“You’re getting very sleepy.” It’s not exactly hypnosis, but you can coax your brain to sleep with a few simple keywords, shows a new study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
After 5 minutes of exposure to sleep-related words like “cozy” and “relax,” people snoozed 47 percent longer during a brief nap period than those who didn’t see the language. Heart rates also dropped significantly among those who read the drowsy cue words—a sign of deeper rest, the study authors say. A follow-up experiment showed the words were just as effective among people with sleep issues.
Reading relaxing words activates goal-oriented mental processes in your brain that help control how tired or wired you feel, explains study coauthor Mitsuru Shimizu, Ph.D., of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The exact psychological process at work is a little unclear. But just as you can use keywords and images to improve your confidence before an interview or to boost your hand-eye coordination, you can prime yourself for sleep by thinking of restful language, Shimizu says.
Want to try it for yourself? Do this: Write down slumber-centric words like “calm,” “rest,” and ”drift away” on notecards or sticky notes. Place them in your bathroom, on your bedside table, or anywhere else you’ll see them in the hour before you go to bed, Shimizu suggests. Exposing yourself to this kind of language should improve your sleep, he says.
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