Remember sleep time is not a time for worry, stressing or planning. Do these things in the day, if you find it impossible to shake a thought try practicing EFT or as a last resort, write it down in a journal.

You will learn in time to shake off your thoughts and let go. Although it can be difficult, you have to remember that bedtime is for sleep only, and no matter how much you worry and stress it will not solve anything. Leave it till the next day, once you have had a good night's sleep, that way you can tackle the problem with more energy and a better outlook.

Remember your subconscious remembers everything, so let go of your conscious thoughts. You will remember them the next day.

Whether you fall asleep or not, think positively, you've been here before, don't expect an overnight cure. It's taken you time to develop this inability to sleep, and it will take you time for your body and mind to learn your new habits.

In time your subconscious will associate the bed as a cue for sleep and you will learn to switch off. Your subconscious will learn the new you. And the more you read this book and implement these techniques the more you are becoming the new you.

Don't get frustrated and speed up the following techniques to fall asleep, the slower the better. Take your time to slow down your breath, your mind and body. It's your time, so enjoy!

Step 1: - Once you are in bed and you are comfortable, lying ideally on your back, begin to breathe deeply and slowly through your nose. Focus on getting as relaxed as possible whilst breathing in deeply. If you like you can play quiet, soothing and gentle music.

Step 2: - Feel the weight of your body and feel your entire body literally melt into the bed. Say the following affirmations in your head, imagining a soothing slow voice 'You are wonderfully calm and relaxed….You will fall into a deep sleep tonight and every following night.'

Feel yourself relax deeper and deeper, releasing all tension from your entire body. Continue to breathe deeply and say the following 'You will continue to sleep better and better….tomorrow you will wake up feeling refreshed and energized.'

Don't feel that you need to follow the suggested affirmations word for word, feel free to adapt them. The idea is to introduce positive sleep thoughts and gear your mind for sleep. A simple affirmation to use is 'You are feeling sleepier and sleepier…' Repeating this several times as you exhale can be highly effective.

Step 3: - Now that you are relaxed begin to count from 50 to 1 in your head. On each exhalation count down and feel yourself sink deeper and deeper, feeling sleepier and sleepier. On each inhalation I want you to say 'Breathe' again in your head. Continue with slow deep and even breaths. On each exhalation, focus on a different part of your body to relax. Start from your head, forehead, eyes and jaw working down to your torso and arms. Feel yourself drifting deeper and deeper into another level of relaxation. When you reach your hands, really focus on relaxing all the fingers, the palms, wrists and the back of the hands. Work down your buttocks, thighs and calves, feeling ever more relaxed. When you reach your feet, again focus on relaxing each toe, the base, ankles and top of the feet.

Note: In reflexology your feet and hands mirror the body. The meridians throughout your entire body are connected to meridian points in your hands and feet. When you focus on relaxing your hands and feet, you are improving the flow of energy and relaxing your entire body.

Step 4: - At this point you may have fallen asleep, but if you haven't, don't worry. Once you have counted to 'one' I want you to begin the next phase of relaxation, and this time I want you to use your imagination. Starting from the head imagine that you are being massaged from head to toe. Imagine gentle soft hands moving in circular motions, on each area of the body. Don't worry about counting or breathing in time with the visualization. You can spend as long as you want in each area, the important thing is to really imagine that you are being massaged, feel the hands, and feel them working deep down releasing any tension. Feel yourself deeply relaxed and at ease. Work down your entire body. Let your mind wander and drift where it will, and feel yourself sink deeper and deeper into your subconscious.

Step 5: - Again using your imagination I want you to imagine, starting from your feet and up to your head that your body is turning into jelly. So starting at your feet imagine that they are turning into jelly, really visualize it and feel it. Feel your feet wobbly and loose, sinking down into the bed. Move up slowly to your calves, thighs and through every part of your body until you get to your head. Feel your mind drift deeper and deeper into the subconscious. If you rather imagine turning into something else, for example stone, concrete etc, please do.

Step 6: - If you have finished going through the relaxation techniques and you are still awake, do not panic! just repeat the process until you do. If you start to drift to sleep during any of the steps, let yourself drift, don't worry about finishing. If you wake during the night, follow the steps from step 3 (as you are already half asleep you do not want to awaken your conscious any further).

You have to remember these techniques are helping you to relax deeply, letting your conscious drift and subconscious take over. Once you have learnt to let go of your thoughts and relieve tension throughout the whole of your body, your subconscious will be able to do its job.

Don't worry if you have difficulty falling asleep, be patient and stay positive. Think positive thoughts and keep the negative ones at bay. Remember to keep things in proportion as it takes time to unlearn negative habits and thoughts, and learn positive ones. Even if you have a bad night's sleep, try and stay positive, be persistent and patient, it will come.

Remember you are not trying to sleep, if you use your conscious and 'will' yourself to sleep, or worry about not sleeping, the chances are you won't or will find it even more difficult. Your aim is not to fall asleep; you are aiming for deep relaxation. When your aim is to reach a deep level of relaxation, you take pressure of yourself to fall asleep.

When you take that pressure off to sleep, you are not lying awake feeling helpless. You are not worrying how much time you have to sleep, or not being able to function the next day without it.

When the mind quietens and you are deeply relaxed without worry and tension, you are in a prime state for sleep. Your mind is exhibiting lower brainwaves. You are at the gateway to sleep.