed as it can take up to 3 or more minutes to drift into slumber. Sweet dreams

Him: sleep deprivation can kill you! Me trying to find out how to fall asleep before i die: *SWEATS PROFUSELY*

Sounds like a great idea. I literally DID get tired doing this exercise, could feel the sense of slumber start to pour down from the top of my skull. So I had to stop, fearing I would fall asleep doing this exercise. I will try this tonite. BTW, I've tried many things but for most people, including myself, it really is getting control of your own thoughts and putting them to rest. Jim's description of the problem of falling and staying asleep is as close a description I've ever heard to my own problem.

This was SO helpful! It's hard to believe that I've been a musician for most of my life, and I never thought of this. It worked immediately. Even before I started to slow it down I could feel the difference in my mind. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

dont underestimate my cereal eating skills

I have an end user licence agreement i try and read every night. I pass out on the first paragraph.

Thank you , I took a bunch of your cards , sun king warriors (-; on the opposite side with instructions to breathe ! God bless you for using your greatness as a platform to reach out to help heal this world ! I’m am so humbled . And I sleep better too (-; anxiety attacks me , I cope am recognize my breathing more . You remind us all that anxiety and this sleep disorder is all over the world . If they can do it we can do it , you do it , what is in one is in the whole . Thank you so much for being you .

It works for me! Especially helpful for those times when getting up to use the bathroom and trying to fall back to sleep. Funny how, after watching this, I remembered that as a child, I used to lie on my side and rock back and forth to put myself to sleep. I don't remember when or why I stopped doing it, but after watching Jim's video, simply rocking is all I have to do now.

Is this exploit still working or has it been patched?

he starts talking about the method at 6:50 (edit) thanks for the likes 🥳

I tried this last night and slept like a sedated baby. Honestly can’t believe it worked. Will be trying from now on.

Thank you so much for this, it's been about 2 or 3 years since I first watched this video and since then, I have never struggled with not being able to sleep. I do this every time before I sleep by resting my hand on the edge of the bed and every single day, I sleep quite quickly. Truly a life-changer.

*Let's be honest, you didn't search for this. It searched for u.*

That slight pause for laughter each time he realizes his jokes don’t land with these pseudo-intellectuals.

Just watching your video and following your instructions almost had me sleeping in my chair. I felt so relaxed. I'll definitely try this tonight as I'm not sleeping good. Thank you so much!

I really loved watching this guy.. now I’m tired. He really helped my anxious brain.

Me, can’t sleep: *sees it’s 3am *watches 13 minute video on how to go to sleep *finishes video *enjoyed video, very educational *watches more videos, very interesting

I tried this last night. Tapping on my thighs while in bed and I wasn’t tired before starting. After about 45 seconds I was ready to fall asleep. I was shocked at how fast it worked. And I woke up feeling rested. Usually I wake up feeling groggy. So thanks much for this! Great video. 😁

I used to work night shift in construction and highway maintenance. The flashing lights of the vehicles in the work party, once the wee hours of the morning crept up, tended to, as we used to say, "hypnotize all of us into a sleep state" We had to be extra cautious and be buddies to each other to keep the rhythmic light droning from putting us to sleep....which is what hypnotists use too, right? Great talk, thanks! (see you in my dreams!)

It's not so much the tapping as it is the breathing, but the tapping can't hurt. This guy is the first speaker I've heard who would be happy to find his audience falling asleep.

Jokes on you this video is keeping me up later

The trick, start at 8:10: tap on your legs like a slow metronome and breathe in and out on 4 counts, then slow that metronome down for some repetitions. It's like rocking yourself to sleep.

Jim donovan have the best body language i have seen on stage for decades. especially the irst half minute, he shouldnt get discouraged when people dont confirm that immediately, if he fills them worth that talent fora few more minutes theyl start to feed the joy they get frm him back hes direction

Thank you. This kind of works for me, but not consistently. Sometimes it just makes me feel tired, but I still don't fall asleep. Still, it's great to have another think to try when I'm getting annoyed at still being awake.

This guy just ASMR'd a whole Ted Talk

I’m imagining him speaking to an empty room, it’s way funnier.

Note to future self: exercise explanation starts around 6:40 goodnight everybody

As a therapist who practices EMDR, I want to thank you for adding to my practice! Very well done! :)

Who is watching this 2 in the morning?

I listened to this while driving and i fell asleep. When I woke up I was in the hospital

It WORKS!!!! My insomnia is quite BAD, been 5 years. but this is precious! Love it, apparently this hippie drummer has helped lots of people

I've been dealing with the same issues. I will be eternally grateful to you if it really works for me. Thank you so much. I needed to find your video!!

Plot twist: There's no one in the hall and you are actually watching him go to sleep.

This guy, teaching you this technique for free, is the real MVP

Ok ,me at 10 am came across this video searching for my daughter sleeping problem.Done the exercise myself and I left balance and calmness in my brain.Almost like peace of mind which is priceless in today’s busy world.I sleep well anyway but I really felt something calming after trying the exercise.the same things we do from crying babies to calm them down.I already sent this talk with my daughter and will monitor her experience.Thanks for sharing .

Thank you so much Jim, I really really enjoyed watching and listening to you and I’m definitely going to be trying this out. Please stay safe and well too

8:20 start of exercise. I'm putting this here for me so I can easily find it again later. 8:49 audience participation begins

deepest sympathies to my fellow insomniacs out there

You're a hero! It worked for me. I told 3 people this, it worked for all of them! One said,"Thank you! I have sleep apnea, and this solves a major life problem." I should tell more people.

probably the most helpful thing I've seen yet: and it didn't take too long to say not very much & then try to sell a product - unlike too many other videos I've seen. Thank you Jim Donovan, I will ty it tonight...Bless you.

instructions unclear, accidentally ate 4 bowls of lucky charms

This was insane. When i opened my eyes i felt frozen, so calm, like i could barely move. Its like a powerful form of meditation. Thank you, this has really changed my life and is a very helpful thing that everyone can try. It really works!

I'm 20th a college student, I'm getting trouble with my sleep for at least half year, and then I'm found this video, amazingly after trying a couple time, my sleep problem gone, thankyou.

This is fantastic, Jim. I met you at Cobriwoodstock this past summer. Loved your talk! We have a mutual friend, drummer/photographer, Gary Dotterweich. Bassist Eric Riebling was my cousin. He just passed away a few months ago. I am going to give this an honest try and keep away from the stimulants! Thank you!

POV: Youre watching this at 3am trying to get to bed.

who clicked immediately because they cant fall asleep rn.

Used to be a night owl since 2009, but my new noisy neighbor made it difficult to sleep lately. I found your helpful video with tips for falling asleep and it worked - I just have to tap my lap for 15-20 minutes then I crash out. Thank you, man. You saved my life.

Just came across this TEDx and tonight I will give it a go. I'll let you know how it goes. I've had trouble sleeping for as long as I can remember, which is becoming more and more interesting as I'm 73. Please remind me if I forget to post! Ambien if it doesn't work!

RU-vid recommendations: hey fam i see you’re still here and it’s late, here, go to sleep man

That frequency following response is like rocking yourself to sleep.

It’s really like a type of meditation, brings you into the Now & keeps you from thinking about anything but the counting. Calming. This works for me. Thank you Jim!!

As soon as he started drumming on his legs, i dozed off!!! MY condolences on the lucky charms deprivation tho. Definitely on to something here!!! Thanks a million bro! i have the same always active mind, especially at bed time!!! Glad you're still with us! I'll help spread the word!!!!