According to a 2021 survey by Philips, 37 per cent of Indian adults experienced difficulties falling asleep, 27 per cent struggled to stay asleep and 39 per cent often woke up during the night. It is safe to say that sleeping well has become a luxury for many of us and if you relate to this, you can find relief with cognitive shuffling. This method was developed by Luc Beaudoin, PhD (Cognitive Science), and an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Wondering how this might help? Here’s a complete guide.
What is cognitive shuffle?
This pre-sleep technique helps to relax the brain and may help you fall asleep quickly. If you’re always mentally making a list of things you need to accomplish the next day, that’s a part of the problem. Thinking in an analytic or problem-solving way stimulates your brain, ultimately chasing away sleep. To switch off this engaged mode, you need to scramble your thoughts. Sounds confusing? We’ll break it down for you.
How does it work?
Cognitive shuffling involves picking a series of words and mixing up your thoughts. Not focusing on a chain of things will keep anxiety and worries at bay and can help your brain to think it’s time to fall asleep. It’ll be lulled into a groggy state as you won’t end up making connections between the words.
How to cognitive shuffle aka trick your brain into falling asleep
1. First, get into bed.
2. Think of a random word that is emotionally neutral (not connected to your emotions or feelings) and consists of five letters. For example, apple.
3. Once you’ve picked your word, gradually spell it out in your mind, and then for each alphabet, think of a word that starts with the letter. For example, spell A-P-P-L-E. With the letter A, I think of an astronaut so I will visualise one in my mind. Repeat this till you run out words that begin with an A.
4. Next, I will carry out the same exercise with the letter P and so on.
5. Repeat this till you run out of words.