數綿羊真的能幫你入睡嗎？

Counting sheep is probably the oldest sleep advice， as old as drinking a warm glass of milk. But it turns out that counting sheep perhaps wont help you fall asleep. “It is only one of those old wives stories，” says Michael Decker， Ph.D.， a sleep specialist and professor at Case Western School of Nursing.

One saying is that the idea was brought into being when early sheep herders couldnt get to sleep at night because they were worried about all of the sheep in their field. So they would calm themselves by counting the sheep up to make sure they were all safe.

But this method probably wont work when you find it difficult to sleep. When falling asleep， it is likely to be more helpful to make the mind filled with something relaxing and passive， rather than active. “You have to keep record of those sheep. It takes a lot of work to count them all up，” Decker says.

A modern farmer actually counted real sheep when he couldnt fall asleep. And he asked an animal scientist at the USDAs Sheep Experiment Station whether the task would cause sleepiness. “I tried counting sheep once and its no use. It did not help me fall asleep… Its hard to imagine sheep jumping a fence because it is not something they do unless you dont want them to.”

A better method might be to use your brain to imagine a relaxing scene， such as a comfortable beach. In fact， a 2001 study published in a magazine showed that among a group of people with insomnia， those who used “imagery distraction”， fell asleep faster than those who werent given any advice. The study participants were instructed to imagine “a situation they found interesting and pleasing to the eye， but also pleasant and relaxing.”

Decker agrees that this type of guided imagery seems to be the best way to calm a racing mind. Try picturing a beautiful waterfall or planning a relaxing vacation. “We dont want to do anything that connects closely with deep thought.” he says.

Other tried-and-true methods for falling asleep include progressive muscle relaxation， meditation or a warm bath before bed. And if you cant fall asleep after 30 or so minutes in bed， sleep experts often advice you to get up and do something quiet and not exciting to your brain until you feel tired again， so your brain doesnt start to associate the bed as a place for insomnia.

“數綿羊”也許是最古老的幫助睡眠的建議，和睡前喝杯熱牛奶一樣古老。但事實上這一方法可能并不能幫你入睡。“這只是老婆婆們講的一個故事而已，”凱斯西儲大學護理學院的睡眠專家邁克爾·德克爾教授這樣說道。

關于“數綿羊”來源的其中一個說法是，以前牧羊人在晚上會因為擔心牧場里的羊而睡不著覺，因此他們每天晚上都會數綿羊，確保它們都安然無恙后才能放心。

可是當你真的難以入眠時，這一方法也許根本起不到任何作用。因為當人們想要入睡時，讓大腦處于放松的、被動的狀態比使之保持活躍的狀態更有效果。“在大腦中數綿羊就需要一直記錄綿羊的數量，這會使大腦一直處于工作狀態。”德克爾如是說。

有一位現代牧場主在難以入睡時會去數真正的綿羊，他去問美國農業部綿羊實驗站的一名動物科學家，這樣做是否真的可以幫助他入睡。農場主說：“我曾試過數綿羊，可是沒有效果，這并不能幫我入睡……很難想象綿羊跳過柵欄的場景，因為如果不讓它們這樣做，它們絕不會跳柵欄的。”

幫助入睡的更好的辦法就是在大腦中想象一個使人放松的場景，比如一個舒適的沙灘。事實上，2001年有本雜志上發表的一項研究結果顯示：在患有失眠癥的人中，使用“場景想象法”的人們比那些沒有受到任何睡眠建議的人們入睡得更快。專家建議那些研究對象幻想一個他們認為有趣的、吸引人的，并且使人愉快和放松的場景。

這種有指導性的想象應該是讓不斷運作的大腦冷靜下來最好的方式，德克爾也對此表示認同。試著在大腦中構建一幅美麗瀑布的畫面，亦或是計劃一次輕松愉快的度假。他說：“我們不建議在準備入睡之時讓大腦進行深入思考。”

其他一些比較靠譜的入睡方法包括漸進式的肌肉放松法、冥想法和睡前的熱水澡。另外，如果你上床后30分鐘都無法入睡，專家建議在這時要起床做一些平靜的、不會使大腦興奮的事情，直到再次感到困倦，這樣你的大腦就不會把床與失眠這兩者關聯起來。