Who wants to easily and peacefully fall asleep - but isn't quite so sure where to begin?

Well, have we got the thing for you.

Sleep scientist and wellness expert Dr. Michael Breus has two guided relaxations that are so effective, many people fall asleep before they’re finished listening!   Both are guided relaxation exercises, meaning that you, the listener and participant, will be guided by Dr. Breus through two relaxation exercises designed to mentally and physically prepare you for sleep.

And we're going to give them to you now.  For free.

Be honest:

When it comes to exercise, sleep experts are all on the same page:

Just Do It.

Why?

Elementary, my dear Watson. Regular, moderate exercise has proven highly effective in helping people get a better night's sleep, not to mention help lead a healthier lifestyle.

If you're not one to exercise much, or if you want to make sure that you're doing the right moves at the right time, here are 4 essential tips for exercising your way to a better night's sleep.

On your “good sleep” list, you’ve got all your sheep in place, so to speak.

During the week, you keep a firm schedule for work, with some play time squeeze in here and there.  On the weekends such a schedule might go out the window a bit but hey; it's the weekend.

But when it comes to scheduling enough sleep, you assume that it'll somehow take care of itself.  I mean, you do manage to make it to bed each night so your system of just crashing at the end of the day can't be broken, right?

However there are some nights where you just can't seem to get enough sleep.  Work - or pleasure - keeps you up far too late one night and the next, you're falling alseep in your dinner or dozing during your commute.

Fortunately, you can have much more control over your sleep schedule than you may assume. In fact, you can begin immediately to use strategies that will help you get a better night's sleep and enjoy more of the benefits that sleep offers.

REM.

It's the stage of sleep where a day's memories are processed and stored. Anything that you've deemed to be "important" will be cataloged somewhere in your brain while the rest will be forgotten.

If you skimp out on REM - say by not getting enough sleep- you'll negatively impact this process and won't be able to remember anything, right? I mean, that's what we've been saying.

Maybe.

This is Your Brain on REM

The scientific theory that sleep in general benefits memory performance is well established, but is has changed over the years.

Early sleep studies claimed that depriving people of REM sleep impairs certain kinds of memory formation, namely declarative memory, the next day.

In addition, studies done on insomniacs noticed that REM sleep was seen to correlate with comparatively higher levels of memory consolidation, most likely compensating for lower levels of Deep sleep.

Since then, the best evidence for memory consolidation during REM comes from neuroimaging (PET) scans.

Red = most active, Purple = least active