Fall Asleep Faster Without Pain or Stress! (Total Bliss)

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February 2025. For the original video, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_BTQvVaUik

Brad: Are you having problems with sleeping, whether it's for all night or an afternoon nap? Well, we are going to give you the best tricks to fall asleep quickly without stress, pain, or anxiety. It all adds up.

Mike: Yeah, some simple body positioning tips can help you fall asleep, as well as four more hacks to help eliminate pain and maximize relaxation.

Brad: Is hacks the same as tricks?

Mike: Sure. They're just fun phrases to say.

Brad: There you go. Fun phrases.

Mike: Anyway, the first thing you want to look at when getting a good night's sleep or even a nap is setting the mood in the room. Dimming the lights. That is the first thing. Have a nice dark atmosphere. Maybe blackout curtains or an eye mask can help with that.

Brad: What's next?

Mike: Also, some white noise can help you fall asleep. I personally run a fan; I don't know what you do.

Brad: A fan as well.

Mike: And a nice cool temperature. Typically, in cooler temperatures, people sleep better. There's nothing worse than a hot summer night, and you can't sleep, and it's sweaty, it's gross.

Brad: That's right. It's very uncomfortable. Now, what about body position? This can be a tremendously important thing, how to position yourself. Because if you have some pain in your shoulder, your back, or wherever, that's going to prevent you from falling asleep, so we need to take care of that, so we're going to get right to this.

Mike: So you're going to want to invest in some pillows, and the size of them is going to depend on you as an individual. There's not one magical pillow out there; it's what's comfortable for your body.

Brad: So if you're having low back pain, two pillows, possibly three, under your legs can make a huge difference.

Mike: And you could put them the long way or you could put them the other direction, and just see if that helps with your back issues you may be having.

Mike: What's the next thing you want to talk about?

Brad: Well, let's talk about people who have problems with shoulder pain while they sleep. Now, if you lie on your back, you're probably going to be okay, no stress on the shoulders, but some people inherently or habitually lie on one side.

Mike: Sometimes having a gap, even on your back, if you're having pain, can be beneficial as well.

Brad: Good point.

Mike: If you lie on your side. Let's just say it's my right side. Your best bet is to try to get the painful side up. You could put one pillow next to you, and another pillow under your arm.

Brad: So you mean if the right shoulder's uncomfortable?

Mike: Yes, that would be the best option. However, some people always sleep on their painful side because maybe they have back issues too.

Brad: I also want to mention, you might want to put a pillow between your knees, even if you don't have pain in your hips or knees. This can really help. Anyway, I'm sorry to interrupt, Mike.

Mike: It does prevent you from rolling over even more. But if you're having some shoulder discomfort, normally, when you're on your side, you typically want two pillows because your shoulder is a bigger area, and you also can put a pillow on your rib cage area, making a nice little trough or canal here, and then your arm can rest like that.

Brad: That's right.

Mike: And normally, I also, you're not gonna want to be directly on it. This is uncomfortable. So if you can kind of roll slightly away. There, I got my own little pillow.

Brad: And I usually go like this, I'll pull my patient's shoulder like that, and they'll say, "Oh, that little bit of motion helped." So it's up to you. Everyone has a little bit different preference for that.

Mike: Now, if you happen to be a stomach sleeper, which I sometimes am, and I don't really try to control that, and you're having back pain with that, sometimes you can take a pillow, put it kind of right at your waistline, and then this can actually help with back issues as well if you're a stomach sleeper.

Brad: Didn't you say sometimes you bring this leg up or you twist a little bit?

Mike: Yeah, sometimes I sleep like this, depending, normally, whatever way my head is, that leg will come up like this automatically. I don't really plan it; it just happens.

Brad: Yeah, we know, Mike. Actually, Bob and I really promote not sleeping on your stomach. But as Mike said, some people really are used to it, and it's the way it's going to be.

Mike: Just happens.

Brad: All right, let's go on with the next anxiety and stress issue.

Mike: So a lot of people, when they are tensed or stressed, hold a lot of it in their upper traps, in their jaw, in their head, and then they get headaches and a whole lot of issues. So what are some things they can do for that?

Brad: Well, this is one thing that has worked for me. And if you happen to hold stress in your head, or particularly, temples, some people get jaw tightness as well, and then just everything is tight. You need to relax, take a deep breath, and do this before you go to bed, probably while you're seated, or you could lie down as well, and just allow your body to relax. Now, if muscles are tight and you can get to them, like your temples, a nice, this is what I like, is just circular motion in. Get some pressure on those muscles. Sometimes you can just hold it. Myself, is I go back above my ears, which is where they really seem to be knotted up. And they're thin muscles, it doesn't take a lot to get them loosened up. You can work the palms like this. They're all different. Everyone has a different need. What are you saying, Mike?

Mike: I've even done the whole top of my head, but I also have no hair to deal with, so it's a little different. But sometimes my whole head, it just feels good to get that movement up there.

Brad: Right.

Mike: It just relaxes it. You don't even notice it's tense until you move it around.

Brad: Exactly. That's a good point. Now, if your jaws are tight, and that's a really important thing, particularly TMJ, just loosening up. You can work circles here, and I can't do it on my mic, but you can work the palm again here, up and down, and work it up into the temple. You'll know, because when you feel you hit those tight muscles and they relax, whoosh. It's like just melting it, and it's going to help you fall asleep. So that's important.

Mike: Now, those are all the tips you can do with things you have at your house. However, we have a bonus tip that Brad actually likes to do a lot, and it happens to be this eye massager.

Brad: That's right. Actually, we were approached by a company that said this eye massager is a really nice device. And I looked at it, and I pretty much chuckled inside. I said, "This is a gimmick." And I thought, "I'll try it just because I got it here. It's not gonna take anything." So I put it on, and within five minutes, I realized I like this device. Now, what it does, it does three things. It actually massages the muscles. It doesn't massage the eyeballs; it massages the muscles, the temporalis muscles, and does a really good job on, as well as around the eyes. Not only does it massage it with pressure, but you can set the intensity, whether it's low, medium, or high. It also heats up, which helps those muscles relax as well. There's a low and a high temperature for that. And music, relaxing music. But the big bonus, I just found out.

Mike: You can actually connect it to your phone so you can pick your own music you want, or you don't have to have any music at all, if you prefer that way. It also has an automatic 15-minute turnoff feature, and it is rechargeable. So once it dies, you just have to recharge it. They're one size fits all with an adjustable strap, and this model actually is available at Walmart now.

Brad: Yeah, that's right. And here, I've got it on right now. It'll pump up through the compression. I typically use this in my recliner for an afternoon nap to relax. And you know, after doing a few videos with Mike, I'm all stressed out, so I go home, put the eye massager on. Life is good. It turns off in 15 minutes, and at least 50% of the time, I'm sleeping before it turns off, and then I wake up, and life is good again.

Mike: You can find them online or in Walmart stores.

Brad: All right. Enjoy, sleep well, be relaxed, and make your life more enjoyable.