I was visiting mother this week and the subject came up about things we do to settle the mind down when trying to sleep.  You know those nights when your mind is racing around with worries or plans for the next day or things you should have said.  Sometimes the brain just won’t relax. 

Or you wake up from a troubling dream (one of mine is that I cannot find the car on a multi level parking garage) and the mind just won’t get off the subject.

When it happens to me I just go to a story I made up and force myself to retell it in my mind.  I may elaborate a bit but it is the same story and that relaxes the brain and I fall asleep.

Mother was telling me her trick.  She picks a letter of the alphabet and thinks of all the names starting with that letter (female one time male the next night) and who she knew with that name trying to put a face to it.  If she exhausts a letter she moves on to the next in order.  Seldom has to go to a third letter before she has fallen asleep. 

Interesting idea so I tried it last night and it worked (granted I was bone tired)