I used to have problems sleeping. I was always tired and if I accidentally dropped off during the day for so much as five minutes I wouldnt be able to sleep the following night. Then a friend told me a trick he used to use and I adapted it slightly. Since then I have always been able to use this technique to get to sleep.
To start with, think about your breathing. Keep it regular and slow. As you breath in think to yourself sea and as you breathe out think shore. Get a rhythm going. While youre doing this imagine youre standing at the edge of the sea looking down at your feet. As you breathe in and think sea imagine the small waves running over your feet as a small wave breaks and then, as you breathe out and think shore imagine the water retreating back to the sea. See the water as it goes back towards the sea and see the sand that is left behind. Feel that your feet are now on their own little mounds of sand as the sea has washed the surrounding sand away. Repeat.
Now, if youre like me youll be thinking of a hundred other things at the same time. Maybe trying to work out whats for tea, how to pay off your loan, youve just remembered the kids need a packed lunch...