The community suggests that by practicing rapid and sustained blinking for one minute right before sleep, one can artificially induce eye fatigue that triggers the onset of sleep.

noli's read

The idea is based on muscular fatigue of the eyelids, but scientific literature does not specifically support this rapid blinking technique for inducing sleep. Conversely, neuroscience, particularly work popularized by Dr. Andrew Huberman, highlights that voluntarily slowing the rate of blinking (not accelerating it) is a signal used by the brain to initiate the transition to rest. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), considered the gold standard by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, instead prioritizes stimulus control and progressive relaxation to calm the nervous system. Paradoxically, rapid blinking risks increasing brain activity or causing unnecessary tension instead of promoting calmness. It is possible that this exercise acts as a simple ritual of distraction, diverting attention from anxious thoughts, rather than through a direct biological mechanism. The community is divided, oscillating between amusement at the strangeness of the method and cautious skepticism expressed by professionals in the field.

the sources

1. 1r/sleep