How a bag of frozen peas can send you to sleep more quickly

We've all had those nights where sleeping just doesn't seem possible, no matter what we do. Rolling around in the covers or fluffing up your pillow isn't making a difference and as time goes on with you wide awake, you're left feeling totally defeated.

Of course, there are always a few methods that exist on the internet you have yet to try. On TikTok, the social media app is filled with people claiming they have found hacks for everything from cooking to doing your laundry. And just as those tips and tricks prove to be helpful for some, TikTok has unearthed another hack to quickly fall asleep.

TikTok user @heyfrankiesimmons explained the method in a video where she shared her own history of sleep issues and how the "life-changing" hack has helped her tremendously.

So where do the frozen peas actually come in and how is it supposed to work? It all comes down to the vagus nerve.

"happy icing! #internetbigsister #polyvagaltheory #vagusnerve #anxietyrelief #healingjourney #nervoussystemhealth #selfcareroutine

happy icing! #internetbigsister #polyvagaltheory #vagusnerve #anxietyrelief #healingjourney #nervoussystemhealth #selfcareroutine

"A couple of years ago it was a very regular occurrence for me to wake up at 4 am with anxiety all the time. And I'd have to pull myself up out of bed and do all this breath work and energy work and tea drinking, and spend forever trying to calm myself down to go back to sleep," Frankie says, "All that changed the day that I found out about icing your vagus nerve."

The vagus nerve, which is the most complex of our cranial nerves carries an extensive range of signals from the digestive system and organs to the brain and vice versa.

As the TikTok user points out it is, "one of the longest nerves in your body and it controls a lot of your parasympathetic nervous system – AKA the nervous system in control of calming you down."

She adds, "Whenever we're talking about nervous system regulation, it's kind of the final boss because if [the vagus nerve] ain't happy, nobody's happy."

Applying cold on your vagus nerve "helps to release inflammation, it stimulates [the vagus nerve] and helps it do its job better," she says.

"You can do this by taking ice-cold showers. You can do this by taking dips in ice-cold lakes. But, if you want to save yourself the discomfort, just put an ice pack on the center of your chest. Wrap it in a towel, put it right there, lie down for at least 15 minutes and it is [chef's kiss] a game-changer."

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Because most of us don't have ice packs lying around the house, Frankie shared there's an alternative way to reaching the same results; enter: the frozen peas.

"When I found [out about] this... I didn't even have an ice pack at the time, I would just go to the freezer, get a pack of peas, put it between my boobs and I'd be back out in no time. It changed my life. I want everybody to know about this magic," she concludes.

Seems simple enough!

If you're not convinced, there are tons of other methods on the social media app that you could try out instead.

More recently, another method went viral on TikTok where a user swore it helped him fall asleep in two minutes.

The method, as explained by the creator, is one used by the military and is supposed to be highly effective.

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