Games for Helping You Fall Asleep

Being unable to fall asleep at night is one of the most frustrating experiences a person can have. Most people struggle with this type of insomnia at least once in their lives. For occasional insomnia, you can try some mental tricks and games to help you fall asleep faster. If the condition becomes chronic, check with your doctor to rule out a physical condition.

Create a Story

• Thinking up a story, or "story authoring," is one method of distracting yourself from negative thinking that might otherwise prevent sleep. The premise is simple, and it's a method that can be done by anyone, both creative and non-creative types. With your eyes closed, think of a story. It can be about anything at all; the sky is the limit. If you have a recurring problem falling asleep, try continuing your story from the night before.

Muscle Relaxation

• Be sure that all lights are off, and there are no noises to distract you for this exercise. Though this trick works best if you're lying on your back, any position that's comfortable for you will work. Beginning with your feet, focus your attention on every sensation. Curl and uncurl your toes, paying attention to the feeling of relaxation that results. Follow the same procedure all the way up your body, focusing on the feel of the muscles tensing and then releasing. This helps puts your body in a supreme state of comfort, ideal for falling asleep.

Letter Scrambling

• Start with a word that's four or five letters long. While in a comfortable position with the lights off and no distracting noises, start morphing the word one letter at a time to create a new word. For instance, "bent" becomes "dent" when the first letter is changed and so on. Do this as long as you can, and if any word becomes unchangeable, start with a new word. This is another distraction strategy that will help lull you to sleep.

Using the Alphabet

• Again using the aid of distraction, this exercise helps your forget the stresses of the day and can be repeated for as long as necessary. Think of a theme -- animals, countries or food, for instance. Beginning with "A," think of an item in your theme that begins with that letter. If you reach the end of the alphabet, start over with a new theme. Pick a theme challenging enough to keep you thinking, but not so difficult as to be frustrating.