Some insomnia cures you probably haven't seen before

Counting Sheep Variation    

We finally figured out why it never worked for us. The old wives' cure for insomnia is to count bouncy little sheep leaping over a fence. No wonder it doesn't work. Bouncy sheep are hyperactive and wide awake. They're the last thing you need to dwell on when you want to go to sleep

So try the variation that worked for us. Count sleeping sheep. Imagine a beautiful green meadow stretching to infinity. Every ten feet or so, right in a row, lies a peaceful, sleeping sheep. Imagine that you're just gliding by, almost floating. And that you pass by a sheep every 3 or 4 seconds (experiment to find which time interval works best for you -- it varies from person to person). Count the sheep and glide on to the next, and the next, and so on. 

Sleep with the Top of Your Head Facing North

 

And, obviously -- unless you have a particularly unusual body -- your feet facing south. This aligns your body with the magnetic field of the planet, bringing your own energies into harmony with those of the Earth. Sound like a pretty bizarre theory? Try it. You'll see what a difference it makes. 

Stomach Rubs

This soothes down the digestive system and helps to bring about a deeper relaxation. An extra benefit is that it will help you to lose weight by improving the functioning of the digestive system.
Simply lie on your back and place your hand on your navel. Begin to make small circles in a clockwise direction as you gently glide your hand over your stomach. Let your circles gradually become bigger and bigger. When your circles reach the outside of your stomach, gradually reduce their size until you are back at your navel again. Then reverse the direction (to counter-clockwise) and do the same thing again. Repeat this whole series with your other hand. Do this several times.
Note: Food material moves through the colon in a clockwise direction. If you have trouble with constipation, make all your circles clockwise. If troubled by diarrhea, make all your circles counter-clockwise. Clockwise circles will alleviate the blockage, counter-clockwise circles will help solidify fecal material.
 
Toe Wiggling      
 
A relaxed body is essential for a sound sleep. This may sound like we're contradicting what we just said about our minds keeping us awake, but it's no contradiction. Eastern sciences (such as yoga) have known for thousands of years that the mind and body are connected (actually they're not just connected, they're one, but the idea that they're connected is sufficient for our purposes here.) So if the mind is not relaxed, the body is not relaxed. Conversely, the body has to be relaxed for the mind to be relaxed. It's a package deal.
So how do you relax your body? We've already mentioned milk, herbal teas, exercise, and avoiding caffeine. But there are techniques you can do directly with your body. Toe Wiggling is one of them.
Lie on your back (where you should be in the first place) and wiggle your toes up and down 12 times, wiggling the toes of both feet at the same time. This will relax your entire body, inside and out.
How does it work? According to the science of Reflexology -- which has been around in other cultures for thousands of years -- your feet are a kind of master control panel for the rest of your body. "Meridians" in the body -- which are those channels of energy treated by acupuncture -- end up in the feet. So the ends of those meridians in your feet connect with every organ and every part of your entire body.
When you wiggle your toes, you are stimulating -- and thus relaxing -- your entire body. (Incidentally, this is a good place to mention that you can be energized and relaxed at the same time. It's a matter of the quality of that energy. If it flows freely and smoothly, you will be relaxed. If the energy flow in your body is restricted or blocked, you will be tense. And toe wiggling helps to bring about a relaxing, free-flowing energy.)
Note: This same exercise is also great first thing in the morning before getting out of bed in order to energize the body.

  
Visualize Something Peaceful
 
At least try this when you're trying to set up your new regular bedtime Just lie there with your eyes closed and imagine you're in your very favorite, most peaceful place. It may be on a sunny beach, swinging in a hammock in the mountains or your back yard, or all alone in a cave in the Himalayas.
Wherever it is, imagine you are there. You can see your surroundings, hear the peaceful sounds, smell the fragrance of the flowers, and feel the warmth of the sun or whatever sensations are there. Just relax and enjoy it -- and drift off to sleep.
Once you've found a place that's especially peaceful and effective, you'll find that the more you use it, the more you can count on it to help you relax and get to sleep. Its comfort and familiarity will make it more and more effective.

Visualize Something Boring

 
 We like this one in particular. The beauty of it is you can turn a negative into a positive. Just visualize that you are someplace that you have always found extremely boring. It could be listening to a particular teacher who was so boring that he or she almost always put you to sleep. Perhaps it's some friend or acquaintance whose incessant talk and theories put you to sleep. Maybe it's your work, maybe it's your commute each day.
Whatever it is, visualize it. And recapture that bored, tired, heavy, sleepy feeling that you always experience. Let that feeling spread through your mind and all through your body till you're filled with complete tiredness and sleepiness. It works.
Reference: http://www.well.com/~mick/insomnia/insomnia.24.ht