You may have heard about the “CIA sleep trick”, which is a method said to have been created by the CIA in order to help their operatives fall asleep fast, even in extreme conditions. It’s one of those sleep hacks that gets passed around for people with insane schedules or those who just struggle to fall asleep at night.

While the CIA isn’t giving away all their secrets, the general idea is to use relaxation techniques and mind exercises to basically trick your body into sleep mode. From what I’ve read, the key steps go something like this:

Just Relax

First, try and relax all of your facial muscles — your tongue, jaw, muscles around your eyes (personally, the eyes is the hardest for me). Then work your way down relaxing your shoulders, arms, legs and feet. Try and turn your body into dead weight.

Next, clear your mind for 10 seconds. Visualize something calming like a beach scene. If that is too distracting or does not work, repeat the phrase “don’t think” over and over for 10 seconds. If you get distracted again, bring yourself back to repeating these words.

Some versions also include deep breathing exercises or guided visualization to ramp up the relaxation vibes even more.

When did this all start?

This all started during the Cold War so their agents could fall asleep anywhere and be ready for duty. Helping people sleep better was a priority to keep them alert and performing at their best.

Variations of these mind/body relaxation methods show up in things like meditation, martial arts and stress management. So it just makes sense that there is something to it, even if the CIA connection is just an urban legend.

At the end of the day, it’s just one potential trick in the never ending pursuit of better sleep. If it works for you, great! But don’t stress if not; this is meant to be practiced over several weeks. In time, it will take less and less time to fall asleep.

Remember, there is no one size fits all as we all have to find what works best for our body’s natural sleep patterns. Though I hear those CIA operatives could fall asleep standing up!