The doctor’s ‘pre-dream’ method can help you fall asleep faster

A clever “pre-dreaming” technique used in the military could help you fall asleep faster at night, a sleep medicine doctor says.

And while it works better than counting sheep, you don’t actually have to completely forget the sheep to get the most out of it.

Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine physician at Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California, explained that visualization is a lot like “before dreaming.”

“Everyone knows that beautiful feeling when you start to daydream as you fall asleep,” he told The Post. “Guess what? Dreams are visual, and the more you can invoke the visual system, the faster you may be able to fall asleep.

“Instead of counting sheep, try visualizing a beautiful scene that relaxes you,” he said, suggesting that you imagine yourself floating on your back in a canoe on a calm lake.

But if you’re really attached to those sheep, they can still show up – just don’t count them out.

“Visualizing sheep is probably better than counting sheep. Verbal or counting activity is likely to be more brain stimulating than quiet visualization,” he explained.

You want whatever scene you’re imagining to be something you personally find relaxing.

“Soothing visuals can have a relaxing effect and stop the mind from wandering,” said Dr. Dimitri.

He recommends getting lost in a special scene from a memory, whether it’s a beautiful beach from your trip to Santorini or the quiet forest you walked in as a child.

“There is some belief that seeing – or imagining – sights, like in a natural space, can have a calming effect,” he continued.

“I also think it helps slow down the verbal thinking mind, which can be a source of anxiety, by focusing on visualization. And dreams are visual, after all.”

To truly maximize impact, Dr. Dimitriu suggests using visualization as only one part of a military method for sleep.

Outlined in the 1981 book called Relax and Win: Championship performance in everything you dothe method is said to have been developed by army chiefs to help soldiers sleep in high-stress situations.

It begins with a body scan in which you slowly move your focus down the body from head to toes, consciously relaxing each part bit by bit.

As you do this, slow your breathing. Then finish with the visualization tactic.

“The stages of the military method are basically relaxing the body, slowing the breathing and visualizing to calm the mind – all three are useful together and perhaps still useful in parts,” said the doctor.

“I certainly use this as part of my treatment plan for insomnia patients, and my kids know it too!”