counting sheep, it works, but what does that mean?

what is counting sheep? It doesn't mean counting sheep in a field, it doesn't mean looking at pictures or toy sheep in your house, it's all about the imagination. People don't often  understand how counting sheep can help you get to sleep. As any good hypnotist would tell you, hypnosis involves the use of the imagination, it is what lets you believe you're sinking deep into your mind. In guided meditation, which is basically the same process as hypnosis, they often guide a person across a beach and onto some grass, this is all about using the imagination to create a trance like state. This state can become deeper and deeper, the deeper your consciousness goes into your imagination the deeper your trance, the deepest of trance states is eventually sleep. Counting sheep is about how to start off your imagination. Visually see the sheep in your minds eye, and a fence, maybe a bush for the sheep to jump over to help you count them one at a time. Maybe they're going somewhere, on a journey. Already your imagination has started to want to wonder, that is exactly what you want. Once your imagination has begun exploring that's when you need to follow it, let yourself fall into a dream, then you are asleep. You've gone so deep into your imagination, into your trance, that you fall all the way into sleep.

So that is how to fall asleep counting sheep.