“Yes, but who’s actually seen little sheep jumping over a fence?” says Meir Kryger, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, and the author of A Woman’s Guide to Sleep Disorders (McGraw-Hill, $15, available on www.amazon.com). “The counting-sheep idea is just a caricature of a more complicated type of behavioral therapy that can help you sleep when your mind is racing.”

People who have a hard time nodding off often find that their minds leap from thought to thought once they hit the pillow. In these instances, they need to do something to interrupt the pattern, like visualize a pleasant scene, concentrate on breathing, or focus on relaxing each muscle of the body from the toes to the forehead. Try one of these methods for 20 minutes, and if it doesn’t work, just get out of bed, says Kryger. “Otherwise, frustration will take over and you’ll become even more anxious and stimulated.”