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Sleep Better

Lesson 15: The toolkit: sneaky techniques and supplements

Goal: have a handful of practical tools ready for the nights sleep won’t come, and know what the evidence says about magnesium and other sleep supplements.

These are the “sneaky” techniques: quick, free things you do in your head or with your body to tip yourself into sleep. None of them replace the foundations (Lessons 3 to 7) or CBT-I if you have insomnia (Lesson 10), but they’re very useful on a bad night. Try a few, keep the ones that suit you, and don’t use them as a test you have to pass: if one isn’t working after a while, get up (Lesson 9).

Each tool has an evidence rating:

  • Good evidence: supported by clinical guidelines or several good trials
  • Some evidence: a few decent studies point the same way
  • Early evidence: small or preliminary studies
  • Popular tip: widely used and low-risk, but not properly tested

For a busy mind

Cognitive shuffling (early evidence)

Developed by Canadian researcher Luc Beaudoin, who calls it “serial diverse imagining”. The idea: when you fall asleep naturally, your thoughts become loose, random and dream-like. People with insomnia tend to think in focused, logical chains (usually worries). Shuffling imitates the sleepy kind of thinking.

  1. Pick a random, neutral word, such as CAKE.
  2. Take the first letter, C, and think of unrelated words that start with it: cat, carrot, calendar, canoe…
  3. Picture each one for a few seconds (5 to 15 seconds each) before moving on. Don’t link them into a story.
  4. When you run out, move to the next letter, A: apple, anchor, astronaut…
  5. Keep going until you drift off, or pick a new word.

Sleep scientists at Monash University note that the early results are promising but the research is still small. It’s free and harmless, and many people swear by it.

Imagery distraction (some evidence)

In a 2002 study of people with insomnia, those asked to imagine a pleasant, absorbing scene in detail fell asleep faster than those who followed their usual routine. Pick a scene you know well, such as a favourite beach, a walk you love or your childhood home, and walk through it slowly with all your senses: what you see, hear, smell and feel underfoot. The detail is what keeps the worries out.

Counting backwards from 1,000 in threes, or naming an animal for every letter of the alphabet, works on the same principle: just hard enough to crowd out worry, too dull to wake you up. Counting sheep is usually too easy to do the job.

Paradoxical intention (some evidence)

Lie in bed in the dark with your eyes open and gently try to stay awake. Don’t do anything stimulating; just rest and keep your eyes open. It sounds odd, but much insomnia is driven by the effort of trying to sleep, and taking the pressure off often lets sleep sneak in. European insomnia guidelines (2023) support it; the AASM (2021) found too little evidence to recommend it on its own. It’s best for people who lie in bed anxious about not sleeping.

For a tense body

Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) (some evidence for relaxation training)

Andrew Huberman’s name for guided deep relaxation, similar to yoga nidra or a body scan: you lie still and follow a voice that moves your attention slowly through your body and breath. Relaxation training is an accepted part of CBT-I; NSDR itself hasn’t been studied much as a sleep treatment. Links to 10, 20 and 30-minute versions are in Lesson 7. Use the 10-minute one in bed, and the longer ones earlier in the evening or as an afternoon reset instead of a nap.

Cyclic sighing (some evidence for calming)

  1. Breathe in through your nose.
  2. When your lungs are nearly full, take a second short sip of air in through the nose to top them up.
  3. Breathe out slowly and fully through your mouth, as long as you comfortably can.
  4. Repeat for about five minutes.

In a 2023 Stanford study, five minutes a day of cyclic sighing improved mood and lowered breathing rate more than mindfulness meditation did over a month. It wasn’t a sleep study, but calming the body is exactly what you want at bedtime. One or two sighs also work as an instant reset if you wake up anxious in the night.

Breathe in through the nose for 4, hold for 7, breathe out through the mouth with a whoosh for 8. Repeat four times. The specific counts haven’t been tested for sleep, but slow breathing with a long out-breath is well supported for calming. If holding your breath makes you feel anxious, use simple slow breathing instead (in for 4, out for 6 to 8).

A relaxation routine credited to US coach Bud Winter’s 1981 book Relax and Win, said to have been taught to navy pilots:

  1. Relax your whole face, including your tongue, jaw and the muscles around your eyes.
  2. Drop your shoulders as low as they’ll go, then let your arms go heavy, one side at a time.
  3. Breathe out and relax your chest, then your legs from the thighs down to the feet.
  4. Clear your mind for 10 seconds by picturing a calm scene, such as lying in a canoe on a still lake or in a hammock in a dark room, or repeat “don’t think, don’t think”.

The claims made for it online (asleep in two minutes!) are untested, but as a quick progressive relaxation it’s a reasonable thing to try.

Warm your feet (some evidence)

Your body sheds heat through your hands and feet as you fall asleep. A 1999 study in Nature found that warm, well-dilated blood vessels in the hands and feet were the best predictor of falling asleep quickly. In a small 2018 study, men wearing bed socks in a cool room fell asleep about 7 minutes faster and slept longer. If your feet are cold: bed socks, a warm footbath or a hot water bottle at your feet (not on bare skin).

