Hello everyone. I struggle with slow process of falling asleep. It takes me about 1-2 hours to fall asleep. It is last problem with sleep that still causing me trouble. Before that I was having problem with a bad sleep because I was easily awakened by some noise and in general sense had very bad sleep but because of increased airflow and exercise I now have a tight sleep.
I was thinking that maybe mindfulness of breathing can help but not sure.
Do you fall asleep fast? If so, how you do it?
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I learned a technique at a retreat that works well for me. It is a mindfulness of the body/feeling technique. Lying in a comfortable position, breathe in slowly while raising one extremity (arm, leg, or head) slightly off the floor or bed (1 cm at most, or even no actual gap, just start to lift). Use only the muscles necessary to accomplish the action. Then breathe out slowly and lower the extremity, letting it relax completely. Donāt repeat right away. Continue to breathe slowly and gently, while being mindful of sensations in the body. After you have returned to a normal state of mindful breathing (2 or more breaths), repeat. Do this for a few time with, say, one leg and if you are still not asleep, switch to the other leg. Change positions and extremities as needed to zero in on body tension.
For me, most of the time it works very quickly to put me to sleep. If not, I get a mindfulness of the body meditation session out of it.
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Too often the cause of being unable to get to sleep is our own inner voice ruminating on subjects of concern/worry, so to stop the constant mental activity I meditate myself to sleep. I simply follow the breath and disregard any thoughts that arise. At the same time I do like @greenTara has suggested and calm the bodily formations, doing a mindfulness of body and body sensations.
I started doing it after listening to an Ajahn Chah dhamma talk where he was saying you should be mindful at all times, even when lying down to go to sleep.
On the other hand have also been told that you should never meditate yourself to sleep because you will develop the habit of falling asleep in your meditation but for some reason that has never been a problem for me, I find the different posture, i.e. sitting instead of lying is enough to keep me awake and prevent any issues with getting too sleepy when doing sitting meditation.
In addition I have found that since I have been getting a decent amount of sleep each night that my daily meditation has become much stronger and I am much more able to stay awake and not get too tired whilst sitting in meditation.
Previously I was always battling tiredness and thought that it was my subconscious mind trying to subvert my attempt to meditate but it turns out I was just tired and chronically short on sleep - like most people living a modern, western lifestyle.
Good luck getting some sleep champ.
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Sleeping mask with a bulge around the eyes! Start with eyes open and let them naturally closeā¦
I lie down and attempt to meditate through the night, breathing aware, following MN10. Somehow sleep always wins.
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There is no need to sleep if you can relax your body.
You have more time for meditation if you are not sleepy.
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I always read a book before sleep 
Meditation before sleep makes me more alert and awakeā¦
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I havenāt read all the answers here, but it might be that what happened during the day is keeping you awake. There is no shortcut but it is important to de-stress during the day itself, if this is the case.
with metta
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Samadhi suppresses hindrances including sloth and torpor- it happens to me too, so I avoid meditating too late at night.
with metta
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Blue light coming from artificial lights and screens before bed is really harmful to sleep. Lately Iāve been using automatic blue light filters on my PC and phone and have started to fall asleep much quicker.
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Thank you. I will try it.
Thank you. Iāll try this too.
I forgot about that. I was using redshift but on my last installation of Xubuntu I forgot to configure it.
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Oddly enough, I fall asleep faster now that I am practicing Buddhism than before (astute followers of my posts know that I started practicing Buddhism following a major life crisis). One thing I have found is that if I stay up until I feel sleepy, I fall asleep faster than if I simply get into bed at some fixed time arbitrarily chosen as ābedtime.ā Which is to say, regardless of when I get into bed, if I stay awake with the light on engaged in an activity such as reading or listening to music, once I feel sleepy and turn off the light I fall asleep faster than if I get into bed simply because it is ābedtime,ā turn off the light, and try to fall asleep. Hope that makes sense.
Partly what seems to be involved is that through my meditation practice I have gotten better at being aware of my bodily sensations, feelings, thought processes, and thoughts, such that in my other daily activities (such as falling asleep) I am more insightful and mindful of my state of being.
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I listen to Dhamma talk before I go to bed.
Generally it make me sleepy. Some times I wake up and the Dhamma talk is still playing!
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Do you mean helpful?
Iāll admit to doing the same. I use the BSWA page for the downloads of Dhamma talks or Sutta classes. I find them so boring, that I pass outā¦no, Iām kidding.
For reasons I donāt understand, listening to Ajahns Brahm, Sujato, or Brahmali puts my mind and brainwaves into a calm state, and I feel that the positivity, or the sense of being flooded with Dhamma insights, calms the mind. I can say that about 100 percent of the Sujato and Brahmali talks really focus me in on Dhamma and give my mind a chance to focus on positive and calming ideas. I canāt do this with other podcasts or talks, such as those that I listen to when driving. I do feel that this exposure to solid and trusted Dhamma brings peace to the mind, at least for me. I can let go of everything else, and if at night, fall asleep.
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Nope.
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I had my annual eye test this morning and discussed the issue with my optometrist. The upshot is that my new reading lenses will incorporate blue light filters (and cost more of course).
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I find having an attitude of gratitude helps, plus doing a bit of metta.
When I go to bed, I say to myself āthankyouā 3 times. It can be a āthankyouā for:
- Getting through the day.
- Having a nice comfortable bed to sleep in.
- Having food in your belly.
Whatever you can think of, Iām sure we can think of three things we can be thankful for.
And after the thankyous, I do a bit of metta. I have arms wrapped (embracing) my body and I recite my mantraā¦
May I be well, may I be at ease, may I be content. And I do it with as much sincerity as possible.
I find that most of the time I only get to the third repetition and then Iām out like a light.
I think it also helps to have an attitude of letting go, in other words not desiring to fall asleep but just allowing it to happen naturally.
Hope this helps 
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Give up your struggle to fall asleep and see what happens.
Good night
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I found these suttas:
I will try to practice Dhamma when falling asleep.
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