Counting Sheep More Effectively to Fall Asleep

We’ve all heard about the mental exercise of counting sheep to help us fall asleep at night. Generally speaking, the idea of counting sheep hopping over fences is so boring and monotonous that it is supposed to help reduce alertness in the brain and ultimately lull us to sleep. The reason that people count sheep is not entirely known; it is believed that the idea derived from a system developed by shepherds in ancient Britain. But does the method of counting sheep work?

Some people say that merely counting sheep alone has little or no effect in reducing alertness or helping them to drift off to sleep. This is possibly due to the fact that our brains are still too alert to switch to such a simple task as counting sheep. The brain, still alert and active, wants to complete more meaningful tasks such as planning the next workday or contemplating which bills need to be paid tomorrow.

The trick to counting sheep more effectively is to bring brain activity down slowly with more complex counting techniques and more interesting visualization. Your brain needs some challenging tasks to do as it attempts to switch off. Giving your brain something more meaningful to focus on will distract your mind from racing on other thoughts.

Close your eyes and think about a gathering of 100 sheep. Focus on forming an interesting virtual environment for them; having a little fun with this will help to reduce any stresses of the day. Ask yourself some questions as you form the mental image of them and their surroundings:

• What color are they? Black? White? Grey?
• Do the sheep have numbers on them, or tags in their ears?
• Where are they going?
• Are they hungry?
• Are the sheep moving through a field or are they in a more unconventional setting, such as on a beach or in a desert?
• Are there other animals around, and if so do they need to be categorized or counted as well?

Use a little of your mental energy to very clearly identify the setting for your sheep-counting experiment. If your mind wanders onto other thoughts then focus on the bleating of the sheep and the requirement for them to be counted.

Instead of counting forwards, consider starting with 100 sheep and removing them from the field by subtracting 2 sheep at a time. Counting backwards involves a little bit more brain power than counting forwards. You begin your count: 100, 98, 96… maybe a cow gets in the way or the sheepdog herded 3 sheep to be removed instead of 2. If this happens it is because your mind is still too distracted. You must go back to 100 and recommence removing 2 sheep at a time. You begin your count again: 100, 98, 96, 94, 92…91 – whoops you made a mistake. You are supposed to be removing 2 sheep at a time but instead you visualized subtracting only 1 sheep.

Go back to 100 and start again.

Keep removing 2 sheep at a time, getting more consistent and methodical, slowing down the process and systematically removing the sheep from the scene in your mind. Each time your brain slips up, go back to 100 and start the process again and repeat, slowing it down each time.

As your breathing deepens, slow down the process even further and start removing individual sheep, now just one at a time. Now start to imagine that each sheep is white, identical, lazy and quiet. You job is to get each of the sheep through the gate, one by one by one, counting backwards…

You made a mistake, start again…

The chances are that you won’t get down to zero because your mind will start to switch off, making errors as it attempts to count backwards. Going back to 100 and repeating the process will become repetitive and boring, and you should find yourself being lulled into a wonderful restful sleep. In the morning you will congratulate yourself for being able to count sheep more effectively!