A warm shower or bath (some evidence)

One to two hours before bed (Lesson 6). It warms the skin, and the cool-down afterwards mimics the body’s natural pre-sleep temperature drop.

The tools that matter most

If you remember only three, make them these:

  1. Get up if you’re awake for about 15 to 20 minutes (good evidence, Lesson 9)
  2. A steady wake time and morning light (good evidence, Lessons 3 and 4)
  3. Write a to-do list before bed (some evidence, Lesson 7)

Left out on purpose: mouth taping. It’s popular online, but there’s little evidence it helps sleep, and it can be risky if you have undiagnosed sleep apnoea or a blocked nose.

Supplements, including magnesium

Supplements are where marketing runs furthest ahead of evidence. A few points before the details:

  • Fix the basics first. No supplement will beat light, timing, caffeine and alcohol.
  • In Australia, most supplements are “listed” medicines (AUST L on the label). The TGA checks them for safety and quality, but does not assess whether they work before they go on sale.
  • Check with your pharmacist or doctor first if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, take other medicines, or have kidney or liver problems.
  • Try one thing at a time for two to four weeks, and keep your sleep diary going (Lesson 14) so you can tell whether it’s helping.

Magnesium (some evidence, modest benefit)

Magnesium is a mineral involved in muscle and nerve function, and many people don’t get enough from their diet.

  • What the research says: a 2021 review of three small trials in older adults (320 to 729 mg a day) found people fell asleep about 17 minutes faster than on placebo, but the evidence was rated low quality. A larger 2025 trial of 155 adults with poor sleep found that 250 mg a day of magnesium bisglycinate for four weeks modestly reduced insomnia severity compared with placebo, with the biggest benefit in people whose diets were low in magnesium.
  • Which form: magnesium glycinate or bisglycinate is generally gentler on the gut. Magnesium oxide and citrate are more likely to cause loose bowels (citrate is used as a laxative). Magnesium threonate is heavily promoted for sleep, but its main sleep trial was funded by the company that sells it and the effects on insomnia scores weren’t significant.
  • How much: the Australian upper limit for magnesium from supplements is 350 mg a day for adults (food magnesium doesn’t count towards it). Check the label for elemental magnesium, not the weight of the compound.
  • Watch out for: diarrhoea at higher doses. Avoid supplements if you have kidney disease unless your doctor advises them. Magnesium can reduce absorption of some medicines, including certain antibiotics and osteoporosis tablets, so ask your pharmacist about spacing them.
  • Food first: leafy greens, nuts (especially almonds and cashews), seeds (pumpkin seeds are a great source), legumes, wholegrains and dark chocolate (but watch the caffeine).
  • Verdict: reasonable and low-risk to try, especially if your diet is low in magnesium. Expect a modest effect, not a knockout.

Other common sleep supplements

Supplement Typical dose in studies Evidence Watch out for
Glycine (an amino acid) 3 g before bed Early: small Japanese studies found better subjective sleep and faster sleep onset Generally well tolerated; limited long-term data
L-theanine (from tea) 200 to 400 mg Some: reviews of trials suggest better subjective sleep quality, though study quality varies Generally well tolerated
Tart (Montmorency) cherry juice Two glasses a day Early: small pilot studies in older adults with insomnia Sugar and kilojoules
Ashwagandha (withania) 250 to 600 mg extract Some: a 2021 review of five trials found a small benefit, mostly in people with insomnia The TGA has issued safety advisories (2024 and July 2026) about rare liver injury. Avoid if you have liver problems, are pregnant, or take thyroid medicine; stop and see a doctor if you get yellow skin or eyes, dark urine or abdominal pain
Valerian Varies Little benefit: the AASM recommends against it for chronic insomnia Next-day drowsiness in some people
Chamomile tea A cup Little benefit as a treatment, but a pleasant, caffeine-free wind-down ritual Drink it early so you’re not up to pee (Lesson 9)
Melatonin See Lesson 13 Useful for body-clock problems such as jet lag; little benefit for general insomnia Prescription-only for most adults in Australia

The “Huberman sleep stack”. Andrew Huberman has popularised a bedtime combination of magnesium threonate, apigenin (a compound found in chamomile) and L-theanine. As above, the evidence for magnesium threonate is thin and industry-funded, apigenin has very little human sleep research, and theanine’s evidence is moderate. Some people like it; if you try it, treat it as an experiment and track the results.

Exercise 15

Pick two techniques to try this week: one for the mind (cognitive shuffling, imagery or paradoxical intention) and one for the body (cyclic sighing, the military method or warm feet). Note in your sleep diary which nights you used them. If you’re thinking about a supplement, start magnesium or one other, not both, and give it four weeks.

Sources

This course is general information, not medical advice. If you have ongoing sleep problems, loud snoring with pauses or gasping, or sleepiness that affects driving or work, see your doctor. In Australia, if you are struggling or feel unsafe, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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