To fall back asleep after waking up during the night, it is recommended to use an exercise that combines rhythmic finger movements and breath control in order to divert the brain's attention toward a repetitive and soothing activity.

noli's read

The concept relies on the idea of saturating attention to break the cycle of anxious thoughts (rumination), a classic strategy in behavioral therapy. The allusion to "bilateral stimulation" is a terminological exaggeration here, as this technique is normally a specific therapeutic tool (EMDR) involving eye movements or alternating stimuli to process traumatic memories, which differs from the manual self-distraction described. However, the synchronization of movement and breathing (coherence) is recognized to promote relaxation by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, as supported by studies on slow breathing (meta-analysis, Journal of Clinical Medicine). No clinical trial specifically validates this "finger tapping" as a remedy for insomnia, but attentional diversion exercises are validated tools for reducing cognitive arousal. The community is divided: while some are enthusiastic about the idea of a new technique, others remain skeptical, pointing out that these "tricks" do not work for all forms of persistent insomnia.

the sources

1. 1Zaccaro A et al. 2018
2. 2Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, et al. 2023
3. 3Fincham GW, Strauss C, Montero-Marin J, Cavanagh K. 2023
4. 4r/sleep